cjb01 Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 My husband is buying a laptop and we both know nothing about what brand is good or what "extras" to buy.Dell or HP? I would use it for school work(teacher), downloading music, pictures and basic stuff. Nothing too fancy. I don't want to buy more than I need or basicall get screwed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Stay away from Dell:1. They use cheap parts from over seas, (think of hardrive failures and battery performance issues)2. They offer horrible service over the phone as all the non-business people have to talk to Indians with their heavy accents.3. You may get a refurbished part in your new laptop.Aside from that, HP, I don't know anything about them.I highly recommend getting a Vaio (Sony). You may spend about 15% more, but it is well worth the peace of mind that you get with high quality parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 My husband is buying a laptop and we both know nothing about what brand is good or what "extras" to buy.Dell or HP? I would use it for school work(teacher), downloading music, pictures and basic stuff. Nothing too fancy. I don't want to buy more than I need or basicall get screwed.Either brand would be fine....get a fairly large hard drive if youre going to be downloading...80-100GB or bigger, at least 512MB of memory (the more the better of course!), make sure it has built-in wireless. You would probably be okay with Windows XP home unless you plan on doing a home network, then I would get Windows XP Pro instead. You should be able to find one in the $500-$600 price range....if you have more $$ to spend, get more memory, bigger hard drive, faster processor.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CE_ugh Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Find a pre-outsourcing IBM. You can get them now for 300 bucks off ebay and those things are like tanks.Im assuming you just want something that works and dont care if its new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 I highly recommend getting a Vaio (Sony). You may spend about 15% more, but it is well worth the peace of mind that you get with high quality parts.I love my VAIO.....you're right, they're a bit pricey...but they look cool and work great...at least for the 6 months I've had mine !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjb01 Posted July 19, 2006 Author Share Posted July 19, 2006 Good info. Thanks.I just looked up the Vaio. It sweet, but way more than I am willing to spend. But damn its nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Keep in mind you'll want to look for Vista Ready laptops too, or simple wait until 4th quarter when they will become standard in all new PC's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Given Microsoft's history, I would think you would want to stay away from Windows Vista for a few years until they get the bugs out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 i agree with subdude - i wouldn't worry about vista yet.i got an amazingly cheap gateway (so what!) recently, and it didn't have much frills, but works great.it came with 256MB of mem - eek! (but can upgrade to 1G), and also came with wireless.i would keep on the look-out for a sale, especially at fry's or maybe even directron, unless you need one immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 A good time too, you are shopping during the beginning of "back to school" so this is when everyone will be offering some get bundles and discounts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Given Microsoft's history, I would think you would want to stay away from Windows Vista for a few years until they get the bugs out.Ive been using Vista for a couple months now (CTP and beta)...it's amazingly stable already....not all drivers and apps work with it yet though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Ive been using Vista for a couple months now (CTP and beta)...it's amazingly stable already....not all drivers and apps work with it yet though.... I didn't convert to XP until the first service pack. I'd highly recommend that you do the same with Vista. wait until the first service pack is issued. by then most of the issues will be resolved and will only have to worry about the occasional update by MS. I purchased an HP Pavillian DV4000 and it's awesome. It came originally with XP home, but I deleted it and put in XP pro, I plan on upgrading the memory soon, though and get a gig of ram. your shopping list should include things you WANT a laptop to have. I HAD to get Wireless built in. a CDR, but wound up with a CDWR/DVD-R The wide screen was optional, but it was a bonus with what I got. Did I mention the remote control so I can start/stop my movies? way cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbaker Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Buy an Apple MacBook. They cost around $1100 and they run Windows (you have to supply the windows license). Nothing else comes close in terms of quality and features (battery life, size & weight, build quality, software) in this price range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Buy an Apple MacBook. They cost around $1100 and they run Windows (you have to supply the windows license). Nothing else comes close in terms of quality and features (battery life, size & weight, build quality, software) in this price range.I used to use Macs a long time ago - I loved them - but had to switch because none of my apps would run on them....now that you can run Windows apps on them - I might have to go back !!What kind of setup would you need to run Windows apps well - memory, processor, etc?....I remember some of the old Windows emulators were so slow - I imagine the new ones work just like you were using a Windows PC.