Opinion Wtd: The COOLEST notebook/laptop

[AuctionHugh]

Our company is going to be buying a dozen laptops in 6-12 months and I want to do some homework before then. These are for salespeople. The notebooks need to be ultra thin and very functional, and on top of that be extremely impressive looking. For me (the IT guy), they have to stand up to a bit of a beating and come from a company with a decent warranty and support.

Two years ago we purchased Vaio's from Sony. They are very impressive looking, but the support is pretty bad (one year warranty then zip, virtually no online FAQs/driver updates, etc).

My co-worker suggests gateway has decent notebooks, they look pretty good, and they have excellent support (key in the serial number and see all the hardware components and all the latest drivers...etc...not perfect I know but pretty darn good).

I'm dreaming of a brushed stainless steel shell...or something really cool. Price is not much of an issue here, we'd probably pay an extra $1000 for great looks.

So, what should I check out?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Adul]

I have some luck with Jetta. The are a smaller notebook maker, but their laptops are more flexiable when it comes to upgrades. Meaning you can upgrade them has a user with a new CPU. We got my mom a 1ghz celeron and later on plan on going with a P3 M.

www.jetta.com

Build quality is very good.

 

[Gunbuster]

Toshiba

 

[CZroe]

Be more specific! The Toshiba 5005-S507! You have got to see this thing in person! It's INCREDIBLE, and now it has a GeForce4 Go! It's ONLY lacking in the CPU department, as it uses a desktop PIII (Not speed-step) but nothing can beat it graphically anyway. The 802.11b, Firewire, extra USB ports, dual memory-card slots (SD, and that other kind) and more really kick ass, but the real features are it's refinements: The screen has a real cut-off, unlike Dell's system-crashing crap, the speakers remain exposed when the lid is closed and the multimedia controls are still accessible from the front. Just check it out for yourself!

 

[astroview]

I like Dell, its brushed steel like you like, and it looks a lot nicer in person that images shows. The older smalle dells were prettier though.

 

[megatexel]

The new Powerbook G4's are phat. The OS X is actually not too bad also.

 

[stingbandel]

I would suggest you to go with Dell. It has great support. Software updates is really good. Not to mention the quality.


whatever you end up with, don't get IBM. Mine broke 3 times in a month. Don't believe how they made the system from.

Send the system to them got back and a day later, broke down again. totally sucks.





Darno

 

[andrey]

As far as cool looks, nothing beats Apple G4 Titanium. For example, when laptop is open and turned on, the apple logo on the lid will light up with nice soft blue color which certainly will impress someone on the other side of the screen. In your case it will be a customer.

As far as durability and functionality, I personally would go with IBM. They might not be the best looking ones, but you can drop IBM Thinkpad from the table and still you won't find a scratch, dent or any sort of damage. Thinkpads are also probably the lightest notebooks out there, since they're made from Titanium Composite, which makes them so strong as well. And as far as warranty, driver updates, online FAQ and support forums, IBM is wonderful.

 

[Daovonnaex]

Well, for business, I'd recommend a Transmeta Crusoe based laptop. Very energy efficient, and usually in compact cases. Fujitsu's Lifebook P Series uses the Crusoe, and looks classy to boot. These are very thin, functional, and small.

 

[PlatinumGold]

ya

for salesmen on the road, mostly as a road thing, get the fujitsu or the small sony based on the Crusoe chip. dont' need a desktop replacement.

 

[hans007]

didnt he say thin? if you want a non cheesy feeling laptop with good support, get
toshiba portege 2000, hp omnibook 500 or a compaq evo . i have the home version of the hp. its great. the portege is like .7 inches thin or something, its kinda slow though because its chipset sucks. compaq tends to have pretty good corporate support and the evo is there. the ibm x22 is also very nice.


i saw the satelite 5005 at compusa, it seems very nice, kinda large and bulky almost inspiron 8100 size. the keyboard is see through also. thats where the problem is though. everthing seems pretty well built except the keyboard and the mouse buttons. you could also go with panasonic toughbook cf-37s (hard to get) or sharp um-10s (not very speedy here though but sharp looking). i wouldnt go with the fujistu P series only because it uses a crusoe and the crusoe if it has a pr rating like amd would be half of its mhz rating.

 

[Goosemaster]

wOw!!!!!:Q:Q

I just checked out the Tosiba Satellite 5005-S507 and it is afreakin' amazing..

can you believe that it has DD 5.i OPTICAL out?!!???!!


If only i had the money...:frown::frown:

 

[dcdomain]

Toshiba Portege 2000.
I have a 3020ct, and it's .73 inches or so. I hear the 2000 is even thinner, and packs a large screen too. I always get compliments for the 3020ct...

 

[CJZ]

Don't get a Dell. I almost bought one until I read all the problems that people have had dealing with customer support lately.

 

[MWink]

<< Don't get a Dell. I almost bought one until I read all the problems that people have had dealing with customer support lately. >>



Yes Dell is suck!!!