User Panel
User Panel
User Panel
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 9:26:34 AM EDT
[#1]
You'll get what you pay for, except with a Toshiba or Sony, but that's just my opinion. If you want a business laptop, get a Dell. It has everything you specified, is reliable and backed by one of the best support in the industry.
VAIOs are expensive and have AV features that you might not use, one that's $1299 probably has a small LCD, slow CPU, slow and small HD, not enough RAM. Personally I'd get one with a 15" LCD, 1280x1024 or 1400x1050, 10GB disk minimum, 128MB RAM minimum, PIII 750MHz minimum, Win 2000 Professional. Your computer's specs should exceed your present demands, if you still want to be able to use it in a year or two. Laptops are slower than their desktop counterparts, and more expensive due to the cost of LCD and miniaturization of components, unless you do need the mobility, don't spend the extra money to buy a slower machine that's less expandable. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 9:33:23 AM EDT
[#2]
I service dell, gateway, ibm, and compaq. From my experience the best of the buch for the money would be IBM or DELL. What you are going to need primarily on a laptop is fast turn around for service and good coverage.
The dell inspirons are good machines but expect to have the keyboard and palm rest/touchpad replaced frequently. The ibm thinkpads are rock solid and IBM has fixed their software compatibility issues. Both dell and ibm offer onsite or depot repair. Ibm guarantees 48 return to service for mail in depot. From my experience SONY and Toshiba have seriously dropped in quality over the last few years and are not worth the price they want. Sony in particualrly has had major problems from what i see in the field. hope this helps. mike |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 9:37:29 AM EDT
[#3]
as far as memory goes that will depend on your budget and applications. For win based i would recommend 128mb minimum for a laptop. It is cheaper to get the memory installed with initial purchase than buy it after the fact. Also if you are wanting DVD movie performance look into the best video card option for the unit you want. Many laptops have dvd drives but shit video cards. This makes playback for maovies painful. ie.. jerky, not full screen etc.
mike |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 9:40:32 AM EDT
[#4]
Think long and hard about watching DVD movies on your laptop. Most people watch one or two movies and then give it up. For $200 you can get a nice player for the home.
If you are going to be toting the thing about I'd recommend one of the lighter models. It's amazing how heavy some of these things get 12 hours into a business trip. I’m a touch typist but have lazy fingers that seemed to find their way to the touch screen of those with them located below the space bar. I like the “j” mouse of the Toshiba and IBM models but normally use an external mouse anyways. I rarely find that I need a CD player or even a 3.5 floppy so I went with one with externals. I carry a USB zip drive around or just use the built-in modem or 10/100 network card to transfer files. I have a 120 Mhz laptop that does email, HTML coding, Photoshop, GPS, and word processing just fine. I even did some AutoCad LT on it. Only publishing my web pages took a bit of time but since that was a once a day event it wasn’t a big thing. SO think size, mouse device, DVD/CD/Floppy requirements, and price while focusing on what you’re going to use the thing for. Too many people drop $3000 for a desktop replacement when they want something to answer email on while traveling. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 12:40:47 PM EDT
[#5]
I agree with beer and Paul, your needs should form the basis of the machine you purchase. On RAM, prices have dropped so low, even if you're not handy, you can buy SO-DIMM from Crucial, it'd save you some money, all the new laptops have memory expansion bays conveniently located on the bottom of the machine, you just need a screw driver and order the right kind of RAM.
With compact or sub compact laptops you get the benefit of lighter weight and a smaller package, but you give up things like screen size, expansion bays, sometimes a PC Card slot. PC Cards are usually used for communications devices like modem and NIC, as well as interfaces that are not "native" on the machine like FireWire, SCSI, etc., if you have some or all of these things already built in, a single PC Card slot isn't an issue. Because of their small size, there's no room to put the floppy drive, CD/DVD/CD-RW drive, and battery in it all at the same time, which means one or more of them have to go external, that's more little things you have to carry and more things you can lose. My wheeled computer bag is a 25lbs monster, I have to carry RJ45 crimpers, two cable testers, spare batteries, cables, CDs, tools, AC adapter, etc. in it, so a two to three pounds saving isn't meaningful, I take it with me on flights and walk around with it for miles, because I have to. I went with a desktop replacement because it has everything built in, its size isn't a shortcoming but a benefit, but then it's just me. Again, let your needs dictate your purchase decision. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 1:32:42 PM EDT
[#6]
I'm just going to reiterate that, just like home PCs, laptops get obsolete fast. Unlike desktops, you can't pop them open and upgrade the motherboard, CPU, video card, or many other components. You can usually upgrade the memory and harddrive to a point, but the proprietary nature of laptops limits these too.
