Notebooks that aren't by the bigger companies

[flashbang]

Looking for pros and cons for purchasing a notebook from companies like these as opposed to the bigger companies such as Dell and HP.

Thanks

 

[ShellGuy]

You have to understand that the

Big companys

don't make their own lappys. There are ODM's who are really make them. Dell and HP and everybody rebadge others products which is y you c so many things alike with some laptops.. The smaller companys just allow you more room to customize your new lappy and save you the overhead of the larger companys. So I would wrather buy from a smaller company than a larger one.



Will G.

 

[Conroy9]

I had a laptop that stopped working after the company disappeared, even though it was still under warranty, and couldn't find anybody who could repair it

 

[jvarszegi]

I believe that two of the companies you named, CyberPower and iBuyPower, are actually the same, just under different brands. Talking about that one company, scads of people report problems with tech support, getting different hardware from what they ordered, etc. It's enough to scare me away.

All I can say is, if you get a high-end machine that you will be using for several years, you should probably protect it with a kickass warranty, which you can only get from a big, well-established company. If you need a cheap machine with good performance, maybe you can get an okay one from a smaller company; if you do, you should feel happy and lucky IMHO. There are still good low-end offerings from the big companies, too.

 

[uOpt]

One problem is that if the notebook has ATI video chips then you will not get drivers from ATI. You can only use Windows drivers provided by the manufracturer and of course the cheap brands never provide updates. The Linux drivers by ATI load fine on notebooks, but they suck and are not really something you want to base your work environment on.

I solve that problem by not buying ATI, except for pure Linux machines with ATI chips <= 9200 which have OpenSource drivers.

Otherwise you should be fine with these brands. I was always tempted to get one from www.powernotebooks.com, but it never came together because of other brands I snarfed off ebay (risky) and because of said ATI problem.

 

[kayatai]

Originally posted by: MartinCracauer
One problem is that if the notebook has ATI video chips then you will not get drivers from ATI. You can only use Windows drivers provided by the manufracturer and of course the cheap brands never provide updates. The Linux drivers by ATI load fine on notebooks, but they suck and are not really something you want to base your work environment on.

I solve that problem by not buying ATI, except for pure Linux machines with ATI chips <= 9200 which have OpenSource drivers.

Otherwise you should be fine with these brands. I was always tempted to get one from www.powernotebooks.com, but it never came together because of other brands I snarfed off ebay (risky) and because of said ATI problem.

Alternatively you can get modified ATI catalyst drivers that will work with notebooks.

here's one of many sites that provide them:

http://www.omegadrivers.net/

 

[Tostada]

Do the standard GeForce drivers work with the GeForce Go laptops?

I'm really not seeing GeForce video in many laptops lately... and I thought they were supposed to be the ones pioneering this cool interchangable PCI-Express interface for laptops. Is this going to be part of Sonoma?

 

[ChuaChua]

OR....instead of looking up tech support from the smaller companies for you notebook, you could just use the bigger companies' tech support sites.
Many don't have "machine checkers" to see if you have their machines in order to view their support/faq/driver pages.
That's what I do.... can't find Broadcom drivers/information? I look online/forums/tech support of big(ger) companies.
Only problem is when some machines have some customized/proprietary/built-in software which are not included in other brand machines.

I got eMachines and their site is laughable...the driver page asks you to agree to some agreement and it just loops you back to the main site.

I have the eMachines m6809, by the way. It's a really good deal, compared to the other brands.
It's just that eMachines have built up a reputation in such a way that, it's a bit embarassing to show off their good ol' silver "e" logo.
heh

 

[flashbang]

So should I expect a trade off to be worse customer service/poor warranties, for lower price/higher customization from the lesser known companies?

 

[ShellGuy]

Just look at the price of an IBM laptop and you will c where your money goes. They have great techsupport and replacement plans but the cost you alot. If you can live with a mass produced machine i would go with one from Best Buy they have one of the best repair plans in the business.. Even covers Batterys.


