96 replies to this topic

[velma]

You have to keep in mind that at the end of the day, your laptop should be chosen purely based on how you would be using it. When it comes to buying a laptop, I have to keep in mind a few obvious shortcomings :-

• Power
  
• Speed.
  
• Post Purchase costs & maintenance.

Remembering the fact that a laptop is a portable desktop, one must focus on the main task that the laptop would be put to use for and get feedback based on that. For example, I cannot expect a coder to give me feedback on the media system of his laptop nor expect him to enlighten me on the multi tasking capabilities of a laptop, if you have your eyes set out on a brand, research on what their laptops give a 100% in. The tricky fact about brands is that you can never assume it to fit perfectly to your needs. An acer could work perfectly for my mother but might not be suitable for my style of working. The same applies to support, the support team from one place might be utter rubbish but a support team from another location might do a decent job except for HCL Those guys are seriously oblivious of a thing known as support.

I personally would go for a Toshiba since I work and multitask programs a lot and need a machine that could handle the load without really worrying about graphics or games.

[k_nitin_r]

velma, on 07 October 2011 - 09:03 AM, said:

Power is definitely one of those things that you would want to place high on your priority list, but you need to consider if you really need all that power. For instance, when you are on the go, you could have a really powerful notebook drain the battery in an hour but a netbook could get the job done while sipping the battery for about six hours. Netbooks are also a whole lot cheaper than regular notebooks but some low-end notebooks do tend to give netbook manufacturers a run for their money.

Support and maintenance is something that you do not want to see in the lifetime of your computer so if that is a big priority for you, backup often, keep a spare laptop, or invest in something solid like a Lenovo Thinkpad. The reliability comes at a price but if it is really something that matters a lot for you, you can use one of those for a long time to come. A Thinkpad will last you for half a decade with daily use whereas something cheaper would last you for about two years. However, the price difference makes it worth considering if you want to invest in something that last that long considering that you can get something more powerful after two years.

BTW, Velma, speaking of HCL, I have seen some terrible terrible things happen with HCL laptops. With an HCL that I got my hands on, shutting down would also stop the clock and that's simply unacceptable. I would rather get a netbook that something that simply can't keep time. Laptops are, unlike desktops, designed to run with a battery so should be able to keep track of time; desktops on the other hand have to rely on a much smaller CMOS battery. If there's one thing I don't expect from a laptop, it's a clock that can't keep time.

[Anthony21]

My last high end dell turned into a $2700 dollar paperweight which I salvaged for parts on ebay. Half of the ram went bad, immediately followed by the power connector on the motherboard failing. This was a month out of warranty and their outsourced tech support was more than willing to waste my time. I will never buy another one of their products, and gladly pay more for equal performance from almost any other brand. I now buy sub $500 dollar laptops... use them a year, sell them for 350, do the math on how much that saves you over losing 1500 a year in depreciation to play cutting edge games at a mediocre at best speed. Toshiba, Hp/Compaq/Sony, anything cheap and play good games that are a few years old if you HAVE to game on your laptop.

[antennas]

Dell and lenovo are good laptops.

[k_nitin_r]

It depends on how you are evaluating Dell and Lenovo. If you want something cheap that can run its course and you can replace it with something that can replace it when its time is up. A Lenovo comes in various kinds - there's the Thinkpad line, which is dependable line of laptops that you can use for years at a time. The Ideapad builds upon some of the design concepts that a Thinkpad was built on, but you would find that an Ideapad is not as sturdy as a Thinkpad if you do go about buying one.

[stonefly]

$1000 budget, quite enough for Apple or Sony VAIO , both of two have good quantity, especially in the screen performance.