92 replies to this topic

[brandonjbegle]

I was just wonder what you guys think the best mainstream laptop brand is? I would like to keep within a budget of $1000

[frozen.fish]

You'll never go wrong with lenovo or IBM. second option is DELL.

[trapp17]

if you talking about quality go with Apple and Sony VAIO, just a little pricy laptops but they are great! Believe me, I got both of them

[frozen.fish]

quality?=sony? don't think so.. how many times their product were taken off the shelves?

yes apples are always good and yummy too!

[Tramposch]

I think a Good HP will suite you well, I have had bad experiences with dell laptops, and advise that nobody buy them.

HP are great laptops, and they are least likely to come to me to get fixed, because they don't break as much, the majority of computers we get are dells and Macs.

[trapp17]

go with apple or sony VAIO, and yeah HP is also good

If you can have extra $ to add to your budget, go VAIO with a blue-ray drive

kerco, on Mar 26 2009, 12:43 PM, said:

quality?=sony? don't think so.. how many times their product were taken off the shelves?

yes apples are always good and yummy too!

wtf? you dont even know what you are talking about...

Edited by trapp17, 26 March 2009 - 01:03 PM.

[rayzoredge]

This is a very subjective topic.

Dell's are branded as budgetary laptops, but I wasn't too unhappy with mine. I used to own a Dell Inspiron 8600... not a bad machine, but I don't like how they lock down the BIOS so that you can't do anything with the hardware, and I don't like how Dell has their super-secret-squirrel keyboard shortcuts that you need to call tech support with. If you're a little tech-savvy, I would try another brand, but Dells are not bad. I also hear decent to good things about the XPS line and their Studio line. The customer service is decent, but I don't know how it's like today. (The only things I've done with tech support would include trying to restore a hard drive and ordering a new keyboard, both of which were okay experiences.) I am now currently using my girlfriend's Dell Inspiron i1501, and after a few coffee spills, a replaced keyboard, a supposedly-dead battery/faulty power supply that I fixed later on with ease, it still runs decently for a "cheap laptop."

I love HPs because I own two of them, and I haven't had too much to deal with concerning hardware issues. I bought a Pavilion zd8000 back in the day mainly to do laptop gaming (of course, right before they started beefing up graphic capability in laptops), and besides the known heat issues, the zd8000 has suffered through one dead battery (due to the heat) but nothing else. I usually leave it plugged in anyway and keep it raised to promote airflow to get as much life out of the laptop as I can (as it is classified as a desktop replacement). I also bought a tc1100 tablet PC back in the day on eBay with nothing else included... and the resulting call to tech support was actually quite pleasant with getting Windows XP TPC edition and driver CDs shipped to my house. Quick and to the point... but of course, that was my experience.

I'm working off of a company Toshiba Satellite Pro A6100, and I'm surprised that it isn't dead yet. The onboard power board is faulty as it isn't able to charge the battery at all (which I tried to fix myself with no avail), the keyboard's mouse nub likes to trail in random directions with age (even after having replaced the entire keyboard), the battery might be dead (I don't know if it is or not), but the darn thing still works. I haven't talked to tech support at all because it is a company laptop serviced by our super-competent IT guy but hey, I can't complain too much... until I have to push out mission-critical stuff off of a 6+ year old laptop.

In all reality, if you want the best bang for your buck (and I don't mean the most amount of power for the least amount of money), look at the design of the laptop itself. Scrutinize it. (It really helps if you have the laptop in hand before purchasing it.) Heat is a component killer. The reason why I think Toshiba sucks is because of the critical component failure rate... people love to complain about hard drive failures, but on closer inspection, some Toshiba laptops house their battery near their hard drive bays. Poor airflow will result in future problems later. See how many fans the case has, and see if the fans are even producing an effective airflow that actually takes heat AWAY from the system. Make sure that heat-heavy components like the CPU or the GPU aren't close to the hard drive, and it's best if they're near the outer part of the laptop layout as opposed to being located moreso internally.

Of course, if you're not very tech-savvy, tech support might be something you should look into. The only way to actually research this would be by peer reviews, but remember that peer reviews create a skewed outlook on things because most people will go online to post complaints rather than praise the company they bought from.

