Laptop Brands

[Sy_Accursed]

Well I'm thinking of replacing my laptop thats gotten a bit battered (even thou I only had it like a yr) it was never exactly brilliant spec. But its annoying me now as it can't run rs above SD graphics, it frequently lags due to lowish cpu n ram and harddrive too small for me.

 

I kinda like being able to customise my builds, but no way i culd fully self-build a laptop. So I'm leaning towards Dell and Alienware laptops.

 

Alienware are lush but probs overkill spec n price.

Dell seem decent, but I've heard bad things about them in the past.

 

What do you guys think? Dell okay these days? or avoid at all costs?

[Skeptical]

My Dad, who has had three dell laptops in the price range of 50-800 bucks in the past 5 years, would say avoid Dell AT ALL COSTS. The hinges went, the batteries developed problems, and they all failed as soon as the warranty ran out. Literally, all 3.

 

Alienware is cool, but way overpowered for normal use, and if you're a speed freak, either learn how to assemble your own computer, or find someone else's custom build that they'd be willing to sell. AW is overpriced, but good quality: think of Whole Foods.

 

I'm fairly happy with my HP laptop, and I've had good experiences with Toshiba in the past, so I'm fairly neutral about those brands. HP has a build your own system on their website that I used (wasn't as interested in computers when I purchased.)

 

EDIT: also, if you wanted to consider upgrading your laptop it likely wouldn't be too hard: for a few hundred bucks, you can get an external hardrive for movies and such, more memory, clean it out, and overclock the crap out of it if it's a mid/low range processor. Graphics cards are cheap too.

 

Remember to (preferably) donate, or even sell your old computer as well.

[Dbzruler72]

EDIT: also, if you wanted to consider upgrading your laptop it likely wouldn't be too hard: for a few hundred bucks, you can get an external hardrive for movies and such, more memory, clean it out, and overclock the crap out of it if it's a mid/low range processor. Graphics cards are cheap too.

For a laptop, I strongly advise against overclocking. Laptop components are made for lower power consumption to reduce heat. This is one of the reasons for mobile CPU's and mobile GPU's.

 

 

Paw_Claw, what's the budget? You should go with cooldog08's suggestion and use HP's laptop customization. Aim for no lower than a 2 GHz dual-core CPU and a HD 3200 or 4200.

[Sy_Accursed]

Well I dont exactly have a budget figure in mind, other than cheaper than alienware.

 

I deffo want something with decent cpu, ram (like 4gb), 500gb harddrive should do me. Would like a decent graphics card so like an Ati or w/e seen a few 512mb about, but most seem to be 1gb newat.

Kinda debating whether something with a blu-ray reader (maybe even writer) would be good. Future ready and what not.

 

Sony Vaio E Series seems to cover the bases, but I couldn't see much in terms of wifi equipment on them?

 

Also HP one ain't available in uk =/ Sony is though, they much cope?

[Sbrideau]

I'd personally look at Asus laptops, they are very reliable and will not break. HP is pretty reliable too from what I've seen and experienced with my old computer that was an HP. Tell me a price and I'll find a laptop that I would think would suit you pretty well.

[Jernlov]

Avoid Alienware. Just avoid it.

 

ASUS seems to be pretty solid as far as laptops go. HP is trash, avoid. Several of my friends had problems with flimsy build quality and power adapters. My sister has an Advent laptop which seems to be running well so far (it is three months old.)

[Pinkbullet3]

I'm currently typing from an Asus K60 that I bought from Best Buy on Monday for $500. Everything is superb. The only downside is the sound, especially when you use headphones.

 

I think since Asus doesn't manufacture their own speakers, they use Altec Lansing (Altec Lansing's logo is just above the F1 key), and Altec Lansing's laptop speakers suck.

 

I was using my dad's Acer netbook before I bought this laptop, and that netbook's sound quality was awesome. I have a 14-day return/exchange period from Monday, so I'm not sure if I should return it or exchange it.

 

[Ouchy]

Never get a Dell. Ever. They are terrible. My friend has one, and it broke all the time when he used it.

[stevepole]

I'm a fan of Sony and Lenovos when it comes to windows operated machines. They cost a little more $$$ but I think for their quality its worth it.

[Jeffwilson99]

I have an HP that's just over two years old, never had any problems at all with it, so I can vouch for an HP.

[Sbrideau]

I'm a fan of Sony and Lenovos when it comes to windows operated machines. They cost a little more $$$ but I think for their quality its worth it.

 

Lenovos cost much less than most other computers and have no quality at all, all they have is durability, but they don't seem to last more than 2 or 3 years.

[das1330]

Alienware is Dell - they have been a subsidiary of the business for several years.

