Need advice for a new laptop

I want to buy a new laptop and could use some advice. (my old one is going to crash forever any moment.) I think a 12 - 14 inch screen is perfect, I like a good keyboard whatever that means, I'm not sure what kind of screen I want (there's that new crystal clear shiny kind that has reflections in it, but I don't know if that's worth it; and there's the new "wide screen" type of screen). I do mostly email, web surfing, graytonbeach.com, writing, and I may do a bit of photo/video editing. I will probably play dvds and download movies onto CDs. I don't play video gamess on the computer. I'm thinking maybe the Hewlett Packard dv1000. Any recommendations on what I should and should not look for. I typically buy Dell, but I'm not committed to any brand. I think a midway price right now is about $1200 and I don't really want to go higher than that.

I would love to get suggestions. I feel like I'm overanalyzing this decision and am somewhat paralyzed. I've been planning on getting a new laptop since early summer and haven't made the move yet. I've been using an old Dell latitude (so old that the letters are erased on some of the keyboards and things could grown in the dust that has settled in the keyboard).

thanks for any opinions/advice!

I am laughing because I am NO expert at this....however, we have purchased a few for our kids over the years....DELL...YES!!! COMPAQ...NOOOOOO!! That is my scientific answer based on the amount of cursing with each machine!!!!

Don't have one myself but if you stay with Dell, make sure you go to dealcatcher.com and look for coupon codes. Dell always has new offers every Thursday.

For Christmas I was given a Toshiba Satellite P35-S609. Has a 17" screen, DVD recorder, wireless, good battery life. Love it.

I am laughing because I am NO expert at this....however, we have purchased a few for our kids over the years....DELL...YES!!! COMPAQ...NOOOOOO!! That is my scientific answer based on the amount of cursing with each machine!!!!

I have had no problem with Compaq. BTW (By the way for CJ), if you are getting a package deal with printer, be warned, Dell printers can use only Dell ink refills, which are not available at any place other than Dell.

I have bought IBM, Gateway, Dell, and Compaq and all have worked well for me. I have had good experience with customer service from Compaq, most recently replacing a disc drive. A few years back, I also had good experience with Gateway techs on the phone, rebuilding my hard drive -- I lost everything though. Since then, Gateway has failed me miserably in customer service, and they now send you to India for Customer no-service.

Here's the standard for laptops where I work. We were Gateway-land until about a year ago when our hardware problems started accumulating.
Dell Latitude D610
Pentium M 750
14.1" XGA display
1 GB RAM
40 GB Hard drive

I don't like the fact that I have a max of a 1024X768 display. That ticks me off. But IT says that's okay. Guess that's their humble opinion.

No problems yet, but I just got it in July.

This is just for what it's worth, because I don't have personal experience . . . unless hearing your son call every week from college venting about his laptop means anything . . . UT College of Business requires specifics re laptops and we purchased a Dell because UT and Dell had a special package that would incorporate all of the above at a supposed discount. In addition, we purchased the super duper warranty where even if you dropped it there was next day service to repair or replace . . . what a joke!!! After hours each time on tech support (my son is now an expert at formatting his hard drive), he only was able to get one (1) real person to appear at his door to "fix" his problem (he didn't). $4,000 plus later, I would not recommend Dell only because of all the tech problems he had. They operated on a wireless network and it would (and still does) crash on a whim.

Whew - I feel better now! I think I just purged 4 years of angst I had toward Dell customer service and warranties. Any other questions???

This is just for what it's worth, because I don't have personal experience . . . unless hearing your son call every week from college venting about his laptop means anything . . . UT College of Business requires specifics re laptops and we purchased a Dell because UT and Dell had a special package that would incorporate all of the above at a supposed discount. In addition, we purchased the super duper warranty where even if you dropped it there was next day service to repair or replace . . . what a joke!!! After hours each time on tech support (my son is now an expert at formatting his hard drive), he only was able to get one (1) real person to appear at his door to "fix" his problem (he didn't). $4,000 plus later, I would not recommend Dell only because of all the tech problems he had. They operated on a wireless network and it would (and still does) crash on a whim.

