Seeking laptop advice. About to replace my 99 Thinkpad. Its been gd to me.

[henslee]

Never crashed. Only thing wrong is it won't recharge even a new batt. I dont do fancy stuff like graphics or recording but I might like to try. I do not want to switch to Mac. What should I get?

I want stabilty and enough ram and drivespace to never worry about it. I want long battery life and a nice screen. I never want my PC to freeze.

I hate flaws like buttons that break (like my friend's Sony VAIO's on and off switch) or hinges that get out of whack. I want a sturdy shell.

Any advice?

[lcooksey]

1. Get another Thinkpad

Check out the models at www.ibm.com/thinkpad. IBM is selling their PC buisness off to the Chinese company, Lenovo, but that won't be complete for a few years. They're still a good buy right now.

I have an ultralight, model X31, which I've had for almost two years. And my previous 2 laptops were both IBM, and each lasted me at least 3 years.

[henslee]

5. Thats what i was thinking but when I heard about the sale of IBM, I got

skittish.

[alfredo]

2. If you are going to do graphics and recording

the Mac is the best choice. Look at the Powerbook line of machines. You can still run Windows on it if you choose, but the Mac is the choice of the content creators.

The quality of the hardware is great, it has real plug and play. The installed movie, photo, and recording software is much better than what comes with Windows. Garage band is terrific. iMovie that comes on it is good enough that a movie created on it made the Sundance movie festival.

Do look them over before deciding on a laptop. go over to the mac forum and ask the graphics geeks and audiophiles there.

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/garageband.ars

[48pan]

3. I Like Toshiba

I have had three Toshibas and three Dells. Unless you have to travel light, larger seems to be better and the Toshiba is virtually unbreakable.

[ReadTomPaine]

4. For a "virtually unbreakable" laptop don't bother with Toshiba.

Go with a Panasonic Toughbook, Itronix GoBook or similar. These actually *are* virtually unbreakable. You can toss them out a window, put them underwater, expose then to corrosive atmospheres, clean them in a dishwasher, etc. In fact, you could smash any Toshiba laptop to small pieces using one of the above as a bludgeon :) Once you've used a ruggedized system, traveling with a normal laptop seems like traveling with Waterford crystal in a paper bag. Most of these units don't even use cases - you just attach the straps to hooks outside the unit.

I'd also disagree on size of system- go with the lightest, smallest laptop you can find with the features you prefer, keeping the keyboard size as close to full as possible (tiny keys are murder on a laptop). A laptop won't be much use if you leave it home all the time due to its weight and bulk. If the system is small enough, you'll take it everywhere (think digital camera). Also - IBM is in the process of divesting itself of its PC/laptop product line, so the OP might want to think seriously about switching to a maker other than IBM (Thinkpads are generally pretty nice systems).

RTP

[henslee]

7. Thanks. I am rough on stuff so this sounds good. And I cannot work with

undersized keyboards. Points well taken. Thanks for reponse.

[CanuckAmok]

6. I've deviated from Toshiba once...

...and regretted it. I bought an Acer, loaded with features, but it sucked.

Im back with a Toshiba (P15), and I love it. P4Mobile 3.0, XP media Edition (with TV tuner and remote control) NVidia G-force video, built-in Wi-Fi, 60Gig HDD 512 ram...

And it is sturdy... not Toughbook sturdy, but very solid. The closest Toughbook was slightly less powerful, and CDN$2500 more. So I could smash this Toshiba to pieces, buy a repalcement, and still come out spending less than I would have on a Panasonic (as cool as they are!).

[henslee]

8. Thanks.

[henslee]

9. Thanks all my DU pals : ) nt

[DemoTex]

10. Not a DELL. M. Dell just gave $250K for the Bu$h inauguration.

Not a Sony VIAO. I have an old one (WIN-98) ... it sux. Dr. DemoTex has a newer Sony VIAO (WIN-XP), it sux too. Mac is looking at Macs.

Mac