Which laptop would you choose and why?

[Ace69]

I am going to be purchasing a laptop very soon and I cannot decide which one to get.

1. Sony Vaio PCG-240 (800MHz, 256MB RAM, 14.1" TFT, 6.6lbs, etc)
2. Dell Inspiron 5000 (750MHz, 192MB RAM, 15" TFT, 7.5lbs, etc)

They are both P3s and also have all other aspects very similar and the price is about the same.

Which one would you go with and why?

Sony Linky at Best Buy
Dell Linky at Dell.com

 

[spanky]

i personally like ibms and dells. if money is not an issue, go for an ibm. i say that becuz they are pretty tough laptops (i guess that is why they cost more?). but dells are better price/performance machines. just my $.02

 

[beaverlicious]

Depends.

 

[ShadowHunter]

Dell - because of the good service and quality. Fair prices for a notebook, and some systems are pretty quick.

Sony Vaio - Very thin (depends on the model I would guess) and the screen on my friend's is totally top notch.

 

[joohang]

Sony VAIO R505.

It's sexy and it will be mine in a couple of days.

 

[pamchenko]

bigger TFT cuz that's not upgradable
50mhz isn't gonna be noticeable

 

[Ace69]

The main difference that I am thinking about is the Dell has a 15" screen compared to the Sony which only has a 14.1". I think that is the deciding factor.

 

[vegetation]

Are these used machines? Dell hasn't made the 5000 in quite a while. If they are, I would get the one that has less "miles" on it.

 

[Ace69]

Yes, they are used. Both the people that I have said that they are both in excellent condition and have not had any problems with them. They say that they also do not have any noticeable scratches or blemishes on them either.

 

[joohang]

How much are they selling for?

New models of nearly equivalent VAIO and Inspiron models are really cheap these days.

 

[Kelvrick]

A link would be good. Try finding a link on the sony on outpost.com or something. We could have more informatino and stuff. I'd say Sony thoguh, I hate swapping.

 

[Ace69]

They are going to be both around $1350 shipped. It also depends on how much I can bargain with them.

 

[Ace69]

Added link for some more info on them. I have just learned that the Sony was purchased on 8/8/01 and was made on 7/29/01. Haven't heard anything on the Dell yet.

 

[joohang]

FYI:

I configured these models at Sonystyle.com:

$1199 - Celeron 700, 14.1" XGA, Windows ME, 128MB RAM
$1299 - Same as above with 15.0" XGA
$1499 - Same as above with P3 750 and 15.0" XGA

If I were you, I'd get one of these new ones. And I'm not sure what you want to do these, but I'd save the $200 and get a Celeron since the performance will be mostly crippled by the HD any ways.

And lastly, upgrade RAM to 512MB with Crucial sticks. Each 256MB goes for $47.

 

[joohang]

One more thing:

The Sony laptops are out of stock for some reason.

 

[Ace69]

errggg, joohang, you are throwing a monkeywrench into my whole deciding process. I was down to 2, but now I don't know what to do. hehe

 

[Ace69]

Well, I am going to bed now. I guess I will just sleep on it and see how I feel about this whole laptop decision in the morning.

'night all.

 

[joohang]

I was in the exact same position 2 weeks ago and IcemanJer convinced me to get the R505.

BTW, if you are curious about the keyboard, I liked the Dell (a friend's Inspiron 4000) and Sony keyboards the most out of all laptops I've tried. I personally prefer Sony's slightly more.

 

[Jfur]

Sony

I have a Dell 5000e and it took them over 6 months to replace the damn faulty motherboard

 

[j0lly]

A PowerBook G4.

 

[isekii]

I paid $1480

on This Toshiba 2805-S503

Brand New on ebay

 

[Ace69]

I am leaning towards the Sony, because that appears to be the newest one of the two.

 

[Descartes]

I got an IBM Thinkpad A22p (1ghz P4, 256mb, 30gb hdd, cdrw, 15" screen, etc.) recently for ~$3500 I think. It's an excellent machine, and I recommend an IBM Thinkpad, especially if your company will pay for it.

The only qualm I have with it, is that my favorite resolution (1280x1024) doesn't fill up the whole display, so I have to use a "screen expansion" feature, which makes the text a little less clear than if I just left it at 1600x1200, or at 1280x1024 w/o the "screen expansion." Other than that, great machine!

 

[Soulbane]

I deal with Dell all the time. Great support. A previous posted said it took him 6 months to get a new MB. Took me less than a week to get one. On a side note the replaced MB was on a Inspirion 5000. We have about 10 of the 5000's here and they seem to be rather reliable for all the work they do.

Don't have any experience with SONY's, but I have seen their screens and they are real nice.

 

[Ace69]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Everyone says that the Sony has a great looking screen. That may make up for the lack of .9" that it is loosing over the Dell.