Also, when you finally make a choice, do research on common issues with that make and model of laptop. My zd8000 was known for heat, especially near the right palmrest, and knowing that I elevated the laptop, snagged an external keyboard, and had an oscillating room fan blowing on that thing 24/7. (But I'm ghetto like that.) Research problems that you're GOING to have and take preventative measures accordingly. (I never had any real issues with any of my Dells or the HP tc1100... except for losing the pen tip to the stylus for the TPC. And if you buy an older model, be prepared to pay more for hard-to-find parts.)

In the end, I think that for the most part, you'll be happy with your purchase IF you do your research. Brand names can be important as far as quality goes, but every company has a few lemons. Avoid the lemon and make as educated of a purchase as you can.

[Ash-Bash]

Well first don't go near allienware! They charge just for there badge, If its for design or travel then a Mac Book would be handy for you as the Mac Book pro has 8 hours battery life. But you should really be more specific on what Brand you want for a category. I have a HP had it has been working for 4 years with no problems!

[rayzoredge]

Ash-Bash, on Mar 26 2009, 11:26 AM, said:

Well first don't go near allienware! They charge just for there badge, If its for design or travel then a Mac Book would be handy for you as the Mac Book pro has 8 hours battery life. But you should really be more specific on what Brand you want for a category. I have a HP had it has been working for 4 years with no problems!

AlienWare is Dell. They bought/merged a while ago.

AlienWare is usually associated with high performance, but with that performance comes top dollar prices. I can actually relate AlienWare with anything Apple: you won't find either brand with new products for under $1000, I don't think.

From what I'm hearing and have heard about Apple's computers and OSX, it can be a viable solution, but not one that fits your budget. If having OSX and/or snagging the latest trendy gig is a priority, I would look on eBay to see if you can find some Apple laptops for less than $1000. I haven't looked at Apple laptops at all because they are cost-prohibitive to me, but they may boast good hardware design. (Read my previous post.)

Another potential issue that I would think would exist with AlienWare is heat. If you're looking to buy into AlienWare performance (and the logo, as Ash-Bash mentioned), performance generates heat, which demands a good cooling solution and laptop design/layout. (Again, read my previous post.) But again, as with Apple, I don't think you could find any AlienWare products new for under $1000 unless you shop around for used laptops on eBay or wherever else.

[williamm]

trapp17, on Mar 26 2009, 04:25 AM, said:

if you talking about quality go with Apple and Sony VAIO, just a little pricy laptops but they are great! Believe me, I got both of them

yes Apple is good for buying a laptop. personally I think you would be better off with it. I hate windows and i hate Windows wanna bees. Mac has an operating system that blows other OS's out of the water. PLus the Laptop is in a better more operable shape then any of the other laptops that conist windows on it.

[Ash-Bash]

The cheapest laptop apple do is $1,299.00

2.0GHz

* Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB DDR3 Memory
* 160GB hard drive1
* NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
* Standard keyboard
* Aluminum unibody

* Ships: Within 24hrs
* 13" Screen

You will be going over budget a bit but I am sure it will be worth it.

[rejected]

I own a dell laptop, it's the vostro 1500. I haven't had any problems with it. I bought it for a discount price after it had been refurbished at a Dell outlet store. I haven't had any problems with it at all.. I think that whatever brand laptop you buy, the brand isn't what matters. It's the hardware inside and the price you can find it at.

[frozen.fish]

Brand matters with laptops because servicing them is not as easy as desktops..
So, after service and warranty counts a lot here.. unlike a desktop it's ok to have a clone, your neighbor can probably fix it.

you will always get what you pay for in the end..

[OpaQue]

I am surprised as no one here mentioned ACER. I am using ACER 5920 and it is doing great so far. HP laptops look the best if considered Price wise. I also have a Compaq laptop B1800 and its running from the past 4 years. Except for a broken keyword, everything else works fantastic. Luckily, I can enter my BIOS password using a USB keyboard at startup.

For me, most of the laptops are durable but the main con I find is the CD/DVD Drive. I find Sony Laptops a bit expensive then the rest of the brands mentioned here. Toshiba used to rock with features previously but these days, HP and Dell are both giving tough competition when it comes to Price + Features.

