Laptops

[n2ize]

What is a good brand of laptop these days ? I have heard good things about ASUS systems. Anyone recommend any specific brands, models, etc ?

[ad4mg]

What is a good brand of laptop these days ? I have heard good things about ASUS systems. Anyone recommend any specific brands, models, etc ?

HP laptops are built like tanks. My wife has one, so does my son, and my work machine is an HP laptop.

I just built a PC based on ASUS equipment, and I'm very unhappy with the MB and Video card driver/utilities constantly "phoning home" to ASUSTek. This is the primary reason that I only run Windows 7 Professional 64 bit I paid a buck-fifty ($150) for to keep it upgraded. I would imagine their laptops exhibit the same behavior. I pretty much ignore Windows on this machine, and run Ubuntu 99% of the time.

My experience with laptops is limited, but my 7 year old Acer Aspire 5000 series laptop still runs great with Ubuntu on it.

[XE1/N5AL]

One problem in making specific laptop recommendations is that the manufacturers are constantly releasing new models and discontinuing their old ones.

I don't know if any of this will help, because it's not that specific:

I have a Toshiba Satellite A665 laptop: i7 processor, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OS (Linux on external USB drive), that has served me well for two years. Lately, it has automatically shut itself down a few times due to over-heating. On my old Sony laptop, it was easy to clean the dust and lint from the laptop's cooling system to prevent this over-heating. From the videos I have seen on the Internet, it is quite a bit more complicated to perform this same cleaning operation on my Toshiba. But, I do need to bite the bullet and do it. The charger for my Toshiba does generate some RFI and I have had to employ ferrite chokes to keep it in check. My old Sony charger didn't have this problem. One publicized weakness of this specific Toshiba laptop model is a shorter operating time between battery charges than some competing laptops. I'm usually close to an AC outlet, so this doesn't affect me too much.

I was happy with my older Sony laptop, but I stopped buying that brand after two more recent Sony laptop purchases, for my nephews, developed the same funky LCD display problem shortly after their warranty period had expired.

During the past year, I have bought several laptops for my nieces and nephews, ranging from some low-end ACER laptops to some intermediate-level ASUS and HP laptops and finally to a high-end Apple MacBook Pro (for a nephew studying graphic design). All of these computers are serving well, without problems. I guess the computer one chooses depends on the intended application -- there certainly is a huge price difference between the low end and the high end. But, even the lower-end laptops are quite powerful these days.

[PA5COR]

My Acer travelmate 7720 sees daily use for 10 to 14 hours and keeps ticking, the cleaning process of lint and dust from the ventilator and cooling block is relative easy, and i have the lappie now for over 4 years, bought new.
One of the hinges now starts to give some problems but the lappie will get replacd this year anyway so it is just left open on the table and not close the lid.

Replaced the PSU from a 4 amp to an 8 amp i had spare, the original became quite hot after 10 hours continious use.
Most of the time i spend 800 - 900 euro for a new laptop, giving me a high mid range laptop that will stay usefull for 4 to 5 years.
No need for a game laptop, but do prefer a good videocrad internal.
Lots of memory and fast cpu.

[KK4AMI]

Wow, a million choices. We get a lot of Dells and HP laptops as donations. Most of them always work, people just get tired of them and upgrade. The HPs are the easiest to work on and upgrade. Dells have the best factory support I've seen. I guess it depends on that age old question "Whadda ya want it for?" Are you a touch typer or a one finger pounder. Do you want to travel with it or use it as a desk top? Like your game and video graphics or just need a business machine? Here is a CNET review on some new ones.

PS - I use an IBM 1300 MHz PIII T23 (about 1999 vintage) with xubuntu (Linux) because it's small solid and indestructible. My desk top is my main machine, it's all ASUS.

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-laptops/

[n6hcm]

i'm usng a gateway (made by acer) laptop around the house and it's just fine. i need to bump up the ram to 8GB but other than that we're good. cost $399. running win7 ultimate x64.

[KC2UGV]

The brands of laptops I'd look at, if I were in the market currently, would be Toshiba and Acer. I would steer clear of Lenovos and Dells.

[N1LAF]

The brands of laptops I'd look at, if I were in the market currently, would be Toshiba and Acer. I would steer clear of Lenovos and Dells.

I have a Dell Latitude 6500 - solid performer... would buy another one of these (And are available on Dell Auctions..)

I may buy another...

[KC2UGV]

I have a Dell Latitude 6500 - solid performer... would buy another one of these (And are available on Dell Auctions..)

I may buy another...

I'm glad you have had great experiences with your single unit from Dell. However, my experience with hundreds of units from Dell have shown me they are prone to overheating issues (Due to improper heat sinking of the CPU), and panel failures.

