Laptop advice...Toshiba Dell or Sony?

[joeybee12]

Anyone have experience/preferences as to which is more reliable? I have an HP...don't want to go there again. thanks!

[Symarip]

1. I switched from HP to Dell

I couldn't be happier with the Studio XPS line. It handles all my heavy load apps, like Photoshop and Flash, and doesn't do too bad for the occasional game.

[joeybee12]

2. Thanks...

I notice that line can get pretty expensive...the lower end is about $900 on Amazon, which is about what I would spend.

[tk2kewl]

3. i bought a very expensive toshiba a couple of years ago

and it lived just past the warranty... then the on-board video device took a dump.

[joeybee12]

4. Thanks...that's my problem with my HP...

...it's three years old, but it has been pretty slow for a while now.

[hobbit709]

34. The slowness is clutter

The cpu doesn't slow down with age.

[HopeHoops]

5. HP is awesome. Sorry you had a bad experience, but the machines are great and so is support.

Note: Do NOT confuse HP laptop support with HP printer support. The latter blows large farm animal naughty bits. HP laptop support is easily the best I've ever dealt with. Dell is easily the worst.

[joeybee12]

17. I'm reading below and most people have had an ok experience with HP...

...but I'd like to avoid them now that Carly is running for the Senate, so, if ever asked on national television, I can say she ruined the company nad has the nerve to say she's qualified for the Senate!

[hobbit709]

35. Carly got FIRED from HP some time back

I've got two Compaq/Hp laptops and they work just fine. I just installed Windows 7 on the older one and it works better than it did with XP.

[joeybee12]

45. But the mess she left behind lives on!

I want to use everything possible to see she crawls back into a hole and is never heard from again!

[Haole Girl]

6. Mac

:-)

[Sanity Claws]

23. Yes, Mac

[Lance_Boyle]

7. none of the above - why pay for a name when they ALL use the same Chinese

hardware? Paying for the name is ONLY worthwhile if you also pay for the service contract. Save your money and buy an Acer or no-name.

[tk2kewl]

11. not bad advice...

i just built a great desktop machine from parts:

Mother Board with HDMI video, RAID and Window 7 Home Premium OEM $185
Intel Pentium Dual Core 3.06 GHz $100
3 - 1B Hard Disks @$85 each
Quiet 600w Power Supply $180
CD/DVD/BlueRay $100
4GB RAM $80
Fancy Case $90

Total $990

[Initech]

46. Try Systemax - all their laptops are made in Florida.

[hobbit709]

47. Assembled from Chinese parts.

But at least they're put together here.

[Initech]

49. Yeah - you're not gonna get around that.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

8. All the geeks I know would recommend Dell. nt

[calico1]

9. I ended up buying a Gateway after reading the

glowing reviews on the Best Buy website. It got the most positive reviews.

Also for the price and features it was the best value. I also like that they didn't load it up with useless programs that I don't want or need. I have had it since last December. Let's see if it lasts. Hope so!

[Inspired]

33. Just got a Gateway, too. It was very affordable and had good 'experience ratings'.

[LeftyMom]

40. I'm really happy with mine.

It was a bargain basement cheapie, and it actually feels much sturdier than the two Sonys I've had previously. FWIW, Sony laptops blow. They have a design flaw that causes the DC jack to fail (a very cheap part, but expensive labor fix) and when it does it takes out the motherboard, which means you have a $800 paperweight.

[madinmaryland]

48. I got my wife a Gateway at Christmas. She has had no problems with it.

[revolution breeze]

10. Toshiba

My first laptop a Toshiba Portege lasted eight years and multiple upgrades! It was still working when I donated it to my daughters former elementary school so the kids could play games (I had maxed it out on memory). I currently have a Toshiba Satellite which is tougher than the Dell my company issued, plus it runs faster. My husband, an IT, is currently phasing out Dell at work and replacing their hardware with Toshiba.

[joeybee12]

18. Thanks...never hada Toshiba, and their prices seem to be a little

lower, and every little bit helps!

[flying rabbit]

50. +2 for Toshiba

from whence I type.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

24. +1 for Toshiba. -nt

[jobycom]

12. Out of those, Sony if you can find a "Made in Japan" one, or Toshiba otherwise. Avoid Dell.

I've never met anyone in recent years who would recommend a Dell laptop. I was in a store yesterday talking to the salesman about desktops, and he mentioned Dell, and I said I've had bad luck with Dell, and he smiled and said "I wouldn't even mention them if they didn't pay me to."

Toshiba, Sony, and HP are pretty similar, really. They are adequately made, assembled in China (which at the moment means inconsistent quality control), and overstuffed with software no one wants. The price goes into marketing more than design, but that's not really fatal.

There are a couple of brands that are less well known that are better buck (quality and endurance wise). MSI is a new guy who, like Asus, really makes mainboards but started marketing laptops with their name recently. They aren't really better than the mainstream brands, but they are better at the price point, usually. Same is true of Asus, who makes everything from affordable to super gamer computers. People are discovering Acer--they have been more well known in Europe for years (don't you hate that cliche?). I've had good luck with them.

