posted
So, I don't have a membership to consumer reports. I think many people here don't. But there are enough people here, who probably have enough products, I don't see why we can't help each other out and review products we have purchased.
So let's hear from ya'll, who out there loves their laptop? who hates it? Is Dell better than Sony Vaio? Is HP better than Toshiba? Share your stories and don't spare on the details, a grateful consumer class on Hatrack awaits your reviews!
Edit to add: If there is a big enough response, I'll make this a monthly thing, to make sure there is enough time to respond to each item, I don't want to flood Hatrack with a cavalcade of threads for product reviews. Email me if you want to see something reviewed.
posted
Great idea Lyrhawn. This is a great product to start with.
I'm in love with the IBM thinkpad, but I've only used it for work. I have no idea what it's like in real life. Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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My harddrive has died twice since I got it 3 years ago, it's about every 1.5 years almost exactly too. The one time I had to get a new harddrive, the second time I had to have someone reinstall windows and do all kinds of crazy stuff so I didn't lose my files.
Other than that I like it.
Posts: 2867 | Registered: May 2005
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I second what Narnia said. I also use an IBM Thinkpad(T41) at work, and it's great. I've been using it for 6 months, 8 hours a day with no rest, and it has yet to crash on me, or give me any other problems. If I ever buy a laptop for personal use, I'll probably go with a Thinkpad. It's kind of plain looking though, if you're into the fancy shmancy stuff.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I've had a variety of Dell laptops - I'm currently on my fifth - maybe sixth. Everyone of them has had some sort of major hardware flaw - most irrepairable. One of them I dropped about a foot, so I guess that one can be blamed on the user, but the rest I've taken very good care of. One of them I didn't even move from my desk...
Dell doesn't make good laptops, frankly. And the smaller you go, the less reliable they get, in my experience.
If you're wondering why I keep getting Dells, well, those are the ones my dad's company uses. So I put up with replacing my laptop every semester or two (and losing all my files!), since I can borrow one for free. But I wouldn't suggest anyone buy one without an excellent warrenty.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I had a Dell. Hard drive died a month or so in and had to spend a ridiculous amount of time convincing tech support that it wasn't me being an idiot. The display needed replacing a month or so after that.
Then the power supply thingie died at two years - and by power supply, I mean that by which the laptop turns on. Cheaper to buy a new laptop. It's nothing more than a paperweight now.
I had an Acer before that that I nicknamed The Craptop. It had a file more than an inch thick on all its repairs - and that was in the 1st year I owned it. :shrug:
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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The only real laptop experience I've had is with an old '96 or '97 Toshiba laptop, it may even be a wee bit older than that.
Now, I don't think it's ever crashed on me beyond maybe two or three bluescreens that were software caused, not a problem with the laptop itself.
However, now I can't reasonably use it. When it's thinking it lets out a sound as though someone is vigourously gnawing away at their desk with a cheese grater. It also takes about fifteen minutes to start up, ten additional for login, and five minutes for an application start-up.
But dagnabbit! That old thing is a nice sturdy stable one.
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I have had a Dell Latitude and really like it...haven't had any problems yet. I know that I probably don't use half of the features the computer offers, but it's still been really useful for me so far (6 months).
Posts: 57 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Are there differences in specific models? Or can you simply say that "Dell is bad" and "Sony is good" ??
Like, is a Dell Inspiron better than a Dell Latitude or whatever? Let's try and get specific if we can.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I have a Dell Inspiron and I love it. It's lightweight, portable and it's been very reliable. I'm very satisfied with that purchase.
I had a Compaq Evo for almost two years prior to my Dell and it was terrible. The hard drive crashed every six months (four times, yes, four), the screen needed to be replaced twice, and it was clunky and heavy compared to my Dell. *pats the Dell* Posts: 862 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I'm pretty fond of my Compaq 2575US. I got it from Circuit City (*cough spit curse*) and it was MUCH cheaper than the equivalent dHell.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Feb 2005
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I also have a Dell Inspiron - the most basic model available when I got it and I've had few problems with it. Actually, a month ago was the first time I've had problems when my motherboard died and then a memory stick, luckily everything was under warranty. But my laptop's also two and a half years old and gets heavy use and abuse.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I have a Dell Inspiron 8200. They don't make them anymore.
