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Laptop recs

Started 2 years ago by pigeonmom
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pigeonmom
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I only have $600, am limited to Best Buy and I need a laptop. Should I go with Toshiba or...? I am leery of HP since the wireless feature of the Pavilion I was using crapped out.
TIA

Posted 2 years ago #
WSB
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As long as it's not a Sony Vaio.

Posted 2 years ago #
celeste17
Member Profile

I don't know much about laptops but the one thing I would recommmend is that if you can afford a bigger hard drive (most of the ones on your price range are 250gb but a few are 320gb) go for the bigger HD. I never thought I would use all of the 40gb that this one had (when I bought this laptop that was top of the line) and eventually with taking pictures and such I had filled the drive. So whenever possible by the bigger drive.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ken
Member Profile

Let me fix you HP. Or give me the carcass if some store told you it was broken :) I like those.

As far as suggestions go, There are many considerations.

Best buy gets "special" versions of laptops from OEMs with every corner cut you can think of and some that surprised even me. In some cases the OEM will require you to got to them for tech support or repair. Not all but some. The details are in the fine print. Costco is where I got my sturdiest laptops but the models change often and they don't usually carry the absolute cheapest models since they have a very liberal no fault return policy even after the changes from the "abuse me" policies of the past.

Buy your laptop direct over the web from the manufacturer if you can. Unless you plan on treating it as disposable, get the extended warranty from the manufacturer if not at time of purchase, within the first year.

Sony is out entirely. You can't get parts and even the warranty service centers have trouble getting the right parts in a timely fashion. the details of their hardware are apparently state secrets.

Toshiba is uneven now but they have some good models cheap. My partner recently bought an l305 for 450. w free shipping from newegg. Toshiba cycles through model numbers quickly though so it may not be available now and certainly not at that promo price.

HP /Compag have some perfectly respectable laptops for good prices now. After warranty support and parts are reasonable and you can order replacement media even if the warranty is expired. The keep updating drivers for years after the sale and since they sell large numbers to fortune 500 companies, the military and microsoft, they rarely cut corners or choose the 8 cent capacitor over the 15 cent.

Dell still makes some sturdy laptops and their financing can get you more computer than you can afford as a cash outlay. However their tech support is pretty much incomprehensible now and they try to steer you into their pay per incident support system. They do have an excellent full scale relatively high priced no fault warranty you can buy that I have had dropped/ liquid spilled laptops replaced with a newer model under. Replacement parts for Dells are widely available.

Asus has some good laptops. They make the mainboards for several of the big name brands.

Acer has pretty good hardware but I have been underwhelmed by some of their recent software included with the laptops. They have really poor documentation and their web site is a horror.

Why are you being pointed towards Worst Buy?

All laptops are really a crapshoot. They are proprietary by nature and quality control consist of shipping them all out and seeing what comes back. You pays you money and you takes you chances.

But if you don't have one, get an external drive big enough to backup the files that are important to you as soon as you can afford it. They are cheap and fairly reliable. And make sure you get the physical media for your operating system or better yet a recovery software cd/dvd. Some models that have the umakeit cd's will still ship out pre made disks upon request.

And really. Don't trash or recycle any laptops if you can give them to me. If they are really dead, I can find out in a few min. Most of them aren't even if they came back to you as a box of loose parts from your repair shop..

Posted 2 years ago #
Aim
Member Profile

I am REALLY happy with my HP Vx7000 series. It's a great little machine, and it was around $600-800 range. HP's website has a ton of great deals, and depending on where you work or if you have affiliations with various groups you can usually get a substantial discount. At the very least, use something like cashbaq.com so you can get a 10% rebate.

If you are truly stuck with Best Buy (I kindof assume you have a credit there, and no additional cash, based on what you said) watch for sales, get a coupon online, try to order online for a better deal, and definitely take a look at the HPs. They have a pretty good lineup with a lot of bang for your buck.

Good luck.

Posted 2 years ago #
lighthouse
Member Profile

Three comments:

1. If all that's wrong with your HP is the wireless, you can get a USB WiFi adapter for almost nothing these days.

2. If you go with Dell, do a search and find some of the sites that post all the different Dell special offers. Dell will send out sales flyers with special offer codes that may not appear on the website, but can save you a bunch.

3. I don't know how their low-end machines are, but at the upper end of the PC laptop market I'd only buy Lenovo. Over the years, my employer has issued me a number of different Thinkpads (both with the "IBM" brand on them and later with "Lenovo" on them, but Lenovo made all of them) and they've all been very well made machines.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ken
Member Profile

Nothing wrong with Lenovo that a 500.00 off coupon won't fix :)

Yes they are sturdy and well made. I guess I am still annoyed at IBM fro the early days of the thinkpad when their warranty service would send stuff back in worse shape than you sent it in.

I have had no recent problems with the Lenovos or even the later thinkpads.

Posted 2 years ago #
pigeonmom
Member Profile

Thanks all. The HP Pavilion with the wireless issue is not mine and is going to be out of my possession soon anyway. I am bound to Worst Buy, as Aim guessed, due to no cash available and a store credit.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ken
Member Profile

ok then.

A link to their search page is insanely long.
Go to:
http://www.bestbuy.com
Then choose computers, laptops, everyday computers from the menu, put in your zipcode and do your research before you go in the store.

Most in the <600 range are very similar and nearly all use the t4300 intel chip or the amd equivalent. A few in the higher end of this range use core 2 or better processors.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

This page will let you look up cpu's and see where they rank in comparison with others.

They all are very similar if you throw out the low end celeron or semperon systems and of those remaining I would decide between the HP/Compaqs, the Toshibas, Asus and the Dells.

