Rdmarsiii Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Hey all, Ive been thinking. I love this laptop I have, but the screen and hard drive are too small. Ive been looking tonight, and I think I like some of the new Toshibas. I want a Pentium 4, higher than 2.4 ghz, and at least a 40 gig hd. What do you think thatll run me? Im trying to stay under $1200. I found this one, its a P4 2.8, and it has a meg of L2 cache, and a 17" screen, and a 60 gig hd, for a grand. I think thats a good deal. That might be the one I'll go after, but Im really open to suggestions. Thanks, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor.Ham.Slap Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Be very wary of laptop purchases. Is the laptop that you found with those specs under a grand used, and who makes it? The only reason I ask is because you don't want to cut corners with a laptop. I'm sure you know, since you own one already that if there is a defective part, you can't just swap out an expansion board like you can with a desktop machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I have owned three laptops: An IBM T40, a Del Inspiron 8200, and an HP zd7000. Of them all the IBM is worst and the HP is my favorite. I got it with the 17" 1640x1200 wide screen, built in wireless, full sized keyboard and 3ghz p4 for only $1800 from HP's web site. Its not portable, its really a desktop replacement. The T40 is probably the most portable laptop I've seen, its just tiny. Dell makes good laptops too, but have become a bit expensive compared to HP, Toshiba, and others. Their support is hard to beta though, if you get the good warranty you can pretty much tell them you took a bath with it and they'll fix it. I dumped coffee in my Inspiron... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rdmarsiii Posted June 30, 2004 Author Share Posted June 30, 2004 The one that I was talking about was a Toshiba. Im having to replace the memory fan in this thing, it buzzes. $25 for a small fan. Way too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I've owned IBM Thinkpads (3, going back to '95), Sony Vaio, Toshiba, Zeos and Compaq laptops, and I found the IBMs to be way out in front in terms of reliability and longevity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo33 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 "Of them all the IBM is worst...Dell makes good laptops too, but have become a bit expensive" I have owned seven IBM Thinkpads in the last 10 years and I am running tire (growing old) and they are still running tireless. I don't know what planet you're from but IBM makes the most compatible and reliable laptops on God's green Earth. Dell is a piece of crap (whether laptop or desktop). Michael Dell is a business person (just likes Bill Gates) and he has no interest in you. All he cares about is to stuff his pocket full of your hard-earned dollars. Dell's quality is mediocre at best and is synonymous to Microsoft! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomer9911 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 I used an IBM thinkpad for 2 yrs, had no complaints except the cost, Celeron 433, 5 gbhd, 96 ram, all for 2K in 00. The new ones are sweet especially the 16X9's but still costly, the Sony VAIO and Dells are nice, Sony is $$$$, IBM's are sweet also... I went back to desktop...sort of like my shift from 53" projection back to a 34" tube...total disappointment... if for business and doing processing alone...great idea, for a general PC, bad idea...IMO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royster Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 I have had Compaq, dell, hp, IBM over the past 10 years. They all have ups and downs. I liked the IBM, and the compaq the best. The coustomer service at Dell is the worst I have ever had to deal with. Bought the wife a Dell hand held puter to replace her Palm III, she missed placed the manual. Contacted Dell to purchase a new manual, and guess what NO CAN DO! You can down load and print the pdf file for free, but they will not sell a replacement manual. So much for compact size. IBM, and Compaq both had acceptable coustomer service according to out IT geeks. Good luck and choose wisely. I have heard many bad stories from Ebay lap top purchases. Hope this helps. Roy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 ---------------- On 6/30/2004 10:23:27 AM Rdmarsiii wrote: The one that I was talking about was a Toshiba. Im having to replace the memory fan in this thing, it buzzes. $25 for a small fan. Way too much. ---------------- LOL ok you gonna spend 1200 because you gotta spend 25 buck on a small fan. Just get the fan fixed. Save your dough. Buy yourself some audio gear or whatever. Should of stuck with your desktop. Didn't you have one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleve Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 I've had Dell laptops for the last few years, provided by the company. I don't see them as anything special - rather poor build quality, in my estimation. Cheaply made, with low-grade plastics. My current Latitude, new in February of 03, has had the following issues... CD-ROM drive started randomly disconnecting, even when fully inserted - had to be replaced One