A friend of mine also had issues with her Dell. I think the consensus on Dell laptops might just be don't get one.
Posts: 2867 | Registered: May 2005
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The thing with computer manufacturers is that they purchase most of the hardware from OEM's. So all Dells, regardless of the model or price, have brand X motherboards, Whatever, Inc. power suppies, Intel or AMD processors, and so on. Point being, you can say one brand is better than another in a blanket statement. This refers almost exclusively to reliability and service, since no one laptop is way more powerful than another (except Area 51). As with cars, everyone has had good and bad experiences with certain brands. For every two Dell haters, you'll have somebody whose computer actually worked like it was supposed to. Consequently, they love Dell, and swear by them.
This is purely anecdotal, but everyone in my immediate family has had laptops and generally Dell and Compaq were junk, HP was alright, and Sony and Toshiba were good (though pricey).
I'm sure some of our computer gurus can tell you more in-depth why this is the case. Or why I'm completely wrong on all counts.
EDIT: I'm completely ignoring Macs, because I've never owned one. By all accounts, they're pretty good too.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I love Averatecs. They are lightweight and slim, have good battery life and performance, and can be found at inexpensive prices to boot.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
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My PowerBook G4 is my baby. I love it so. and it loves me right back. It never crashes or get viruses, and the speed and the display - and - I just love this computer. Love love love.
Posts: 471 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Buy all your PCs from Totally Awesome Computers and all your laptops from PC Laptops , which are two companies that work together and provide all the best parts in their computers.
They also have a lifetime satisfaction guarantee, which means if you accidentally drop your flatscreen monitor (or any other part of your computer) then jump on it because you're mad, they will replace it for the rest of your natural life.
They also buy-back their old computer parts, when you upgrade, for market price.
Free virus removal, free troubleshooting, free support for everything (except networking), with a 24/7 toll-free hotline.
They are on the more expensive side, but their computers frequently outperform other brands (i.e. Dell, HP, Compaq, etc.) that have twice the stats.
Of course, if you do not care whatsoever for Awesome customer support and guarantees, then they may be a little too pricey for you. If that's the case, build your own, don't buy one of the major brands.
Posts: 684 | Registered: Aug 2001
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We have gateway, bought it last year in the US and was bit nervous, since we live in Europe as to how the warranty etc. would work. But didn't have to worry about that at all. Our gateway works great and we use it a lot.
At work I used Dell latitude and then IBM thinkpads - IBM thinkpad is a great laptop as well.
Posts: 102 | Registered: Oct 2003
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The problem with asking for stories is that people are expotentially more likely to report a bad experience than a good one.
On the other hand, I don't know how to get opinions otherwise without being much more scientific about it. *thinks*
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Toshiba Satellite. Not a fast game machine, but a good, cheap, durable writing laptop with built-in wifi, which is all I needed.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I currently have two laptops. The first, which I've had for several years, is a Powerbook g4. It's been wonderful, and pretty much problem free (excluding the time I dropped it and destroyed the screen that is). Doesn't crash, still very usable after 3 years, etc. I love it.
My college (Wake Forest) has a program in which every undergrad is issued a Thinkpad (R52 in my case). I've had it for two months to the day and I have yet to have a single problem. It's not the prettiest compute I've had (that would probably be my powerbook actually), but it's functional. The keybaord is especially wonderful. It has dedicated keys for page up/down, etc. dedicated volume buttons, back and forward buttons for webbrowsing that are put in with the arrow keys so they're within reach if your hands are just on the keyboard in a normal typing position, so these are actaully usable (I've had keyboard with back/forward up above the F-keys and never really used them). It even has a nice little LED light that shines on the keyboard (if you turn it on), which is nice for typing in the dark.
