Need Laptop Recommendations

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Hi Warriors,

Ok, I've been wanting a laptop for a long time and am now earnestly shopping for one. (I don't currently have a laptop, only a desktop.) I need some advice/recommendations.

Basically, here's what I've already decided:

I want a Toshiba laptop. I have a Dell desktop and it's been a very good computer overall. However, I bought a printer/scanner/fax all-in-one from Dell right after I bought my desktop and have never been able to get the fax fucntion to work. I'm a customer who reads the manual BEFORE calling customer support and when I did, I got someone in India who only told me what the user manual told me. I was royally ticked off with them and am now very wary of buying from Dell, especially since I've been hearing some horror stories from different people who bought Dells over the last couple of years.

I've been browsing at Best Buy and I really like the Toshibas and have heard they're very good and reliable.

The one I saw that I liked at Best Buy was a Toshiba Satellite M-something-or-other. (I didn't write down the exact model number.) I prefer a smaller laptop with a 14" screen as opposed to 15" or larger. The one I was looking at had 4 gigs of RAM and was priced at $649. I would have bought it on the spot except for one thing: the keys are very shiny and slick. Maybe it's dumb, but that really bugs me. I'd like the keys to have a matte finish so my fingers aren't sliding all around. I don't want shiny keys!

But the mousepad on that model was textured which meant that my finger would "catch", which I liked. And the speakers produced outstanding sound.

I'd really prefer to have XP instead of Vista since I've heard so many bad things about it. Best Buy won't sell me a laptop with XP on it, but ToshibaDirect.com DOES have some laptops available with XP already on them.

The trouble with ToshibaDirect.com is that I can't tell from the photos if the keys are shiny or not.

Any recommendations on a good Toshiba model? I'd greatly appreciate some advice.

Sincerely,
Michelle
#main internet marketing discussion forum #laptop #recommendations
  • Later this year they are going to have some netbooks that have touch screens running google android. Personally, that is what I am waiting for. I don't think they will be expensive at all.
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks for the input, but I'm not the least bit interested in a a netbook. I want a laptop with all of the inherent computing capabilites.

      My ex-boyfriend recently bought a netbook and I tried it out. The keyboard was waaay too small in my opinion (as was the screen) to work on comfortably for hours. If I were just going to use it to surf the 'Net and check e-mail, then yes, I'd probably look at a netbook. But this is a business purchase and it will get heavy use.

      Thanks,
      Michelle
      • [2] replies
  • Just a quick note. Toshiba ain't good as you think. I've got one. The graphics card is gone, the lcd screen was gone.. I got myself a new AlienWare..Don't go for Toshiba. I have the Satellite version of Toshiba..

    My 2 Cents

    G'day,
    Akky
    • [1] reply
    • Was the graphics card an Nvidia? Their laptop chips have been having quite a few problems as of late. I'm so glad I bought an laptop with an ATi chip inside.
  • When I am in the market for computers, I always look at Costco first. The computers they sell generally have competitive prices, a no-questions-asked return policy for the first ninety days, and a full-two year warranty.

    They also have a concierge service, which we used on our recent netbook purchase. Better service than going through the manufacturer's tech support.

    I think we have bought five computers from either the local Costco warehouse or from Costco.com, and have been pleased.
    • [1] reply
    • Interesting Darrel. I hadn't thought of buying at Costco. I don't have a membership there, but my parents do.

      AKKY,

      Thanks for your input. The frustrating thing about asking for a recommendation or opinion is that you get opinions which all over the map. Several people swear one particular computer is da bomb. Another HATES it.

      I like Dell. Mine has been pretty good to me over the years and I know many, many companies (including Fortune 500 companies) use Dell in their offices, including the company I work for. I'd buy a Dell in a second if I could trust that they'd support their products after the sale and I could actually TALK to someone here in America.

      But my own experience with their tech support over a simple question plus the horror stories I've heard from people I've known for a long time and really respect regarding their Dell purchases have made me very wary.

      It makes all this decision-making difficult to do, especially when I'm terrified of getting a computer lemon.

