I'm in the market for a new laptop computer: So I'm looking for recommendations on laptops.

However, I am not interested in Dell products or Apple iProducts; the former has crazy planned oblescence built into their products, and the latter, their products, I don't find them to be very cooperative...and Gateway products are a JOKE.

SO!

Who else makes laptops that are any good these days? Who don't I know about?

I've been browsing around in Best Buy and Circuit City, but they don't have much, and what they do have, are just base models, so I'm thinking that, whatever I can get that's actually going to be worth a damn, I'm going to have to order online.

Aspects I'm really interested in, are memory (RAM), harddrive space, processing power, battery capacity, and portability; I'd really like something light to carry around...but not a Macbook.

Come to think of it, all I ever use my machine for is word processing and text files, editing graphics, browsing the internet, e-mail, and archiving my music collection; I just want something that handles all of that stuff FAST.

First, you might want to check out the laptop thread I did up last year.  It could give you some helpful pointers:

http://www.soundtrackcentral.com/forums … hp?id=2310

As for my own notebook, I've been pretty satisfied with the Dell Inspiron E1405 up to now.  I've since gotten another 1GB upgrade of RAM, and now it's just as speedy and performs as well as my Dell 8400 desktop. (Yes, I'm a Dell gal.)  Since your needs look to be pretty similar to my own, Bernhardt, you might consider striving for specs similar to the ones I've noted in the other thread.  I would go with a XP OS if you can still get it for compatibility purposes, but yeah, get plenty of RAM, and for your processor, definitely go Intel Core Duo 2 or AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core.

About the only qualm I have with my laptop is that sometimes I wished I went with a matte screen instead of glossy; it really can be difficult to see in well-lit, bright areas. Forget about using it outdoors.

A couple of years ago my University advisor and I were looking at purchasing a laptop. After some research, it was decided that the best thing is a Sony. They're slightly more expensive than other brands, but apparently they last much longer and are better quality. I think Sony typically also offers you no interest payments for 1 year or more, which is good. So anyway, definitely higher quality than Dell or crap like that, but more expensive.

cheers,

-avatar!

Thems fightin' words, pal.  Pistols at dawn?  Or can I just hurl a bolt of static electricity at your ungrounded Vaio right now?

There's going to be problems no matter what you buy, whether it be a Sony, Dell, Apple or other brand. I work almost exclusively with Dells, and sometimes the computers last six years with no problems; sometimes a board gets fried three weeks into a system's lifecycle. Point is, just keep an open mind and find a computer that has specs and a feel that you like. You could have a Sony with poor parts and a Dell with more expensive parts, but that doesn't mean that Dell is the better brand; it just may be better than the Sony in a model-to-model comparison. My only recommendation is to stay away from those obvious "value" brands that are on sale at Best Buy or Circuit City. And, of course, always back up your data.

hehe...
I prefer swords or hand to hand. Pistols are so passe...

and as Zane pointed out, make sure you get a good warranty on your computer. I think Sony has a one year warranty against any defects (I've had it for nearly two years and nothing at all has gone wrong). Definitely do NOT purchase a computer from Best Buy, Wal-Mart, or any crappy place like that! If you can find a local computer shop go there, but those places are almost extinct...

cheers,

-avatar!

I'm actually surprised to hear that Sony computers are considered PREMIUM; back some years ago, when the Sony came out with the first Vaio, I never heard anything positive about them.

Especially when Sony has tech problems with their PS2 and PS3 consoles, and a lot of their other products having short life-span (CD Players, TVs, remotes, etc.)

I know this so far: I don't want a bigger screen than what I already have; most webpages won't even bother to stretch to fill the screen!

Thanks for the recommendations so far, keep 'em coming!

What is the difference between the two?

Compatibility issues with peripherals and software?

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Lenovo (nee IBM) ThinkPads are no-frills workhorses. Any color you want as long as it's black.

My work has purchased several ThinkPads.  They are supposedly very rugged and passed many military tests (a notch less so than Toughbooks).  But the other day, a user dropped a digital camera camera from a height of a foot or so.  Even "durable" laptops have vulnerabilities, as this was enough to break a key retainer and the keyboard had to be replaced for a single key.

I'll second not going with Vista, but getting a new PC with XP is now a problem:

http://tech.msn.com/microsoft/articlepc … id=8835437

I have a Sony Vaio laptop and it looks great. The screen is lovely.

And that's the only good thing I could say about it.

It came loaded with such a ridiculous amount of shit on it that it took me weeks to clean it up. It's Vista, which is a problem in itself, and with so many Windows updates colliding with separate Vaio updates, it is in a permanent state of 'broken'. It was quiet for about a week and then it was like somebody put a 360 inside it.

And, just out of warranty, the hard drive exploded. Well, died. Searching online, it turns out that dying hard drives on Vaio just out of warrantly are rather common.

Now that the hard drive is fixed, it's back to is default broken self. Crashes, goes slow, refuses sometimes to shut down, loses wireless signal until it restarts. That sort of crap.

I think I hate computers in general. I'd be tempted to try Mac next as I think Windows exists purely to piss me off. If Mac fails me, I'm going Amish.

In the broadest terms, very little - though depending on which devoted camp you ask, you'll probably get different replies.  They say that the Core Duo 2 uses less battery life and is the faster processor overall, though the Dual Core is supposed to be better for running high-end games.  AMDs are also a bit cheaper in price.

Can't go wrong with either, I suppose, but if you're strictly not a PC gamer, I would go Intel.

Yeah, I consider myself lucky that I chose to buy a laptop last year before the switch to Vista - and even then, I had to fudge the truth a bit and claim that it was business-related.  (It is largely, in a sense.)

Well, my old man just got a Dell Inspiron 1525 for himself, to replace his ten year-old computer, and he has me setting it up for him; right off, the power adapter has me saying "WTF?" The cord that plugs into the break bends toward back the brick, and it's REALLY short; expect to have to place the computer RIGHT NEXT to the power socket.

He also got Vista Home Premium despite my urging NOT to do so; had to turn off "User Account Protection," so it wasn't asking me every two seconds, when I was moving files, or another function, if I actually wanted to do such function, or in some cases, wouldn't let me do it at all.

Let me just say, the "User Account" shtick that started with Windows XP is one of the most retarded features ever; either don't let people use your computer, or get them their own computer; the concept of partitioning a harddrive between people means space is being used up, but you can't get to all of those files; stupidest thing ever.

Tested out the software for my Creative ZEN MP3 player; looks like I'm going to have to find and install additional drivers to get it to work with Vista; also have a first generation Microsoft Zune (got it for my mother); I wonder if I'm going to have to install new drivers for that, too? Probably.

Moral of the story is, if you don't have a whole lot of programs or applications or peripherals prior to Vista, you're not going to see it as a problem, but if you DO, well, have fun trying to find and install a bunch of new drivers for it.