Laptop Recommendations?

Eric · Jun 16, 2004

Need some help on picking out a laptop. Never gotten a laptop before so I'm out of my league, here.

Since it's a laptop I'll just accept the fact now that it won't be a polygon pushing gaming machine (for when Half Life 2 is released in 2008)

It just needs to get the usual things done.

But more is better.

To set a ceiling on the price I was thinking no more than $2500 probably. That should give myself some room to work with.

I wasn't planning on going Mac, but should I?

One other suggestion I've heard is to just go the Dell route.

But any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Eric

brentsg · Jun 16, 2004

My new PowerBook 12" makes me drool.

No regrets...

Ok, I regret not having one of the new dual 2.5GHz G5 desktops too.

B

slerch666 · Jun 16, 2004

Dell's are damn fine machines.

No matter what you choose, ALWAYS, ALWAY, ALWAYS get the extended warranty. A laptop by nature is mobile, so of course it's more prone to dropping being slammed around and so on. If you get a Dell, you may also want Complete Care. Spill your soda on your laptop while it's on? They'll fix it. They'll fix it for just about anything you can think of... to a certain extent, of course.

Eric · Jun 18, 2004

Bump

Or am I getting a Dell?

PleaseKillMeNow · Jun 18, 2004

There was this stripper named Candy...

Best thing that ever was on top of my lap.

vincewy · Jun 18, 2004

Eric:

If your budget is around 2 grand and you're looking for a good/durable lappy that'll last a long time, please, stay away from all main brands like Dell, Gateway, HP, the main problem is trying to get customer services when thing do go wrong.

Check their ratings at resellerratings.com and you'll be surprised (on the site check Buyrite's rating too), I personally recommend a boutique computer shops which you can talk to the owner/tech if you run into problems.

I found a few like - Voodoo, Falcon Northwest , Hypersonic, HWG- these guys rule, Velocity Micro, Overdrive, Thunderbox, BOXX , no lappy, mostly server type gaming units, and Maingear, with cool, custom case(s).

If you don't want to pay for custom painted and/or designed cases/towers, check out ABS, Gentech, Morel, Puget CC, Raptor OCX, Screamworx, Starfish, Tasty PC, Tantus, and Zeus.

With these options, wonder why so many people still buy main brand PCs (lappy and desktops).

dullbuoy · Jun 18, 2004

i have a programmer friend and his only recommendation is the IBM thinkpad. but even those cost quite a bit even if you try to buy them used.

Neo Mike · Jun 18, 2004

My first choice would be the alienware: www.alienware.com

That would be if money was no object

Otherwise, a tried and true sony vaio will definately fit the bill in terms of quality, speed, and aesthetics

I have a sony vaio 2.8 G laptop that roxors :buttrock:

vincewy · Jun 18, 2004

Mike:

Alienware isn't as good as what people perceived to be, units are mass-produced and tech support is outsourced overseas, you'll be better off getting one from your mom-and-pop computer shop locally.

Neo Mike · Jun 18, 2004

One of my coworkers has one, and loves it. I think its powerful and looks pretty badass. Allthough the price is too steep.

vincewy · Jun 18, 2004

BTW, AW is still miles better than Dell, Gateway and HP. For lappy I'd always get extended warranty as the units are frail, all parts are compacted together with high probability of failures due to overheating (little air to go around inside).

The coolest part about AW is the color selection on the desktop, yup, they have pink AREA 51 for a while.

Eric · Jun 18, 2004

Thanks for all the links and advice.

Time to set aside a couple hours and go about looking through all of this.

Benimaru · Jun 18, 2004

Look man if you have some extra cash then go with vaio. If your funds are limited go with a dell. You can't go wrong as long as you have extended warranty.

brentsg · Jun 18, 2004

I would strongly consider one of the Athlon 64 based 15.4" screen models. I think there are a couple that hover in the $1200-1300 range.

One of them is made by e-Machines which isn't a brand you'd normally think much of. The thing is, the unit is made for them by the same folks that make laptops for some of the Alienware or Voodoo ones. I forget the exact details but I almost bought one. I had tracked down who made the chasis and referenced it against the other manufacturers. The quality is quite good on this one and it's a good value.

I think there are some Compaq branded ones too.

If you want to play games, you'll be hard pressed to find something better than a laptop with a mobile Athlon 64 3000+, or 3200+ with a Radeon 9600 or 9700 mobile chip.

B

Verythrax · Jun 18, 2004

The iBooks' cost/benefit is very good, IMO.

