So, if someone were pondering getting oneself a new laptop, to which company’s website would it be suggested that one go? So far, I’ve vaguely gotten an impression of “anything other than Dell”. Thoughts?
I’ve bought from HP twice now. Both times, I think I got a very good price, compared to what other companies charge for a similar configuration. However, if you go to them, I would recommend getting a warranty, since they do tend to break. The first time, the motherboard burned out two weeks after I got it (granted, they fixed that for free), and then a year later the CD/DVD drive basically refused to write anything and read most things. The battery also went dead after about a year and a half. So, they do have problems. This time, I have a three-year warranty, so it’s not that big a deal.
People say that IBM makes the best Windows laptops. However, an acquaintance of mine had an even worse problem with his IBM laptop than I did with my HP: the motherboard died twice in two months. So, I don’t think there’s really any one magical company that won’t give you any problems. First come up with an idea of what you want (for example, what size screen), and then see who has the lowest price.
Avoid toshiba like the plague. Dell’s aren’t bad, but not great. Their customer service is garbage but so is HP’s. HP/Compaq are hit or miss from my personal experience. Nulani will suggest an Acer, which has a price tag close to that of a mac but not quite as high. Fujitsu is supposed to be a good company but getting one’s a bitch and they cost a fuckload.
Acer good, Toshiba bad.
I actually didn’t have too many problems with HP’s customer service. And, as I said, I had quite a few run-ins with it. The products themselves aren’t that durable though. Fujitsu and Toshiba are both prohibitively expensive, in my opinion, regardless of their quality.
Whoops.
Wrong, I won’t! They’re decent, but nothing compared to Fujitsu-Siemens. I’m not even sure if they’d be my second choice, not with new names like Asus, Samsung and LG. You should probably check them all out, and pick the best from what your budget allows.
Hmm … Fujutsu-Seimens doesn’t have “United States” in “select country/region”. Is that because it’s at the United States by default, or because the United States isn’t supported?
Edit: Oops, it looks like it’s Europe-only. No go there, then.
I suppose I’m okay with 1024x768, with something geared towards gaming. I’ll look around with that in mind …
Laptops are a waste of money for a majority of people. Just buy the cheapest laptop you can find. If you need more power, spend the money you saved on a Desktop PC.
If you’re set on a laptop, here’s a simple flowchart:
- List the general hardware you’re looking for.
- Find companies that sell it.
- Are customer service important and tech support important to you?
Yes - Buy from a premium company.
No - Buy from the lowest bidder. - Done.
Edit: 1024x768 is shitty, get a better resolution than that. If you want a normal screen, get a laptop with a SXGA screen instead. Laptops mostly use Widescreen displays now days though, so you’d probably be better off looking for a WXGA or derivative instead.
What’s wrong with Toshiba? My dad has had one for several years, and it works perfectly. He also got it dirt cheap on Black Friday.
Laptops are NOT geared towards gaming. At all.