Whew - I feel better now! I think I just purged 4 years of angst I had toward Dell customer service and warranties. Any other questions???

So what would you recommend for a replacement? I don't get a new one until the 3-year replacement cycle (for me, that's July 2008). My Gateways all had major, frequent problems. BTW my daughter's IBM has withstood her extreme abuse since 8/03.

I wish I could tell you. It just wouldn't be Dell IMHO.

I have had no problem with Compaq. BTW (By the way for CJ), if you are getting a package deal with printer, be warned, Dell printers can use only Dell ink refills, which are not available at any place other than Dell.

I have bought IBM, Gateway, Dell, and Compaq and all have worked well for me. I have had good experience with customer service from Compaq, most recently replacing a disc drive. A few years back, I also had good experience with Gateway techs on the phone, rebuilding my hard drive -- I lost everything though. Since then, Gateway has failed me miserably in customer service, and they now send you to India for Customer no-service.

I hate talking to India! AND, I heard last night on PBS that 80% of American customer service is now outsourced (to India) and increasing daily...

Wal-Mart has a great price on Toshiba notebooks at $797. Cheaper than the Toshibadirect.com with more memory and hard drive.


15" XGA LCD TruBrite screen
Intel Celeron M Processor 360
512 MB SDRAM
60 GB hard drive
DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
802.11b/g
The ideal notebook for mobile users, students and families

the hutch

I hate talking to India! AND, I heard last night on PBS that 80% of American customer service is now outsourced (to India) and increasing daily...

While it has nothing to do with laptops directly, customer service is mostly outsourced. Expect even more in the near future. I would not be surprised if one day soon, you will not even speak to a person for problem solving and trouble shooting. It will all be automated. I am a little surprised that we do not already see self ordering computers instead of people at places like McDonalds. Just enter what you want and swipe your credit card to complete the purchase.

INHO, with all of the ways businesses are trying to cut costs, I don't know if we will notice any difference between the customer no-service which is given at any of these companies. I don't really know if one company has much of an edge on any other, regarding customer service or quality and longevity of the product. I see the technology being outdated much more rapidly than the computers are breaking. Consumerism at its finest. Keep making the customer upgrade and we sell more units. I would really like to see more userfriendly upgrades at a cost effective price point and easy enough for all of us to carry out, requiring no more knowledge than ejecting the button for the old and inserting the new gadget, eg batteries, microchip, hard drive, etc. It should be easier for us to keep the same computer body while upgrading the components.

I would advise against both Dell and Gateway notebooks. Not their strong suit. IMO, the Japanese manufacturers seem to make better quality notebooks - Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba to name a few.

The IBM is probably the best machine out there, but they are overpriced, IMO.

Thanks for all the advice. Does anyone have any experience with Hewlett Packard? There's an HP laptop I've been looking at.

We use Dell primarily where I work, too, but we can the laptop of our choice nd not be confined to Dell. The nice thing is that we have our own computer support people here, so when there's a problem I can bring my laptop to them and they take care of it.

I have not had any problem with my Dell from work, and it is sooo old and so far reliable (but I'm concerned it's starting to have some problems, but it's so old they're to be expected I think).

Thanks again! I hope to buy the laptop within a week because I've put it off so long. At some point, I just have to make a decision and live with it.

Thanks for all the advice. Does anyone have any experience with Hewlett Packard? There's an HP laptop I've been looking at. ...

Well, since you have tech support at work, your choice is easy, just pick the color you like. Really, I think it is about that easy.

HP bought Compaq and I think their machines are about the same. I believe they will eventually eliminate the HP line of computers, and leave HP to focus on printers, copiers, faxes - just my guess.

I hear a horror story or two from every brand of computers, and usually, the owner will never buy that brand again. Typically, their main problem is with customer no-service.

