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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

What laptop brand should I buy?!

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Aug 12, 2007
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I had a Toshiba Tecra M4 until about two weeks ago when it died! I've had it for about 2 years though. It was a fantastic laptop, I would recommend Toshiba, though I know you have said you've had problems.

Now I'm looking at a MacBook... lol. With the Edu discount it works out pretty good and lets face it... Mac's are good, even more so now you can dual boot with Windows, which I know isn't a new thing, just saying lol. If only I could put Linux on one as well I would be in heaven lol.

I would also suggest at not looking at big brand names, you don't have to. For example, there's a local computer supplier near me in the UK called Novatech that sell some bloody fantastic systems at bloody fantastic prices lol. So I would suggest looking at local places if you have somewhere like Novatech.

http://www.novatech.co.uk incase anyone is interested.

Medd
 





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meddigo said:
I had a Toshiba Tecra M4 until about two weeks ago when it died!  I've had it for about 2 years though.  It was a fantastic laptop, I would recommend Toshiba, though I know you have said you've had problems.

Now I'm looking at a MacBook... lol.  With the Edu discount it works out pretty good and lets face it... Mac's are good, even more so now you can dual boot with Windows, which I know isn't a new thing, just saying lol.  If only I could put Linux on one as well I would be in heaven lol.

I would also suggest at not looking at big brand names, you don't have to.  For example, there's a local computer supplier near me in the UK called Novatech that sell some bloody fantastic systems at bloody fantastic prices lol.  So I would suggest looking at local places if you have somewhere like Novatech.

http://www.novatech.co.uk incase anyone is interested.

Medd
Yes I know to not buy the big name brands, they are just status things to say "I'm so rich I can afford this beautiful Sony laptop with the latest everything!!". Mac's look beautiful, gotta love that glowing apple on the back of the screen ;) but they are a bit expensive. I'm looking into a HP now, the dell XPS is ok but HP looks nicer and probably has better battery life. Thanks for the link though, if I ever move to the UK I'll know where to buy computers :)
 
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Alienware has awesome looking laptops. But I have no personal experience with them, so I can't say if you're buying an overpriced hyped laptop.

If you want durability get a Toshiba. I have had several of those, and even the oldest which I still have (a PIII) still works flawlessly and the exterior looks as if it was a few months old. Only the battery is almost KIA, but what do you expect.

I also hear positive things about HP laptops, my brother in law who is a professional programmer is a fan of those.

I'd steer clear of Dell laptops. We use Dell desktops and laptops at my work, and with a desktop which sits stationary on or below your desk the not so good build quality (case) isn't a factor, but them laptops break down quite often. Broken lock buttons, display problems, gaps in the casing, etc.
 
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Jul 22, 2008
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Another vote for IBM/Lenovo! I'm a computer repairman and work on laptops daily, ThinkPads win hands down. Rock solid, reliable, black. :cool: The T-series is what you wanna get - tons of power, but still thin and <5lbs.
 
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Feb 28, 2008
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lenovo x61, 12 inch screen and like 2 pounds.

or the new super tiny 8 or 10 inch lenovo.
 
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Petrovski said:
Alienware has awesome looking laptops. But I have no personal experience with them, so I can't say if you're buying an overpriced hyped laptop.

alienware are very powerful laptops but for the money you can get SO SO much more.

they have a few benefits on some of their laptops such as some offer a serial port which is VERY rare for a laptop these days and sometimes required for people in the engineering field and also the laser projector field.

:)

think the best bang for the buck is hp

and please dont get a dell they have a terrible track record!
 

rkcstr

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I have a Dell XPS M1330. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it looks great, is light, and runs well. On the other, I have had so much trouble with screens failing (and subsequent replacements failing, likely due to their tech's shitty job of repair... LED backlight screen), then my hard drive failed, then Dell took about 6 weeks to get the situation resolved (and I have the 3 yr in-home and accidental warranty).

If it wasn't for all the screw-ups on Dell's part on the replacement (and a hard drive failure at 7 months in sucks too), I would really have no complaints. Overall, I really DO like the laptop.


But, looking now, I really like the look of the Lenovo U-series... the U330 is about on par as far as size/weight and style as the Dell M1330, and then the U110 takes the size a step smaller and is only 2.4lbs :eek: Plus, search slickdeals.net for lenovo and take a look at their discount thread currently... get a basically fully-loaded U330 for possibly ~$800 before tax/ship!

EDIT (lenovo deal thread on SlickDeals):
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=903809
 
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well then go with toshiba

i've used some toshiba notebooks and they perform really well for what they do.
 

vcw

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Alienware is actually less expensive than many other laptop manufacturers.
I've been researching for a couple months on what laptop I'm planning on getting myself.
What I suggest is the Gateway FX P7811, or the FX P7812j which will be comming out in a couple months or so, but I've been reading a bit of cons on the FX's, so I'd wait for other versions.

Also, I have an Alienware I'm selling, it's an m9750, PM me for more details, it's also in your budget, :)

Here's a sexy picture of it:
n1030980250_30066414_4544.jpg
 
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I have a Gateway P-6860FX

It has a Core 2 Duo T5550 64-bit 1.83GHz processor, 4GB ram, NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS with dedicated 512MB RAM, 17" wide screen display with 1440x900 resolution. It has a full keyboard including a 10-key keypad, SC/MMC/MS/XD card reader, DVD RW...

The thing runs clean. Never had a problem with it and looks pretty good (has some style).

My last laptop was an HP Pavilion ZE series that's over 5-years old and is still running strong although circling the drain only because of the sheer power required today.
 

kubbur

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i would recommend dell as both for laps and pc's, have you looked at apple macbook ?
 

vcw

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Dell...
Mac...

They are just over priced compared to other brands.
If you try configuring a dell to the same specs as any other manufacturer, you'll see a big difference if you were to buy from the other company.
Even Voodoo PC has made their computers not a expensive as Dell.
 




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