which laptop to buy?

[incognito247]

I've narrowed my search down to a toshiba and dell. I hear hp, acer and compaqs are worse so.. which will it be. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Toshiba Satellite M305D-S4829
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm...m/ccd/productDetail.do (http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Toshiba-Satellite-M305D-S4829-14-1-Widescreen-Laptop-M305D-S4829/sem/rpsm/oid/215099/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do)

Dell - Inspiron 1420
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...oduct&id=1210378661986 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8874257&type=product&id=1210378661986)

[xSauronx]

im gonna say check ebay...you can get 35% off (25% as cashback later) in some cases now if you check the right deal site and find out what to do (which is really, really easy)

/iwannabuyathinkpad

[TheStu]

OK, here i my personal list of preference based on experience not only using them, but also servicing them.

1: Apple
2: Lenovo Thinkpads (no idea about the IdeaPad line)
3: HP
4: Asus
5: Gateway
6: Compaq
7: Acer
8: Toshiba
9: Dell

Now, as I said this is all based on experience and disregards price. Lenovo and Apple are actually more or less tied. I prefer the chiclet keyboard on my MacBook as well as its huge trackpad over any other laptop so that gives it the edge.... and it runs OS X legally.

HP has come a long long way in the past few years and is quite good, I had considered one before getting my MacBook, but I wanted OS X and the Mac was cheaper.

[IlllI]

i wouldnt say that dell or toshiba is in any way better than hp/compaq. they are all probably about equal all things considered

[incognito247]

Thanks for the input guys. I just ended up getting the dell (had a 100 gift card to use) so I actually paid 600 for it. So far i'm quite pleased with it. I had to get rid of vista so I'm doing an install of xp right now.

I must say the other laptops looked quite nice in person, especially the acer and hps. nice build and feel to it. My concern was mainly portability which is why I was focused on a 14". Not alot of 14" to choose from so I reached for the dell.