computer advice?

[darththalia]

I need a new laptop. I wish I didn't, but this one is getting very slow and cranky, and the hard drive has been having lots of errors, and since I use it for work, I can't afford to wait for a catastrophic failure

Comments

[writestufflee]

I've loved my Sony Vaio, but they're expensive. I think they're worth it, but it depends on what you do with it. It's been very tough and utterly reliable.

[darththalia]

Thanks! I'm willing to pay a bit for utterly reliable; I've had bad laptop experiences in the past, and there's nothing more frustrating. And I saw a nice-looking Vaio at Frye's today for a decent price.

[an_sceal]

I've been super happy with my Dell Studio 1535, which I drag all over the place and beat up on a regular basis. I've had Dell's the last 3 computers, and really like the brand.

Lenovo is actually what (I believe) IMB started selling their laptops as. Very utilitarian, sturdy, hold up to travel well, but I've known 4 people who've had huge overheating issues. In one case, it killed the hard drive, and in another, got so hot that there were scorch marks on the inside of the case when he opened it up. This is the brand my old company went to from Dell, but I don't know that they've stayed with it.

[darththalia]

OK, yeah, overheating = bad. When I'm busy with work this computer will be on 10 or 12 hours a day. Thanks for mentioning that; it's a definite deal-breaker.

Dell-wise, I'm looking mostly at the Inspiron 15R. It has a customizable case! My dying computer is a Vostro, and I've loved it, but it's definitely approaching the end of its life.

[darththalia]

Just out of curiosity, are those overheating issues recent? isiscolo says she's had a heavily-used Lenovo for three years and hasn't had any problems; I'm wondering if the overheating is more recent than that. Thanks!

[an_sceal]

The ones I know of are all purchased within the last year and a half, so yes, recent. My best friend has a Lenovo and really likes it, but his is an older model- about 3 years old, I believe

[epeeblade]

I'm not a big fan of Dell. (short answer as to why - propriety hardware that makes it difficult to find drivers for and their machines come with bloatware that takes you a while to delete it all...) My husband has two HP laptops that he abuses pretty well (dragging them to school every day) and they've held up.

I have an old Powerbook:) I also have a little Asus eeepc, but Asus makes real laptops too, and they have pretty good hardware. (my motherboard is an ASUS). I have dropped the eeepc and it still works fine.

[darththalia]

It's funny you should say that--my Vostro had no software at all installed, and my worst bloatware experience was with HP. That was a while ago, though, and I suspect HP has probably learned their lesson. (The HP laptop had some obnoxious media software that couldn't be uninstalled. I kept getting rid of it, and it reinstalled every time the computer rebooted.)

I've been looking at Asus, and they do seem to have some nice laptops. But, yeah, my only experience with them has been with the little guys.

[darththalia]

Oh, and I assume your husband hasn't had any connectivity issues with his HPs? The HP laptop with the bloatware also had a problem with the networking card, and trying to get support to admit that it was a problem was a nightmare. This was, like, 2002-3, though, and I can believe that they've probably gotten better.

[epeeblade]

Just asked him and he said he hasn't had any problems. :)

I'm also basing the Dell thing on the crappy ones we have at work. I'm wondering how much of that is due to our crappy IT staff...

[venivincere]

We use Lenovos at work. I placed an order for two of them on Feb 28 and they have yet to arrive. They take 20 days to get anyway, but lately, since they haven't been able to get some of their just-in-time parts from Japan, they've been REALLY slow. So unless you get something in the store, you'll have a wait. Other than that, they look outdated but seem to run OK. I DO NOT like the non-smooth mousepad on mine, though. After about 30 minutes on the computer my thumb and finger feel like they've been run over a cheesegrater. :-/

[darththalia]

Yeah, some of the touchpads I played with today drove me nuts. Whatever I decide on, I'm going to try it out in a store, or at least something similar. I've been hearing good things about Gateway, but I hated their keyboards.

Thanks for the Lenovo info! I'd never really seen them before, but it's been four years since I've looked.

[venivincere]

My home laptop's a Compaq, and I really like the feel of the keyboard AND the mousepad. It's like teflon coated, or something. Highly glossy. It's stood the test of time fairly well; I've had it for a couple years, now, and beyond a bit of noise in the fan, everything's just fine with it. Happy hunting! :-)

[ausmac]

I have used my Toshiba for about 3 years now and it has been amazingly durable. The only time it gets hot is when I play World of Warcraft; Wow is a very graphics heavy game and the Toshiba isnt a games computer so the graphics card has to work hard. With all that, with playing for hours and hours at a time, with me using a desk fan to help keep the temp down, it just keeps motoring on. Im very happy with it and would buy another Toshiba in a heartbeat.

My famiuly uses Dells; they aren't computer savy and wanted something stable and with good backup and they have loved their Dells. I find them slow but they are using the lower end of the market so its to be expected.

[darththalia]

Thanks for the info! I've been happy with my Dell, but it's totally outdated now. Toshiba is definitely on my list.