That being said, I very much agree that you need to buy more CPU, memory, and harddrive than you believe you need today if you hope the laptop to last 5 years, at which point you may well toss it as being totally obsolete. If you go too cheap, you'll be replacing it much sooner (though some use that as a strategy, buying a new, inexpensive laptop every other year or so, to incorporate all the latest technology). Ditto about figuring out your current and future need with regards to features, and buy accordingly. -Troy |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 1:42:46 PM EDT
[#7]
DELL! Had two (upgraded from an Inspiron 3500 then a 5000). In four years , using every day not a single problem. In addition, for work and home I've purchased a total of eleven Dells in the past few years and not a single hardware problem between them!
Don't be afraid to look at Dells factory reconditioned units too (have three). Some are only a month or two old and can be had for almost half price, with the same warranty as a new one. www.dell.com John |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 1:55:44 PM EDT
[#8]
The way I look at it, I spent $2800 on mine last year, it's still very much usable and far from obsolete. Even if I were to give it away today I still would have come out ahead, because I've used it to make a lot more than what it cost me. People tend to think in terms of how much they paid for years ago and how much they can get for it now, completely forgetting the services the computer rendered them and things it allowed them to do while it's in their possession, they are valuable and more than worth the purchase price.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 2:04:35 PM EDT
[#9]
The Titanium PowerBook G4
There is no subsitute [url]http://www.apple.com/powerbook/[/url] |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 2:05:33 PM EDT
[#10]
Amen to those who've said buy more than you think you currently need. I bought the Dell Inspiron 7500 I'm typing this on (in a hotel room in Boise) in December '99 and thought I went pretty big on specs. But, I thought I'd just need 96 MB of RAM for the mostly word processing/e-mail I do. (Have watched a few DVDs, which is pretty cool, especially on cross-country plane trips, though I need to get headphones to really make it work.)
However, the laptop became my primary computer for about a month when my five-year-old Dell desktop crashed earlier this year, forcing me to complete a graphics/publishing job on it. Fortunately, it was able to do so, but I'm now wishing I'd ordered more RAM at the time of purchase. One key did fall off, but a call to Dell found me with a guy at my door two days later replacing the entire keyboard. I'm glad I opted for the three-year, next-business-day service package. Worth the $99. Bottom line: I'll buy Dell again. [:D] |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 2:46:18 PM EDT
[#11]
Sony VIAO or the thin dell are your best bets. They both do full screen. I watch a lot of dvds when I'm away from home, and while it's obviously not as good as a home setup (having to use software to run the dvd whereas you can get a hardware card to stop the jittering on your desktop pc), it is satisfactory. A dvd player in a notebook is a good investment if you're gonna use it. On a desktop pc... forget it. All the pc games that were gonna be on dvd never materialized and watching movies even on a 21" trinitron screen while sitting at my desk just doesn't cut it. Not very comfortable. Oh yeah, I can also play all my games except the very latest shooters. Sound still blows on notebooks though.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 3:52:25 PM EDT
[#12]
IMHO.
The BEST notebook out there is the IBM Thinkpad "T" Series. A little pricey, but well worth it. - VERY durable - VERY Compatible (drivers for the thinkpad are always included w/ each version of windoze -- there are alot of 'em out there so you can always count on driver updates, etc.. in a timely fashion) - EXCELLENT repair service -- they send out a box via fedex and the turnaround is usually 1-2 days. (they pay shipping both ways) - Great warranty : 3 years (1 year on-site / 2 years depot repair via fedex shipment) and, NO -- I don't work for IBM :) I have a few and love 'em. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 5:53:27 PM EDT
[#13]
Dell's are my favorite!