[cyber_electrons]

I think it is best for one to look at the specifications instead of brand. Although brand is a source of trust and there might be certain brands of your interest, but for me personally I would prefer the best I can get with a certain budget such as $1000 (also, is it USD or other currencies?).

If you are buying a laptop which you don't need to assemble it yourself (not buying in parts to assemble), then the warranty is also important - just in case there are any faults.

Sorry to say that I have no particular brand to recommend but the specification is the first priority - personal preference.

also, different brand of different origin would have different cost and quality. The most expensive does not necessarily mean the best quality etc... So I will still stick to specification first, then quality etc.

[rayzoredge]

cyber_electrons, on Mar 27 2009, 06:18 AM, said:

I think it is best for one to look at the specifications instead of brand. Although brand is a source of trust and there might be certain brands of your interest, but for me personally I would prefer the best I can get with a certain budget such as $1000 (also, is it USD or other currencies?).

If you are buying a laptop which you don't need to assemble it yourself (not buying in parts to assemble), then the warranty is also important - just in case there are any faults.

Sorry to say that I have no particular brand to recommend but the specification is the first priority - personal preference.

also, different brand of different origin would have different cost and quality. The most expensive does not necessarily mean the best quality etc... So I will still stick to specification first, then quality etc.

That's how I picked out just about every single one of my laptops. I would figure out what I would want first, filter my choices, do my peer and professional review research, and then just go with it. I didn't think of design or laptop layout (like I mentioned in my first post), and to me, a component was a component... most companies grab the same stuff to build their laptops before slapping on their logo and shipping them out to the masses.

Kerco brings up an awesome point about the possibility of having to deal with the company that you bought from for future services and repairs. I don't usually look at that aspect because I consider myself a bit tech-savvy enough to warrant my own repairs and work on the laptop, but not everyone is that adventurous. The problem with trying to research customer service, though, is that views of company customer service can be skewed by all of the horror stories out there. For example, I had no problems asking HP for replacement OEM CDs... but a friend of mine who owned a Pavilion dv5 series had the worst time sending his laptop in to get repaired in a timely manner. And of course, you have to ask yourself how subjective their experiences were, and whether this was an isolated case. Not everyone at a company plays nicely... but the best thing you can do is try to make your decision based off of word of mouth.

OpaQue said:

I am surprised as no one here mentioned ACER.

Actually, I probably should have brought up the fact that at a local repair store here, the PC repair tech was telling me that he rarely if ever saw Acers in the shop. I guess with that statement, you can assume that Acers are pretty solid. Maybe.

That and OpaQue put some praise on Acer, so of course it's got to be good.

[andreip]

Ash-Bash, on Mar 26 2009, 06:38 PM, said:

The cheapest laptop apple do is $1,299.00

2.0GHz

* Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB DDR3 Memory
* 160GB hard drive1
* NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
* Standard keyboard
* Aluminum unibody

* Ships: Within 24hrs
* 13" Screen

You will be going over budget a bit but I am sure it will be worth it.

Agreed. Apple is kick *bottom* company. Tough their products are pretty expensive the qualitty is the highest. Currently I own to laptops, a DELL and Fujitsu Siemens they are pretty good both but for sure an Apple MacBook would be awesome .

[Tramposch]

It also seems as if there is luck involved. My brother has a 5 or 6 year old Dell laptop, to me that is really lucky, because my past family experiences with dells (especially laptops) is horrible.

I think you should go Apple, HP, or Acer (sorry opaque i completely forgot about them)

[galexcd]

Ash-Bash, on Mar 26 2009, 11:38 AM, said:

The cheapest laptop apple do is $1,299.00

You mean the cheapest good laptop that apple makes... You can get the white (old model) MacBook for $999, but don't waste your money on that. Between the Topcase chipping issues and frequent Harddrive failures that these machines have you'll be much happier if you drop the extra $299 and go with the aluminum body one.

Edited by galexcd, 27 March 2009 - 03:31 PM.

[Ash-Bash]

I do find my old HP very reliable it has never broken, The only part that has is the AC adapter 2 times.

