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Laptop Brands

A

ailetlvo

Member
I'm interested to see what notebook brands everyone prefers or thinks is a good company for notebooks. This will help me narrow down my laptop search.

Lenovo, CyberPower, Asus, Sager
 
Acer is a good value, but their overall quality is lacking on lower end models

CyberPower just rebrands notebooks from companies like MSI and ODM's like Compal. Not worth the $ IMO

Fujitsu, Lenovo, and Asus rock :thumbsup:

HP is also a good value
 
Apple. It's not that the company sprinkles fairy dust on its systems or that they're dramatically more reliable (they're generally solid), but the company puts a lot of thought into the ergonomics of its laptops - and that's what matters.

For example, the MagSafe power connector - it's not perfect, but it can save your laptop from flying off the desk because you tripped on the power cord. Apple laptops have rounded edges, so they don't catch on bags or clothing; the ports don't jut out of the case, so you can't break them; and they always use slot-load optical drives, so there's no optical drive tray to break.

Also, you've gotta love the ability to open the lid while the system is asleep and wake it almost instantly. Most Windows laptops have to come out of hibernation or standby, which can take considerably longer. That should hopefully change with Windows Vista... but Apple has this now. 🙂

Of course, the software you need to run has to have a Mac equivalent, but that's not necessarily hard. If you're going to mainly run MS OFfice or games like World of Warcraft, those are available for the Mac and will run just fine (WoW is a hybrid Windows/Mac package, in fact).
 
Apple or Lenovo.

Only reason people buy Dell is because it's cheap and for the masses. Lenovo/Apple are built better.
 
I agree to the fact that the Lenovo is built, better to cost more, that's where I can't agree. People buy Dells because they fit a purpose and trying to say that they don't have quality is pure BS. I've never had a reason to degrade a computer line because I didn't like one. Dells are the people's choice. You buy what you like but don't put down the other makes.
 
Thinkpad's are expensive though.........kinda out my price range....the cyberpower im looking at is like 1100 everything im looking for
 
I love the Asus looks, but they never use cutting edge parts.

Dells are the best bet if youre on a budget , but dont expect it to resell for anything.

Apples puzzle me . I had a 3 year old ibook that re-sold for 300.00 higher than my 1 year old dell.

I think Lenovo/IBM is stupid for not getting the glossy screen yet. Because then it could be a nice brick.
 
well, add another nod to the Lenovo fanclub.
if that XP on intel apples comes about for real, though, I could easily see switching.
apple makes pretty good hardware (and charges for it).
 
Originally posted by: Busithoth
well, add another nod to the Lenovo fanclub.
if that XP on intel apples comes about for real, though, I could easily see switching.
apple makes pretty good hardware (and charges for it).
Click to expand...

Apple does not make hardware. If I am correct, Asus is one of the ODMs for Apple.
 
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Apple does not make hardware. If I am correct, Asus is one of the ODMs for Apple.
Click to expand...

Asus does not make hardware, either. The actual hardware is assembled by various individual workers, from components that come from various suppliers. Asus is just the company that employs those workers.

See? I can be pedantic, too! 🙂
 
Originally posted by: thespeakerbox
I love the Asus looks, but they never use cutting edge parts.
Click to expand...
Their 17" notebooks currently don't have the fastest video card on the market, but their smaller notebooks are just as powerful as the competition. No one else has announced a 14" widescreen with Core Duo and X1600 like the W3j for instance.
 
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Originally posted by: Busithoth
well, add another nod to the Lenovo fanclub.
if that XP on intel apples comes about for real, though, I could easily see switching.
apple makes pretty good hardware (and charges for it).
Click to expand...

Apple does not make hardware. If I am correct, Asus is one of the ODMs for Apple.
Click to expand...
pfft.. that's pretty much all that Apple does. That's like saying GM doesn't make cars cuz the Metro is made in Korea (no idea where they build Metros, btw). 6 or 1/2 dzn, it's all the same in the eyes of the lord. Apple has always been primarily a hw manufacturer.. which is why I never got the whole Apple/Microsoft comparisons.
 
the samsung laptop i had (X10) was great and all the other ones i have seen would appear to be good too!

tho sadly it wasnt immune to alcohol!! rip laptop
 
...it depends.

Most of the major brands make BOTH good and bad laptops IMHO. Chances are they "cut corners" somehow to offer low entry-price models. And a particular mid-range model may unfortunately have an Achilles' heel. Even a high-end model may suffer from "pushing the envelope" or rushing to market. Bottomline, if you buy cheap low-end just hope to be lucky.

I had a SONY Vaio PII (1998) and liked the machine. Good, reliable... but flimsy (was modular system). A couple years later, SONY removed all but basic support-INFO. I think as a Consumer Products company they just have a practice of "moving on" to the next thing. No sense of life-cycle for computer use. May have changed, but I won't go back.

I've been happy with Toshiba. (have seen evidence of particular models having symptomatic problems... in their forums).
 
I just bought a Sager 9750. Frankly the Dells I have had (and they have been several) are pretty poorly constructed in comparison.

Sager gets my vote
 
If you don't mind the size, you won't be dissapointed by Sager. They have the best bang for the buck, and by far the best construction. Built like a russian tank. Big, heavy, hot, powerful, indestructible. IIRC, Sager and Alienware use many of the same internal frame structures, they only have different skins. Several of my friends have Sagers and are VERY happy with them.

Dells are OK, but they're middle of the road, IMHO. Still way better than the crappy HP or Compaq notebooks you'll find in Walmart or at BestBuy. If you go Dell, make sure to get a high end Inspiron, and get it with a real GPU, not the slooow integrated graphics.

There are only 2 or 3 companies that manufacture laptops for the hundreds of companies that brand and sell the things. Sure, they're made to specs, so even though your neighbor's Dell and your dentist's MacBook might be made by the same company, they are very different machines inside. But the overall quality control is pretty similar. Laptops aren't perfect, they're all a little fragile in one way or another. And they're all a pain to work on if you need to go beyond the parts that are under the easy-access hatches. Still, laptops are sure handy.

I personally still love Thinkpads and PowerBooks/MacBooks. Many of us in my department just bought MacBooks. When you look at all of the features, innovations, the size, and the bundled software (and now the ability to dual boot into Windows), the MacBook was a downright bargain, especially at our academic price of $1849 for the base model upgraded to 1gig ram.

IMHO, the average home computer builder would be happiest with Sager. They're big, a little easier to work on, and pack a lot of bang for the buck.
 
Shucks, Apple is more of a HW company than Dell, if you think about it.

Dell has some innovations, but I would say that Apple has even more. Look at some of Apple's recent features: backlit keyboards 3 years ago, hidden laptop latching mechanisms 3 year ago, magnetic power connector (nothing to break when you trip over the cord) 2 months ago.

Apple designs their products, has the parts made all over the world, and assembles them in factories in asia and in california. The exception is the Apple notebooks. Like almost all big computer companies that make notebooks, Apple sends the designs and specs to one of the 2 or 3 notebook manufactures and as them build the beast from various custom and commodity components.
 
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