Laptop Recommendations?

[AgentAK]

Toshiba Qosmio.

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/laptop-model.jsp?family=Qosmio&model=X505&src=MAXG&cm_mmc=SEM_Direct_Google&gclid=CMTR7_mmx6MCFQInbAod9Frhtg

[esskay]

If your going with a Windows Machine and want to do heavy gaming, I suggest an Alienware, they are pricey but they seem to last a lot longer then other laptops I've seen or used.

They are owned by Dell know which sucks. I got mine before the switch so I don't no how good they are now.

How about that 11-12" Alienware model, it looked pretty cool (I like my laptops compact)

[locosway]

Do NOT get a HP laptop. HP makes some good products here and there, but their laptops is not one of them.

Dell has always been good for me. Their hardware seems to do better than others. I've had used Dells that just kept on ticking no matter what. The new Dell I bought 2 years ago has no issues other than a fading battery.

I've owned two Macbooks. Initially it was neat to pretend to be cool or different. But once the novelty wore off I jumped ship. Hardware to fix broken fans and stuff costs way too much money. Not to mention that there's so many changes between 10.4 and 10.5 and 10.6 and 10.x that you can't run some software on 10.4, which forces you into an upgrade. Sure, great marketing and business move, but sucks for the consumer.

PC is flexible, allowing you to do as you please and for much cheaper. My Dell came with Ubuntu Linux, so I didn't have to pay the M$ tax.

[Corbin Dallas]

Do NOT get a HP laptop. HP makes some good products here and there, but their laptops is not one of them.

Dell has always been good for me. Their hardware seems to do better than others. I've had used Dells that just kept on ticking no matter what. The new Dell I bought 2 years ago has no issues other than a fading battery.

I've owned two Macbooks. Initially it was neat to pretend to be cool or different. But once the novelty wore off I jumped ship. Hardware to fix broken fans and stuff costs way too much money. Not to mention that there's so many changes between 10.4 and 10.5 and 10.6 and 10.x that you can't run some software on 10.4, which forces you into an upgrade. Sure, great marketing and business move, but sucks for the consumer.

PC is flexible, allowing you to do as you please and for much cheaper. My Dell came with Ubuntu Linux, so I didn't have to pay the M$ tax.

And my experience is just the opposite.

I've had over 20 HP laptops (bought and sold) and they all have a much better fit and finish, are much more cost effective to service (read, take apart, clean and put back together) and in general work better than their dell counterparts.

The dells I've onwed randomly shutdown, kill memory (voltage spikes) and are more difficult to service.


There are stories all over the internet both ways so to say one is this much better over the other is just a matter of opinion.

[Geodetic]

Thanks for the input... I guess the net result of all the opinions is basically the big brands are basically the same. You can get a bad apple no matter what.

[Corbin Dallas]

Thanks for the input... I guess the net result of all the opinions is basically the big brands are basically the same. You can get a bad apple no matter what.

Pretty much.

[bigmike82]

Truth.

Whichever company you buy the laptop from, buy the extended warranty *and* accidental damage insurance. This too is a matter of opinion, but it's always been helpful to me to have that extra peace of mind.

[frankDmole]

HP ProBook if it is for work. If it is for personal. MacBook.

Forget Dell. Those things are POS. We recently migrated from Dell to HP...Almost 5 years after I kept saying Dell is the worst. That is my opinion and experience. HPs are awesome having owned some myself. So we use HP workstations (CAD) and HP laptops and as some of you know workstation laptops are not cheap. We did the benchmarks and Dell lost. I went every 6 months with problems with my Dell laptop...Now with my HP ProBook 4710 I have gone 6 months with nothing more than me having to wipe my screen. One Dell laptop I had, had 3 screen replacements and one HD replacement.

Sorry am not a Dell fan at all.

Macs though rule...Last year was the year when my household went from mostly PCs to almost entirely Mac. My wife and daughter have the new MacBooks and we have a Mac from 4 years ago as a spare.

I come from the gaming world and build my PCs and also ran Q3A, SOF, and COD servers...In the end it is what you are doing with you laptop that will determine to an extent what you get. Most manufacturers allow you to config your machine.

So HP or Apple for the win.

I agree, I was a big Dell fan for a long time, but HP has come a long way and has surpassed Dell in quality and their prices are better too. The only thing, you will want to invest in a better battery the stock ones don't last, unless you get a MacBook.