highest quality laptop / notebook brand?

[Schadenfroh]

I have been out of the laptop area for a while. My last laptop was an IBM thinkpad bought used in 1993 and it still works as good as new. I am in the market for a new laptop, but I am aware that Lenovo bought IBM's PC division. When I last went shopping for a notebook, the highest quality makers were Toshiba and IBM.

People over at fatwallet have been saying that Toshiba just slaps a nice screen on a cheap (crappy) built notebook and sells it nowadays.

Which brand(s) now have the best build quality (I dont plan on buying a new one anytime soon).

 

[DaveSimmons]

We used to buy Toshiba at work, but quality did go down so we switched to buying Dell Latitude machines a couple of years ago.

Ars Technica just reviewed a Lenovo Core Due (see main page right column) and the quality still seems to be good.

One thing to keep in mind is to stay away from Celerons if you care about battery life. According to Ars the core duos have vey good life, so you don't give up battery life to get the second core.

 

[imported_miahallen]

For quality I'd go Lenovo, but you pay a premium. I've got a 2yr old Thinkpad R40 that's been through a hell of a year in Iraq with no problems. But, I beleive in the new chassis their putting in a lot of the new "toughbook" types (yes, Lenovo is one of these) if you need durability.

 

[GrammatonJP]

I got a panasonic tough book.. cost double but survive drops already... survive spills better than my dell 6000 (rma onces for spills - full coverage warranty)

 

[Proprioceptive]

Panasonic ToughBook... you'll pay a premium, but the two we got to torture at work were EXCELLENT. They still ran as if they were new. I'm also a huge Toshiba fan. Even though they aren't quite as top of the line like they used to be, they're still very reliable and well built. I actually have a Toshiba Tecra notebook from 1992... 77mhz processor. Yeah... runs only win95 and I use it for the occasional word processing. Battery is dead, but hey, the notebook still works!

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
We used to buy Toshiba at work, but quality did go down so we switched to buying Dell Latitude machines a couple of years ago.

Ahh, so the people at Fat Wallet were right, the dells are now higher quality than the Toshibas eh?

I took a look at the panasonics, out of my price range (at least on their site), looking to spend about $1,500.

Keep the stuff coming guys, I appreciate your input.

 

[justlnluck]

I used some Gateway laptops in the past. Their build quality really impressed me.

 

[InlineFour]

i assume lenovo only bought the name and did not change the manufacturing process. another quality brand you didn't list is fujitsu, which are made in japan.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: InlineFour
i assume lenovo only bought the name and did not change the manufacturing process. another quality brand you didn't list is fujitsu, which are made in japan.

Ahh forgot about Fujitsu, they better than Toshiba nowadays?

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: InlineFour
i assume lenovo only bought the name and did not change the manufacturing process. another quality brand you didn't list is fujitsu, which are made in japan.

Lenovo bought the whole IBM PC Division.... R&D centers, employees including the ThinkPad and ThinkCentre design teams, and yes, the ThinkPad and ThinkCentre brand names. they moved their worldwide corporate HQ to NY initially and are now moving it to Raleigh, NC, and are building a new and rather large campus dwon the road from where IBM is in RTP.

So ... same product.. same focus.

 

[InlineFour]

i'd personally wait a little longer until core duo becomes mainstream.

 

[John]

One thing to keep in mind is that these OEM's have ODM's manufacture the barebones. For example the Dell 700m (and other models) is mfg'ed by Wistron.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: John
One thing to keep in mind is that these OEM's have ODM's manufacture the barebones. For example the Dell 700m (and other models) is mfg'ed by Wistron.

Lenovo actually makes just about all of their ThinkPads in house. That was the one nice change from the IBM days.

 

[InlineFour]

i like the new x60 ibm lenovo just came out. it's a core duo laptop.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: InlineFour
i'd personally wait a little longer until core duo becomes mainstream.

I dont really have a need for a dual core laptop, but I suppose it would drive the cost down of the single core Pentium M.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: InlineFour
i'd personally wait a little longer until core duo becomes mainstream.

I dont really have a need for a dual core laptop, but I suppose it would drive the cost down of the single core Pentium M.

I got to play with a Core Duo and load some software and generally play around.....

It really blew my mind how responsive and fast the thing was compared to even my high end Pentium M Laptop.

 

[thescreensavers]

NVM Computers Built on MSI barebones www.nvmcomputers.com. I got the NVm-1036 modle I droped it 5 feet and it works flawlassly and also my 2 other friend got the nvm 1013 and nvm 1029 thye both have aluminum chassis its pretty cool

 

[Schadenfroh]

bump

 

[PhoenixOrion]

A poll without Sony VAIO?

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
A poll without Sony VAIO?

Too many antisony people here for that.


I have been reading really good things about Fujitsu, are they still all built in Japan? Would you say that they are on par with Lenovo?

 

[Green Man]

LOL @ Dell got votes

 

[kickerf1]

I sell notebooks and desktops for a living. I know Toshiba used to be pretty good in the past but quality has decreased ever since. They are many people who hate Sony and there are some lovers too so you get a little bit of both. I, personally don't like them because of their weak chassis. Anyways, I would have to say Fujitsu is my brand of choice, one major reason is their Crystal View screen, which is almost saturation free. All Fujitsu notebooks are made in Japan except the N series ones (now the N6000+ series laptops are made in Japan but the N3000+ are made in China.)

Any questions?

 

[halfadder]

The only Dells worth buying are the business-grade Latitude models. Most of the Inspiron models have really shoddy construction.

Some of the newer Sagers are really sturdy.

The MacBookPro is very sturdy, and the "MagSafe" magnetic power connector will save your bacon..... but like all Apples, it will show wear. The aluminum skin is very durable, but will show dents if you drop it or bang it into the edge of a table.

A notebook with sturdy beige or black matte plastic is probably your best bet. For best wear, avoid white, avoid silver, avoid glossy black or pretty much anything glossy at all.

 

[chipy]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
We used to buy Toshiba at work, but quality did go down so we switched to buying Dell Latitude machines a couple of years ago.

Ars Technica just reviewed a Lenovo Core Due (see main page right column) and the quality still seems to be good.

One thing to keep in mind is to stay away from Celerons if you care about battery life. According to Ars the core duos have vey good life, so you don't give up battery life to get the second core.

do Celerons suck up battery life? i was just looking around for a thread on laptops and battery issues and happen to look in this thread. my mom's got a low-end toshiba laptop with a Celeron and i keep having to recharge the battery all the time.

also, i'm trying to use the laptop with AC power when the battery runs out but it won't let me. i looked at the power options in the operating system (Windows Home) but didn't see anything that would allow me to change to AC only. sorry to vear off the topic.

chipy

 

[mauiblue]

What a coincidence this thread came back after I purchased my new Toshiba lappy (G35-AV650) with the new HD-DVD drive. I considered a Panasonic Toughbook, Dell, IBM, Sony, HP, and so on but I just gravitated back to the Toshiba. If quality did go down on the Toshiba then I wouldn't know because this is a great laptop. Just in case though, I purchased the extended warranty with the Systemguard option. The keyboard is quite comfortable, the display is bright and big, and the sound is amazing. It was easy to set up and easy to use. In fact, I'm using it more than my desktop rig. The only thing I don't like about this lappy is the weight - over 10 pounds - and I'm having the hardest time finding a laptop sleeve for it (no one makes one that large).