You can get a combo touchpad/ pointing stick on certain models. Such as the C600 which I use. One note about those IBM T-Series. The top cover is soft and can be squeezed very easily. I think they're constructed with Ti to save on the weight. Their soft nature can cause imprints on the screen if picked up the wrong way! If you get an IBM T-Series, don't squeeze it! Also, don't plan on finding a "Flying Windows" key on your T-Series. IBM is probably trying to protest their relationship with Microsoft by leaving out this key. I'm quite sure the past IBM notes had that key. Still a pretty good note but it comes at a much higher price than a comparable Dell note. Sorry. I think Toshiba notebook quality went down because they're now manufactured in the USA. In the past they came from Japan. Funny how Sony's website doesn't have all the replacement drivers on their site. Only a couple of updates. They make you buy a restore disk which has all the drivers on it. Greedy bastards! Dell has all drivers on their site, IBM has all the drivers on their site, Toshiba has all the drivers on their site. IMO- #1- Dell #2- IBM #3- Toshiba |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 6:10:47 PM EDT
[#14]
A few years ago, one of my old companies bought a few different laptops to test which is the best. All of them need repair or another, and the one that stood out were the IBMs.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 6:14:32 PM EDT
[#15]
hey AR15 fan-
i have a dell inspiron 3800 laptop (owned new since september last year) with a celeron 600 and 192 megs of ram, 24x speed cd-rom (you could expand and put a dvd in- order from dell), 14.1" tft screen, 56k modem, network card, floppy drive, etc for sale... would sell for about 900 plus shipping if interested... |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 6:15:41 PM EDT
[#16]
oh yeah- has a 5 gig hard drive and about 2 1/2 years left on the onsite service warranty...
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 6:32:08 PM EDT
[#17]
DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL DELL
But Seriously get a dell. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 6:37:36 PM EDT
[#18]
Quoted: The Titanium PowerBook G4 There is no subsitute [url]http://www.apple.com/powerbook/[/url] YEAH, it would go along nicely with my G4 [:D] Seriously, take a good look at it! If you need to run WinBlows apps, use softwindows. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 7:04:49 PM EDT
[#19]
You could also look at one of the new iBooks. Those appear to be really nice.
I've configured a few of the Titanium G4s and they really are SWEET!!!!! |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 7:27:08 PM EDT
[#20]
I was going to pick one up and had decided on Dell, I however rethought my cash flow and didn't make the purchase. I think Sony is horrible, your mostly paying for a name.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 7:35:36 PM EDT
[#21]
As I write this on my Apple G3 laptop my wife has her G4 Titanium in the other room. I love my Apples, IMHO they are the best laptops. We ahve a television production company and finially broke down and bought a "PC" for our acountant's sake. I bought an IBM. I talked to an old friend of mine who is MIS for a local TV station and he said he had a LOT of peoblems with the 14 or so Dells they have had none with the IBM's. Another recommendation he gave was to get Windows 2000, a LOT more reliable and much better put together. So as faw as the other side goes, and as ackward as Windows is trying to look like a MAC, the IMB/PIII/WIN 2000 is good foe me, but I do not like the red dot crap on the keyboard.
