Respectable Laptop Manufacturers.

[luciusad2004]

Hello. I wasn't really sure were to ask this so i thought i would ask here. If this is in the wrong place please tell me and I will lock this and repost it to the appropriate forum.

Anyway. I'm starting college in August so I plan on getting a job for the next seven months and i could really use a nice new laptop (I'm running and old 600 MHz ibook). Since I have seven months to save I will probably be looking in the $1,000 - $2,500 range. I don't want to hear about specific laptops but rather I just want to know what are some good manufacturers that I should look in to?


I already know that a Mac is in the line up for sure, and is probably what I'm going to purchase, but I'm trying to be as fair and unbiased as possible and figured I would look in to some other companies to see what is out there.

Summary: Can you name some good laptop manufacturers?

Also: If you have any first hand experiences (good or bad) feel free to add them in.

Thank you for your time.

[simon275]

Got a Sony Vaio for school two years ago. Still works fine is top notch while it may have been a little more expensive then laptops of its power it hasn't failed me yet. The battery in it the original one and it still runs as strong as when I got it. And I was using this thing every day at school.

Macbooks are pretty cool to.

[silverdemon]

I'm using an Acer Travelmate. This is in fact my second Acer, didn't really have problems with them. Also my sister has an Acer, as did my roommate and a friend of mine. I think none of them ever had a problem with them.
Acer makes nice laptops (travelmate series especially) but Their service is a bit less... I have heard.

Also my roommate has two IBMs which are nice laptops too, very durable but probably a bit more expensive too.

[EPYK]

here is an article you must read
the real laptop manufacturers (http://www.xoticpc.com/info_pages.php/pages_id/11)

[public_eyesore]

mac or hp. Sony viaos you are basically paying for the name

[Ronyx]

I have an IBM Thinkpad which i got for my birthday two years ago. The only problem with it is it's battery. For me the battery doesn't last long at all. I think it's just me because after 5min or so on battery it jumps down to 2% and shuts down. Might not have the same problem with other Thinkpads but just giving you a heads up =]

[DaveW]

here is an article you must read
the real laptop manufacturers

I'm not sure about that article...you could equally say that All laptop manufacturers just user either AMD or Pentium processors, both of which are avaliable publicly. They just buy the shells and kit them out, which is exactly what i expected of them. Why would they bother wasting money buying a factory when someone else can make them? Sony VIAO shells are always a bit crap in my opinion, so i'm not surprised to read that they make their own.

I welcome your opinions on this...

-Dave

[luciusad2004]

Thanks for all of the input guys, Ill look in to all of those companies, as time permits, and see what I can find. I'm hoping to get something fairly large (in terms of screen size) yet still somewhat thin and lite.

Thank you everyone.

anymore input from anyone else is still welcome.

[Exley]

I currently have a gateway MX6455 thats holding up rather nice and i am very pleased with, one manufacturer i would not buy from again is HP i had alot of problems with their ze5300 series laptop

[ReignInPain]

I have a Compaq Presario V4000, which I believe is a HP Brand? I've had no problems with it atall. It runs well, and im still on the original Battery after 2 years of constant use.

[blue73]

I'm not sure about that article...you could equally say that All laptop manufacturers just user either AMD or Pentium processors, both of which are avaliable publicly. They just buy the shells and kit them out, which is exactly what i expected of them. Why would they bother wasting money buying a factory when someone else can make them? Sony VIAO shells are always a bit crap in my opinion, so i'm not surprised to read that they make their own.

I welcome your opinions on this...

-Dave

Vehicle manufacturers along with Electronics companies have been doing this for years now, It's called "platform sharing". It's just as DaveW says, if one companies R&D team have a successful product then they place it on the market and licence it to other company's. It's nothing new. In fact if anyone outhere drives a Skoda/Audi/Mitsubishi. Have a look You might be surprised at who makes Your chassis.

As for reputable laptop companies I'd still go with HP/Compaq or Dell. Acer have had some problems recently with some of their Travelmate models. But that doesn't mean You should overlook them. All products have issues. If anyone reading this is using a Microsoft product in order to read it then You'll know what I mean! :up:

[Crimson Sky]

I love my DeLL Inspiron w/ATI graphics. Awesome screen. Sound is not great, but acceptable. Well made, boots fast, sturdy and reliable.

[luciusad2004]

Thanks for the input guys. At the moment im looking in to

HP
Lenovo
and Dell

Once I customize the systems they all seem to come in at about the same price.

Although with all of the options its hard to tell if my systems are equal

What i seem to be comeing up with so far is something along these lines

Intel core 2 duo t7200 2.0gigs
1 gig of ram
100 or 120 gigabyte hard drive
Dedicated graphics. 256 MB memory
15 or 15.4 inch screen
Running xp proffesional or Xp media center edition.
Built in WiFI and bluetooth

They seem to be coming in at about 2000 dollars

There were a few exceptions here and there but its basically along those lines.

Thanks for all of the input guys.

EDIT: By the time i actually buy this, ill probalby be purchasing a laptop with vista is there anything i should change?

[luciusad2004]

I know all about accidental damage... I accidently pushed my old laptop off of my bed while i was using it and it destroyed the screen. I felt like i had just been dumped by the most amazing girl in the world. Luckily the store we bought it through replaced it for like next to nothing.

Once i get in to programming i might use my laptop for recreational code compiling and what not, would this be powerful enough? Would i want more ram, maybe two gigs like Minty's set up?

@Minty - Lol water cooled laptop, that would be awesome to see, but i think it might defeat the purpose of the laptop. Imagine that on a plane

"can you put down your tray table so i set up my reservoir?"
*confused passenger*- "What?"

[nil8]

If you want something that will deal with damage well and have those high end stats, you're looking for a Panasonic toughbook. You will definitely pay for the amount of damage they can withstand and continue to perform.

I love the toughbooks, but they are prohibitively expensive. Very, very cool.
They also don't have keyboard or lcd issues nearly as often as most laptops.

[jaxspades]

I have an acer Travelmate...great company.

They don't add a lot of the crap software trials that other companies love to do.

It has been running solid for 2 years now, and last I checked, they have some great Acer Laptops on Newegg.

They have a laptop for every budget--new ones, it's not like you get a 4 year old pc or anything. They also have one for every type of pc user--mainly business, but they have good systems for gaming and for graphic design.

[DaveW]

If you want a high quality screen for cheap, then Dell are your only option. They seem to be connected when it comes to making high quality TFTs. Probably made by orphans in a sweatshop somewhere, but who cares? Cheap TFT's for all. ;) You can get high quality screens elsewhere but Dell are consistantly better value.

Note: This is the ONLY good thing i have to say about dell, so remember it.

-Dave

[Zephik]

If you want a high quality screen for cheap, then Dell are your only option. They seem to be connected when it comes to making high quality TFTs. Probably made by orphans in a sweatshop somewhere, but who cares? Cheap TFT's for all. ;) You can get high quality screens elsewhere but Dell are consistantly better value.

Note: This is the ONLY good thing i have to say about dell, so remember it.

-Dave

I'll second this.


Note: This is the ONLY good thing i have to say about dell, so remember it.

I'll especially second this! lol

[blue73]

I know this is super old. But I would still like to know ....What did You buy
?