I like the Toshiba L505
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B2+Duo+Processor+-+Midnight+Breeze/9549045.p?id=1218122295053&skuId=9549045

Most come with a Norton 30 day trial that everyone I know has uninstalled asap and put something reasonable on. Norton on win7 seems to protect you from using your computer for anything other than playing dvd's and solitaire.

Posted 2 years ago #
bluebird
Member Profile

Pigeonmom, things crap out on all PCs. A wi-fi work around is one of the easiest and cheapest. My HP Pavillion laptop is 6 years old, and has been abused in every which way. Still going strong. Same with the HP desktop. It's even older and all I've ever done is add more memory.

Posted 2 years ago #
c@lbob
Member Profile

We recently got a Toshiba T135-1309 from BestBuy for $550. The major feature for us was that it's an ultra light (3.8 lbs, 1.5" thick) with a fairly large (13") screen. If you don't mind a 32 bit processor, (it seems plenty fast to us) it fills the bill quite well. Refer to this review on CNET

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-satellite-t135-s1309/4505-3121_7-33776107.html

After lugging around a Dell Studio 17, the Toshiba is like heaven. Be aware, though, there is no built in removable storage. You need to get an external drive. In our case we use the one on our desktop over the wireless home network.

I took Norton off of it an went for Microsoft Security Essentials. Voila, all my sharing problems with my HP desktop (also running Win7) went away!

Posted 2 years ago #
pigeonmom
Member Profile

Great info. Thanks again! :-D

Posted 2 years ago #
ellenater
Member Profile

Hey TR, what's wrong with the Sony Vaio?

Posted 2 years ago #
Phantom_Blut_01
Member Profile

Hi!
I just want to point out,oldish Sony Vaio's have good hardware,are smallish.
Used and not abused lappies are best deals,NOT newer.
NOT BEAT UP BY GAMER DWEEBS,Etc.
If you could,you could do what I do,go to the local freegeek or equivalennt charity,get 2 or 3 free/cheep old lappies.
My faves are,tough-books from "Panascumic"(C)that are stodgy,but guaranteed indestructable.
Then,pick one with good graphic specs,program with the dreaded"UBUNTU-NN"Linux.
Drive isn't a size issue,but,you should have mucho ram.
If you use UBUNTU-LINUX,you can add several outboard scsi,usb-chip"drive"filed memory for your personal data.
Just,un-plug and,take to an WINDOZE_32_NN machine,for back-up.
W/linux,you can get all your bundled software in one build for free.
Don't use any WinDoze above 98SE.
If you can,learn a little about other o.s.'s.
If you use,say,Mint/Ubuntu...
You don't need hacker skills to use it or maintain it.
No foolin.
Remember,w/windoze,big brother(No_Such_Agency)=NSA is always copying your files during boot-up to server at Ft.Huachua,Az.
There are,two hidden"Bios-reserved"partitions on your drive that you cannot erase/access.
One tracks all your off-line activity.
One allows remote repair-re-nstall of WinDoze_NN.
You were warned,O.K.!!
PS:hate-mail:
[hall_r_01@yahoo.co.uk]
"Da Phantom Blut"

Posted 2 years ago #
carter
Member Profile

Do yourself a favor and take that $600 and buy yourself a used Macbook. You'll have a lot LESS headaches, ease of use, and much more reliability. I made the switch 3 years ago and couldn't be happier to have PC based laptops behind me . . .

Posted 2 years ago #
Ken
Member Profile

Yeah well. Thanks for your concern Blut.

You might want to think about going back on the meds.

And to slide back on topic... my Sony PCG srx7 has a damaged pc card reader on the mainboard and since the replacement board is still more than 400.00 it will stay that way.
Ubuntu will install on it when there is no other boot device except the hard drive.
The top mem limit of 256 means it will run a bit slow.

Sony makes some good stuff but the planned obsolescence is swift and final.

Posted 2 years ago #
pigeonmom
Member Profile

This is going off the rails. My OP had clear criteria. I don't know what all this jibber jabber is about.

Posted 2 years ago #
dhg
Member Profile

Sony laptops are porcelain dolls: pretty but easy to break. Fujitsu models have the same problem. For more than 20 years, the most consistent recommendations from experienced resellers are for Lenovo Thinkpads and Dell Latitudes. These are the work horses that I'll see still running many years later. All other models will have been trashed but these are still in operation. Avoid HP like the plague. Their engineers have made bad decisions (just Google HP broken hinge). Panasonic boasts that they're manufacturing is nearly flawless, resulting in fewest returns but I don't run into them in the wild. I think, given the limited choices at Best Buy, you're going to end up with Toshiba. They are the only manufacturer that makes every part within the box. They improved themselves much when they decided to shield the box from spills. Like Thinkpads, all Toshibas now have a membrane beneath the keyboard. You know what Apple has beneath its keyboard??? A moisture detector. That way, if you spill and it breaks, they are not responsible. On a Thinkpad or Toshiba, if you spill it will not destroy the PC.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ken
Member Profile

Well Dell had their own broken hinge models. I have two of them. One actually works now that I replaced the power board so I have an extra hinge and base set stacked in with the spare parts. Anyone have a dell 600m series with a broken hinge or base?

yes certain models of every mfg have had their problems. The design of power jacks in this century has changed dramatically due to lawsuits and threats of lawsuits.

The same will happen to LCD inverter makers and plasma XYZ controllers in the next decade since the designs that shave 20.00 of the cost up front also shave the life of the product criminally.

Posted 2 years ago #
Aim
Member Profile

FYI, anyone who's in the market, woot.com has a decent laptop on sale TODAY (11/12/09) ONLY, until they run out, for $269.

If you need a laptop and can't afford retail, this might be a good way to go.

Posted 2 years ago #
WSB
Member Profile

Post to which #17 refers was flagged and has been deleted.

Posted 2 years ago #