If, on the other hand, Bill Gates doesn't hold the keys to your highway and you like to "think different," then the Apple G4 is MUCH better than the IBM, at the same cost in a hellva lot sexier package. Think "Janet Reno versus Brittney Spiers" Bill Happiness is a warm gun... Bang bang, shoot shoot... |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 7:42:47 PM EDT
[#22]
IBM A21P or a Dell with comparable hardware and software
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 7:52:50 PM EDT
[#23]
I found a brand new IBM Thinkpad X-20 for $1999. This is one of the hottest laptops for the money, It has: PIII-600, 320MB-PC133 RAM, 20GB Hard drive, 8X-DVD, Lithium-Ion Battery=3.8 hours, Win 98 SE, 12.1" TFT Active Matrix XGA display and many other features. Here is the link for more info:[url]http://tigerdirect.com/sectors/ibm/x20-600.asp[/url]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 9:08:33 PM EDT
[#24]
This is what I do for a living. For the past 8 years I have owned a company that wholesales new and refurbished laptops exclusively. In that time I have sold them all. Compaq, IBM, Toshiba, Gateway, Dell, Sony, NEC, HP, WinBook, SoundPro, Sharp, and others I am sure I am overlooking. What you can get at a retail store is not anywhere near the quality available to the business market except for Dell which does direct marketing to anyone. Before you take this as an endorsement for Dell let me say I believe they are the most over rated manufacturer out there, and I am being nice. I just spent 2 hours today saving files for my Mom's next door neighbor off of their 2 month old Dell 1GHZ that crashed. I had to pull the HDD and install it in a desktop as the system board fried. Why do I carry my repair equipment with me? I guess I am a geek after all. This after 6 hours of yard work for my Mom. But I digress. For the last 1.5 years I have sold exclusively business grade IBM (600, 770, TPA and TPT) . ThinkPads are in a league all of their own. I became so tired of the quality issues with the other manufacturers that I quit dealing with them. IBM is the only manufacturer that has not had a recall with other than the floating point error in the Intel P90 processor in 1995. That recall was industry wide. Consider that IBM was first to enter the notebook market along with Compaq back in +/- 91 with the PS1 and PS Note, and that is no small accomplishment. Notice I said notebook not portable. I don't want to hear about those leviathan Mac's and Compaq's in 89 & 90. Are IBM's more expensive? Yes they are, but if you buy a ThinkPad with a little bit slower processor it will run real world speed around 50% better than its numbers when compared to the offering of another manufacturer. The reason for this without getting too technical is the level of R&D that goes into their product and the elimination of bottle necks which occur due to corner cutting for cost concerns. The IBM ThinkPad is a no compromises system which offers the best performance bar none. They also have the clearest, brightest screens. I would not use anything else. For the record I have a PII 266 ThinkPad 600. It does everything including extensive video editing. Try that on another manufacturer's 266 product. Heck try it on another manufacturer's 500MHZ product.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 9:39:07 PM EDT
[#25]
I am a IBM-certified tech, but I have had much repair experience with just about any portable out there, save Dell and Gateway.