The Powerbook is still a bit nicer than the thinkpad in a few ways though. For one thing it has a wide screen, which is really nice, it has DVI video out (the thinkpad only has VGA), which gives a better picture (especially on my nice big LCD screen), and the ports are on the back. I don't like having a bunch of wires sticking out the side of my computer. The thinkpad has power and a parallel port on the back, and the rest is taken up by the battery. I would much rather have had the battery attach into the bottom of the computer as is done in the Powerbook (and my brother's gateway among others). The Powerbook also has a slot loading DVD drive (instead of a tray that pops out). This isn't a huge deal, but it is somewhat conforting to know that you'll never accidentally snap the tray off or anything (as it doesn't exist). The thinkpad also has a 4-pin firewire connection instead of the standard 6 pin, which means that pretty much anything you connect you're going to need an adaptor (or just a different cable which will probably cost more) for.
They're both good computers though. My brother has a gateway laptop that's a few years old. It's not a very good computer. The hard drive has died on him a few times, the wireless has never worked (this could have been fixed under warrenty, but the one time he sent it in (and forgot to tell them to fix this) it took something like 4-6 weeks for them to send it back). There are also a bunch of things that just don't really make sense in the design. For example, the speakers are on the bottom of the computer, so if it's on a desk, the little feet hold it up and it sounds decent, but if it's on anything that has any give to it (such as your lap, a rug on the floor, etc etc) the sound gets muffled. Also, as far as I can see, there's no indicator light type thing of any kind to let you quickly see if it's plugged into the wakk for charging, and as it plugs into the back it's easy to miss this. The thinkpad has a little light under the screen (along with a bunch of others), and the end of the powerbook's AC adaptor glows (different colors for weather it's charging or just running off AC power), which you can see from the front when it's plugged in.
Basically if you're getting a laptop, from my experiance and what I've heard from various friends who have different brands, go with either IBM or Apple. You'll probably pay a bit of a premium for it, but you'll get a higher quality product that is well designed and will hold up pretty well. (As a disclaimer, I have no experiance with many of the smaller brands such as Marlozhan's PC Laptops and thus cannot comment on their quality, etc. I was speaking of the large, well known brands).
Posts: 187 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
Toshibas are good Laptops. As was mentioned, they aren't the most powerful things in the world, but they're good.
I've seen maybe two IBMs that were broken in 10 years of computer repairing (Not counting the ones that were beyond repair because they were 5 years old). Yeah, they're rock solid.
ASUS makes a really good, high performance laptop.
Dells are okay. If you want a cheap laptop, I'd recommend them.
Sony is good, but be warned that you WILL pay through the nose if anything breaks on it. Their warranty service is garbage, and they have 100%+ margin on all replacement parts, and most of the parts are only replaceable through them. I've also had a lot of trouble getting though a lot of the OS security they have set up from the factory on some of their laptops.
Marlozhan's recommendation is good...But the laptops they sell there aren't that great below the $1500 mark. One of the stores I worked for sold laptops through the same provider, and the low end laptops they sell had an incredible number of hardware failures. That said, the warranty they offer is excellent, but you'll pay through the nose for it.
HP sells good, inexpensive laptops, but remember that of all the laptops I've fixed, the majority have been HP. I'm not sure if that's because more people have them than any other brand, or if they are poorly built.
Compaq, well, never buy a Compaq. Ever.
eMachines makes a fairly good laptop. Warranty service is almost nonexistent, though. Customer service isn't a huge part of the eMachines business plan.
Gateway owns eMachines. I don't have a whole lot of experience with their systems. Quality is similar to eMachines for obvious reasons . I don't have any experience with their warranty either, so I can't tell you much about them. Very few people in this area own Gateways.
