Calling the Geek Squad - Laptop Edition

[Windsor]

My laptop is on death's door...and it is time to buy a new one.
I've always had Dells but looking around there seem to be some good deals on Toshiba's and HPs.

What ever I get will need a t 17" display, a minimum of dual core 2.0 processor, 4gig o' ram at least a 250Gb hard drive, wireless g/n (bonus points for bluetooth!)


Anyone use similarly configured Toshiba or HPs??

(to avoid the inevitable comment...I can not (work requirements) and will not use a Mac!)

[CathyCA]

I know very little about computers, but I love my laptop.

cl15876 helped me pick mine out. He knows a LOT about computers. I told him what I wanted my computer to do, and he helped me pick it out.

It's an HP Pavilion dv6885se laptop. I don't know what all this stuff means, but I'm looking at the sticker: "dual core processor and 4096 MB RAM provide robust multitasking performance."

Here's more from the sticker that I do understand: "HP Webcam and integrated microphone enable you to capture video and chat live." This is true. Some of you here have webcammed with me, and this is an excellent system for that.

It's wireless, too.

It's got Windows Vista Home installed on it. It hasn't given me any problems, but I do know that some people don't like it.

I can watch DVDs and internet TV on it. I also have a TV tuner that lets me watch, pause, rewind and record live TV on it. I haven't tried that yet.

I love the keyboard. It isn't small like other laptops I've tried.

And it's pretty. The cover has a pretty copper finish to it. Having a pretty computer was very important to me.

Here's a link to a review of my computer.

[DevilAlumna]

I have a Dell Vostro, which after one motherboard crash that was fixed under warranty and 1-day small business suppport service, I can recommend as being a good workhorse of a machine.

My last experience with a Toshiba was a tablet, and it was sturdy, but nothing special. Never had any issues with it until the easily-replaced harddrive gave out after 3 years.

[alteran]

I've had nothing but great experiences with Toshiba, but I exclusively buy at the low end (Satellite series)-- you seem to be targeting a mid-level laptop. Some of the upper end Satellites meet your specs.

I have had 5 laptops over the years, all bought at the low end. My HP Pavillion was a was a piece of junk which BestBuy replaced because I had the warranty (lucky stroke, that-- only time I ever bought one). I imagine that experience was probably an outlier, but I haven't purchased one since.

I wasn't too happy with the low-end Dell I was issued from work, either.

Never had any trouble from the three Toshibas I've had over the years-- all given away in working condition.

[CameronBornAndBred]

When people call me and ask what to get for a laptop, I offer 2 pieces of advice.
1. Go to Best Buy and look. You don't have to buy from there, but they have several laptops on display that you can look at, pick up, see the size and weight of, and compare to the one next to it. Lots of brands to choose from.
2. Avoid Dell. You and others might have Dell's that have worked great, but Dell keeps my shop very busy. I can only judge computer quality by what I see daily, and daily I see more Dell's than any other brand. This is not because Dell outsells all others, it's because Dell has more problems than all others.

[Windsor]

2. Avoid Dell. You and others might have Dell's that have worked great, but Dell keeps my shop very busy. I can only judge computer quality by what I see daily, and daily I see more Dell's than any other brand. This is not because Dell outsells all others, it's because Dell has more problems than all others.

Interesting. The last two places I've worked have been 'Dell' only - and I haven't heard many complaints about the laptops...at least not that were hardware related (if it is slow because you let your kid download crap from all over the web and back that's not the hardware's fault!) I'm in I.T. so I sure would hear about (and one of the reason's I was asking for opinions is because my ONLY laptop frame of reference is Dell)

We've got 3 Dells at home...no problem with any of them, but Dell is looking like the 'high priced spread' for home use (where I need a midrange not the monster I have at work) Since you aren't seeing waves of HP or Toshiba I will certainly give them consideration.

I was planning on hoofing over to best buy to kick some tires. I will try not to wonk the silly sales boy who will treat me like a boob upside the head with one.

[DukieInKansas]

Interesting. The last two places I've worked have been 'Dell' only - and I haven't heard many complaints about the laptops...at least not that were hardware related (if it is slow because you let your kid download crap from all over the web and back that's not the hardware's fault!) I'm in I.T. so I sure would hear about (and one of the reason's I was asking for opinions is because my ONLY laptop frame of reference is Dell)

We've got 3 Dells at home...no problem with any of them, but Dell is looking like the 'high priced spread' for home use (where I need a midrange not the monster I have at work) Since you aren't seeing waves of HP or Toshiba I will certainly give them consideration.