Pick a winner, and give us the report of your decision.

http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,9,00.asp

I always research models/brands before I buy. The link above is one place I look. I also use www.cnet.com

Good luck!

Thanks for all the advice. Does anyone have any experience with Hewlett Packard? There's an HP laptop I've been looking at.

We use Dell primarily where I work, too, but we can the laptop of our choice nd not be confined to Dell. The nice thing is that we have our own computer support people here, so when there's a problem I can bring my laptop to them and they take care of it.

I have not had any problem with my Dell from work, and it is sooo old and so far reliable (but I'm concerned it's starting to have some problems, but it's so old they're to be expected I think).

Thanks again! I hope to buy the laptop within a week because I've put it off so long. At some point, I just have to make a decision and live with it.

As said, HP bought Compaq and seems that they have stopped making their own PCs and have taken on the Compaq systems with their new HP logo on them. My brother just bought his HP laptop with the big shiny screen and he loves it. He has had it for 4 months or so and has had no problems with it. He paid something like $1500-1700 but it has (did have at the time) the state of the art screen (17"), alot of memory, internal wireless modem, and a monster size hard drive. It is kinda big and heavy but that is due to the big, colorful LCD screen.

I will ping and see if I can get any update on his satisfaction and model number for you.

I have a Dell Latitude D600 that m y company gave me to use while employed and it has been rock solid for me. I have had several Dells in the past and Toshiba and all have been pretty good. One cheap, bottom of the line Dell laptop that I did get from one of my employers really sucked with screen/casing issues but it was due to it being the low end of the product line IMO.

Wal-Mart has a great price on Toshiba notebooks at $797. Cheaper than the Toshibadirect.com with more memory and hard drive.


15" XGA LCD TruBrite screen
Intel Celeron M Processor 360
512 MB SDRAM
60 GB hard drive
DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
802.11b/g
The ideal notebook for mobile users, students and families

the hutch

great recomendation

I have had problems with every kind of computer except the Sony VAIO series. Now I always have an office desktop with the laptop as a backup system. Sony is higher priced, but the quality is tops and you get pretty decent technical support. The only thing I would warn about on laptops is to get one that travels well, given the security process at airports now. My 16-in. screen with long-life battery is oversized and heavy, so a hassle unzipping at the security checkpoint and also cumbersome for fastwalking to make that connection. In fact, I am planning to get a lighter, more compact version of the VAIO series for trips to the beach.

A great financing deal is offered by Circuit City. You pay the lowest (guaranteed) price, no financing charges if you pay the balance off in one year. Sometimes you have a minimum monthly payment, sometimes not. Be sure to put a tickler in your daytimer, however, because if you miss the one-year due date, ALL this very high interest is charged automatically. I guess they count on that happening more often than not. I just log the date in for about 30 days before the period is up. Love this option. I have the equipment I want, at the best price, and have my capital working for us for that year. And I get the flier miles, to boot. (They will tell you they won't take credit cards when the balance is due, but they do; they just discourage cusomers from using them.) I want my miles, always!

My husband has the Sony VAIO and loves it!

We bought a HP Pavillion ZV5000 at Best Buy about 6 months ago and we love it. It is a bit heavy and bulky, but we mostly use it at home, so it's not an issue. We love the big screen. We haven't had any problems with it (that weren't operator error). The geek squad at Best Buy straightened out my operator problem.

We've always purchased Dell in the past, but our last Dell got overly hot and although we sent it in to be fixed several times, it never was fixed and eventually had intermittent problems after it was out of warranty.

As said, HP bought Compaq and seems that they have stopped making their own PCs and have taken on the Compaq systems with their new HP logo on them. My brother just bought his HP laptop with the big shiny screen and he loves it. He has had it for 4 months or so and has had no problems with it. He paid something like $1500-1700 but it has (did have at the time) the state of the art screen (17"), alot of memory, internal wireless modem, and a monster size hard drive. It is kinda big and heavy but that is due to the big, colorful LCD screen.