      Michelle
  • mac books are 64 bit and unstopable try one out
  • Michelle,
    Here's my take. Toshiba's a good brand, as I and many of my IT clients, use these. Mine's a Satellite A200, with 15.3" screen (bout 18 months old). The M-series are a slightly smaller, lighter version. When I first bought it, I was headlong I would scrub off Vista and put XP on it, but I thot "hey, Vista's already loaded so lemme try it, and if it's no good, I'll junk it anyway...) That was 18months ago... Haven't had major dramas, and if fact, I am pretty pleased with it. I also have 2 other computers, and another laptop, running on XP. One thot: support for XP is dwinling, so bear in mind....

    With Toshiba, the keyboard's either black characters on silver keys or silvery characters on black keys. IMHO, I find the former to be an easier read (some of my clients have the latter k/b).

    If you are primarily going to use the laptop on your desk, you can always hook up an external keyboard and mouse to it; there are also laptop stands you can get that will lift the display about 6inches off the desk to go with it. Example: http://www.jasypro.com/innovaeditor/...top_stand3.jpg

    Try to get a Duo Core processor model, anything over 2GB RAM is plenty.

    HTH....
  • Nightengale,

    Alienware is just the gaming section of DELL. You must get support in the "USA"... If not, then they don't deserve to be a company.. LOL..Anyways, I have some nice suggestions for Dell Laptop..

    Dell XPS M1730

    One of my friend is using the above one and he has been very happy with the purchase he made.. When buying laptops, you could specify your budget and the type of laptops you are looking for.. Like Gaming, Business, etc.. I think you might be looking for business. Please confirm.. Oh yes btw, most of the computers are 64-bit now - even mine. But a lot of programs I have used on my older desktop (32 bit) won't work on the new one..For example Google Chrome. GChrome is acting too weird.. Sometimes it won't close..Let me know your budget..


    -Akky
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks for the comments, guys.

      I'd like to buy something in the $500-$800 range and am really looking in the middle of that range right now. I was going to buy an Acer from an independent dealer who was recommended to me. The guy provides tech support, parts, etc. for all computers, but also sells new and used computers.

      For cash flow reasons, I'd like to go with a retailer where I can buy on payments. I'd probably pay it off completely in 2-3 months, but for the moment (like the next 2 weeks), coughing up the better part of $1,000 isn't going to happen.

      I'll be using this primarily for business, mostly Internet surfing, e-mail, word processing, HTML work in Dreamweaver, etc. I don't work with video, but I'd like to be able to work with audio and photos. I'm not a gamer, so I don't need what a gamer would need. However, I AM very impatient and so I'm willing to spend the money for extra memory for speed.

      I just went over to Dell's site and am looking there right now.

      The guy at Best Buy tonight told me they've had reports of problems with Dell's Studio line, so I was looking at their Inspiron line. (Isn't that their middle-of-the-road line?)

      As I said, I prefer a smaller laptop (for portability, plus I'm a small woman who needs something lightweight). I don't require an expensive, top-of-the-line laptop. I just need something lightweight I can take with me to Panera Bread, Starbucks or Barnes and Noble and work from there. Like I said, this is for business. No gaming here.

      When buying things, when presented with choices A, B, & C (where C is top of the line, ultra-expensive), I usually go for the middle-of-the-road choice B. I don't like the lowest-end stuff but don't require top-of-the-line-choice-C. I bought a Honda Civic LX.

      HTH,
      Michelle
  • Back in good times when decent laptops were made in Japan most of them were good.
    Nowadays when most of them are made in China - they are all crap shot in terms of reliability or arm-and-leg in terms of price.
    Hence I'd go with Darrell advice toward Costco as a place to buy computers. Anything else means hassle down the road when thing will fall apart just after expiration of full-in-store-refund terms.
    I do respect Costco in terms of quality, price and high-endishness of stuff they offer.
  • Go with Toshiba. I have two Toshiba laptops with vista on them and they run perfectly fine. I've never had any problems or issues. You're right about the new toshiba's keyboards, they're too shiny for me. I have the oldschool silver keyboard and they rock!

    Toshiba Satellite P205D-S8804 Customer Ratings & Reviews - Top & Best Rated Products

    When it comes to stability these babies can go for hours without missing a beat. Sometimes I have them running for days and they never freeze up. I don't know, maybe I got lucky twice. If I ever need to buy another lap top it will definitely be a toshiba. There are those that will tell you to go with a mac, but you can crank out the same type of work with a toshiba than you would with a mac (at least for the type of work I do).
    • [1] reply
    • mix_daylee,

      Thanks for the recommendation but according to Toshiba's site, that moddel is no longer available.