of the 128 Mb RAM chips failed, resulting in mysterious reboots and crashes until I diagnosed the problem. Palmpad failed, necessitating replacement of entire keyboard assembly Battery failed prematurely, requiring replacement Case developed fractures at corners - probably because I used it, unsupported by a table, as a LAPTOP. This thing has a lot of FLEX when you pick it up - a lot more than the previous Latitude CP that this unit replaced. I had the case replaced, and now leave the computer flat on the kitchen table, rarely using it AS a laptop. Sooo, I'm not too keen on Dells anymore. Sure, warranty took care of all of the above, but it was still a nuisance, and now the unit is out of warranty. If I was to actually purchase a computer, I'd give a look at Apple laptops. One of my best friends has owned a G4 laptop for just over a year now - he loves it. He's never had a crash nor unexpected shutdown. And Apples ARE amazingly easy to use! He and I went on a fishing trip to Canada over the Holiday weekend - we used my Kodak digital camera to take some photos. He wanted to transfer the images to his computer. I said "Sorry, I don't have the Kodak driver disk with me!" He just plugged the camera into the G4, the Apple's photo software immediately recognized the camera and quickly uploaded the images into his directory, faster even than my Dell WITH the Kodak drivers loaded!!! Not to mention... I had to mess with downloading updates from Kodak to get my camera to work properly with my PC's - there was NONE of that with the G4 laptop! And there can be issues with some of the 'background' programs the Kodak software installs on PC's - neatly avoided by Apple's elegant system. I fell instantly in love! AND the G4's build quality is far superior to my laptop - titantium case, and a beautiful 15" Cinema display that's far brighter than that on the Dell, AND stays brighter at greater viewing angles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 (duck and cover...) Apple Laptops are great if you're talking about a personal computer as opposed to business computer, or your business is primarily concerned with video / audio / image editing and manipulation. If I were a professional photographer and was doing digital image manipulation, or an audio engineer / performer working on audio tracks, I'd pick and Apple over anything else out there. However, if you use the computer for business, Apple is simply a non-starter. None of the software I use (Informix onprobe, oncockpit, Genero visual design studio, 4Js Active/X components, GWC, yada yada yada) will work on an Apple. One of my partner's wives is a professional photographer (see Marion's Website) and she uses an Apple. Every time he trys to use her Apple computer at home to work on something from our office, he is continually frustrated by incompatibilities between the different systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 I love the whole mission impossible vibe of a laptop. But I can't find anything in my price range that is acceptable to what I am used to with my desktop. I wish I could afford one that was as good as my desktop. Save space, and the cool factor is a nice thing to lol. But now I am really thinking I dig bigger is better like getting a large wide screen for my monitor. Now that would have some major cool mojo. Then get the some Klipschsters for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Hey Mars! Your name reminds me of renowned guitarist from Steppenwolf, MARS BONFIRE! what a great stage name. Checkout MTECHlaptops on the internet. It's kind of a DEll company that sells internet only and builds to your spec. Found out about them at a photo conference when a guy from NASA had one. If it's good enough for NASA, it works for me ( I also own Hasselblad cameras) Mine is now 3 years old but has a 17" screen, 2 x 30gb hard drives, CD/DVD burner and get this- a 101 keyboard, so you have a number pad on the side. It's big and heavy, but has a 3 hour battery. I think it's like 1gHZ with 1meg RAM (3 yrs old- okay) and was like $1700. I'm sure speed has improved and price has dropped. Great company to do business with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Slammin Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 IMHO, Dell is the flavor of the month (3to5 years) as Gateway was a while back. Again IMHO, HP is the standard. BUT, I still like wing-tips..... Apple/ McIintosh (MAC) is a strange place that serves bad food for kids. (Not to offend Trey.) 15" is portable, great for CAD,..... 17" is a desk top. TC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rdmarsiii Posted July 15, 2004 Author Share Posted July 15, 2004 Yeah, the 17" is ten pounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 omg ten pounds it may not seem much in the biggining but i have a dual battery (bastardly) dell inspiron 8200 (the last of the good quality dell laptops)that weighs 9 pounds and its hell on my one strap messenger bag but thankfull i have a computer bookbag now. Also I find my IBM T40 a powerhouse and build strong, i like the rubber over titanium body except that the rubber gets grease stains from your fingers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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