If you really want a good machine, look for one made in Japan. All Fujitsus are, and to me they are the best brand, but expensive. They use quality parts, everything from their hard drives (which others are starting to use) to their CPU fans. I've got two. One of the problems is that they don't die, so it's harder to justify buying a new one after five years.

Some Japan Sonys might still be around. Most are made in China. That's one reason you'll get a wide range of opinions on Sony. They have some great machines, and some average ones.

On HP--They make everything. They own the market, pretty much. They are well-advertised, so you run into them everywhere. Don't judge an HP on the name alone, though, because they make such a wide range of qualities that some are good, some are bad, and some are in-between. I've seen $2000 HPs I drool over. They are usually okay for the price range, but don't expect to buy a $300 HP and have it equal a $600 HP. They aren't consistenly good over their entire brand, but they are usually consistent with their price point. (Much the same is true of Dell, but Dell has really gone into a quality dive the last few years).

One more thing. If you find a good price on a laptop, run the model number through Google. You'll get a quick idea of opinions on the model, and what others are charging for it (although remember that people like to complain, so adjust the rating up, and ignore the reviews if they don't give any details. Most negative reviews are just an excuse to rave at something that got them mad). A lot of "sale" prices are higher than what online companies or even smaller computer stores sell it for normally. Best Buy is bad at that, although they usually have good prices.

That's my lecture. I'm not a computer tech guy, I just buy a lot of them and keep them running for the place I work. And for family and friends, who all call me, even when I am trying to sleep or eat or... Ok, that's another topic. :)

[joeybee12]

19. Great advice...thanks...seems to be the consensus to avoid Dell...

...my only experience was lending my credit card to a foreign student to buy a Dell laptop when he worked here over the summer...he paid me cash. The problem was that he had it customized and every few days they were calling to say this or that part was no longer available, so it would be $X less or more...what a hassle.

Say, how can you tell if it was made in Japan...would they have to advertise that if you buy online? Thanks.

[jobycom]

22. The sticker on the bottom will say Made in Japan or Made in China.

Most of them are made in China now, so if you don't see "Made in Japan" pretty quickly, it's probably not. I wouldn't say avoid "Made in China," because there's nothing really wrong with the products in general. Just that the ones made in Japan are higher quality. Really, though, I don't think I've seen a Japan Sony in a long time, so I'm not sure if they still even market them here. If you order online, you can't really tell unless you just know that model is made in Japan. Or if it's a Fujitsu, which are all made in Japan (you have to order those online in most places. Fry's is the only store I've seen carrying them). There are probably other brands, too, I just don't know all of them.

Dell used to be a good product, and they might be again, but eight or ten years ago they almost went broke, and they reorganized to maximize profit, including shipping production all over the world, and they've been sliding down since then. It's not just inconsistent quality, either. They seem to be just cheaply built, and even the basic designs seem to be flawed. Although their higher end stuff is still decent.

[joeybee12]

20. Great advice...thanks...seems to be the consensus to avoid Dell...

...my only experience was lending my credit card to a foreign student to buy a Dell laptop when he worked here over the summer...he paid me cash. The problem was that he had it customized and every few days they were calling to say this or that part was no longer available, so it would be $X less or more...what a hassle.

Say, how can you tell if it was made in Japan...would they have to advertise that if you buy online? Thanks.

[revolution breeze]

43. Acers are easy and inexpensive to repair

And each model tends to change very little from year to year. And 2010 machine is virtually identical to a 2005 machine, just updated software and memory (and OS is some cases though very few Acers had Vista). That is why alot of rent-to-own companies stock them. Definitely not high end machines though, and tend to be slow for graphics.

[pokerfan]

13. My next laptop will probably be from System 76

www.system76.com

but I really have my eye on their netbook:

[tXr]

51. Sweet! Bookmarking.

Do you like Ubuntu Netbook Remix? I tried it on an Acer netbook, but went back to Mint after a couple weeks. I guess I just prefer a more 'traditional' desktop where I can easily minimize many programs to the task bar, then return to them as needed.

[pokerfan]

52. I have no direct experience with UNR

as I don't yet have a netbook. I could probably get used to it but if I could get Gnome or KDE to work on the small screen, I would probably just go with Ubuntu or Mint.

[mcollins]

14. I picked up a small Acer for travel.

Dislike Dell. Regardless, get rid of McAfee and install Avast.

[Initech]

15. I just got a Toshiba - it rocks! Avoid Dell like the plague.

They use horribly outdated components and their tech support has tried to screw me on more than one occasion.

[joeybee12]

21. That seems to be the consenus about Dell...thanks...n/t

[Initech]

39. They also use a lot of outdated components and charge outrageous markups for them.

[smoochpooch]

16. I've had to buy replacement chargers for two different Dells, and it's not an isolated problem. n/t

[Initech]

38. I bought one Dell laptop and it had a defective pixel out of the box.

Worst part was that they tried to charge me to fix it even though it was fully under warranty and they tried to say it was damaged during shipping.