I will ping and see if I can get any update on his satisfaction and model number for you.

I have a Dell Latitude D600 that m y company gave me to use while employed and it has been rock solid for me. I have had several Dells in the past and Toshiba and all have been pretty good. One cheap, bottom of the line Dell laptop that I did get from one of my employers really sucked with screen/casing issues but it was due to it being the low end of the product line IMO.

The people in computing at work are recommending the Dell Latitude D610. the reviews are good. I tried out the D600 today because they're pretty similar. Liked everything except the screen is not as nice as those shiny clear ones that are out now. I got spoiled looking at those shiny wide screen screens at the different computer stores. But, I'm not sure I like wide screen anyway, because I read a lot of documents on the computer.

Looks like I'm leaning toward the D610 because the computing people will be the ones who manage problems with my laptop so I better do what they say!

Our tech geeks swear by Apples. Anybody??

OK - Short background: I do with the &#^%@*! micros what kurt does with photos (since well before IBM mainstreamed the PC in '82) - 'cept nobody sees my grunt level stuff (unless it's busted ;-) ). This, just so you have frame of reference for the following:

1st - be sure you absolutely, positively want/need a notebook. Why?

• you get much better bang for the buck on a desktop - 2x or better.
• you simply cannot buy the same horsepower in a notebook as in a desktop.
• all notebooks (excluding the MilSpec variety) are inherently fragile. Drop it, man-handle it, bang it around, drop stuff on or in it, and it will cease functioning or become psycotic.
• re the above, module level repair on a notebook is a diminishing returns exercise.

So, you still want a notebook? I agree with JB, more or less, on the IBM equipment - pretty good, but very pricey - though their stuff busts too. I don't agree on the Toshiba stuff - my personal experience with (literally hundreds of) them was not particularly pleasant. Compaq (notebooks) aren't too bad, but not my first choice [I'd elaborate, but this is already too long]. 1st choice, all factors considered, today (could change in 12-18 mo), is Dell - both notebooks and desktops. Was Gateway 6-7 years ago (desktops) - 'til they went to h*** in a handbasket, and IBM for notebooks ('cause theirs were the only ones that didn't crap out every time you turned around then).

Some axioms:

• All tech support sux - period - even the kind we in corp land pay large mills for. Gotta wait on hold and/or nav phone menus forever. Gotta weedle your way past 1st & 2nd tier support weenies (the kind that tell you to format your drive) to 3rd tier that might actually know something.
• Aim to buy at about 75% of the available top end for desktops. Notebooks closer to 50%. That's the bang-for-the-buck sweet spot. Go higher only if you have money to burn and you're a performance junkie.
• Don't cheap out on processor, memory, or display (in that order). Except for a notebook (where you're stuck with the display). Skip movies or dinner out for 2-3 weeks if need be - it's that important.
• Buy a P4 processor, not Celeron [AMD on a desktop can be a better bang for the buck]. Nothing less than 512MB of memory for WinXP - 1GB works much better.
• Just about anything that is going to go wrong with a machine (hardware) will do so within the 1st 18 mo. and 80% of that in the first 3-6.
• Assume a 4 yr max lifetime for a (Windows) notebook. Maybe nurse another couple of years out of a desktop if you're patient. Longer with Linux on a desktop but you really need to be a technoid for that.
• Lithium Ion battery in a notebook - more legs than NiMh. That will probably change again in 18 mo or so.
• Make friends with a technoid (who lives nearby - no substitute for hands-on) - but don't wear him/her out. Remember, if they actually know what they're doing, you're getting $100-$150/hr worth of help for free.
• Don't buy a printer from Dell (or Compaq, etc.). I bought an HP 6210 (multifunction) at SAM's Club last fall for about $265. It'll probably last a good 5-6 years like my last HP.
• Treat your machine like your daughter, in terms of what you install on it.

