Going to buy a laptop

[84GNTTYPE]

I'm moving into the dorms on August 28th and am going to use my grad money to buy a laptop. I was thinking of buying a Dell because I have heard lots of good things about them. I'm looking in probably the $1500 range. Just wondering if anyone had anything good bad or ugly to say.

Thanks!

 

[stubbs]

Everyone I know(including my father) has had HUGE problems with both Dell and Gateway, when something is wrong they just pass the buck and give you the runaround. Several friends now deal with "alienware" exclusively but I am not sure if the do laptops?

 

[afresh]

I paid a little more for my Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100. I have loved having it and haven't had a problem with it. I think the law firm I work for just purchased a Toshiba for about $1500. Dell's seem to be priced slightly higher and you can't get a 15 in. Monitor.

Andrew Fresh

 

[gnfanatic]

I am a Dell,Toshiba,IBm,HP and gateway certified tech. I will recommend that you dont buy a dell. They are junk. Toshiba's are good laptops and they take care of there customers. IBM makes the best laptops but there batteries suck and they dont budge when you are out of warranty. I have had customers out of warranty by 4 months and Toshiba covered all repairs.

good luck,
Ralph

 

[jon_we4]

I think Toshiba has the best price:goodies ratio....plus they are the biggest laptop manufacturer in the world right now.

Jon

 

[Chuck Leeper]

GOTOHELLDELL

The Dell I had lasted EXACTLY 6 hours. Just long enuf to load my programs, and then reboot it... A total POS![Insperion for $1650!]
Then came the real fun.. dealing w/ the raghead on the other end, that spoke such poor english, I had to hang up and call back, hoping to get someone I could understand.
I then was lead thru a disassembly of the unit!!! She said the screws may be loose, or a connection was loose... The loose screw was in the a$$hole's head that chose the components..

After many threats, and gnashing of teeth, I got a call tag sent, and a promise of a refund.... Didn't happen!! Called back.. no luck.. Sent a NASTY e-mail.. BINGO!!! The mess was cleared up and the Fed Ex guy was here that afternoon... Still took a month to get a credit...
I did get the last laff, tho. The $100 mail in rebate check came and got cashed IMMEDIATELY!! That at least paid the interest on the CC charge!!!

FWIW, I recall seeing some negative feedback on Toshibas and diagnostic programs for our cars??
Gurus??? Any info on that??

The best performer we have in our shop is the SONY VAIO...
One has to be careful in choosing the options.. you can find the unit has no serial port, etc.. stuff we all need for our diagnostics..

 

[bruce]

Buy used.
Save the money for something important.

For $300 you can get a good used unit, and not have the hassles.
For $150 you can basically have a disposable. If it gets ripped off, not a big deal.
I've had one of about every major brand, and at anyone time one of them is a POS.
So far the Tosiba, and Dell have been the most reliable, but that might change next week.

 

[gnfanatic]

you guys got to understand the cost of laptop parts and labor. You buy a used laptop and have a bad battery , it will cost $70 for the battery. Bad cdrom? at least $125. Bad lcd? forget it. It isnt worth buying a used laptop unless it is CHEAP and you dont have valuable stuff on it. The Toshiba's are good units and built tough. I fix about 5 a day. nothing crazy. sometimes it is abuse. Dell sucks, always did suck. they build nothing, they dont even have 1 manufacturing plant. Who ever can build them the cheap[est unit they will buy it. The dells I get in have broken hinges, bad lcd's and those damn motherboards. I would buy an IBM, always liekd them.

Ralph