[N8YX]

Dell 6420 as a work laptop - before that, a 6400. Absolutely zero problems with either.

We've deployed thousands of the things and the only time they come back is when someone does something really stupid - like running them over or dropping them in the lake.

[W4GPL]

I've had my current Dell Latitude for over 5 years.. and I love it, I'll be a very sad panda the day I have to replace it, but the end is near. The BIOS won't address more than 4GB of RAM and the GPU is subpar for most any video acceleration. :-| I've been browsing the market, my inclination is that I'd buy another Dell Latitude... but Asus is on the list too..

[WØTKX]

Dells at work, getting a new one soon. Pretty tough.

I'm on my second personal HP laptop. Been berry berry gudtome.

[KK4AMI]

A lot of laptops overheat due to malfunctioning batteries (cheap Chinese replacements) and clogged vents. They need to be vacuumed out on a regular basis. If you use your laptops in high dirt environments or even at home on a carpeted floor or around pets especially. Vacuum, Vacuum! The computers we get in to recycle look like something was living and nesting in them. Most have a smell of cat pee, french fries and burning hair. We put in for biohazard equipment if we have to clean them anymore.

[KB3LAZ]

I'm glad you have had great experiences with your single unit from Dell. However, my experience with hundreds of units from Dell have shown me they are prone to overheating issues (Due to improper heat sinking of the CPU), and panel failures.

Have had that problem with both Dell and Acer on multiple occasions over the years. I have had a lot of major annoyances with almost every Acer I have ever owned. However, I have only ever had minor functionality problems. Normally fitting for the price range of a disposable PC.

I have had very good luck with Toshiba.

[K7SGJ]

This is why they make Ford and Chevys. My best advice, and I always follow my advice, (not) is to decide what applications you plan to use the machine for, then find the machines that will fulfuill your needs plus a little, and then compare prices vs features. With few exceptions, most of the laptops these days are fairly reliable. Also, you might want to read reviews from people that own what you are considering. Throw out a few reviews from the top (shills) and a few from the bottom (sour grapes) and you'll probably do alright. If not, you can come back and tell me to STFU, and that I'm full of shit. which is pretty well known by most everyone

[N1LAF]

I'm glad you have had great experiences with your single unit from Dell. However, my experience with hundreds of units from Dell have shown me they are prone to overheating issues (Due to improper heat sinking of the CPU), and panel failures.

Again, you speak from ignorance. I own 3 Inspirons, 2 netbooks, and one Latitude. All three Inspirons are OLD (3200, 3500, 8500) and basically in retirement. My Latitude is my active laptop, and a Netbook which I dual-boot. So, there is 6 Dell portables right there, not a single unit. The Latitude is the best of the bunch.

[ad4mg]

Again, you speak from ignorance. I own 3 Inspirons, 2 netbooks, and one Latitude. All three Inspirons are OLD (3200, 3500, 8500) and basically in retirement. My Latitude is my active laptop, and a Netbook which I dual-boot. So, there is 6 Dell portables right there, not a single unit. The Latitude is the best of the bunch.

I dunno, I've repaired a handful of Dells with toasted processors over the years, but I can say the same about Acers. I think it's how the machine is used. If you lay a towel across your legs and set the laptop on the towel, it's going to overheat. Same with pillows. Usually, the cooling air intake is in the bottom of the case, and you just have to keep that clear of obstructions.

HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, even the Thinkpads are all reliable when taken care of. It's more in how you treat them that determines how long they will last.

I'm going to remain a dinosaur and hang on to my PC's. When they stop making PC's and laptops, I'll stop using computers. None of that trendy little toy stuff for me...

[K7SGJ]

I dunno, I've repaired a handful of Dells with toasted processors over the years, but I can say the same about Acers. I think it's how the machine is used. If you lay a towel across your legs and set the laptop on the towel, it's going to overheat. Same with pillows. Usually, the cooling air intake is in the bottom of the case, and you just have to keep that clear of obstructions.

HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, even the Thinkpads are all reliable when taken care of. It's more in how you treat them that determines how long they will last.

I'm going to remain a dinosaur and hang on to my PC's. When they stop making PC's and laptops, I'll stop using computers. None of that trendy little toy stuff for me...

Huh, I've had lots of pillows across my legs over the years, and they never got hot. Maybe it has something to do with the kind of feathers?

[KC2UGV]

Again, you speak from ignorance. I own 3 Inspirons, 2 netbooks, and one Latitude. All three Inspirons are OLD (3200, 3500, 8500) and basically in retirement. My Latitude is my active laptop, and a Netbook which I dual-boot. So, there is 6 Dell portables right there, not a single unit. The Latitude is the best of the bunch.

