STORM2K

Well, all I've ever had is desktops, but mine died(and we've had problems with it quite frequently over the years). I'm on an older one now which isn't doing some things and I'm looking into buying a laptop sometime in the next few weeks. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't want to spend too much money on one, but I also want to get a good one that will last for awhile.

I use Dell's in school and they work great, and i have an HP 5700 (which is out dated) but they both work great.

I'm on a Sony Vaio and am thoroughly enjoying it.

I have the new HP Pavalion with the HIDEF 15" screen, it's KICK @zz...the screen is SO wide, so brilliant and the price wasn't too bad either! Michelle ordered it for me custom built with ALL the bells and whistles, CD burner, built in WIFI and TONS of other software, total price...$995, OH..and that INCLUDED a wireless mouse

Dell

I have Dell desktops, but I bought a Toshiba laptop and I love it. I read a lot of reviews online, and while there are complaints on every single brand out there, that's what I decided on. I also have the Consumer Reports 2006 Buying Guide. Maybe you could check the 2007 if it's out. This is the order of laptops by reader score when asked about whether their computer needed repair and what their experience was if they sought technical support.

Starting with the best rating:
Apple
IBM
Toshiba
Dell
Gateway
HP
Compaq
Sony




Here's the list of brands in order they appeared in a chart showing the percentage of them ever needing a repair or having a serious problem.

Starting with fewer:
Toshiba
Apple
IBM
Sony
Dell
HP
Gateway
Compaq

Note: Toshiba had slightly fewer than Apple. IBM, Sony, and Dell were all the same, but closer to Apple than to HP. Gateway and Compaq had quite a few more problems than the leading Toshiba.

I guess you can see why I chose Toshiba. You know how it goes though...there are people who end up with a great Compaq (although I'd never buy one), and people who have trouble with Toshiba or Apple. Anyway, I was happy with my choice. If you want any more details about the report (cuz there are more), just let me know. Hope this helps.

stay away from Gateway.

Dell is one of the best for the price and has excellent customer support. They even help me recover my hard drive over the phone!

There's always an iMac. That's the way I'll go when I buy a laptop...

alicia-w wrote:
There's always an iMac. That's the way I'll go when I buy a laptop...

Actually, the choices for Apple laptops are the MacBook (white or black) or the MacBook Pro. The MacBook is probably the better choice for your money, if you choose Apple. They do have re-furbished MacBooks at Apple's website and they have same warranties as the new laptops.

i stay away from apple at all costs. i had those in school for a about 4 months before the county kickem to the can. in that 4 months i lost 3 projects and some other stuff. The laptops shut off every 20 minutes or so even though we were active. They are very annoying.

fact789 wrote:i stay away from apple at all costs. i had those in school for a about 4 months before the county kickem to the can. in that 4 months i lost 3 projects and some other stuff. The laptops shut off every 20 minutes or so even though we were active. They are very annoying.

Random Shutdown Syndrome, I believe it was called.

Supposedly, the problem isn't in the new Core 2 Duo MacBook (Rev B) and has been fixed in the Core Duo MacBooks (Rev A). (Note -- I ditched my Sony Vaio laptop for MacBook Pro in late Oct and have had almost no problems.)

I'm using a Sony Vaio VGN-FE31M. It's nice!

Anyway, I can really recommend a Sony Vaio laptop. Great performance and I´ve never had any problems.

Dell all the way, have had mine for 18 months now and no problems.

Actually I have a Gateway laptop... and I don't have any problems with it... I've only had it for 2 weeks though.

I have used many different brands at work and home, my Top Two 1.) Toshiba 2.) Sony Vaio. Toshiba's customer service is awesome. Your laptop doesn't work you ship to them, at their cost, they tell you where to take it for shipping, you either have it back fixed or a new one 2 days later. My toshiba was stolen when my house was burgularized a couple of months ago so now I have a Sony (hey they were on sale, couldn't resist lol)

pojo wrote:Actually I have a Gateway laptop... and I don't have any problems with it... I've only had it for 2 weeks though.

we have them at work and they are HORRIBLE after the first several months. mine runs so hot you could probably cook a game hen next to it. the tech support folks dont even call our guys back.

Dell all the way. I have a Dell laptop and it gives me no problems what so ever.

Dell can get quite expensive when you have to add on stuff. I get terrible customer support from them too. When I needed an upgrade they tried to sell me another name brand at a higher price. I found the Dell upgrade online cheaper. PLUS, I can never understand their broken English.

As for Gateway, they are worthless in product, production AND customer support. I will never ever have another Gateway in my home. Dell is about banned too.

Dell laptops are extremely expensive since they're generally bare-bones, and you add what you want for extra. The ones I've used are also very unreliable. Sony laptops are just plain expensive, but not as expensive as a fully-outfitted Dell laptop. Gateway customer service sucks.

If you have the money to burn, try for an HP or Toshiba (or Sony, if you can somehow afford it). If not, Compaq laptops really aren't as bad as they're made out to be if you get the right one. They can be reliable and are inexpensive, but it's a matter of luck.

Apple iBooks are apparently good, but I have no experience using any of them.

Well I got a mailer from Wal-Mart today and they have a laptop from Acer with Windows Vista being offered starting next Tuesday. It's only $498! It's by far the cheapest one I've found but I'm not sure it's a good machine. I went to their website and I think it's this one(everything's the same except it has Vista instead of XP).

AS3690-2196

Intel® Celeron® M Processor 420 (1MB L2 cache, 1.60GHz, 533MHz FSB); 512MB (512/0) DDR2 533 SDRAM; 60GB hard drive; integrated Super-Multi drive (DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RAM); 5-in-1 card reader; 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT display, Acer® CrystalBrite Technology; Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950; 802.11b/g WLAN, 10/100 LAN, V.92 modem

Interestingly, our very first desktop 7 years ago was an Acer.

I do not like the 512 ram, but everything else looks good.