      Michelle
  • I got a new Toshiba Satellite A-305 about 3 weeks ago, and it was also to replace a Dell that I've had for about 3-1/2 years. It is a pretty good machine, but I'm already on record with my thoughts on Windows Vista, and they're less than favorable. I gues I'm on a long and distinguished list here.

    Here is my advice on this. The Toshiba is a pretty good machine with the following exceptions. The batter life is terrible. I'm usually using the balanced power profile and I get about an hour and 2o minutes if I'm lucky. My Dell gets about twice that. I've turned off aero, which is suppoes to help batter life, although you lose the slick Vista look when you do that. If it does help, I'd hate to see how bad it would be otherwise. I have also turned my screen brightness down even further than it is with the out of the box balanced profile.

    I would recommend you get the Intel processor with the Centrino 2 chipset and the N wireless card. I got the AMD processor and the wireless G card. I got it because all the machines with the Intel and the N were open box units. I regret that now. This seems to have a real problem with N routers, although everything is supposed to backwrds compatible. It drops DNS, or switches to "local" so the internet goes away, although the network is still conected. If you're at a hotspot with a G router, it works great.

    Make sure you do all the Windows updates as soon as you get it, and update the drivers for the wireless card. I also replaced the antivrus too, because Ive heard too many bad things about the Norton that it came with.

    Good luck
  • I'd have to go with the notion that Toshiba isn't as good as it seems at the outset. I also had a Toshiba Satellite, but I found that a monumental problem with it was I couldn't see a thing on the screen once I got it out of the dark store and anywhere near sunlight. The screen was so reflective it made a portable computer essentially stuck on my desk. Not all models may be the same, but that was my experience.

    I went with an Acer after that and I've been extremely pleased. They are light, hardy (I've driven this thing all over the country), affordable and they perform very well. The model I have is a TravelMate 4200.

    Oh and like 'opportunitiesaplenty' said, the battery life on my Toshiba was woeful, but the Acer seems to last forever
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks for the recommendations! I'm an indoor girl and will rarely be outside or near full-on sunlight with my laptop. But I DO want good battery life. Something to keep in mind.

      Michelle
      • [1] reply
  • Have you considered a Mac at all? I was a diehard PC guy, but I decided to give Mac a try on a friend's recommendation a few years back and absolutely love OSX. Rock solid OS and I've never once had a crash, a virus, or any malware at all. The computer just always does what it is supposed to do without any worries. I still like PCs as well (I use one at work), but if I had to choose between the two now I'd definitely go with Mac.
  • Hi,

    I just bought an Acer 4736z. It's 2GB RAM, 250GB hard disk memory, DD3. It's sleek and processing is fast. I got it for $600. I'm on XP as well. The guy from shop was selling me Vista but I'd stick with good old XP. My new toy is 14.1" display. Keyboard is perfect.

    Uhmm, what else. I love it! I have a netbook as well and it's only good for checking mails when I'm out of town. I couldn't use it for business.

    The memory is upgradable, btw. Also this model is 6-cell battery=long battery life.
  • Dell's customer support is located in India and the Philippines.
  • I've got a acer desktop and notebook.
    Notebook is 15inch xp.
    I'm not sure if acer sell with xp anymore..i think HP does.
    I got my laptop back in 2005..so acer have better models now.

    I'm considering switching to macbook pro,and i would suggest you do.
    You can put xp on a mac as dual boot..so if you needed some pc programs.

    just my 2 disjointed cents.
    lol.
    • [1] reply
    • Hey Michelle,

      I have a Toshiba Satellite Pro A200SE-24R which I'm very happy with. It has matt black keys. It was bought in the UK just over a year ago, so I don't know whether it's still available or even if it was ever available in the US.
      I too was planning on installing Windows XP on it (it came withVista) and thought I'd give Vista a try. I'm hooked on it now!
      The only thing I don't like about my laptop, is that the hard drive is in 2 parts, and I am only using one as this is the part the Vista is installed on.

