Want to buy a new laptop. Tips needed.

[Zan_of_Texas]

Okay, my laptop is vintage 1999, and the nearly-NEW battery has a usage life of 5 seconds. Time for a new laptop.

I'm not into games or flash or dash. But, I would probably want a mid-level model, in terms of features and price.

Any good places you recommend to understand what the various features offered, and why X is better than Y?

Good reviews, consumer reports, whatever?

[SoCalDem]

1. I like my new Toshiba Satellite M55-s325

:)

I am very angry at my Dell Inspiron that is currently languishing in the bottom desk drawer:(

[Zan_of_Texas]

2. Thanks, SoCalDem. Where are all the other consumers par excellence?

Help!

[SoCalDem]

3. probably at work

:P

[Hand]

7. Second that!

I've had a Satellite A70 since January--very nice display, plenty of ports, and seems to be pretty rugged. I banged it around quite a bit this summer and it never so much as hiccupped! Networking (wired and wireless) works beautifully with no fiddling required.

One thing I'd recommend is getting the biggest display you can afford--15.4" is quite an improvement over 15", and if you can afford a 17-incher, I'd go with that.

Toshibas are well reputed and seem to be well priced--gotta like that.
:toast:

[Crazy Guggenheim]

4. Toshiba makes a good laptop and IBM also. People are very happy

with Sony too. However, stay away from Dell. It seems that many people have a problem with them.

[Initech]

5. I bought an Apple laptop to replace my aging Dell...

And I dont regret it even for a micro-second!

[Zan_of_Texas]

6. Well, Michael Dell appearing with Dubya on the first day

after Dubya was selected by the Supreme Court in round one did not especially make me want to drop any bucks on Michael's head.

So, Apple? But, I have a PC desktop. I'm dumb about this stuff. Does that cause problems, if you're transferring stuff back and forth? Seems like it would.

[Initech]

9. Not a problem. I use it on my work network (Windows) all the time.

I can open, read, and edit Word and Excel files created on Windows with no problems.

[leftofthedial]

8. iBook or PowerBook

none better

[Guy Fawkes]

10. Two ideas...

if your laptop is from '99... just buy a new battery.

OR

try Amazon.com when you find a brand that you want to look into. People post very nice laptops (good condition) for cheap.

[mondo joe]

11. I'd go with a Mac iBook

It's the midlevel Mac laptop. My partner has one and LOVES it. I have the more powerful Powerbook.

We converted to Mac at end of last year and we've been in love with our macs ever since.

Cnet is a very handy source for info on tech items like laptops, including editor's picks and consumer reviews:http://www.cnet.com/

[Zan_of_Texas]

12. Thanks for the tips, all!

I'll check out cnet.

I read a lot of overviews at www.pcworld.com last night -- they were helpful. They even have a chart on what to expect at three different price levels.

[nini]

13. If you're not into high level graphics design etc..

go to a Best Buy or similar store and see what floor models they have on sale - many with a rebate that will allow you to get a good machine for a great price.

Look for 512MB RAM if possible. Hard drive size should be comprable with current models. If you're going to get one thing extra I would say making sure you get the RAM I mentioned.

There is more software/games etc. available for Windows based machines so you should consider that and what types of things you would want to run.

This is the only extended warranty I buy because of the battery replacement and the fragile monitor.

[hyphenate]

14. To me

a large part depends on what you've worked with. In the places I've worked, we used IBM Thinkpads. I just recently got my laptop, an IBM Thinkpad T23, on eBay, and I don't have any complaints. You do need to do some research on the sellers, because there are some bad dealers there. But if you find a seller with good feedback, and enough good comments to his credit, it's a fulfilling experience. I paid $440 used for mine, and since I've worked with them, I like them and their styling. This guy happened to be an IBM/laptop techie, so the machine is in darn good shape.

Go into a Circuit City or Best Buy if you definitely want a new one, though. Only don't buy it from them. Look around, see what ones you like, touch them, pick them up and just get any kind of feel from them that you can.

Then go home. Go to http://www.epinions.com and then research the ones you want there. They will present you with a detailed listing for whatever models you've chosen, and show you feedback and reviews from those who already have purchased them. Then you can look at various stores which have them, and what they cost at those stores. You will likely find a huge difference between what a Circuit City or a Best Buy is charging compared to a company willing to see off the 'net. Epinions has "trusted" stores, where customers give their opinion of the different marketplaces they buy from, and if the store has significantly good reviews, it becomes a "trusted" store.

That's how I found my new digital camera. The local Best Buy wanted almost $800 for the camera I wanted, and I got it through Abe's of Maine for $500.

[alfredo]

15. When I hit the coffeehouses, I see iBooks.

They are very rugged, have good battery life, networking is very simple, the OS intuitive. The good design is more than skin deep.

Go to the Apple Store and look at what they offer.

http://www.apple.com/

Forgot to add, they supply some very good software with the iBook. iLife is excellent, especially iMovie and Garageband. A movie at the Sundance Festival was made using iMovie. It's that good.

From the Apple site.

Every iBook comes with the entire suite of iLife ’05 applications — iTunes, iMovie HD, iPhoto, GarageBand and iDVD. Apple’s award-winning software lets you create your own music CDs, manage your digital photos, edit pro-quality movies, write your own music and author DVD projects. Everything works seamlessly together, so you can easily bring your photos from your iPhoto library and songs from your iTunes music library into iMovie HD and iDVD. Or select songs from iTunes to accompany an iPhoto slideshow. You won’t find anything like it on a PC.