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbaker Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 I used to use Macs a long time ago - I loved them - but had to switch because none of my apps would run on them....now that you can run Windows apps on them - I might have to go back !!What kind of setup would you need to run Windows apps well - memory, processor, etc?....I remember some of the old Windows emulators were so slow - I imagine the new ones work just like you were using a Windows PC....It's easy to run Windows on any new Intel based Mac, and emulation is no longer necessary so Windows runs at 100% full speed. The only thing you need is an Intel based Apple computer and a copy of Windows XP. Once Windows is installed, you can switch back and forth between Windows and OSX (Apple's OS) whenever you like by restarting your computer and booting in the OS of your choice. It's the best of both worlds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 My husband is buying a laptop and we both know nothing about what brand is good or what "extras" to buy.Dell or HP? I would use it for school work(teacher), downloading music, pictures and basic stuff. Nothing too fancy. I don't want to buy more than I need or basicall get screwed.IBM ThinkPad. The most durable portables in existance, save the ToughBook.Don't do Dell, don't do HP. They both cut major corners.We bought about 25 Sony machines here at work, and most of them had died within 6-9 months. Service was atrocious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 IBM.Don't do Dell, don't do HP. They both cut major corners.We bought about 25 Sony machines here at work, and most of them had died within 6-9 months. Service was atrocious.We have all HPs here - servers, workstations, laptops....we dont have any issues - in fact they have been the most stable systems Ive worked with....I guess everyone has their own horror stories....my boss wont even let me look at IBMs because of his previous experiences..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Buy an Apple MacBook. They cost around $1100 and they run Windows (you have to supply the windows license). Nothing else comes close in terms of quality and features (battery life, size & weight, build quality, software) in this price range.You can get a ThinkPad with better quality for $900, and you don't have to buy a Windows license ($150+).We have all HPs here - servers, workstations, laptops....we dont have any issues - in fact they have been the most stable systems Ive worked with....I guess everyone has their own horror stories....my boss wont even let me look at IBMs because of his previous experiences.....Oh yes...we have a bunch of HP stuff here at work as well, but having disassembled both IBM and HP products, the IBMs win hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbaker Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 You can get a ThinkPad with better quality for $900, and you don't have to buy a Windows license ($150+).Oh yes...we have a bunch of HP stuff here at work as well, but having disassembled both IBM and HP products, the IBMs win hands down.I don't think it's fair to say that a Lenovo Thinkpad is of better quality than Apple. And although you wouldn't have to buy a copy of windows, you would need to buy software to do what iLife already does for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Given Microsoft's history, I would think you would want to stay away from Windows Vista for a few years until they get the bugs out.Ditto ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 I don't think it's fair to say that a Lenovo Thinkpad is of better quality than Apple. And although you wouldn't have to buy a copy of windows, you would need to buy software to do what iLife already does for free.Have you disassembled both? The apples look nice on the surface, but inside, they're a trainwreck. Time consuming to service as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Have you disassembled both? The apples look nice on the surface, but inside, they're a trainwreck. Time consuming to service as well.Apples have always been the model of simplicity to repair - modular pieces.....did they change ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Apples have always been the model of simplicity to repair - modular pieces.....did they change ?Just about anything that's mass produced is modular.The problem with the apples is that they're designed to be put together once, and never taken apart. That's the cheap approach, it makes servicing difficult, and they never quite go back together right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houstonian in Iraq Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Good info. Thanks.I just looked up the Vaio. It sweet, but way more than I am willing to spend. But damn its nice. I bought my Vaio through pricegrabber.com. I forget how much but it was about $300-$400 less than elsewhere. I haven't had any problems with it....it's been through a lot this past year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbaker Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Just about anything that's mass produced is modular.The problem with the apples is that they're designed to be put together once, and never taken apart. That's the cheap approach, it makes servicing difficult, and they never quite go back together right.Unless your referring to adding ram (very easy w/ all Apples) or replaceing a hard drive (very easy w/Macbooks), I'm not sure why you would ever need to take a laptop apart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 I will have to agree that Macbooks are awesome, the only issue is that she requested something that is budget friendly, the only thing is that getting a LEGIT license for MS XP is considerable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Unless your referring to adding ram (very easy w/ all Apples) or replaceing a hard drive (very easy w/Macbooks), I'm not sure why you would ever need to take a laptop apart?To replace any one of the myriad parts that could fail.Back to the point, they're built CHEAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyboy444 Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Get a Macbook! I am using one right now and they are GREAT! I love the screen and all the software that comes standard with all macs. My friends are constantly impressed with the stuff i can do with iLife. I even switched my Dad and brother to macs bc i was tired of always being their IT guy fixing their windows pcs. :-Das for windows pcs, dells are the worst. def get the extended warranty if you decide to go with a dell. sonys are not that great either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 and whatever you get, go with the duo core if you can as pentiums and celerons are being phased out. also if you want to run windows (or mac os x ... on apple macbook or powerbook) you will need the extra power and speed for all the fun stuff you are gonna wanna do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 and whatever you get, go with the duo core if you can as pentiums and celerons are being phased out.I thought they (duo core) gobble up your battery life though, isn't that Pentium M supposed to be the most efficient and share the best of both worlds (performance and stamina)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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