Will G.

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: kayatai

Originally posted by: MartinCracauer
One problem is that if the notebook has ATI video chips then you will not get drivers from ATI. You can only use Windows drivers provided by the manufracturer and of course the cheap brands never provide updates. The Linux drivers by ATI load fine on notebooks, but they suck and are not really something you want to base your work environment on.

I solve that problem by not buying ATI, except for pure Linux machines with ATI chips <= 9200 which have OpenSource drivers.

Otherwise you should be fine with these brands. I was always tempted to get one from www.powernotebooks.com, but it never came together because of other brands I snarfed off ebay (risky) and because of said ATI problem.

Alternatively you can get modified ATI catalyst drivers that will work with notebooks.

here's one of many sites that provide them:

http://www.omegadrivers.net/

Or simply download the inf updater and run stock normal ATi drivers.

Either way, this is an example of something you do not need to worry about, as long as the laptop has normal parts, (such as ATi in this example).

 

[jvarszegi]

Originally posted by: flashbang
So should I expect a trade off to be worse customer service/poor warranties, for lower price/higher customization from the lesser known companies?

Yep. I forgot to say that I trust ABS; they're in a different class from places like iBuyPower. They're conscientious about customer support, very responsive. Their laptops are also pretty good deals.

 

[cheesehead]

Cheesehead's guide to Laptop Warranties:
ABS and Alienware: Both of these are good companies. You'll pay a premium, but it's worth it if you need reliablity. (Alienware is severely overpriced, and I would avoid it.)
CyberPower and ABS: Both of these companies sell the same laptops, and the tech support is not as good as that of larger brands. However, the prices are low.(Ibuypower trails the equally-priced CyberPower in tech support and quality, or so I am told.)
IBM: El Gran Kahuna of laptop manufacturers. IBM is hard to beat in terms of warranty; but be warned: the laptop line was just bought out by someone else. HP's new workstation laptops (4k$+) may also be placed in this category; I heard that the high-end HP workstations have good warranties and these are made by the same division.
Compaq/HP, Toshiba, Acer, Sager: These are all pretty much middle-of-the-road. Although you're more likely to be put through an automated system than the little guys, they're guaranteed to be able to fix your laptop.
Dell, Sony: These are a bad idea, period. Trust me.

 

[andyman7]

www.discountlaptops.com
great prices, great laptops, and great support all from a small company
and no i dont work for them but i did buy a chembook 2056 (compal cl56) from them

 

[flashbang]

Does anyone have info on Eurocom's systems.

They have a great 20% off with a trade in offer that would be nice to take advantage of.

 

[Hikari]

As others has said, most companies buy their laptops from an ODM and then rebadge them. For example, Clevo makes a lot of the laptops that Alienware, Voodoo, and Sager use. (not sure who is the ODM on Dell and all...I think a lot use Compal). However, Sager are quite a bit less, and you can even buy them with a 3 year warranty through places like www.pctorque.com or other reputable dealers.

There are fly by night operations of course, but if you do some research it'll be ok. I do like my Work HP NC6000, but it is too costly if I were to buy a laptop on my own.

 

[jblaz]

I have a Sager and their is a warranty and I can buy extended warranties. Their are warranties for all notebooks. The big difference between the bigs and smalls are authorized dealers with service centers. If I have problem I have to sent my lappy back to Sager and I pay the shipping to California and they pay the shipping back. When I called a local laptop store i asked if they could get me a Sager and they said yes but i would have to ship it back to the vendor for repairs and it i got a Toshiba they could fix it locally. After seeing an article in Laptop magazine that graded support form the major vendors they had Gateway the leader with an A grade and Dell with a D. Sager is made by the ODM Clevo and sold to Sager and Prostar to name a few in the USA. Sager and Prostar are Oem's and they put they names on the lappy and add processor hd, memory and sale it under their names. Dell and all the other do the same thing and most of the ODM's are located in Taiwan.