Decent Brands and models of Laptops

[Diesel]

I'm looking to get a few laptops for myself and some friends and coworkers of mine who keep asking me which ones are decent.
I know what features to look for in a good quality laptop, but was wondering if anyone can recommend any particular brands or models that are good.
I know Dells are generally considered very good because of their support, and Gateways aren't too bad, but I'm mainly looking for opinions of laptops that can be purchased through retail channels.


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"Qualifications for being a Moderator at Anandtech...? I think that you have to be 17 or under, and the lobomoty has to be total. Partial lobomoty only gets you Elite Member status."

Serendipity is looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer's daughter.

 

[fiero273]

Big Suggestion: Get An Active Matrix Display

I've dealt with three brands--NEC, HP, and Sony. I like HP's & NEC's support, but have had undesirable experiences with Sony's.

When you find a model you're interested in and you start researching it, here's what I recommend you do:

• Do a search at http://www.zdnet.com ... they have tons of round-ups. http://www.cnet.com is worth a try too
• Test the support: look for drivers on their website, email a fake problem, look for phone service, etc...
• Using your fav search engine ( http://www.dogpile.com for me), do a search for the notebook and the keyword Linux... Find out what some power users think of the notebook
• Search the newsgroups using www.dejanews.com ... you may find problems that some notebooks are prone to have

Here's the Pentium-level notebook models I've had and my thoughts:

HP OmniBook 5000 CTS
- P90, SCSI

, Active
- very solid, perfect display, older hence heavier
- great website and support
- she likes Linux

NEC Versa 6230
- P200 MMX, Active
- solid unit, very nice display
- excellent website and easy to find a support rep to talk to
- flawless with Linux

Sony VAIO PCG-705C
- P150 MMX, Active
- nice size, 5 lbs and thin
- things seem to break off
- miserable website--no win 95/98 drivers to be found
- Sony seems to slam the door in your face when your warrenty expires

All notebook manufactures have multiple tiers: budget units, inbetween, and solid units. The price gaps are very large, but you do get what you pay for.

Another thing to note is resale value... it's practically non-existent. The HP and NEC laptops I mentioned were bought new, but the Sony was bought used... for $350. It's true that most notebooks are very abused, but put the word out to your co-workers that you're looking for a notebook, and you may be surprised at what turns up.

Oh, and I'm gonna be extremely jealous if you buy a new notebook with ATI's RAGE Mobility chipset...

Good luck in your search!

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"If your car is under control, you're too slow" - Parnelli Jones

 

[mpeg]

I hear vaio (maybe dell also) is the way to go!

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help me jebus!!!

 

[Diesel]

I should've put this in bold: I know what features to look for in a good quality laptop. (as stated in my original post)

I've heard good things about the following retail brands: HP, Toshiba, IBM.

Running Linux won't be much of a priority for myself, or any of the friends and coworkers I'd be getting them for. If my friends or coworkers plan on setting Linux up on them, that's their business and they'd be supporting it themselves.



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"Qualifications for being a Moderator at Anandtech...? I think that you have to be 17 or under, and the lobomoty has to be total. Partial lobomoty only gets you Elite Member status."

Serendipity is looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer's daughter.

 

[fiero273]

I understand that you're not interested in running Linux on your notebook, but I would do the search anyway... You can find lots of information on these websites.

For example, here's a page on running linux on an HP 5000 CTS http://www.sector13.org/kazin/comp/hpob5k/ .

Good luck once again, and be sure to tell us what you end up with!

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"If your car is under control, you're too slow" - Parnelli Jones

 

[Diesel]

Sure thing.
How are those brands that I mentioned above?


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"Qualifications for being a Moderator at Anandtech...? I think that you have to be 17 or under, and the lobomoty has to be total. Partial lobomoty only gets you Elite Member status."

Serendipity is looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer's daughter.

 

[Guest]

TOSHIBA TOSHIBA TOSHIBA

Don't buy anything else. Toshiba makes the best laptop from every aspect.

Sony is terrible crap!!

NEC isn't too bad but there long term support is lacking.

HP builds a good unit (omnibook), parts and service are adequate

Dell makes a great DESKTOP computer and their service is OK, but their LAPTOPS SUCK!!!!!

Everything Gateway does sucks!!!

Compaq I have seen both extremes you take your chances.

 

[Dolemite]

DON"T BUY SONY too **** priportory. it is a pain in the **** to fix . it is hard to get the file assoations to work, and you can only use sony products. I am a mac person that works on pcs also and would rather have compaq than that thing. it wants it's own **** if you know what I mean. man this computer laptop pratices segration. it should be named george wallace.

 

[fiero273]

How can you say "Everything Gateway does sucks!!!"? I don't know a thing about their desktops or notebooks, but I think their boxes are pretty cool. :þ

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"If your car is under control, you're too slow" - Parnelli Jones

 

[Guest]

OK, sorry a bit extreme. The gateway cardbard boxes with the cow print are cool, but that's it.

 

[MadMarine]

Well with dealing with many laptops at work, I have found that the toshiba and the acer models are nice all depending on what u wanna spend, also dells are nice too but big bucks, has a nice 15 inch screen though.

I would stay away from the following brands HP,SONY,COMPAQ, and any real no name brand. it's just not worth goin cheap on a laptop, make sure u can upgrade the ram.

Be very carefull with laptops and get a good warrenty fixing them can be very expensive if they break, I have fixed many and people aren't happy when they get the bill for the parts.