In need of advice for a laptop

[snowballbelland]

Would really like a laptop but do not know what to buy and do not whant to spen a lot of $$$ also. Please help with suggestions, store names and prices. Thanks !

[Aslan]

It's a bit hard to say unless you give an absolute limit of what you want to spend, and how big and heavy you want the laptop to be.

In terms of build quality, the best two choices are Apple and Lenovo, although with Lenovo this is only true with their Thinkpad line.. However, both are fairly expensive, although Lenovo offers a lot of coupons that can lower the price by up to 40%.

Dell is a bit lacking, but their warranty service is good if anything goes wrong. Avoid HP entirely, as their products and support are terrible with their consumer lines. HP's business line is good, but these models are extremely pricey.

I would avoid stores like Future Shop, Best Buy and Staples with purchasing, as they tend to carry cheaper product lines, their service is horrible and deceptive, and their warranty policies are also atrocious.

What I like to do is go to all three stores just to try out different models, and purchase somewhere else.

Decent stores are Newegg, Memory Express, and NCIX, although you'll have to buy online with all three. The service and RMA policies with all three are better, although not quite as good as buying direct from a company like Dell. These stores usually offer some decent brands like Asus along with Lenovo and Dell, although customization is limited compared with buying direct from the manufacturer.

[Shwa Girl]

Dell is a bit lacking, but their warranty service is good if anything goes wrong. Avoid HP entirely, as their products and support are terrible with their consumer lines. HP's business line is good, but these models are extremely pricey.

I would avoid stores like Future Shop, Best Buy and Staples with purchasing, as they tend to carry cheaper product lines, their service is horrible and deceptive, and their warranty policies are also atrocious.

Decent stores are Newegg, Memory Express, and NCIX, although you'll have to buy online with all three. The service and RMA policies with all three are better, although not quite as good as buying direct from a company like Dell. These stores usually offer some decent brands like Asus along with Lenovo and Dell, although customization is limited compared with buying direct from the manufacturer.

I hear what you are saying about quality.

I guess we have been lucky.
We have had a Dell, HP and Acer.
We bought them all at Walmart, taking the demo model that everyone tries out in store.

All three were used for school - brick and morter and online. All work great.

With our luck, maybe we should buy a lottery ticket. Hehehe.

[Jbird]

My first laptop (my current one) is HP, and I believe I got it for around 500 dollars, as it was on sale. Never had an issue with the company, or my computer. Always have loved, and always will love HP.

[Aslan]

http://www.123inkcartridges.ca/compu...s/Laptops.html

Here are some laptops with low price, if you are not looking for brands and just use for surfing on internet, working or study....Those are enough...

I would avoid this store. These are mostly previous generation models or older at inflated prices. Many of the models also appear to be Grey Market, meaning that you'll have to deal with 123 Ink Cartridges for Warranty service rather than the manufacturer.

I know I was a bit harsh with manufacturers, mainly HP, but I think it's just partially my experience with their older models.
In most cases a laptop 'should' last 2-3 years regardless of manufacturer, although my recommendations are really based on a system that will hopefully last much longer than this.

[snowballbelland]

thanks to everybody for the info. very appreciated !!!!!!!!

[bhlombardy]

I would agree on the Dell front, HOWEVER -- order it FROM DELL... do not buy a Dell from a retail chain. -- You will be treated like a hot-potato if you have any warranty problems. Retail will tell you to contact Dell... (because it was made by Dell) and Dell will tell you to contact the retailer... (because the retailers are authorized to made modifications, such as harddrive and ram, which arent supported by Dell).

If you buy it from Dell, however there's no question who will support it if something goes wrong.


I also deal with HPs in my current work environment... and actual HP's are fine... but I'd steer away from HP/Compaq... they are a lower grade product.

As for other retail items... I'd recommend ASUS as a decent brand...

but i'd stay clear, in fact run the other direction, from Acer, Gateway, and eMachines... all owned by Acer, and in my 20 years in I.T., I've never had a good experience with Acer.

[Weeeooojr]

It really depends on what you're looking to use your computer for...like if your gaming, you should get a decent video card and processor. All of the computers in my house are Dell and HP. They're all great. My laptop that I'm using now is a Dell that's 7 or 8 years old.