Buying a laptop !?!

[~Roll Tide Roll]

I am looking into buying a laptop for a college student and I need some advice. I am thinking seriously about purchasing a Dell or Gateway. However, I found a very reasonable Toshiba and HP. What do y'all like/dislike?? Which kind has the best support?

ANY ADVICE OR OPINIONS???:confused:

[0ldman]

Toshiba. Hardy little laptops, one of the last computer companies that hasn't started installing tons of borderline spyware, trial versions of everything, on new systems. If you're at all familiar with laptops, for reference, I'd get a Toshiba over a Thinkpad any day.

HP has had issues with the power prong breaking off of the motherboard in several models of their laptops, they don't send OS discs, only a recovery partition. HP's tech support was a definate step above Dell's last time I had to deal with them on a warranty issue, but that isn't saying much.

The newer Dell's are ok, but not as good as the Toshiba. Dell's tech support is hit and miss, not very good. I haven't seen a new Gateway laptop in 2 years, but I can say that very few people are buying Gateways as of late. Not doing so good.

[armywife87]

I have an hp, and I'm really rough on it. I have cracked the case, but i have a warranty on it that if i even drop it and break it into a million pieces they'll replace it. So that soon will be fixed. I great service last time mine went on the fritz and they walked me right threw what i needed to do. So over all I've had a good experience with hp.

[~Roll Tide Roll]

I wasn't too sure about the status of Gateway. Not very long ago it seemed like EVERYONE had to have a Gateway. I have a HP and experienced some difficulty with the Tech. Support also.

[madeinalabama]

I've had an HP for over three years now. It's been excellent - I've never had a problem, so I have no experience with tech support. I do want to add that if the laptop is for a college student, I would recommend a wireless modem. A lot of libraries now offer WiFi and having a laptop with a wireless connection is a major convenience when studying, etc. I went to UA, and they are even putting WiFi into some of the classrooms now. I'm sure other colleges have WiFi too.

[demopolite]

Do NOT BUY A COMPAQ!!!!

Mine is a piece of crap....and it came from the factory that way. My BF's HP has held up pretty well (one little problem with the power cord assembly that was fixed under warranty).

[Ranger]

I have had 4 Dell Laptops. I have liked each one of them. I hardly ever call Tech Support. I Do it all myself. I also have an older SAGER laptop, and it has been nothing but good to me. Even though its an older model I still like it. We have had IBM's at work and I absolutely Hated it. We had nothing but problems with them.

I agree that HP's and SONY's have problem with the power prongs breaking off on the mother Board, so me personally I would stay away from them. As far as a Gateway goes, I have never owned one and I don't plan to own one. JMO.

[Ranger]

Do NOT BUY A COMPAQ!!!!
Mine is a piece of crap....and it came from the factory that way. My BF's HP has held up pretty well (one little problem with the power cord assembly that was fixed under warranty).

I agree no Compaq, which is the same as HP.

[0ldman]

The thing to keep in mind about support, even if you know enough to not deal with them, you always have the chance of a hardware problem under warranty, this is where Dell really fails.

If you get business support, you've got a shot, home support, you'll be on the phone for hours.

[Ranger]

The thing to keep in mind about support, even if you know enough to not deal with them, you always have the chance of a hardware problem under warranty, this is where Dell really fails.
If you get business support, you've got a shot, home support, you'll be on the phone for hours.


I have 2 friends who contacted support with Dell and they were very satisfied.

[armywife87]

my dad has a compaq and he has had NO problems with it..

[Meds]

My daughter was required to purchase an IBM lap top when she entered college. She hates it! She bought a Mac I-book and loves it. Her sister and I have both purchased the Mac I-Book G4. I thought that I'd really had a hard time learning a new system. I was wrong. I have never enjoyed a computer as much. I love wireless!

[MrTony]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop which I got two years ago and its still going strong. It has a Intel Centrino processor with a good size harddrive, DVD player/CD burner combo, internal wireless card, and just about every port you'll ever need. I would highly recommend you getting a Dell laptop, especially those new XPS systems.

[J. Flockery]

I agree no Compaq, which is the same as HP.