 

 

With that in mind, the laptop you pick depends heavily upon what your budget is and on what you use it for. Brands like ASUS and Toshiba are relatively cheap given the hardware packed into the chassis, but quality is often terrible as a result. On the other end of the spectrum is Apple, whose computers are very expensive but extremely well built and durable. Overall the current generation of Dell laptops have excellent build quality given their price, with HP a close second. Additionally, both companies' high end computers - the XPS line for Dell and the ENVY line for HP offer very good computers at a comparatively reasonable cost. Similarly, Sony makes good computers, but they compete with Apple IE expensive given their performance figures but with excellent build quality.

 

 

The common claim that Dell's quality is terrible is outdated - several years back (in the 2003-2007 era) the founder of the business, Micheal Dell retired and was replaced by a career CEO who focused on cutting costs by doing things like outsourcing call centers to India, reducing computer build and component quality, and similar such practices. Dell lost substantial market share and as a result the founder Micheal Dell returned, firing the old CEO and in the process improving the quality of their products substantially.

[Solartide]

As part of my IT job is to put requisitions out for laptops and equipment, I come in contact with all sorts of laptops, and need to fix them as problems arise.

 

Toshiba- Main complaint I'm hearing about these is that they're really hot. The newer laptops have this fancy keyboard that is really susceptible to fingerprints. Apparently some older models have a BIOS problem that will cause the pc to crash, but I think Pheonix v 2.0 fixed that.

 

Asus- Those small pcs are nice, but the keyboards are really annoying. If you're used to using a full sized keyboard, the smaller one will need some time 'til you get used to it. Otherwise, pretty solid, except for some performance issues. But really, what can you demand out of one of those small things?

 

Dell- We're big fans of this company. Sure, problems arise, once we got a shipment of pcs and one of them had a faulty psu. Well, I put in a request for a new one, and got it delivered a day later. They're new super laptop line, forgot the exact name, looks awesome, but it's really heavy.

 

Alienware- Owned by Dell, they're newest one comes off the standard line at 700 bucks I believe?

 

Mac- lolmacs

 

Sony- Watch out for paying for the name, the Vaio line has the same specs as some others on the market, but can fetch a couple extra dollars off Sony's name.

 

Lenovo- They're releasing their products quickly, but a little too quickly. The initial specs seem nice but we haven't seen it's competitors yet because they came out first

 

Gateway- I like them. Are they still in business? Back when they were, I liked their pcs!

 

Acer- Same as Asus. Only difference is that Acer USA headquarters is down the street, so if I have an issue, there we go.

 

HP- You know, I don't think I've ever used an HP book before, I've seen them being used, and the outer case looks sexy.

[Laura]

Gateway- I like them. Are they still in business? Back when they were, I liked their pcs!

Gateway is a subsidiary of Acer. Acer bought Gateway in late 2007 for something like $700M USD.

[egbert_o_foo]

Gateway- I like them. Are they still in business? Back when they were, I liked their pcs!

Gateway is a subsidiary of Acer. Acer bought Gateway in late 2007 for something like $700M USD.

Ditto EMachines, now.

 

I heard it "rumoured" that almost every laptop in existence comes from like one of 2 factories in China.

Dunno it to be true, but it's something to think about. So, the main thing you're paying for is the design

and quality of the components (which were picked by the designer). Find out which have the best

features, and why, and you'll know whose laptops are the best.

[Sbrideau]

Alienware is Dell - they have been a subsidiary of the business for several years.

 

 

With that in mind, the laptop you pick depends heavily upon what your budget is and on what you use it for. Brands like ASUS and Toshiba are relatively cheap given the hardware packed into the chassis, but quality is often terrible as a result. On the other end of the spectrum is Apple, whose computers are very expensive but extremely well built and durable. Overall the current generation of Dell laptops have excellent build quality given their price, with HP a close second. Additionally, both companies' high end computers - the XPS line for Dell and the ENVY line for HP offer very good computers at a comparatively reasonable cost. Similarly, Sony makes good computers, but they compete with Apple IE expensive given their performance figures but with excellent build quality.

 

 

The common claim that Dell's quality is terrible is outdated - several years back (in the 2003-2007 era) the founder of the business, Micheal Dell retired and was replaced by a career CEO who focused on cutting costs by doing things like outsourcing call centers to India, reducing computer build and component quality, and similar such practices. Dell lost substantial market share and as a result the founder Micheal Dell returned, firing the old CEO and in the process improving the quality of their products substantially.

 

What you said about Asus is wrong. Having an Asus laptop myself, I know what extreme quality they are. 2 years down the path, my laptop still works as good as when it was brand new. I don't know about Dell quality though, but last I checked they still broke pretty easilly, and one of them was my friend's DELL XPS just a few months ago, which was 3 months old. And you're even more wrong with Apple. Their computers are the same as the others, but their marketing made you think what you are thinking there, which is simply not true, they're overpriced average computers as much as the ones you see in stores.

