Buying a laptop?

[Kreth]

Well according to people in the know they all advise me to stay away from Dell as they use a lower quality of parts. Still having said that since I own a business with a ton of computers some of the Dells have been okay and some have not.

The biggest issue I've had with Dells when doing support is laptops that use the IBM/Hitachi Deathstar--er, Deskstar hard drives.

 

[Rich Parsons]

I've had great luck with Dell, HP has some nice models as well. I love Thinkpads, but they tend to be a bit pricier than other brands. I'm not a big fan of Sony, or *shudder* Acer.

Where I work we have nostly HP's, and some Dell's. It does not matter on whihc lap top you have, none of them are designed to go from -40 to room teperature in a few seconds or even a minute. They all have problems in 11x + F heat and their fans are not good enough to cool them in this environment. They all have baromaters in them as well, sometimes after coming off of a plane they just no longer work. They used to have models with lighter colors and those worked better in theheat as they did not absorb as much solar load. . . .

Oh wait, people are talking about normal usage, and not usage for collecting data while trying to improve vehicles.

I know Compaq was bought out by HP, and I think it was a good think as our Compaq service was not good but the HP service was better. This is all the experience I have, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Kreth]

I do like the fact that Acer, Gateway/eMachines, and Packard Hell are involved in some big deal. Now you have one-stop shopping for all of your substandard machines. :lol:

 

[agemechanic03]

If you're thinking MacBook, consider this...

http://www.ifixit.com/

Such a miracle.

Thanks for that link Doc.........I can now fix my LCD screen in my iPod! I had it in my side BDU pocket one day and bumped it on somethin at work and i could no longer see the screen...KUDOS!

 

[Rich Parsons]

I'm going to buy a laptop. I've used them for work before, but I have never bought one of my own. So, I have no idea what to look for here.

Can anyone tell me (as if I am a total ignoramus on the subject) what to look for, starting with RAM and GB?

Here is what I would like to be able to do with it...

1. Create documents and print (so latest MSW obviously).

2. Internet (fast access), WIFI.

3. Play DVD's, music, and webvideo's without trouble.

4. Use a live webcam, and connect via phone line with someone else and talk with them while using the webcam (no idea how to do this, but would like to be able to do this).

5. Would like a good amount of memory, w/ capacity for upgrade.

Budget: Don't worry about it. Basically as inexpensive as possible while accomplishing my goals. So, If I can accomplish my goals within a 6-900 range, then don't tell me about a 1500 dollar deal because I won't be interested.

Can't think of anything else right now, but this seems pretty straightforward.


So... can any of you tech savvy geniuses help me out?

Advice greatly appreciated, thank you! :ultracool

I cannot speak to the names or quality of the laptops listed here. But ehre is a link to some Black Friday Sales that includes laptops.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/60/the-best-black-friday-deals