laptop owners

[Oscar1613]

i've been looking for a laptop, and right now its between gateway and dell... i want the dell because my friend has one and has absolutely no problems with it and the family PC is a gateway and its not that great... but my dad wants to get me the gateway because its a better deal... anyone have experience with either of these brands in general (not necessarily a specific model but most likely the mid to high end ones)? any other advice/suggestion is also welcomed

 

[eyecandy]

Two of my friends have Dell's and have a lot of problems with them. I would go with Gateway.

~Chelsea

 

[Atrail]

Dude,
Get a Dell.
If you wanna save some money, get a refurb and extend the warranty to 3 yrs for 120 bucks. They are as good as new, actually better cause they are cheaper.

 

[vi edit]

I question if Gateway will even be present in 3 years.

 

[RossMAN]

I would look at the Dell Inspiron 2650 or 4100.

How is your budget?
How will you be using this laptop, where at, what for, etc.?
What specs do you want?

 

[Hubris]

Go with a Dell. I've got one, and my bro-in-law has a Gateway. I much prefer mine to his. Just from an aesthetic standpoint I'd go with the Dell. The touchpad is much better than on the Gateway, plus it also has the eraser-head, if you're a freak and like those. I haven't used his lappie much, but mine runs more smoothly than his does, and they're pretty comparable, spec-wise. As annoying as Steve is, Dude, get a Dell.

 

[Mill]

My dell has been great.

 

[Rallispec]

Honestly, you might want to look into a Toshiba, i've got one and never been happier. Prices are great too.

just a thought though.

 

[Atrail]

<< I question if Gateway will even be present in 3 years. >>



---VERY Good point---

 

[Adul]

i have a jetta.

jettanice laptop, and I can up the speed of the CPU if I want. Currently a celeron 1ghz, but it can be made into a faster P3.

it is my moms laptop.

 

[mpitts]

We use Gateways at the office and we love them. I would recommend them.

 

[Viper GTS]

<< Two of my friends have Dell's and have a lot of problems with them. I would go with Gateway.

~Chelsea >>



They are most likely experiencing PEBCAK errors.

Viper GTS

 

[vi edit]

<< They are most likely experiencing PEBCAK errors. >>





Are they female?

*runs and hides under desk*

 

[RossMAN]

<<

<< They are most likely experiencing PEBCAK errors. >>





Are they female?

*runs and hides under desk*

>>



If they are female, where are the obligatory picts?

 

[Soybomb]

I'd buy a dell if you're looking to save money, or an IBM if you just want the best

 

[Beau]

Toshiba or Compaq are about the only two brands of laptops I'd buy. Dell's are nice, but are also problematic. Sounds kinda weird recommending a compaq, but laptops and servers are about the only quality items they put out. At compUSA, you can get a decent Toshiba for about $1200 shipped. Check it out

 

[ThaGrandCow]

I'm typing this from the Gateway laptop in my sig. I'm very happy with it, no problems whatsoever.

 

[Mill]

I don't like IBM. My brother had so many problems with his IBM bought it back and he got a toshiba.

 

[bizmark]

I've been happy with my Compaq. 3 years old and never a major problem. Also like someone said before, I think that IBMs are really great laptops too.

 

[Oscar1613]

aaaahhh.... conflicting viewpoints!

ok... well i'll be using it for school... im going into a new residential college program in the fall that is designed to take advantage of computers in the courses (specifically the math and science aspects) and it requires a laptop... not to mention i get wireless (as well as wired) internet in the dorms the laptop will most likely not act as my primary system as i have a fairly decent PC i will be taking with me too (tbird 850, radeon 64 VIVO, dvd, surround sound, etc).

the requirements for the laptop are:
Hardware Minimum
Processor 700 MHZ
RAM 256 MB
Display 14 inch Screen
Display Active Matrix
Hard Drive 20 GB
CD ROM 8X Speed
Battery Extra battery (1)

Software:
Operating System (Microsoft ME (ha!), XP, NT 4.0, or Windows 2000)
Microsoft XP Professional Suite 6.0
Inspiration (?)
Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0
Microsoft FrontPage

the killer is that damn M$ Office XP professional... everytime i find a good deal i remember i gotta add another $3-400 for office xp...:disgust:

compaq... ugh... my sister's high school tried to be "modern" by requiring everyone to have a laptop (mostly bought through the school) and they were pretty much all compaqs... and EVERY single one of them was a TOTAL POS... tho i have been hearing good things about the higher end laptops... im not totally ruling them out, but probably wont get one unless there is a really good deal on one...

toshiba is another possibility, but like i said above... the office XP is a deal killer...

getting back to gateway vs dell, it seems to me like its almost luck of the draw whether its gonna be good or crappy... and what do you mean when you say you doubt gateway will be around much longer? is it really going under or is this just wishful thinking

edit: oh yeah... and i think it probably has to have win XP pro since xp home cant login in to large networks or something like that (according to the M$ website), and pretty much every recent laptop i've seen only comes with xp home/pro...

 

[Koing]

I got a Sony Vaio laptop. I love the styling and the size of it. R505slim pro model.

The specs are good to me. Very portable and battery life is good. Not the fastest or gfx card heavy laptop but then its very light and thin. I wanted portability and power. I don't game so I won't miss that. They are more pricey but I wanted one and it makes studying easier and faster. (also is a dam good girl pulling start, man they are all over it!!)

 

[bugsysiegel]

I know about 6 people who have had nothing but trouble with Gateway. One person ended up paying over $300 in shipping her busted-a$$ gateway to and from the manufacturer before she gave up on the worthless p.o.s.

I bought a Dell Inspiron about 16 months ago and have had no issues at all with it (except it came with WinMe.... but that was easily remedied! )

 

[vi edit]

Keep your eye on the Dell Refurb Outlet.. I bought a very nice Inspiron 8000 laptop there a year ago, complete with office XP for about $1700, which at the time was about $500 cheaper than a new one.

Just keep watching the inventory every day. Some of them come bundled with office XP and you can save some BIG cash there.

 

[tolbyn]

Dell all the way!

 

[Oscar1613]

are refurbs really that good? i took a quick look around and found a really good one (PIII 1 GHz, win AND office XP pro) for alittle under $1800... think i should jump on it?