Not the same. Only owned by the same company. The same people that built compaqs 5 years ago still build them. That is why you see the quality of a compaq still about the same. The compaq is like a lower priced version of a true HP machine.

[J. Flockery]

I have 2 friends who contacted support with Dell and they were very satisfied.

They must have gotten the English version of the tech support from Dell!

[nurse L]

I just bought a Dell Notebook laptop with 1 gb of memory. I hope it was a good buy. I havent recieved it yet.

[Ranger]

They must have gotten the English version of the tech support from Dell!


HAHA, "Thank you come again".

[0ldman]

Not the same. Only owned by the same company. The same people that built compaqs 5 years ago still build them. That is why you see the quality of a compaq still about the same. The compaq is like a lower priced version of a true HP machine.
The desktops are as you describe, the laptops are frighteningly similar.

Compaq Presario 5000, HP Pavilion laptop model from about 5700-7800 (don't remember the exact model) share every single part except for the plastics.
The Compaq has a smaller 4:3 screen, the HP does on the lower models, widescreen on the big ones, same motherboard, daughtercards, etc...

Matter of fact, one of the HP's I was working on had Compaq PN enscribed on the board... :eek:

[~Roll Tide Roll]

You all have been great help!! :) Does anyone have any experience with a Toshiba? They seem to be priced practically. I am browsing Dell's website now and they have a Inspiron B130 Notebook around $700. I know that I will buy something that is wireless compatible. I am continuing the search and hoping I stumble upon something GREAT! :) Continue with the great advice!

[0ldman]

I sell Toshiba's, I've used a couple, set up a couple. Quality is much better than Dell, HP, Compaq, Gateway, right at the same as IBM but more functional, easier to work on.

[~Roll Tide Roll]

I have heard from several people that Toshiba or Dell was the way to go. I am looking into these 2 brands more closely now.

[mmcd3182]

may be too late.. maybe not

tomorrow, Walmart starts a No-Sales-Tax deal. On most school items, even up to computers ... $750 or less ...

we're getting a new laptop tomorrow morning :-) for $500

[~Roll Tide Roll]

I wish I would have thought about that earlier. But maybe there is still a chance that might work out. I will look into that TONIGHT!! What kind are you getting?

[0ldman]

A word of caution, with computers, cheap price is cheap made, with laptops, I'm really scared of anything less than about $800, unless it is a monster sale.

The real line between cheap and decent is around $1000 for laptops still, below that, its kind of gambling.

[mmcd3182]

got one for $600... no tax...

Intel Celeron M Processor 390 (1.7 Ghz)
15.4" widescreen 1280x800
S3 Graphics Pro Integrated
512MB PC2-4200 DDRM SDRAM
60GB PATA Slim Hard Drive
DVDROM/DVD+/-RW burner with Dual Layer capabilities
10/100 LAN
Wireless LAN 802.11b/g
Li-ion battery
3 USB ports, microphone port, modem port, headphone,
comes with a pretty good variety of preinstalled software also.

got it at walmart this morn.

[0ldman]

Emachine?
The specs look good, but the S3 is usually coupled with a Via chipset, uses onboard memory. That is pretty much standard on that price range, but the S3 video is what has thrown me off.

[Brian]

HP has had issues with the power prong breaking off of the motherboard in several models of their laptops, they don't send OS discs, only a recovery partition. HP's tech support was a definate step above Dell's last time I had to deal with them on a warranty issue, but that isn't saying much.


HP has been sending an OS CD with all the HP laptops we use here where I work. Just got a new one a couple days ago. Of course this is a business model laptop, but I can't see them not sending the Disc with other models as well.


Toshiba has a very good Tech/Repair reputation. Just make sure you get the System Guard warranty. It will cover accidental breakage of pretty much any part of the unit. If you get the laptop from a retail chain (ie BestBuy), DO NOT GET THEIR STORE WARRANTY. Completely worthless as their techs don't know squat and will ultimately end up sending it off to a Toshiba Repair Center anyway (thats after its been sitting in their waiting room for a week or so.).

[0ldman]

I've had several with the restore partition and no OS discs. Makes for a good time when the hard drive crashes.