      The other laptop I'd recommend is the Sony Vaio, which my son has and is very happy with...
      Nimsy
      • [2] replies
  • I have been looking for a laptop for some time. Don't need it urgently so am taking it slowly. The most interesting site is lenovo.com. They have beaten Macs in customer satisfaction surveys and did it without advertising or evangelists. Nearly all their models have an optional heavier battery.

    Mostly they deal with gov and big business. I work part time at a city of Calgary building and it seems that nearly all their computers (Lenovos) are left running 24-7-365. (This annoys me a bit and I've been asking about it.) And this includes a lot of sets of 365. All the ones I've seen there so far are still running xp.

    Xp is still offered with a lot of the Lenovos although I like vista and did not pay much attention to that.

    Most of them you can configure as you go along. I'm interested mostly in the T500 right now and one of the choices available is an LED back lit screen for longer battery life. It is more expensive than your preferred price.

    One of the most interesting things about them is the red dot in their keyboard. I think it is called track point. I have just pushed on it twice on someone elses computer and after the second push I liked it better than the touch pad. Push it harder, the cursor moves farther and faster. Now I understand that if you push down on it, it also clicks. Neat. It is a Lenovo patent and I wouldn't expect Mac for example to ever pay a license fee for it considering how long it took them to get a 2 button mouse. (Just an assumption.)

    They do have a wide variety of prices and the world's only dual screen notebook. (Laptop seems to be out, don't see that word much on their site.) The second screen slides out from behind the first when you need it. That one is over $4000, but they start at around $400.

    I am surprised by the number of people who have never heard of them. They used to be IBM before they split off and renamed their small computer section.

    Good luck with all that.

    best wishes, lloyd
    .......__o
    .......\<,
    ....( )/ ( )...

    PS Here is a high resolution photo of a Lenovo keyboard that might look familiar. I really like it as it expresses a lot of what I usually feel about typing, so I gimped my avatar from it, and it is kind of nice that it is a Lenovo keyboard. I did check with sxc.hu and at least one person in the forum said that an avatar is not a problem. But it gives you a really good look at the keyboard finish, to see if you like it.

    http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1137558
  • I'd go with a Mac every time.

    I have a on old G4 Powermac that I brought in 2003 and it still works fine. It has never crashed or anything, it's a solid piece of work.

    Likewise with a Powerbook which I've had since 2004.

    I still use both of them.

    Now I've got a new MacBook and know perfectly well it will hardly, if ever, play up. Plus you can load windows on it, so really it's a no-brainer..
    • [1] reply
    • In Norway a macbook is likely to cost 2x if not 3x a laptop that has better specs, personally I just go with the reg laptop. I never liked mac OS X anyway (not that vista is better :S).
  • I am working with a Lenovo Laptop.
    So far, 7 month passed, and the single
    problem I had was spilled coffee all over
    the keyboard.

    And even after that it works fine

    Igor
  • Toshiba is the way to go... prefer 17 inch with key pad, I really like that feature
    • [2] replies
    • How's the battery life on your Toshiba?

    • I highly recommend the Toshiba as well. I have two Toshiba laptops(17" and 15") and could not be more pleased.
      • [1] reply
  • I've always used HP both laptop and desktop as well as my other office equipment.

    Great quality and pricing.
  • Michelle,
    My Toshiba's (Mdl A200) battery lasts me 2 1/2 hours. For best and longest battery life, try to avoid the Pentium processors or AMD processors(they're power "hungrier"), and go for Centrino or Centrino2 based machines.

    ALWAYs completely power cycle your new batteries at least several times after you 1st buy the machine. By that I mean, 1st time fully charge it overnight. Then run your notebook PC solely on battery power until it's almost out of juice (the laptop will auto-shut off when <5% remaining power is left). Then plug it in until it charges to 100%, then run it off the battery only till it's almost out of power; repeat several times. This helps condition your battery.

    Oh and YES, you can get 14" notebooks still. (even 12" and some 13" models). They'll help heaps with battery usage since every additional inch of screen real estate increases power consumption. (I love a 10" netbook, but because I do my own graphics and Photoshoping tasks on it, a 15" model suited me). Go with your needs....

