laptop brands

[spectastic]

it's been 3-4 years since I bought a computer. My current 'laptop' is more of a notebook, with a 11.6 screen and amd dual core processor. I want to get a 14" or a 15.4, just because it'd be nice to have that bigger screen for work. as far as spec goes, I'll take what I can get, because most of them are more than enough anyway. What I wonder is how laptop quality varies with brand, and in what ways. Toshiba has a lot of really cheap refurbs, but their brand rank is pretty low compared to others like lenovo, asus, hp etc. Anyone care to shed some light?

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I have a Lenovo U410 IdeaPad. It's an ultrabook. I like it. A lot of people in college have Macs. I used to have one. Surprised to see a decent amount of people in my computer science classes with Macs, but far fewer have them than in the liberal arts classes I took. I had a Toshiba. It was junk. Someone gave it to me. They didn't want it anymore. Then I ended up giving it to someone. My first ever computer was an Acer (I was 19 when I got my first ever computer). That was a machine. Got it back in 2005 when laptops weren't as powerful as desktops. It was like 30 pounds and as powerful as a desktop. I remember lugging that tree across the barracks when I was in the military. 

[LittleDarlings]

I have a MacBook and I love it. Everyone in my family though has toshiba and they have lasted years so they are really quality laptops too. I think it depends on your price range. Don't get a dell, I've heard they suck.

[the_sheath]

I had a Toshiba that lasted me about 5 years then got another (obviously a newer model). No problems on the new one so far. Towards the end, the first Toshiba overheated a lot and then died. But then again, that thing was OLD.

[rising_star]

If your computer itself is fine and you just want more screen real estate, buy an external monitor. I have a 14" Samsung ultrabook that I like a lot but I still use an external monitor a lot of the time.

[spectastic]

I'm using my laptop mostly to do work when I'm on the go, like at a cafe or something. The one I have now is the hp dm1z. I just bought a new battery for it for pretty cheap, which should keep it from crapping out on me again. But I'm still considering on buying a new one that would make working away from home a little more convenient.

 

 

 

 

holy shit I think I just heard a series of gun shots.....

[Marina CM]

A series of gun shots? I hope everybody around you is OK! Tell us about it!

 

I am currently using a MSI laptop. The relationship between price and technical charasteristics is very good, so check them out. Previously I had been using a iMac, a HP laptop and before this, an Acer laptop. My HP laptop is 10 years old and it is still working fine, so based on my experience, I recommend the HP brand without any doubt. Anyway, if you have the money, a Mac Book Pro is a good option. It is not going to give you any problem, whether technical or related to usability or configuration. They are as smooth as silk. 

[overworkedta]

Wow, that's no good, spectastic.  Hope it was just a storm rolling in or something!

 

I wouldn't go with Toshiba.  They are hit and miss.  I've had about 10 laptops and netbooks in my lifetime that I have either fixed and given to someone or kept as my own and I usually have 2+ computers at a given time.  Right now, I have a Surface Pro as my go-to-class-to-teach-and-then-read computer but I can also run STATA and do just about ANYTHING with it, an Asus 14'' which is my go-to computer, and a POS Dell that I only use as a desktop model for photoshop because it weighs 30 lbs and has since its inception 5 years ago given me nothing but issues.

 

Any Toshiba I have helped fix or come across has been either really good or a big POS.  There isn't much in between.  I loved my Acer netbook that I had before this tablet and I love my ASUS.  It's been very reliable for the past few years.  I would not recommend Dell after having many, many issues.

 

My advice?  Well, two pieces really.  One, if you are still really worried about weight, get a monitor to hook your computer up to (or ask your department if they have one for your office, I stole mine from another unused desk and that was fine).  You will want it anyway, I think.  I use mine daily from either my laptop or tablet.  If you want a bigger screen regardless, I recommend getting something as cheap as possible that meets your needs.  My ASUS was about $500.00.  Super cheap back then.  It does everything I need it to do and if it broke in a year, it would be no big.  I used to buy the expensive computer and then deal with tech support for days when something broke.  No more.  If I can't fix it myself, I move on.  I back up regularly and that works.

 

That advice was given to me by a former boyfriend who was a computer scientist and despite him being a PITA, it has served me well.

[spectastic]

I heard about 6-8 loud pops somewhere outside my apartment last night, as I was writing that post. Then when I went to bed around 15 minutes later, I heard a bunch of sirens that went back and forth. I didn't see anything in the news stories on the web, maybe it was nothing.

 

And yea, Acer and ASUS are both ranked pretty high in their brands, so is HP. I'll probably look for a deal in one of those.

[zipykido]

Netbooks aren't particularly known for their computing power. Any of the newer ivy/haswell processors with integrated graphics will give you decent performance and allow you to dual-monitor. I think lenovo has the highest ratio of performance+reliability to cost. Dell has a pretty good warranty program, but the problem is that you'll probably have to use their warranty more. It really depends on your budget and performance needs.

