time for a new laptop - advice?
 

I'm looking at the compaq's right now because they appear to have the best bang-for-the-buck at the time. I'll order this evening, and was wondering if anyone happened to know of any other brand that provided more for the money. I've looked at the common ones (toshiba, sager, etc) and haven't found one.

The only ones I KNOW i don't want are Dell and Acer - bad experiences with service/support with those guys in the past.


thanks.

Compaq owns HP (or is it the other way around), so you should find similar features on either brand. Toshiba is also competitive.

yup, I looked at the HP side of the company as well, but for some strange reason laptops with similar features are a bit more expensive for HP than Compaq.

I'd LOVE a Toshiba - their new displays are freaking awesome, but they're a good deal more expensive from what I've seen - unless you know something I don't?

I'm a big fan of IBM laptops as a whole. Solid machines that can take a beating and still perform. Don't know how they fit into your budget though.

I'm an IBM lover all the way, and I hate compaqs with a passion. In addition to all of my personal dealings with them, this site sums it up nicely http://compaqsucks.com/ .

But anyway, back to the issue at hand. I agree with you that Dell and Acer are no good, I've also had problems with them in the past. As far as bang for the buck though, you can't beat IBM. I know that they're friggen expensive, but they build'em like tanks and mine has taken more punishment then I care to admit. The main thing is that they aren't the best on graphics. They're meant for work and they do it better than any other machine I've seen, but the 3D acceleration isn't a big part of the unit.

There was a thread awhile back on what type of laptop was the best for different needs, a little searching should pull it up. The main thing is to know what you're going to be using it for the most and build it to that spec, don't get caught up buying stuff you don't need. Let us know how it turns out btw.

i bought a brand spanking new toshiba tecra a1.

and im FURIOUS that i have 3 bright spots on my screen.

the terrible design around the touchpad is what causes them. toshiba says they wont replace my screen unless a certain number of pixels are messed up. which totally sucks.

other than that, its great, but had i known it had this problem, i obviously wouldnt have bought one.

I love my IBM T40, but it will probably end up as the most expensive PC I ever buy. It has incredible battery life and solid construction but, for $2200, I could have gotten a cheaper machine + 3 batteries and saved money. Oh well, you only live once.

Yeah, I have an IBM T40 too.

It's great.
Especially if you have to carry a laptop around.. it's lighter and thinner than most.

Im a huge fan of IBM laptops. Ive used them for about 7 years, and have found them to be consistently excellent, bulletproof laptops. Built like tanks (and Ive dropped my fair shair of them, with no damage), well thought out and layed out... You cant go wrong. They tend to be a bit more expensive, but are usually worth it.

I have a T40 at the moment, and love it.

My dad used to have thinkpads, and I have to say they're good computers. However I never got one myself because, well, they're expensive :)
I recently bought a toshiba A45-S2501. It's about 1580$ (bought it for 100$ less at the time because of a rebate). I like it, the only downsides are that the graphics are not so good (1024*768 screen), and that it's rather heavy. But I don't care about graphics myself. On the other hand, the battery life is really good. And the specs are good enough for me (Mobile P4 2.8, 60GB, 512 Ram, DVD reader/writer, XP pro).

PS: I had a toshiba before that, and had the same problem with dots on the screen.. Thankfully no such problem this time.

Apple computer.