But thats it, I really would suggest you go for the HP Laptop range they are fantastic

[HappyHippie]

Well I dont know what is the best, BUT I can say that I had a Toshiba that i bought a few years ago for about $1500.00 I really had no problems with it. It pretty much had everything. Im not very PC smart to tell you what all it had. But it worked great got me for a few years. I was just ready for a change and gave it to my oldest when she moved out a couple months ago. And then missed having a laptop terribly so I bought a Compaq Presario (HP) I didnt have the money to spend on this one that I did the last one. But so far I have had no trouble at all with this one. I paid about $450.00 after $150.00 instant rebate and then a $30.00 rebate. Anyway This one has worked jsut fine for me I havent had any problems with it at all, But I do miss the toshiba some. It did hae alot more features

[brandonjbegle]

thanks for all the input guys, and sorry but whoever said dell, i would have to disagree with you, thats what i've got now and it is absolutely terrible!

[iGuest]

opinonBest Laptop Brand

well I work with best buy in the computer department and from customer feedback the HPs I've sold to them have been solid.  Also they come out with affordable, yet high end, laptops (can't say the same about the netbooks) and for those looking to stick with a   > $500 budget, HPs (and Compaq) aren't bad either.  Whether you're looking to surf the web, word proccess, play music, or edit videos, do some medium to medium-high end gaming, or using it for strictly business, they've proven they can dish out a good laptop or desktop with positive customer feedback.

 Another brand I usually show preferance to is a Toshibas, albeit they need to step their game up a little more, but the few that are comprable to HP counterparts (14.1" or 15.4") are pretty solid as well.  The Toshiba E105-S1402 is a powerful and affordable ($799) laptop with very few flaws (the crappy speakers amongst them).  Toshiba isn't pound for pound with HP in terms of overall quality, but their lower prices and high end specs are always appealing to budget burdoned customers.

 Now for Dell.  Without having the full length of features as HP or Toshiba (lighscribe or labelflash, backlit keyboard, lightweight, and all the few other gems) but still being similarily priced, Dell usually falls a distant third (along with Sony).  Speaking stricly of in-store products, Dell doens't offer a full variety to meet most of the average customers needs.  Also, I've heard nothing but complaint after complaint when customers are dealing with Dell's Customer Service.  Their Studio line shows promise, but otherwise I usually stray away from the mainstream Dell laptops.  

Sony is also in this category offering high end products at way over the top prices.  They do have a better range of laptops.  In the end you end up paying an extra 100 bucks to have Sony engraved on a laptop with the same specs as other competitors laptops for way way cheaper.  I like the Blu-Ray idea (but I'd rather have a PS3), but I'm pretty skeptical at this point as to how long that will last.

 Apples are in a whole other category because the topic is keeping the laptop price under one grand, and only one of their laptops comes to mind which is the all white MacBook.  It's still a solild choice if you can afford it and I doubt you'll have any regrets after you spend hours playing with Garage Band or talking it up with fellow Apple-using friends through iChat.  Their publicity is amazing but don't let their tactical (yet ingenius) smear campaign against PCs  brainwash you from PCs.  I still outsell PCs to Macs 10:1 but Apple is heading in the right direction.  

Umm Asus makes gaming laptops, Lenovo and IBM are business (and expensive), Acer is cheap, and I still question how eMachines still is in business. Hope this helps.

[zakaluka]

I'd have to say, for that budget, you should go with either a:

(1) Dell - if you want the most bang for your buck. Just get an extended warranty and you will be fine (I've never had problems with any dell computers, and I've owned a lot).
(2) Lenovo - slightly fewer features, but VERY reliable. They do have quite a few lines that start within your budget.
(3) Asus - Extremely reliable laptops. Contrary to common belief, they do not only make gaming laptops. They have full lines from netbooks (everyone's heard of the EEE) to full 20" laptops. Their prices are very good, and I believe new models come with a standard 2 year international warranty.

Regards,

z.

[fadillzzz]

brandonjbegle, on Mar 26 2009, 03:07 AM, said:

I was just wonder what you guys think the best mainstream laptop brand is? I would like to keep within a budget of $1000

normally, i would recommend you to buy an Apple laptop
but since you are looking for cheap one, i suggest that you buy HP laptop