If IBM 600 series were still IBM's best, I would recomend a Dell unless you could find a 600X (The final version of the 600, it was very refined). Nowdays I am hard pressed not to tell you to get a T-21. I have deployed several of these in the last couple of months and they are rock-solid and very fast. IBM has this model right from the first unit produced. Get a look at one at a local store, I think you will be impressed. The only down side to this unit is that it is expensive. You would also be hard-pressed to go wrong with a Dell, these guys know how to build a good computer. All the Dells I have ever seen have been very nice. Toshibas are OK, but sometimes very picky configuration-wise. I also do not believe their reliability is as good as Dell or IBM. Stay away from Compaqs, they are junk (this is mostly based on their 7800 embarassment) Nothing I have seen lately from Compaq has interested me in the least. I'm really starting to wonder how they keep their market share. It must just be price. I have little experience with Sonys. The Viaos look OK, but I really don't know how well they hold up. Winbooks are bar-none the wort constructed laptops I have ever disassembled. They resemble something made by Mattel. BTW- I am experienced with the IBM 750,755,380,365,760,701,770,600,T and X series and as far as I can remember, none have ever had the flying windows key. Don't know why. Fallout from the OS2 mess perhaps. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 9:48:27 PM EDT
[#26]
TP 390
2624-L0U PIII 450, 64, 12, 24X, 14.1TFT, W98 RETAIL $1,499 2626-E0P PII 333, 64, 6.4, 24X, 14.1TFT, W98 RETAIL $1,299 2626-ENF PII 233, 64MB, 6.4GB, 24XCD, 14.1 TFT, WNT RETAIL $1,299 2626-J0U PII 400, 64, 6.4, 24X, 15TFT, W98 DEMO $1,349 2626-MNU PIII 500, 64, 12, 24X, 15TFT, WNT (RRJ) REFURB $1,499 TP A SERIES 2628-21U PIII 500, 64, 6, 24X, 12.1TFT W98 (RR2) IBM REFURB $1,499 2628-22U PIII 500, 64, 6.0, 12.1 TFT, 24X W2000 (RRA)IBM REFURB $1,499 2628-31U CEL 500, 64, 12, 24X, 15.0TFT, W98 (RR3)IBM REFURB $1,249 2628-32U CEL 500, 64, 12, 24X, 15.0TFT, W2000 (RRB) IBM REFURB $1,249 2628-41U PIII 700, 64, 12, 24X, 14.1 TFT, W98 (RR4) IBM REFURB $1,949 2628-4SU PIII 700, 64, 12, 24X, 14.1 TFT, W98 (RR8) IBM REFURB $1,999 2628-ITU CEL 500, 64, 6, 24X, 12.1TFT, COMBO W2000 RETAIL $1,199 TP 560 2640-B0U TP 560Z PII 300, 64, 6.4, 12.1TFT RETAIL $1,299 2644-3BU PII 366, 64, 6.4, 13.3TFT, WNT (RR5) IBM REFURB $1,099 TP 600 2645-4EU PIII 500 64 12.0 13.3 TFT, 24X, W98 (RRL) IBM REFURB $1,699 2645-51U PII 266,32,4,24X,13.3TFT,W95 (RR4)IBM REFURB $999 2645-5EU PIII 500 64 12.0 13.3 TFT,DVD, W98 (RRM) IBM REFURB $1,749 2645-5FU PIII 650 64 12.0, 13.3 TFTDVD, W98 (RRU) IBM REFURB $1,799 2645-8EU PIII 500, 64, 12, 24X, 13.3 TFT, WNT (RRP) IBM REFURB $1,799 2645-8PU PIII 500, 64, 12, 13.3TFT, 24X WIN 2000 (RRV) IBM REFURB $1,799 2645-9EU PIII 500 64 12.0 13.3 TFT, DVD, WinNT (RRR) IBM REFURB $1,699 TP T SERIES 2647-41U PIII 700 128, 12, 6X DVD, 14.1TFT, W98 (RR1) 56K IBM REFURB $2,179 2647-42U PIII 650, 128, 6, 6XDVD, 13.3TFT, W98 56K RETAIL $1,899 2647-52U PIII 700 128, 12, 6X DVD, 14.1TFT, 56K W98 (RRA) IBM REFURB $2,299 2647-61U PIII 650,128, 6, 24X, 13.3 TFT, W2000 (RR7) 56K IBM REFURB $1,799 TP 770 9549-81U PII 366, 128, 14.1, DVD, 14.1TFT, W98(RR8) IBM REFURB $1,399 9549-82U PII 366, 128, 14.1, 24X, 14.1TFT, WNT(RR9) IBM REFURB $1,399 9549-8AU PII 366, 128, 14.1, 13.7TFT, DVD, W98 (RR6) IBM REFURB $1,499 9548-32U P233MMX, 96, 4, 13.3TFT, CD, W98 REFURB $550 ALL SYSTEMS ARE COMPLETE WITH FDD, A/C, AND ARE NEW (retail) OR IN LIKE NEW (refurb) CONDITION. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 9:56:47 PM EDT
[#27]
Quoted: If IBM 600 series were still IBM's best, The 600 deries was never IBM's best. The 770 was the top of the line for the begining of its run and the TPT for the later years. The rest of you info is right on. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/9/2001 10:14:47 PM EDT
[#28]
I'm using a Toshiba Portege 7200 right now and it's great. 256Mb RAM, 11 gig HDD, DVD and ethernet in the docking station, killer display, etc.. Then again, I didn't have to pay for it. Come to think of it, I have yet to buy ANY computer, ever. That's just because I'm lucky enough to be in a position where the company provides that stuff. Since I've never researched the topic, I can't give you good advice except to say my Toshiba rocks!
|
|
|
Win a FREE Membership!
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.
