Sound Quality

[aviwil]

Are there any differences between brand name laptops ( IBM , HP, etc. ) regarding the sound quality they give from their speakers ?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Definitely!
Generally, your larger desktop replacement notebooks are going to have better speakers, but don't use that as your only qualifier. From my experience, late model IBM Thinkpad speakers are pretty crappy. They don't get very loud and reproduce nothing but high frequency audio, no mid's or low's.
"Multimedia" notebooks tend to have pretty decent laptop speakers, in particular I have used the dv1000 "Multimedia" notebook and found the speakers EXCELLENT. They get very loud, lots of high & mid-range sound. Surprisingly, they have a little bassy punch to them for laptop speakers. The best I can suggest is to go into a store and play with all of them. You should also find that if a particular brand has good sounding speakers, the rest of their line will probably follow suit.
Hope this helps

P.S. For more info on the dv1000, look here

 

[aviwil]

Thanks fbrdphreak . From your experience , are the HP line any better than the IBM ?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Are you referring to the speakers? I would say yes overall. IBM's aren't designed for sound quality or music playing or even gaming. They're designed for reliability, portability, and security.
What type of laptop are you looking for? You mention good speakers, but do you need something portable? What size screen do you prefer? What kinds of things will you be using the laptop for?

 

[motard]

HP use Lansing speakers, I had the opportunity of owning a HP notebook. I must say the speakers were better than the IBM however the sound chipset wasn't. Meaning I heard more static in the HP than in the IBM.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Actually not all HP's use Altec Lansing speakers. The dv1000 uses Harmon Kardon and the V2000 uses JBL Pro. Both of which sound excellent