Recommended laptops?

Where are you based Rob - I can give you a call to suggest a few things that might help you out.

rotter3@lycos.co.uk

 

I'm going to avoid the platform issue, as I don't have a problem which direction anyone goes as long as they know _why_ they are truly going the direction they go, but there are a few posts I'd like to jump in on...

The summarization seems to be that ENE chipsets sometimes have problems and can be patched but that going with a TI chipset is generally considered a safer route, and from my search I can tell you that the business line from Dell does ship with the TI chipset. That, and has the added bonus of next day on-site support options (among other niceities), which is certainly confidence-inspiring (mine has three years of it, and it is valid even if I drop it or someone spills a drink into it).

I noticed that someone else replied about some specific brands, so I'll post some thoughts once I get down to those.

 

Toshiba - used to be solid laptops, but have been experiencing build quality and component compatibility problems in recent years, based on what some admins have been telling me.

Fujitsu - always have been solid, seem to still be solid, probably will be solid. I found it somewhat difficult to get the component mix I was looking for, however. Everyone is looking for a different config, of course, so do check out Fujitsu if you are in the market.

Sony - the general consensus seems to be that if you get a good one, you get a GREAT one. If you don't, however, you'll be fighting with weird chipset/device compatibility issues.

HP - avoided in the past, the present, and the future.

Compaq - used to be solid, taking turns for various positions from first to fourth with the likes of IBM, Fujitsu, and Toshiba back in their good days. That said, build quality has dropped after the acquisition by HP.

Let's see, what others did I look at (I literally JUST received my new system and am about to move everything over)...

IBM/Lenovo - S.O.L.I.D. but... $.$.$.$.$. I priced out a Lenovo recently and it was a good 35%+ more expensive than a comparably equipped Dell.

Dell - avoid the consumer line (Inspiron). The build isn't quite as good and the support system for the consumer line is flooded with Joe Sixpacks. The business line was brought to my attention by a very anal business associate of mine who has gone 100% Dell over the last year or so. Good value for money and great support options without sacrificing component quality.

What I actually found narrowed down my options even faster than the above-described brand issues was the fundamental problem I had getting the right components. If you want to mix:

- a high res display (SO many laptops these days still come with only x768 or x800 screen options, it's depressing)
- dedicated graphics
- 7200 RPM HD

those three alone knock out whole entire brands and lines, even before adding in important things like:

- trusted chipsets
- priority & on-site support

which again can knock out brands and lines, followed by the consideration of slightly less but still important things like:
- extra bays for battery packs
- owner servicing of things like memory without invalidating warranty & support
- etc.

after which you're down to a very small number of pricier systems from a select few vendors.

Or you could buy a powermac. I didn't, but you could.

 

Weird, the page says I'm logged in but my last two replies make it look like I wasn't. Perhaps this one will too, I won't know until I hit submit.

Oddness.

 

Im agree that toshiba are the best of the best in windows laptops, but dont forget that a good part of the problems are on the OX and windows is not very solid this days.

 

see my specs below. never had any trouble with my acer. never crashed, no audio dropouts etc. pp.

solid like a rock.

on the other hand, there were people with acers around here that had problems.

it depends on what you're doing to your machine, too - like, do ou go in the internet with it (= firewalls on, antivirus software on it can cause problems). if you formatted your hdd in the stone age than it's likely you run into problems as well.

 

all i would use my laptop for would be djiing. i have another computer that i could use for internet etc.

i'm thinking of getting or atleast testing fs2 on a mac now. but still not 100% sure that it is the right choice!

 

Aye, don't go on a bender one night after work and try dancing on it. It's not healthy for it. <Hangs head in shame>

Ruf