If you've never heard of the manufacturer of a laptop, don't buy it. Budget laptops can have a lot of hardware failures, so if you can shell out a few hundred dollars more, it's worth spending extra. Laptops keep their value far better than desktops, so the extra cost of buying one will translate into a better return if you choose to sell it before upgrading.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I have a Compaq Presario with the AMD Athlon processor. It is reliable, but like all HP/Compaq machines is a dog to start up. Very slow. The battery gets hot as well. (I need to see if I'm in the recall lot).
My wife has a Toshiba Satellite with a celeron processor. That is a slick machine for the price.
The college I work at has used Toshibas in all of the mobile classrooms and for the smart rooms. I asked why and the tech guru says it's because of the reliability. They apparently take a lot of bumping and chalk dust and keep on going.
Posts: 514 | Registered: May 2005
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Toshiba Satellites are good laptops. Unfortunately the one I had was defective, and I ended up taking it back. They didn't have any left so I ended up getting something different. I got a Sany Vaio, and I really like it. It hasn't given me any trouble so far (I've had it about 3 months), and I leave it on ALL the time. And by all the time, I mean I only turn it off when I have to carry it to certain classes.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I'll put in a good word for Macs - they almost never crash, and most people I know who have one have never had a problem...
However, every now and then you'll get a machine that just dies with no warning. Doesn't happen often, but when Macs bite it, they bite it hard.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 that's been pretty reliable. It has a Pentium 4 processor, which I've been told is better than a Celeron one...I think the equivalent laptop to this that Dell has now comes with a Pentium M. At any rate, so far I've only had two serious problems with my laptop:
About 8 months after I got it, I had to reinstall Windows (and thus wiped my hard drive ) because something somehow got messed up, but I think that may have been my fault. I'm not really sure what caused it, but I think I'd been messing with some of the settings without knowing what I was doing.
And a few months ago the screen completely died (when I was in the middle of writing my final papers, annoyingly), but their customer service was great - I had the 2-year mail-in warranty, so they sent me a special box to send them the laptop in, and I had it back in a week with a new screen.
Other than that, all has been peachy and I've had no problems with it (knock on wood). I wish I'd gotten extra RAM with it though - it only has 256 whatevers, plus its hard drive is almost full, so I can't always run all the programs I want to at the same time. For example, Photoshop Pro tends to make it crash if I also have AIM and Word running and I'm using the internet. So it's not ultra-powerful, but it's okay. It's a bit on the heavy side too - I think it weighs a bit over 8 lbs, which doesn't sound like much, but if I'm taking it somewhere and carrying books too, it gets to be rather uncomfortable.
I'd love to get a new laptop, but I can't afford it right now....I may just get extra RAM and maybe an external hard drive for this one.
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I have a Compaq. I take it everywhere. It goes on every trip with me. It's gotten kind of scratched up, but it's never given me any problems aside from that cd rom drive thing I mentioned earlier, and that seems to have fixed itself.
My only complaint with it is that it's heavy. But it's also a 17+ inch widescreen. If I could get another one, I'd opt for one of the 12" ones that I could fit in my backpack with my books.
posted
Marlozhan, I went to PC Laptops..and they don't list prices at all. I HATE that.
I even looked around a little bit, and prices weren't redialy availible.
I won't EVER buy anything from anyone who pulls that crap. I hate car dealers who try that as well, and refuse to do business wiht them too.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:However, every now and then you'll get a machine that just dies with no warning. Doesn't happen often, but when Macs bite it, they bite it hard.
There is a bad Apple in every bunch. (my favorite Apple joke)
I've never had one. Except the one I dropped onto a tile floor. I've dropped others and they are still fine.
Beware of keyboard rub. I'm starting to get marks on my lcd from the keys. I knew one guy who must have sat on his laptop or something because all the pixels where the keys met the lcd were misfiring and so you could see the key imprints.
I like the smaller 12 inch laptops. The 15 inchers are too big for me. Desktops are such an only-at-work thing.
Posts: 1209 | Registered: Dec 2003
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) because something somehow got messed up, but I think that may have been my fault. I'm not really sure what caused it, but I think I'd been messing with some of the settings without knowing what I was doing. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
(my favorite Apple joke)