 

As for the Toshibas, I've seen quite a few of them running hot, and even one that wasn't a year old that had the screen come off the hinges.

[Mirror]

I can only speak for HP and Acer, as those have been the two types of laptops I have own(ed). I first got an HP in 2007, ran into two problems: The Wireless died and had to get it replaced (luckily it was still under warranty so all free) and the second thing that killed it was the motherboard crashed. Both I guess were two major problems with the type of HP I bought, which I should had checked on before buying but it was an excellent deal at the time and couldn't pass it up. Overall it served me well (except those two instances) for two years. Great starter computer for me when I went away for University.

 

Now I am typing on my Acer, which I know when I bought it was a cheapo computer (it was under $400). Sound quality is pitiful, ports are at the minimalistic I could have them, and low processor speed. But hey, I had the idea when I was going into it because of how cheap it was. Overall, it runs and types and clicks so I'm happy with it.

 

Overall, just do your research and make sure you are happy with your purchase. :)

[Laura]

And you're even more wrong with Apple. Their computers are the same as the others, but their marketing made you think what you are thinking there, which is simply not true, they're overpriced average computers as much as the ones you see in stores.

Not really. The whole reason I bought a laptop from Apple was because if when I had a problem I could talk to someone in my own country. And recently, it was news on Engadget that the iPad wouldn't charge (note, that is different than syncing) on many laptops that didn't come out of Cupertino. That's not because the iPad was purposely designed that way, it's because Apple continues to out-do the USB standard for power on their machines. People are just now seeing the parts that some companies skimp on. Many users also commented that Sony didn't have this problem. You pay a premium for it and it sure shows.

[Will H]

We've got an Acer laptop, and it's been speeding along very happily for about 4 months now, after it was decrapified. The sound quality is ok for a laptop, but it seems to be of good build quality, is very stable, and the battery life is ok (~4 hours).

 

I wish more of these computer/laptop manufacturers actually had their own shops so you can talk to them about troubleshooting, instead of facelessly shipping them to general computer shops. Apple does it, but their stuff is overpriced.

[indy500fan]

I'm happy with my Acer laptop, except for the speakers.

 

I would say don't really worry about brands, look at reviews. This doesn't just go for laptops but all electronics. So many different brands of laptops all come out of two or three factories somewhere in Asia that it is pointless to worry about brands of anything.

[Solartide]

Macs are the same as pcs, only they look fancy and you void your warranty when you try to fix it.

 

They didn't even make their own OS, they just put FreeBSD in a dress and called it a day.

 

[/workrelatedmacrage]

[Jernlov]

What you said about Asus is wrong.

 

I think he's quite right. My ASUS monitors were good for the money (picture-wise), but within a week I had stuck pixels and eventually dead pixels on one (which I got refunded for) and within 2 months, the backlight on the other one started flickering. I figured it wasn't worth the battle a second time and took a look myself; loose connection. I patched that up and it worked for another two months, but suddenly the backlight bleed intensified and the flicker became far worse; really shoddily made but YGWYPF. I've recommended ASUS a few times here (in this very thread!) and I will never recommend them again after those. Not what I would call well-made at all. It's a shame because the actual picture quality on them was brilliant but the build just didn't live up to it.

 

Long story short, I took a gamble and lost. That's life.

[Denismage]

I bought a Lenovo laptop for 600$ and installed linux on it, couldn't be happier. Can't say anything about running runescape on hd and whatnot, haven't played that game in like 3 years.

[Sbrideau]

What you said about Asus is wrong.

 

I think he's quite right. My ASUS monitors were good for the money (picture-wise), but within a week I had stuck pixels and eventually dead pixels on one (which I got refunded for) and within 2 months, the backlight on the other one started flickering. I figured it wasn't worth the battle a second time and took a look myself; loose connection. I patched that up and it worked for another two months, but suddenly the backlight bleed intensified and the flicker became far worse; really shoddily made but YGWYPF. I've recommended ASUS a few times here (in this very thread!) and I will never recommend them again after those. Not what I would call well-made at all. It's a shame because the actual picture quality on them was brilliant but the build just didn't live up to it.

 

Long story short, I took a gamble and lost. That's life.

Maybe you had screens from a bad batch? We never know, and I haven't really thought about Asus screens, and know nothing about them, but their computers are very good. I have an Asus laptop, 2 years old now and still works like a brand new. 2 years warranty is fun too on their computers. Also I'm on a class where there's a lot of people with their laptops and college laptops (which are lenovo, and some of them had the motherboard changed because of a failure), and you can see the usage on most. On my Asus, only place the usage is apparent is the keyboard.

[Solartide]

Sounds like a problem with the inverter board.