Ignorance? Hardly. Speaking from corporate deployment of machines to over 78 sites, and about 10,000 units total (Dell D600 line, 610's, 620's, and 630's). Of those 10,000; within 2 years, we've had about 1000-1500 come back due to processors being cooked. Dell admitted it was an issue, caused by not putting the cooling gel between the sink and the CPU. We then dropped our Dell contract due to the high number of issues, and moved to Lenovo. Nothing major, just IMO, they feel flimsy.

[KB3LAZ]

I dunno, I've repaired a handful of Dells with toasted processors over the years, but I can say the same about Acers. I think it's how the machine is used. If you lay a towel across your legs and set the laptop on the towel, it's going to overheat. Same with pillows. Usually, the cooling air intake is in the bottom of the case, and you just have to keep that clear of obstructions.

HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, even the Thinkpads are all reliable when taken care of. It's more in how you treat them that determines how long they will last.

I'm going to remain a dinosaur and hang on to my PC's. When they stop making PC's and laptops, I'll stop using computers. None of that trendy little toy stuff for me...

Ofc how you treat them is going to play a role. Also, most brands do make a crappy model here and there. Personally, I thrash laptops, bad. They last two years give or take. They just cant stand the physical abuse no matter the brand. For that reason I will not sink a lot of money into a laptop. I have in the past and they still cant handle being lugged around on a daily basis. I do mean lugged, not carried softly.

When it comes to the treatment they get from me, cosmetically, Acer is the first to cave and Toshiba the last. Dell is give or take. The first thing to go is always the vents on the heat sink, next are the plastic inserts around the USB, then the trackpad, and finally the case. The GPU is normally the first thing to fry and then the processor. This happens to every brand I have ever bought. Just faster with some than others.

Out of the box, I have seen characteristics that are odd from many a laptop. They normally change from one model to the next. Up until a few years ago Acer gave me trouble with heating due to the heat sink but that seems to no longer be an issue. Acer PC's almost always give me issues with their trackpad from day one. However, I much prefer Acer to Toshiba when it comes to keys. As they dont stick or crack as quickly. More often than not I end up with one of these two brands when they hit the bargain bin because, as I said, no matter the cost I have learned that I destroy a laptop in two years time. Why spend extra money.

Also, the last 4 laptops Ive got have given me dead pixles rather quickly. Normally in the same spot. This acer, from day one. One dead pixel. Fortunately no more have appeared.

Another thing. It seems that the model numbers at big stores like walmart differ from places like tiger direct. These PC's while significantly cheaper last me no more than a year. I dont know if they use cheaper parts or what.

With laptops, I dont get irritated because I know the price I pay for them and do not expect them to last.

All in all, most MFU's seem to have their problems but in the end I normally see the same longevity from one or the other. For me it boils down to preference.

[XE1/N5AL]

Travis' comment about keyboard keys reminded me of a laptop that I bought and quickly returned to the store. I don't even remember the brand, but it wasn't a low-end unit. Anyway, you had to hit the keyboard keys "dead-on" for them to function. I guess a good typist wouldn't have even noticed the quirk, but with my sloppy typing, every sentence I typed semed to b missng lettrs.

[K0RGR]

I have a pile of dead or semi-dead laptops in the garage, waiting for me to remove the hard drives so I can junk the remains. I seem to go through them rather quickly. The old IBM Thinkpads generally still work, but have outlived their userfulness. The display on the recent Lenovo died an early death, and keyboard went to pot on the Compaq that's out there - I might still resurrect that one for use with an external keyboard, but it is sensitive to RF.

I just acquired an ASUS Netbook to replace the one I murdered a little while ago. I tried to do a memory upgrade on the thing, and discovered that the packaging sucks, even by small laptop standards. I ended up trashing the keyboard and the battery connections. If you get a little ASUS, get one that has all the hardware you will ever need on it. This new one was cheaper than the old one and has 4 GB of RAM and a 64 bit processor - so they can be had out there for cheap. Of course, being a netbook - no CD drive = you will need an external one, and be advised that the netbooks don't provide enough power at the USB port to run most of them. So far, I haven't missed it.

[N1LAF]

Ignorance? Hardly. Speaking from corporate deployment of machines to over 78 sites, and about 10,000 units total (Dell D600 line, 610's, 620's, and 630's). Of those 10,000; within 2 years, we've had about 1000-1500 come back due to processors being cooked. Dell admitted it was an issue, caused by not putting the cooling gel between the sink and the CPU. We then dropped our Dell contract due to the high number of issues, and moved to Lenovo. Nothing major, just IMO, they feel flimsy.

I have no experience with their D-line, and I have had a motherboard problem with my XPS system (which I am using right now), which was fixed by a local computer shop replacing capacitors for $90, but as to laptops, many others including myself haven't had problems with Dell laptops in general. Maybe if you got Latitudes instead, you would not have had the problems. Mine is 5 years old, works great today.