[CageFree]

I have a Lenovo Ideapad ultrabook and I'm very happy with it. It has great battery life, it doesn't overheat, and its performance is solid. 

 

They have good deals on their website too.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I heard about 6-8 loud pops somewhere outside my apartment last night, as I was writing that post. Then when I went to bed around 15 minutes later, I heard a bunch of sirens that went back and forth. I didn't see anything in the news stories on the web, maybe it was nothing.

 

And yea, Acer and ASUS are both ranked pretty high in their brands, so is HP. I'll probably look for a deal in one of those.

I wake up to that. I stopped setting my alarm clock.

[microarray]

I've had a tablet, netbook, and laptop from Asus. All products are really great. i've never had any issues with them and they seem indestructible.

 

highly recommend anything from asus

[vityaz]

I just bought a Toshiba Chromebook and I'm loving it. $300, 10 hours of battery life, 13" screen. If you don't need specific windows programs, or if you have a desktop you can remote in to, then it's perfect. If not, don't bother.

[spectastic]

that chromebook looks like a beasted up version of my dm1z. how's that processor treating you? it's only got a benchmark of not

more than 1000, which is pretty low by today's standards

 

 

wait, nerrmind. I can't do shit with a chromeOS

Edited February 22, 2014 by spectastic

[spectastic]

any feedback on vizio laptops?

[overworkedta]

Vizios are one I have no experience with.

[spectastic]

apparently vizio laptops have funky keyboards, crappy trackpads, and they tend to drop wifi connections. They have such nice specs, but dropping the wifi is a deal killer. I had thought about getting a 13.3 zenbook core i5 SSD to replace my desktop, but that's really unnecessary at this point. I'll just use my hp netbook for now, and get one of those back to school deals to replace my desktop before I move.

[pears]

I have a MacBook Pro, mostly because I grew up using Macs (they're the standard in my mom's field of work, and have been since for years & years), so the OS is familiar to me. Also, my mom gets steep discounts on Macs through her job, so I can pay less than half the normal amount for a MBP; otherwise, I think they'd be so far out of my price range that I would've switched to PCs years ago. Also, it's a pain to not be able to readily use ESRI software (namely, ArcMap/ArcGIS), and I recently learned firsthand that MBPs are super susceptible to water damage. Derp. In sum, unless you can get a Mac at a steep discount and are a long time user, it seems a bit silly to go the Mac route instead of the more affordable, versatile PC route — and I'm saying that as a classic pain-in-the-rump Apple fangirl who knows little to nothing about computers.

[NothingButTheRain]

I have yet to see a Toshiba go more than 3 year without developing severe heat issues.  They were a very popular brand when I was in undergrad and almost everyone who had one had the same experience - great for 3 years, then nearly unrecoverable overheating.  I decided to give them a second shot a few years back, and my (relatively) new one is showing all the signs and symptoms as the last one.  Won't be fooled again.

 

Dell has been great in a corporate environment, but I wouldn't trust them without an IT department backing you.

 

Sorry this isn't too helpful, since I'm not sure what to recommend, but those are two to stay away from.

[CommPhD20]

You'll hear this, that, and the other thing about each brand based on people's anecdotes.

 

Here's an example - I've had a shitty CS experience with Apple that turned me off of them as well as a very positive experience with Dell. These both contradict the prevailing narratives about those brands. Aggregate customer satisfaction ratings put them both near the top - FWIW, Dell ranks fine among its competitors in customer service satisfaction.

 

Here is another resource - http://lifehacker.com/computer-manufacturers-ranked-how-to-pick-a-laptop-tha-1467145338

 

Another thing to consider is that you can help predict your customer service and overall satisfaction by knowing what you're buying. A huge portion of the reason Apple has an easy time satisfying its customers is that they don't sell low-end computers. You get something that is very expensive and thus unlikely to start out so marginal in performance that any little thing renders it unusable. Dell had dominated the low-end for a long time and this is how they got the reputation for being a bad computer maker...well, they used to be the brand with the cajones to do their best with a $200-$300 computer...but there's only so much you can do and corners will be cut.

 

Anyway, I've been going with Lenovo lately and have had good experiences all around. Good design, good computers at competitive prices, and I've had some nitpicky requests for CS that have been dealt with wonderfully. IMO, their Yoga 2 Pro is the best consumer laptop available. Perhaps not for your needs, though, since you want something a bit larger. As someone else suggested, though, it might make sense to get something that is portable and just connect it to an external monitor for when you want that screen real estate.

[spectastic]

actually I've changed my mind about wanting a 15.4". I went to Bestbuy to actually look at these computers, and I think 14 or a 13.3 is better (preferably 14). I didn't think I'd actually care about weight and thickness, but after looking at them, and thinking about what I'm going to put in my backpack, I realized I wanted something a little smaller.

