catchy
join:2006-09-12
MY | reply to gate1975mlm
Re: Best Notebook computer brand?
Acer |
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joako
Premium
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to mromero
said by mromero  :Apple MacBook or MacBook Pro Maybe the MacBook Pro, but IMO The MacBook is built with very poor quality components. Apple's design philosophy leads to some very nice looking hardware but that entails certain compromises. The power cords for example in Apple laptops have been very poor. Expect to buy a new one every 1-2 years.
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Am Heimcomputer sitz' ich hier, und programmier' die Zukunft mir |
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Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC
| reply to gate1975mlm
I'm looking into an Alienware for a colleague right now. We have several Panasonic Toughbooks floating around that have been pretty good. Especially since the guy who usually ends up destroying his laptops hasn't been able to break the Toughbook yet.
Dell laptops are definitely not so great, and my experiences with HP/Compaq are about the same opinion. |
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Ctrl Alt Del
Premium
join:2002-02-18
| reply to gate1975mlm
I own a Dell Inspiron 8600, a Toshiba Satellite A45-S120, and a Apple MacBook Pro.
The Dell is 3 years old and really shows it. The hinge that holds the monitor is broken on one side. Now the monitor has little resistance holding it up. The button that detects when the monitor lid is closed no longer works. So when I close the lid the machine doesn't detect it. I now have to manually put Windows into sleep. I've used this machine for 3 years of college, so it's been put through lots of use.
The Toshiba works great. Some of the keyboard buttons are not responsive sometimes. I'll push the Windows key and nothing happens. Push it again and it works. The hardware is solid, but it's a big heavy laptop from the Pentium 4 mobile era. Not fun to lug around.
And now I have a new MacBook Pro 15 inch. The hardware is top notch. It's the hottest notebook I have when running the CPU hard, but it's also the fastest, the only dual core notebook I have, and the thinnest. I love the machine. My MacBook Pro is by far the best machine I've used. It feels solid, doesn't make noises when I open and close the lid, it goes to sleep and wakes up faster than XP or Vista, and is now my main machine.
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less talk, more music |
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Somnambul33t
L33t.
Premium
join:2002-12-05
Mullica Hill, NJ
clubs:
 ·Comcast
| reply to gate1975mlm
dell or apple
i do a lot of work on retail laptops and acers are by far the worst pieces of crap on the planet. theyre made of cheap plastic and have horrible, horrible support. their recovery partitions rarely ever work and most of them dont even come with adequate CD burning software.
ive probably had my hands on over 5000 laptops, of which maybe 300 were acers, and not one impressed me or convinced me they're worth buying.
gateway's are OK, but i like HPs much more, and Dell more so than them. of course apple is a whole different ball game with OSX and such, can possibly cause some headaches if you do a lot of work on PCs and then try to do some of it on your apple, but once you get the hang of it or the quirks of xferring files and such in the different formats it's not so bad.
acers do give you more bang for your buck, but only until the bang breaks and you gotta replace it after 13 months.
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Somnambulator - t3h 5133pw41k3r
~Choosy moms choose Jif~ |
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MemphisPCGuy
Senior Systems Engineer
Premium
join:2004-05-09
Memphis, TN | reply to gate1975mlm
May have been mentioned .. but look for a MIL-SPEC (Military Spec) notebook for the most rugged.
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»www.memphispcguy.com |
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nothappy
@bellsouth.net
| reply to gate1975mlm
Acer had a deal with ferrari for a while for a really nice laptop. I doubt a company like ferrari would waste their name on a crappy company but I don't like how gateway will now be part of the acer manufacturing capacity.
Panasonic and fujitsu are the only two companies left that sill make their laptops in japan. They are great and very different but cost a lot of money. Forget sony just forget them from now on they are all made in china like everyone else probably by the same 50 or so workers that make everything else lol.
I don't like toshiba anymore not since I've had to deal with so many of them overheating regardless of how well I setup the heatsink or cleaned them. Some of them have just died right out of the store. Try acer and if you don't like it move up to a panasonic if money isn't a big limit for you. Remember that panasonic is part of matsushita electroncs which I think is the biggest manufacturer in the world.