Here's a Dell (notebook) that fits your price profile ($1201 less tax & shipping):
----------------------------
Inspiron 2200:
Intel? Pentium? M Processor 725 (1.60 GHz/2MB Cache/400 MHz FSB)
OS: Microsoft? Windows? XP Home Edition
2Yr Ltd Warranty, 2Yr At-Home Service, and 2Yr Technical Support
LCD Panel: 15.0in XGA Display
Memory: 768MB Shared DDR SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
Hard Drive: 60GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
Combo/DVD+RW Drives: 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Wireless Networking Card: FREE! Dell 1370 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g, 54Mbps)
Primary Battery: 8-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (65 WHr)
Office Productivity Software: No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Security Software: No Security Subscription
Network Card: Integrated Network Card
Modem: Internal 56K Modem
Carrying Cases: Dell Nylon Carrying Case
----------------------------------------

Add MS Office (basic) for about $150, home biz ver (adds PowerPoint and Publisher [ick!] for around $90 more. Buy McAfee AV and Firewall (skip all the privacy, anti-spam, b******t - why is a tangent) before you do anything else - especially connect to the internet. If you use SBC or cable provider for internet, use the firewall S/W they provide for free [SBC uses McAfee] and only buy the AV. BestBuy is probably as good (price) as anybody, but shop around - you'll maybe catch a sale. Download FireFox (www.mozilla.org) and only use InternetExploder for d***fool non-spec web sites when you absolutely have to. Use adaware and/or spybot to sweep your machine periodically for spyware / adware. Use gaim for "chat" if you do that sort of thing. Don't use the wireless built into the Dell notebook - it's crap. If you need wireless, ask. Other software, same - if I haven't fooled with it or another pro I know hasn't - likely since there's too much of it for anybody to be expert with even a fraction of everything - somebody on the board probably has.

Bang for the buck dept - I bought a Dell last fall - 17" flat panel, 1GB of mem, same disk, and twice the processor as the notebook (above) and faster internals - $839 delivered to my doorstep... and the old ('97 vintage) Dell is still humming along in the basement as a Linux server. Zero tech calls.

Whew - I'm done.

PS - You can get into a Latitude - maybe a 110L (the D410 only has a 12" display), better machine, but your gonna pay another $100 or so, apples to apples. Check out the price on the D810 for fun ...

The people in computing at work are recommending the Dell Latitude D610. the reviews are good. I tried out the D600 today because they're pretty similar. Liked everything except the screen is not as nice as those shiny clear ones that are out now. I got spoiled looking at those shiny wide screen screens at the different computer stores. But, I'm not sure I like wide screen anyway, because I read a lot of documents on the computer.

Looks like I'm leaning toward the D610 because the computing people will be the ones who manage problems with my laptop so I better do what they say!

Slightly smaller display on the D610, but much better guts (I thought you were budget confined and/or home shopping ). Push the processer as far up the scale as you can afford, 2GB memory, XP Pro.

Wow. Thanks OhioBeachBum! I get full tech support where I work, and they do like me there because I'm pretty low maintenance, am appreciative, and have always had good relationships with the people there. So, I don't have to deal with telephone support. I'd go up to $1500 with all bells and whistles I need but the lower the price the better because I would use any money saved on something else (maybe a ticket to SoWal).

I have a desk top at home and a desk top at work that are good, but I use the laptop most of the time at home in my recliner (soon by the fire in the fireplace by the recliner) and I take it with me when I travel (not too often, but often enough). So, sounds like the D610 which the tech support people recommended would be good.

The only thing I wish the D610 had was a nicer screen. It's fine, but those new ones that are shiny and crisp seem so tempting. Please tell me there's something bad about them so I won't wish the D610 had one (I did notice those shiny ones get reflections in them and can be hard to use in some kinds of light...).

Thanks again to all on this thread for your help! I now feel I can order the computer after about 3 months of pondering which computer is best.