[juilletmercredi]

Yeah, you definitely care about weight and thickness.  I wasn't too concerned about that either when I first bought my computer, but I take my baby with me literally everywhere.  Meetings with my adviser, to class for notes, to the coffeeshop to get out of my apartment, on trips to conferences, home for the holidays, on vacations, etc.  As a social scientist 100% of my work is also done on the computer; I have Stata and SPSS on here so I can do all of my analyses at home (and not have to hit the computer lab at 2 am, whee!)

 

I had a Toshiba and it was a work horse.  My husband had a Toshiba for 5 years before it died.  My Toshiba lasted me a good 3 years and was still running well before I decided to get a MacBook.  They're built well and you can get a lot for your money compared to other brands.  I've heard good things about Asus and Lenovo, too.  I had an IBM Thinkpad before it was bought by Lenovo; my parents bought it for me before I left for college in 2004.  I gave it to my aunt when she needed a cheap slow computer in 2007, and it was still running.  I visited her in 2010 and it was STILL RUNNING.  Just very slowly because it had like Windows XP and maaaaybe 512 MB of RAM, lol.

 

I had a Sony and it was a POS.  Way overpriced, not durable and very suspectible to mechanical movement damage.  Dells are hit or miss; I like the point someone made above about them supposed to be entry-level cheap computers.  If you don't expect too much you'll be satisfied or pleasantly surprised.

Personally, I have a 13" MacBook Pro and I won't go back to a PC, lol.  I love my MacBook.  Next time, though, I will get a MacBook Air - I have a 3 TB external HDD so I don't need the onboard storage, and I really want the 12 hour battery life, as I spend a good amount of time unplugged, as well as the much lighter weight (almost half the weight of the MBP).  And MacBooks' battery life is really as advertised.  Mine is 2 years old and it can still get 5 hours off the cord at 50% brightness with the wireless on, and 4 hours at 70% brightness and me forgetting to turn off the Bluetooth.

[spectastic]

my dad bought a gateway laptop for our family in 2002. He was still using it in 2012, when I graduated college.. The trackpad is like 2"x1.5", and the screen was more like a 13.3 screen on a 14" laptop. The screen broke, and somehow, he found a spare on ebay, and put it together. I'm like why the F are you still using that POS? I don't think Gateway even exists anymore. Poor dad, time to let go of the old obsolete hardware and get with the 21th century.

 

I probably won't get anything mac. I've used macs, and while they're quality machines, I like to stick with the more mainstream OS, unless I decide that windows 8 is a total loss, and windows 9 is even more screwed up. Why did they make the computer interface the same as the one on my old xbox? I'm trying to get shit done, not get distracted. But to me, battery life is not a real big issue, provided it's a 13 or 14" laptop. I bring the cord with me all the time anyway, and anything over 5 hours is fine by me. Just have to make sure to not get a core i7, or one of those power horses that just eats up all the energy.

 

 

 

 

and because these lithium ion batteries are perishable, I figure might as well go with a brand that's not super overpriced, or even go with an older model, such that any aftermarket parts are easy to find cheap.

Edited February 24, 2014 by spectastic

[zipykido]

my dad bought a gateway laptop for our family in 2002. He was still using it in 2012, when I graduated college.. The trackpad is like 2"x1.5", and the screen was more like a 13.3 screen on a 14" laptop. The screen broke, and somehow, he found a spare on ebay, and put it together. I'm like why the F are you still using that POS? I don't think Gateway even exists anymore. Poor dad, time to let go of the old obsolete hardware and get with the 21th century.

 

I probably won't get anything mac. I've used macs, and while they're quality machines, I like to stick with the more mainstream OS, unless I decide that windows 8 is a total loss, and windows 9 is even more screwed up. Why did they make the computer interface the same as the one on my old xbox? I'm trying to get shit done, not get distracted. But to me, battery life is not a real big issue, provided it's a 13 or 14" laptop. I bring the cord with me all the time anyway, and anything over 5 hours is fine by me. Just have to make sure to not get a core i7, or one of those power horses that just eats up all the energy.

 

 

 

 

and because these lithium ion batteries are perishable, I figure might as well go with a brand that's not super overpriced, or even go with an older model, such that any aftermarket parts are easy to find cheap.

 

Windows 8 is not very different from windows 7, the only real difference is that the start menu was replaced by the metro launcher. Microsoft was trying to create consistency between platforms (laptop, desktops, mobile, and tablets) much like how the user experience is very similar in the iOS environment. Also Intel makes ULV versions of their i7 line, the haswell iteration is usually marked as ULT, and most ultrabooks that use the i7-4500u can get over 6 hours of battery but still can hyperthread.