gate1975mlm
Premium
join:2001-09-30
Philadelphia, PA
1 edit | Best Notebook computer brand?
So who makes the best Notebook computers nowadays?
Gateway,Dell,HP anyone else? |
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dbmaven
There's no shortage
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join:1999-10-26
Sty in Sky
clubs: | Acer
Same or more features
Lower price |
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gate1975mlm
Premium
join:2001-09-30
Philadelphia, PA
| said by dbmaven  :Acer Same or more features Lower price Good build quality? |
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bbrcat
Mojo Crankin' For Stan
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join:2000-12-09
NH
clubs: | reply to dbmaven
Agree |
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dbmaven
There's no shortage
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join:1999-10-26
Sty in Sky
clubs: | reply to gate1975mlm
Excellent build quality. |
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Locutus65
A Closed Mouth Gathers No Foot
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join:2001-05-24
Houston, TX
clubs: | reply to gate1975mlm
Toshiba. I've owned and sold several. Never had a problem one with any of them.
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GadgetsRme
R.I.P. dadkins
Premium
join:2002-01-30
Canon City, CO
1 edit | reply to gate1975mlm
Toshiba, Acer, HP
I have a Toshiba myself, which has been great.
Two of my customers swear by their Acers as does "lilhurricane".
My son-in-law has a HP that he uses when traveling and he
would break your arm if you tried to make him change.
edit for one word.
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decx
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join:2002-06-07
Vancouver, BC
 ·Bell Sympatico
1 edit | reply to gate1975mlm
I've had NEC, Dell, Toshiba, and Sony notebooks, but my current favourite would be Apple. My current Apple MacBook Pro 17 inch Hi-res has better build quality and was designed with a higher attention to detail (not to mention a lot better looking  ) then the other notebooks I've used.
My Sony notebook did have fairly good initial quality but long term wise it developed an annoying screen issue after the 3 year warranty ran out. Sony also had the annoying distinction of having the most, often useless, pre-installed software.
Toshiba and NEC were ok, but both had chassis that flexed much more than I would've liked and the Toshiba's heat management is lacking and would cause some stability problems with PCMCIA cards when the notebook heated up.
The Dell I used (an Inspiron 8100) was the worst. It combined design flaws (eg W2K and the notebook's power management was unable to turn off the LCD when the lid was closed) along with poor QA (problematic LCD panel). In the end I just returned it after almost a month and an on-site service.
I've also used a HP notebook and I've found them to be quite well built. But of their current offerings I found them to be somewhat overpriced for their specs. Although they would make excellent corporate notebooks, consumers and power-users would be better served by something else (like an Apple  ). |
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pro7070
BJ "The Prodigy" Penn
Premium
join:2002-06-28
Inman, SC | reply to gate1975mlm
I have had good luck with Acer as well. Excellent customer service. I like my old Acer than my new Core Duo Dell. Much more solid feel. |
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ChiTang
Premium,MVM
join:2002-08-23
Alhambra, CA
| reply to gate1975mlm
BEST in terms of WHAT?
Price/Cutomer Service/RMA Policy/Features/Warranty/Integration/etc...
I am amazed so many people can give a straight answer to such a vague question.
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I used to be indecisive, now I am not sure. |
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BarneyBadAss
Badasses Fight For Freedom
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join:2004-05-07
00001
 ·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | said by ChiTang :BEST in terms of WHAT? Price/Cutomer Service/RMA Policy/Features/Warranty/Integration/etc... I am amazed so many people can give a straight answer to such a vague question. Doesn't everyone use their notebooks for second base like I do? And when it's not base-a-ball season, I use it as a door stop! 
Hmmm... I thought it was obvious! 
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---Barney |
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Ken Peterson
Premium
join:2000-12-08 | reply to gate1975mlm
I've had good experience with the budget Compaqs - told two friends and they also got them - no problems and very happy.
Granted HP & Compaq are the same company, it appears that some of them are still built on different assembly lines. |
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gate1975mlm
Premium
join:2001-09-30
Philadelphia, PA
2 edits | Thanks for all your good advice.
One last thing
I would like something that is not too heavy and has good battery life like at least 4 hours. Also The main thing this labtop will be for is surfing the net and playing videos like the HD ones on quicktime. So how powerful of a cpu would I need to handle 720P and maybe even 1080P ones from quicktime? As for the price would love something around $500 but could go upto $1300 or so if needed. |
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dbmaven
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1 edit | reply to ChiTang
Good point. No metrics provided or requested, so it's a "touchy-feely" response.
I bought an Acer TravelMate 8210 about 10 months ago because I needed a high powered portable system. Given that it's primarily a "business desktop" in portable form - those were my requirements. It had to be portable enough to fit in a business case, which meant no 17" widescreen units.
On a price-performance basis, this was the unit that fit the bill for me at that time. 15.4" Widescreen with DVI and VGA outputs (plus S-Video if needed for presentations). Core 2 Duo T7200 (@ 2.0 Ghz), 2GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive, Dual-Layer DVD writer, Bluetooth and 802.11g wireless.
It is solid (Carbon Fiber case), very fast, has good battery life, and with Dual Core I have all the power I need for the programs I end up running on a daily basis.
Additional decision points for me: generally good reports of trouble-free performance of Acer units over the last 2-3 years, generally satisfied customers, equivalent warranty to other brands.
Hope those details help put my choice into perspective. |
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Gordo74
Premium
join:2003-10-28
Monroeville, PA
clubs: | reply to gate1975mlm
I also agree with Acer...
I would also throw Apple's name into the bunch. |
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banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance
join:2001-08-18
Naples, FL
·Comcast
| reply to gate1975mlm
This is a timely question for me; my wife is in need of a new notebook computer and I'm looking at our options. She currently has a four-year old Dell Inspiron 8600; to its credit, it hasn't had too many things go wrong with it, but the build quality right out of the box was atrocious (with a key popping off the keyboard on day one!). It creaks and groans and feels like it's going to come apart at any moment. The screen also failed about 1 year into the extended warranty, which you can believe I was glad I purchased.
I myself use a Dell Latitude D620 when traveling on business, which is far and away a better machine than most of Dell's Inspiron series. But the Latitudes aren't made for entertainment -- mine has just one cheesy mono speaker, for example.
One thing is certain, I'm not buying any more Dell machines.
I'm surprised at all the good remarks about Acer. For some reason I thought Acers were only good in Asia and that the machine bearing the Acer name in North America were of poor quality. For those who like Acer, what store or website would you recommend I purchase one? My wife herself is from Asia and had an Acer notebook in 1998 which she liked.
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DKS
Damn Kidney Stones
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join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON
clubs: | reply to gate1975mlm
I've had two Lenovo ThinkPads and liked them both. |
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HardwareGeek
join:2003-11-15
Brooklyn, NY | reply to gate1975mlm
Toshiba |
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dbennett1106
join:2000-05-28
Menlo Park, CA | reply to gate1975mlm
Toshiba, hands down. |
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hkancyr
join:2003-08-05
West Haven, CT
| reply to gate1975mlm
Take a look at Sagernotebook.com. I checked out the NP2070 upgraded a few things(processor to 2.2Ghz-Memory to 2 Gig's-HDD to 120Gigs-Bluetooth) for around $1100. Sager usually gives a lot of bang for the buck.
Once you do decide on something, go to Notebookforums.com and see what problems people are having with that particular model to avoid walking into something that was avoidable. |
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