[N1LAF]

... The old IBM Thinkpads generally still work, but have outlived their userfulness. The display on the recent Lenovo died an early death, and keyboard went to pot on the Compaq that's out there - I might still resurrect that one for use with an external keyboard, but it is sensitive to RF.

I was having problems with a USB keyboard on my '7600 (Onn sold at Walmart). I bought a Logitech USB keyboard, from Walmart, for $13.95. Not a problem on the '7600. Yiou might want to try this keyboard for high-RF zones.

[KC2UGV]

I have no experience with their D-line, and I have had a motherboard problem with my XPS system (which I am using right now), which was fixed by a local computer shop replacing capacitors for $90, but as to laptops, many others including myself haven't had problems with Dell laptops in general. Maybe if you got Latitudes instead, you would not have had the problems. Mine is 5 years old, works great today.

Sigh... Nevermind Paul. You have boatloads of experience in the field...

http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/latitude-d620/pd

[N1LAF]

Sigh... Nevermind Paul. You have boatloads of experience in the field...

http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/latitude-d620/pd

Enough experience to know that not all of Dell products are perfect. Since Dell is just an assembly and marketing house, they do not make their own stuff, unlike Asus. So, you may find a run of bad Dell systems, doesn't make all of Dell products bad.

The link you provided is as good admission as any that Dell had a problem, just like some of the XPS motherboards.

[n6hcm]

Dell admitted it was an issue, caused by not putting the cooling gel between the sink and the CPU.

and then there were the D6* systems with GPUs that would overheat which Dell failed to acknowledge or repair.

We could never get Lenovo to sell us systems promptly so we don't try to buy them anymore. I have one scientist who insists on thinkpads and he now also knows that with Lenovo you also get long waits for sales and service.

[KC2UGV]

and then there were the D6* systems with GPUs that would overheat which Dell failed to acknowledge or repair.


The finally admitted it. After all the standard warranties expired. It could have been the GPU. The 600 series we had issues with were the Latitude D6* (610, 620, and 630). Of course, if we bought Latitudes, Paul says we wouldn't have had the issues we had with the Latitudes we had issues with.



We could never get Lenovo to sell us systems promptly so we don't try to buy them anymore. I have one scientist who insists on thinkpads and he now also knows that with Lenovo you also get long waits for sales and service.

Yeah, I was sad to see IBM spin off their Thinkpads. I loved the Thinkpad lines, now, not so much. No real issues with them (Although, we are only two years into the deployment), they just don't feel as sturdy as the IBM ThinkPads.

[W2NAP]

I miss having a laptop around...

[N2NH]

I miss having a laptop around...

Try a tablet. They're cheaper and in many cases just as quick. 7" works for most things even movies. 10" if you must impress the neighbors, but it's not great if you want to actually take it somewhere.

[N2NH]

What is a good brand of laptop these days ? I have heard good things about ASUS systems. Anyone recommend any specific brands, models, etc ?

ASUS is good. So is HP. I like a quad-core, but there is a heat problem with them. The up side is performance of the AMDs is faster and the machine is cheaper. Not a lot to choose from, but I'm happy with mine. I'd opt for something 15" or smaller unless you want to watch movies. Then you will need the 17" screen with good resolution. Yes some can even play low HD (840p) and can use Blu-Ray. Laptop and desktop sales are lagging as more people are buying tablets, so you might find a good deal if you look around.

[KK4AMI]

I'm a great computer technician! :shock: For 3 years I have owned my old IBM Thinkpad T23 and I never realized it had a night lite to see the keyboard in the dark. I was working on a T60 at work when I found it. Apparently all Thinkpads have them. My next question would be why? What do people do in the dark with their laptops? :lol:

[KC2UGV]

I'm a great computer technician! :shock: For 3 years I have owned my old IBM Thinkpad T23 and I never realized it had a night lite to see the keyboard in the dark. I was working on a T60 at work when I found it. Apparently all Thinkpads have them. My next question would be why? What do people do in the dark with their laptops? :lol:

Yeah, even the newer ThinkPads by Lenovo have the lights. They are handy for overseas flights (When the cabin lights are out), answering on call issues, etc etc.

[W2NAP]

My next question would be why? What do people do in the dark with their laptops? :lol:

Porn...

[kb2crk]

Laptops??? Boy I am behind the times. I am using a Dell Inspiron 8200, Have 3 running Latitude c640s, a c840, and an Austin 396. The wife has a Latitude D420. I find the old C series latitude to be quite durable although slow by todays standards.

[NQ6U]

Here's my laptop:

http://www.livedigitally.com/theldb/Very%20Old.jpg

Works great and features a fast, fast 300 baud modem! I can make two or three Island posts a day, now.