[Happyhippychick]

25. I've had all 3 - Toshiba is the one you want

[lazarus]

26. another Toshiba

my daughter and I both have them. Very good machines. Support is decent, if not great.

[nickinSTL]

27. my job has Toshibas

Mine had to be sent back after a few months with a screen problem. They replaced it.

Overall, they've been great. Mine was the only one of the around 10 we bought that had a problem.

[hippywife]

28. Other: Lenovo (formerly IBM Notebooks)

http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/#ss

My husband repairs computers and this is always the brand he recommends based on the problems he sees with them all.

:hi:

[lutefisk]

29. I really like ThinkPads, too, especially the X series

Sometimes the Lenovo outlet store (online) has excellent prices on new laptops. Also, the last two ThinkPads I bought came with 3 year warranties (this depends on the model and configuration). I don't know if Lenovo has maintained the quality, but the IBM era ThinkPads were very well made.

[rainbow4321]

31. That's what I bought a few months ago...

and I love it. Granted, it is the first laptop I have ever bought/owned so I don't have anything to compare it to, but for me, it is wonderful...

[blogslut]

41. Yep

The absolute best laptops are Thinkpads.

[GreenPartyVoter]

30. Dell= best price, Toshiba= easiest to repair, Sony= sturdiest (according to

my husband to fixes computers)

[hobbit709]

37. At least Sony quit burying the hard drive inside the case.

I had to replace the drive on an older model-what a nightmare. Had to disassemble the case to get at it-no external access. I guess they figured their hard drives would never fail.

[CatholicEdHead]

32. Lenovo or Apple

None of the above on your list.

The Thinkpad line and MacBook lines are solid.

[hobbit709]

36. Whatever you get, download PC Decrapifier and run it

they all work better after you take out the garbage "trial offers" and that worthless POS Norton.

[mvd]

42. My opinion

Sony: I've avoided them ever since the DRM rootkit debacle.

My mom has a Toshiba, and has only had trouble with the fan not preventing overheating.

Dell's ok if you can stand their politics. Feeling in a better mood with the Repukes defeated, so I might go back to them.

[JCMach1]

44. My company bought DELL and it sucks... They should have stuck with the IBM/Lenovo

[rkennedy_68]

53. sony

dell is terrible

[jannyk]

54. My new Acer Rocks!!! No more HP in this house - ever!

try going to:

http://www.hplies.com/

to find out why. Or just visit the HP help forums on their own website and look under nvidia or screen problems.

Up until 3 months ago, everything here was HP - 2 laptops, 2 printer/fax/scanners/mice/keyboards - the works. Then my 14 month old, $2,000+ laptop became a useless brick - it just wouldn't power on and was as dead as the proverbial dodo. HP recalled some laptops, but not the high end or high serial # ones, even though they knew they were putting the bad nvidia chipsets in them - same chipset as the recalled ones, same time period, same fucking problems. Apple fessed up, as did NVidia - HP just gave us the finger. There are thousands like me out there all over the world - just out of warranty and shit out of luck - HP will do nothing.

I actually worked at HP Palo Alto in the 80's - great company, great product. Now, I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire and I will discourage anyone I know from buying their products.

[revolution breeze]

57. During the 80s HP was a powerhouse.

But the thought they could ride on their name without working to keep up with technology research. A friend of hubby's was retiring from the Navy in 1992 and was recruited by HP and Dell. He chose HP based on the standing in the market at the time because both offered him stock option and HP was much higher in 1992. Now he said he wakes up every day and cries when he looks at his portfolio.

[LibertyLover]

55. We got a Sony laptop a few months ago

and love it. It has Windows 7 on it which is better than Vista. I have a ThinkPad laptop at work with Vista and I don't like it very much.

[bamacrat]

56. Dells suck, Toshibas are good but not the highest quality.

Out of those three I would go with the Sony. I have an Hp that I have had for about two years and it is great. My next will be a Mac though.

[lutefisk]

58. Just want to add my experience with Lenovo customer service

IBM used to have incredible customer service, and I wasn't sure if Lenovo would keep up that tradition after they purchased the PC division from IBM. My recent experiences with Lenovo support have been great. They answer the phone immediately (in Atlanta) and are very professional. I had a problem using the restore discs on my 2+ year old X60, so they sent out a new set and I had them in less than 24 hours. I had a problem with one of the new discs, so I called again, and had the same experience as the last time- answered the call right away and took care of the problem efficiently. I called today, Friday, and the agent said a second set of discs will be shipped overnight, again for no charge!

I've gone through "Dell Hell" too many times to go back to that company for anything other than accessories. In my experience, dealing with Dell means hours on hold, being hung up on, antagonistic agents, orders delayed for months (just went through this), and frustrating, scripted responses to questions. The difference in customer service is about as different as it could be.