I was planning on hoofing over to best buy to kick some tires. I will try not to wonk the silly sales boy who will treat me like a boob upside the head with one.

Oh, go for it. Sometimes they need to be wonked. Maybe just grab a laptop case/bag instead of the actual lap top.

Thanks for asking this question. I'm thinking it is time to replace mine. It has very little RAM and the Norton update/upgrade that appeared unexpectedly has really slowed it down.

[Windsor]

Oh, go for it. Sometimes they need to be wonked. Maybe just grab a laptop case/bag instead of the actual lap top.

Thanks for asking this question. I'm thinking it is time to replace mine. It has very little RAM and the Norton update/upgrade that appeared unexpectedly has really slowed it down.

They assume (I guess because of my age/gender) that I am interested in sending pictures by e-mail and playing solitaire. It is amusing when I tell them I don't give a ______ what software it comes with...the very first things I'm doing is giving it an operating systemectomy. If I ask a technical question they answer me with a look that says ("oh somebody must have told her to ask that") <sigh>

If I want real sport I will bring my mother. She is 73. She has a degree in computer science. The tag team of the two of us rocks their 20 something world to its motherboard.

I'm giving the HP serious thought. It has more bang for the buck than the Dell. I will aslo test drive the Toshiba.

[DukieInKansas]

They assume (I guess because of my age/gender) that I am interested in sending pictures by e-mail and playing solitaire. It is amusing when I tell them I don't give a ______ what software it comes with...the very first things I'm doing is giving it an operating systemectomy. If I ask a technical question they answer me with a look that says ("oh somebody must have told her to ask that") <sigh>

If I want real sport I will bring my mother. She is 73. She has a degree in computer science. The tag team of the two of us rocks their 20 something world to its motherboard.

I'm giving the HP serious thought. It has more bang for the buck than the Dell. I will aslo test drive the Toshiba.

Please - take your mother and someone with a video camera. I really want to watch. I'll be interested in hearing your choice.

What operating system will you use?

[CameronBornAndBred]

Thanks for asking this question. I'm thinking it is time to replace mine. It has very little RAM and the Norton update/upgrade that appeared unexpectedly has really slowed it down.

There's another piece of wonderful technology that keeps us going. We sell Norton's crap...or until last week used to. I finally got my boss to throw in the towel, we are now an AVG reseller. I've spent more time troubleshooting and uninstalling Symantec software than I've spent installing it initially. Their latest attempt at betterment, the 2009 editions that they are pushing on everyone, initially looked much better. Ultimately it has caused many headaches, especially on networked systems.

[DukieInKansas]

There's another piece of wonderful technology that keeps us going. We sell Norton's crap...or until last week used to. I finally got my boss to throw in the towel, we are now an AVG reseller. I've spent more time troubleshooting and uninstalling Symantec software than I've spent installing it initially. Their latest attempt at betterment, the 2009 editions that they are pushing on everyone, initially looked much better. Ultimately it has caused many headaches, especially on networked systems.

It is a memory hog! My current laptop has very limited RAM - I've expanded it all I can - and it is constantly freezing while something runs in the background. It appears to be Norton. (laptop is probably 7 years old.)

[Indoor66]

I have a 3 year old 9000 series HP with 17" setup. I run XP Pro, 2gig, dual core processor. It has been extremely reliable and rugged. I used it on the road for the first 2 years and had no problems.

[DukePA's Mom]

I have a dell inspiron e1405. Very disappointed with this thing. It locks up, goes black,any old time. I don't use it for "work", just play. Not sure how much windows vista may be involved. One of our daughters also has this same pc, she doesn't have the problems I have. I do know, the PA school @ Duke had lots of problems with dell. I would not consider another dell in the near future. Things would have to get better. Has anyone checked Consumer Guide? Might not be a bad idea.

GTHC GODUKE! B Ball on my mind.

[Ben63]

Go custom!!! Build your own. It's way more cost effective and way more fun but if you want one that's pre built...

I love my Sony Vaio. The one I have only has 110 Gig hard drive, but thats easy to work around. I've never had any problems with it and would recommend it.