    HTH, Regards.
    Tim
    • [1] reply
    • I assumed something like that when I first started looking around but it doesn't seem to be true. With the wider screen comes a wider battery, and it turns out the hard drive is the major consumer. I phoned the lenovo 800 number because some of the battery life info on the site didn't seem right. I wound up talking to someone who really did know his stuff and was able to dig out the specifics on a couple of models I was interested in. The 17 inch lasted the longest on a charge.

      Michelle, don't let the not hearing about it bother you at all. They are so good they have never needed to advertise. They are not all unknown though. Here is a WF thread about one of their laptops. http://www.warriorforum.com/off-topi...my-dreams.html

      They are not oriented toward selling to the individual consumer, but even that part of their site has way more than Toshiba's, for example. You can start with a laptop and pick out exactly what you want with it, Dell style. (Haven't been to Dell for a long time, but at least you used to be able to do that.)

      PS I'm not at all trying to say you should get one of these, just trying to fill in some info that seems to be missing.

      best wishes
  • hey,

    IMHO i think dell is the way to go if your looking for affordability with the ability to be a work horse at the same time.

    From my experience, once you wipe it clean with a fresh install of XP (to get rid of all the stock junk software they install) you could have a beautifully running machine.

    Im running a 3 yr old dell inspiron and its moving along strong. No problems as of yet..
    .. and if there is an issue.. Google it.

    I can understand you would like support but then again with a new machine what issues should you really have?.

    As far as the Lenovo Thinkpad goes... those things are beastsss... They took over thinkpad from IBM who was all about making killer BUSINESS machines.. for the EXECUTIVE.. lol.

    I had a thinkpad back when it was IBM and it ran strong for like 6 years. After so long i had to retire it. lol.

    All in all the thinkpads are great if your willing to spend some money.. and if your really prepared to spend big bucks might as well get a macbook pro. Those are pretty functional and run great while multitasking. But if your looking for bang for buck.. Dell is the way to go.

    just some thoughts.. =)

    -MakeCash
    • [1] reply
    • MakeCash,

      Interesting thoughts.

      As I said, I have a Dell and I like it. But just as sure as shootin', the instant I buy one, I'd have trouble and be unable to get their tech support to help me. I know, I'm being paranoid, but I was thoroughly disgusted and frustrated with their NON tech support when I needed it.

      And it worries me that I MIGHT have a problem and need support and be unable to talk to a competent, native-English-speaking tech support rep.

      Plus, I've heard more than enough horror stories from people I know personally (not just stories from random strangers off the Web) to make me very wary...

      Michelle
  • i am having toshiba as well

    so far so good, and i think i am gonna buy toshiba again...for my next laptop
  • I've got an Acer notebook, too. Been using it for work. My first notebook was IBM Thinkpad. Its been with me since 2005 and it has served me well.

    As for Toshiba, I haven't had any experience using Toshiba so I really can't make an infoemd comment about the brand.
  • Toshiba is one of the best, and usually #'s 1 or 2 in the Consumer Reports Best Buy issue.

    I have a "vintage" 1998 Toshiba Tecra, Pentium 3 workstation still humming along for any of my IM tasks. Had to upgrade the ram to 512, install XP pro, and the 12 gig hdd to 70 gigs... that's all, no repairs.
  • Concerning laptop battery life, you might consider an external battery pack. They plug into the socket where the charger goes.

    Prices start probably around $60-70 and go way up over $300, depending upon how much longer you wish to run the laptop.

    I've seen these even in Office Max stores.
    Online check NewEgg,Tiger Direct,etc.

    I hodge-podgded one by taking a 12v gel cell, putting a dc-ac car converter on it then plug the laptop charger into it. Runs great and inexpensive.

    OR if you have a Batteries Plus store near they might have options to consider.

    Or just by a second OEM battery for whatever LT you get.
  • I just bought an HP Pavillion and it rocks.
    • [1] reply
    • I was starting to feel foolish since nobody else was mentioning HP,
      but that's my first choice as well and I have one that's serving me
      well for 5 years now.

      I love HP stuff overall anyway.

      -Ray Edwards
  • I would look into a Mac.. might be a bit costly but you might be able to find one of the older macbooks at apple for a reasonable price. They have a new one out now but i bought mine refurbished for about 800 at the time. They are probably cheaper now since the new Macbooks came out. Also.. Macs are real compatible with the pc now if you get the Iwork suite.
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