If price isn't a problem, get a Sony VAIO - the iBook of PCs. And it's a very powerful big little machine

not sonic · Jun 18, 2004

i cant fathom buying one of these smaller shop pc's. theyre so incredibly over priced you could get two if you build it your self.

notebooks on the other hand, i wouldnt really know...so this post isnt much more than a +1.

aria · Jun 18, 2004

Dude!

You're an undergrad and USC has plenty of computer labs (Leavey and King are open 24/7)! Get a desktop. I did back in my day and, dang-nabbit, it worked for me.

Seriously though, I got a Dell for law school, its been nice for the price. Regardless of laptops, I recommend getting the best screen you can get for it so it doesn't cause too much eye strain. I've also heard good things about Sonys and, if you're willing to take compatibility risks, a Mac.

RabbitTroop · Jun 18, 2004

There are really only two serious ones to consider:

If you want a Mac, you get a Powerbook.

If you want a PC, you get a Thinkpad.

samuraiX · Jun 18, 2004

Thinkpads are very nice, agreed. But overpriced.

HP/ Compaq are crap (though I'm using a hp ze5400 right now)

Toshiba is also a good alternative

Sony is nice but again, overpriced.

Offbrands I would be weary of, desktops are one thing but laptops, nuh uh.

I've had/ have probably 5-IBMs 8-Compaq/HPs 2-toshibas

Of those the IBMs were by far the best and most stable followed by Toshiba then HP/Compaq in the rear.

happy hunting

Kristian Meller · Jun 18, 2004

Toshiba gets a recommendation from me, and yes, you should ALWAYS get the extended warranty, preferably with some place where you can drop it off yourself and have it fixed within a couple of days.

You WILL need to have it fixed, if it's moved every day. I think I had mine fixed two or three times during the three years of High School I used it.

Verythrax · Jun 18, 2004

Yes Toshiba laptops are good and cheap. There's a lot o Toshibas here at work.

I would prefer it over the Dells.

Eric · Jun 18, 2004

Bobak said:
Dude!

You're an undergrad and USC has plenty of computer labs (Leavey and King are open 24/7)! Get a desktop. I did back in my day and, dang-nabbit, it worked for me.

Seriously though, I got a Dell for law school, its been nice for the price. Regardless of laptops, I recommend getting the best screen you can get for it so it doesn't cause too much eye strain. I've also heard good things about Sonys and, if you're willing to take compatibility risks, a Mac.

So you want me to get a desktop so I can skip class to play FPS and romz instead of going to class? :buttrock:

But seriously I'm still leaning towards the laptop route. I'm definitely going to take my time on this decision, and will probably tell you guys what I finally decide on. (Probably right before the deal is finalized, just in case)

PS for Bobak: Gonna have a chance to attend any games this year? I think during away games I might be able to score some tickets to UCLA home games. :make_fac:

Electroman · Jun 18, 2004

I researched laptops for 2 months last year, and came to the conclusion that:

Apple Ibook: prob the best laptops you can find, if you have the money and patience that you won't find friggin anything to run on them.

Dells initially have alot of value but in the end are massproduced consumer-based machines that appeal to mainstream users. Many of these models get hot, and if you want to talk to tech support, say hi to Abu for me.

HP/Compaq make good systems and are priced right. Don't know much about these.

Alienware/Sony/Toshiba: Overpriced

So what did I buy after 2 months of agony? IBM dood. Paid $1150 this past January for it i think. It runs BF1942, all the quakes, and even Halo like a dream:
Model R40 Centrino 1.3G, 256MB ram, Radeon 7500, 802.11b internal, and its built like a friggin tank too. The Wifi range is excellent, its very stable, one touch "oh shit!" button incase something wrong happens to the computer... I love it. Its certainly the most conservative laptop you can buy but its 100% quality through and through.

brentsg · Jun 18, 2004

Just fyi, a couple of people in this thread mentioned the lack of apps for the Apple line of notebooks... A couple of folks at my work mentioned it too, when I bought mine.

The recent Macs run on a UNIX core so there are a ton of applications that you can grab free. They will run along side the regular OS X apps with no problems. There are also a couple package manager utilities that make it simple to install and maintain these applications.

Aside from that, Office 2004 maintains good compatibility with the PC variant.

Now, if you are looking for a laptop to play PC games on you'll want to stay on the PC side for sure. Most major games come to Mac but you have to wait a bit.

B

SSS · Jun 18, 2004

Electroman said:
HP/Compaq make good systems and are priced right. Don't know much about these.

DO NOT BUY HP/COMCRAP

seriously, there is a reason why you can buy compaqs at radio shack.

Avoid.

Laptop Recommendations?

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