You know... I still have an old panasonic REAL 3DO game system from way back in the mid 90's that still works even now lol. |
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Telly Boot
Premium
join:2002-05-15
Vancouver, BC
 ·TELUS
| Fujitsu still makes its own notebook computers in Japan, but they are not that expensive: the Lifebook A6025 Notebook that I just bought is on backorder at Newegg / on sale for $648. It's a basic 2 Ghz Core-Duo notebook with a great screen and numerous nice features.
Discussed here: »Older notebook centrinos: how hot?
My wife has new Toshibas at work, her new Satellite A100 VA9 is very good quality, although it did drop a battery latch button right away. Her previous one was very reliable, and my brother has failed to kill his lower-end Toshiba despite two years of muddling through [not a computer whiz...].
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Dawn,n,The time when men of reason go to bed. (Ambrose Bierce.) |
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CMoore2004
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI | reply to gate1975mlm
For the record, I have a Gateway and wouldn't ever buy a Gateway again. In fact, I didn't buy this one. |
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decx
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Vancouver, BC
·Bell Sympatico
| said by CMoore2004 :For the record, I have a Gateway and wouldn't ever buy a Gateway again. In fact, I didn't buy this one. Same here, while not a notebook, I do have a few years old Gateway desktop. With the lack of quality (hardware and custom driver issues), lousy support, and unresolved issues, I wouldn't buy or recommended a Gateway. In fact the only two things I liked about the system was a fairly solid steel chassis and the nice cow print box it came in.
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Go Leafs Go! |
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sbyte2
join:2007-08-27
Gallipolis, OH | reply to gate1975mlm
I have the acer 5570-2052. Best laptop I've ever had. |
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jbryan
join:2004-11-30
White, PA | reply to gate1975mlm
If you want video quality, you must buy a SONY! |
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CMoore2004
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI
| reply to decx
I should've known not to accept a Gateway as a replacement for my Compaq. When I was working at the school, we had a classroom full of Gateway's miniature towers, all overheating. I suspected I'd have the same problems with the laptop, and I was close... burns the hell out of me, but I can't get it to die.
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Charter 5M | Windows XP MCE SP2 | Mobile AMD Athlon 64 4000+ | 1.5GB RAM | ATI Mobile Radeon X600 128MB | 120GB HDD |
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tallytime
join:2001-10-19
Tallahassee, FL | reply to gate1975mlm
ThinkPads without a doubt.Rock solid machine and great support.
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Go Seminoles |
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art
join:2001-01-24
Bowmanville, ON
| reply to gate1975mlm
I bought a Toshiba Qosmio a couple of months back and even though it was double my initial budget, I don't regret one penny of it. Mega features that work well. Best screen of the many makes and models I saw. Decent video card, best sound system and with the DVD-Ram drive and included Bluetooth, it made my computing life a lot simpler and enjoyable. |
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AlterEgo
join:2001-01-09
Bayside, NY | reply to gate1975mlm
my vote goes to IBM/Lenovo, primarily because of their kick-ass keyboards. |
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jcr46385
join:2002-01-08
Valparaiso, IN
| reply to gate1975mlm
IBM Z60M ThinkPad and it's dock on 2504-10U with DVI video out to Eizo lcd monitor. My desktop HomeBrew powerhouse is now my backup and it's turn OFF!! saving couple bucks a month and it's lot cooler in the computer room.  |
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trparky
Bite My Shiny Metal Ass
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
clubs: | reply to gate1975mlm
I can't stand Acer's myself. I've not had any problems with HPs myself so, maybe I'm biased when I say this but I say HPs are good.
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Tom |
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roc5955
Premium
join:2005-11-26
Rosendale, NY
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to gate1975mlm
According to PC Magazine, Apple makes the best computers period, end of sentence.
They break down far less frequently, tech support is much better, and they are far more reliable than ANY other PC manufacturer, bar none.
I don't own one myself, but I have had the opportunity to get my hands on one for a couple of days, and I WILL buy one. Their desktops are also number one.
If I had to buy an "IBM" based laptop today though, I would purchase a thinkpad. They are built better, and more reliable, and have better tech support than most of the others.
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"Understanding is a three-edged sword." |
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moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD | reply to gate1975mlm
Have 2 Toshibas (mine and g/f) and one older Thinkpad x21. Friend's wife has an HP. All 3 do well and have had very little problems. |
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