[cspan37421]

Last fall my daughter bought an HP laptop - 3G/250G core duo I think, but much more portable (13").

During startup, one of the touchpad buttons broke off. We exchanged the unit.

Within 6 months the LCD screen inverter went. The screen would just black out in the middle of using it - not a power saving feature. Also, apparently since inception, the DVD drive was very loud and vibrated like an electric razor.

We had to jump through a lot of pointless hoops for an actual repair. System restore, reinstall drivers, SFC scan, complete system recovery. When they finally agreed to take it in, service was very quick, but ...

upon receipt we discovered the DVD drive did not work properly. It turns out they downgraded the specs on it and the system would not play nice with it! It was hell getting them to admit to this, I had to try many channels (chat/email/toll free number) and a few hours on hold (cumulatively) before reaching someone whose job was NOT to get me to give up.

So that's some second-hand experience for you. You can draw your own conclusions.

FWIW, I have a Dell desktop and my understanding and experience has been that if you buy through their small business division, not the home/home office division, you'll get better support (perhaps even stateside). I've never had a Dell laptop, though. But 2 previous desktops - very good support.

[cspan37421]

I have a dell inspiron e1405. Very disappointed with this thing. It locks up, goes black,any old time.

See my note above. Possibly a screen inverter (whatever that is!). Seems to be a common problem with these things - google a description of your problem and you'll see forum posts of people with Dells, HPs, etc, all describing the same thing.

I hope yours is still in warranty. Remember, if you purchased it with a credit card, it's possible your card has a warranty extension benefit.

[DevilAlumna]

If I want real sport I will bring my mother. She is 73. She has a degree in computer science. The tag team of the two of us rocks their 20 something world to its motherboard.

Oh, I SOOOO want to see that YouTube video!!

[ArnieMc]

I was planning on hoofing over to best buy to kick some tires. I will try not to wonk the silly sales boy who will treat me like a boob upside the head with one.

Find out who you are talking to! I took my grandson in to Best Buy to get a laptop. The first salesperson told me I needed a Windows-based machine. She handed me off to another salesperson when the questions became brand-centric. He steered me to an HP that fit my requirements perfectly. When I said I'd take it, it took him 15 minutes to find a "blueshirt" to actually sell it to me. It turns out that he is an HP rep, and the woman is a M$ rep. In fact, all the people answering questions were reps of some kind. Best Buy employees only ring things up.

[cl15876]

Windsor,
- I would go with HP. I haven't had any issues with HP brand since they acquired Compaq (who knew what they were doing with desktop/laptop systems). I got my kiddos both the same HP 17" system for christmas about 5 years ago and it was a rocking system. I actually got them both at CompUSA, after finding he exact HP Pavilion 9xxx series system and where they were being sold. After researching the various stores and the product availability at places like Best Buy, BJs, and others... I found that alot of the high dollar systems were actually outdated models with circuitry and CPU under the hood. This was a very revealing research exercise as to how, so it does pay to do a little research ahead of time.

- Dell is not bad, I have always had pretty good luck with the Latitude series. I actually just got upgraded at work to a Dell Latitude E6400 so I am undecided about it right now.

- I used to be strictly an IBM fan (the thinkpad is not bad either).

- Toshiba, Sony, etc... I've not heard too many bad things about.

In summary, depending on how much you are willing to pay, you can get some smoking iron that will reliably last for at least 3 years or more. Get a system/model with as much RAM as possible and obviously the graphics and hard disk storage are also a must.

Here in VA (I assume everywhere else), I found that going go into Best Buy weekly, you can also find some great discounted deals on various computers that have been returned for some reason. You can also discern from this weekly visit what you might want to stay away from also!

Look forward to hearing what you end up getting!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

My laptop is on death's door...and it is time to buy a new one.
I've always had Dells but looking around there seem to be some good deals on Toshiba's and HPs.

What ever I get will need a t 17" display, a minimum of dual core 2.0 processor, 4gig o' ram at least a 250Gb hard drive, wireless g/n (bonus points for bluetooth!)


Anyone use similarly configured Toshiba or HPs??

(to avoid the inevitable comment...I can not (work requirements) and will not use a Mac!)

Here's a deal I got via email today from Costco on an HP with a 16" screen? Does size matter?
http://www.costco.com/Common/Search...R-_-2-_-HPg60t
The more expensive machine has 4GB of RAM, the cheaper version only 3GB.