So in last night's thunderstorm, our house got hit by lightning and ended up frying my computer, leaving me in the market for a new laptop (writing this from a friend's). Does anyone have any recommendations for or against a new laptop brand, been a few years since I've looked at anything.
New computer recommendations
- Thread starter geburgess
- Start date
I haven't kept up with lap tops and brands as of late, BUT I can't tell you how many people I know that got Toshiba Satellites over the years and they are just crap.
2 friends had hard drive problems
1 had pretty much every thing go wrong
I personally had one that the power adapter was always loose so you had to hold the cord in to keep it charging.
A co-worker had the screen just die on her the other day on a newer one.
2 friends had hard drive problems
1 had pretty much every thing go wrong
I personally had one that the power adapter was always loose so you had to hold the cord in to keep it charging.
A co-worker had the screen just die on her the other day on a newer one.
We have been buying Lenovos at work for a while, so far they have been pretty solid and people really like them. Much better than the Dells or HP's of late.
Of course I would suggest a 13" macbook pro, but that might not be what you are looking for.
Of course I would suggest a 13" macbook pro, but that might not be what you are looking for.
I've heard from my friends that HP Pavilions are excellent notebook computers, and don't overlook Lenovo and MSI as well, from the reviews I've read, those two brands have a good a rep. Forget Acer, too much bloatware/crapware. Dell is also a good option. You're taking your chances with Gateway nowadays -- it's a shame since, back in the day, Gateway was built primarily by Iowans, and was one the best computer brands available. Hope this helps. :biggrin:
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Failure rates are generally close no matter what the brand
Evaluating Extended Warranties and the Disparity in Netbook/Notebook Failure Rates - HotHardware
Evaluating Extended Warranties and the Disparity in Netbook/Notebook Failure Rates - HotHardware
My HP Pavilion is about 4 years old now.
Haven't had any major problems, but the hinges on the 17" screen are about shot. Will probably totally break in a couple of months. Had the battery and power cable replaced (on warranty).
Overall pretty solid computer.
Haven't had any major problems, but the hinges on the 17" screen are about shot. Will probably totally break in a couple of months. Had the battery and power cable replaced (on warranty).
Overall pretty solid computer.
HPs might have been good when you bought them, but they've become utter crap since then. What's even worse is their customer service - unless you have purchased their "extended warranty", all they're there for is to spit policy at you - that they can't help you unless you've purchased the extended warranty. Google-search "NVIDIA GPU overheating HP" and you'll find complaints galore. While the NVIDIA GPU was an industry-wide problem, HP was the only company that treated the customers like it was their fault - Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Apple, etc. all went out of the way to fix the problem. HP told their customers to pitch over $400+ and purchase an extended warranty.
Basically, if I were you, I'd avoid HP like you would avoid someone with the plague.
I picked up a $450 HP 15" from best buy a couple of years ago and it is still running fine. It won't handle much gaming, but it does run AutoCAD and Inventor quite well along with your basic Office and internet applications. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.
You and me both, I am generally not a rude person, but I get so annoyed when trying to use or browse items there by their sales people. Yes, feel free to help out those who want it, but I'm generally pretty clear when I do wan to ask questions and when I don't. Mostly I'm going there to try something out that I've already researched, and just want to be left alone.
My Dell Latitude has been humming for 6 years without trouble. I put more RAM in it and a bigger hard drive last year to upgrade a bit. My daughter just started in the UI College of Medicine last week and the computer they gave her for the program was a Dell Latitude also.
Woah...what? Gateway was awesome at putting cheap components into an expensive package. The only thing they did well was customer support. I had quite a few of their computers and to this day still am repairing their junk business systems.
As far as HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc, they all make good stuff and they all make subpar stuff. You typically will get a better machine if you order it from their website than you would in a store like best buy. While the store models are pretty fast n fancy, they are also mass produced for stores and run a bigger risk of malfunction. HP has to be the biggest offender of this. They must have 400 various models at stores.
I try to stay away from Best Buy but about once every year I go in there for something and nearly every time I'm disappointed.
A week ago my wife was complaining about not having her own laptop so I thought I would bite the bullet and check out Best Buy.
I looked at the add and I saw one for $400 that looked decent. This is a Saturday morning.
I go up to the salesperson and say:
"Can you get me the Toshiba ****"
"Sure I'll be right back"
At this point I'm thinking to myself I bet they are out of stock even though there inventory is huge (I can see the inventory).
"Sorry sir we're out of stock along with every other Best Buy in Des Moines"
Normally I would just walk out but I was in a bad mood.
"So what laptop here do you have that you can discount down to that price"
"Why would we do that"
"Because you somehow always seem to run out of the things you have in your ad. It is Saturday morning and you don't get another truck until Monday."
"Well these have been really popular"
"I assume someone who does the ordering would know that they were going to be popular and maybe order more when they are in the ad"
"We have a bunch coming in on Monday's truck"
"The reason I shop at your store is so i can buy the laptop right now. If I wanted to wait 3 days I would just order it online."
I just walked at this point. I really kick myself that I even went into Best Buy. I know better but the selection in Des Moines is terrible. Where else can you buy a laptop? I guess Office Max and Depot are alternatives but they just seem to be a 2nd thought at those stores.
Costco didn't have anything low priced but next time I'll just pay a few hundred more and buy it from them if I'm in a hurry. I was actually considering Wal-Mart for a few seconds
A week ago my wife was complaining about not having her own laptop so I thought I would bite the bullet and check out Best Buy.
I looked at the add and I saw one for $400 that looked decent. This is a Saturday morning.
I go up to the salesperson and say:
"Can you get me the Toshiba ****"
"Sure I'll be right back"
At this point I'm thinking to myself I bet they are out of stock even though there inventory is huge (I can see the inventory).
"Sorry sir we're out of stock along with every other Best Buy in Des Moines"
Normally I would just walk out but I was in a bad mood.
"So what laptop here do you have that you can discount down to that price"
"Why would we do that"
"Because you somehow always seem to run out of the things you have in your ad. It is Saturday morning and you don't get another truck until Monday."
"Well these have been really popular"
"I assume someone who does the ordering would know that they were going to be popular and maybe order more when they are in the ad"
"We have a bunch coming in on Monday's truck"
"The reason I shop at your store is so i can buy the laptop right now. If I wanted to wait 3 days I would just order it online."
I just walked at this point. I really kick myself that I even went into Best Buy. I know better but the selection in Des Moines is terrible. Where else can you buy a laptop? I guess Office Max and Depot are alternatives but they just seem to be a 2nd thought at those stores.
Costco didn't have anything low priced but next time I'll just pay a few hundred more and buy it from them if I'm in a hurry. I was actually considering Wal-Mart for a few seconds
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