Best brand of laptop?

[Tbag]

Im looking to buy a new laptop soon, nothing too special but a decent spec but I dont know which brand to get.
I just do things like surf the net, burn dvds, photo editing and a little bit of video converting (which kills my current laptop).

Ive previously had cheaper brands and have had all sorts of probs like over heating, freezing, random error messages etc. and ive been told to stay away from dell by a few people because of cheap parts.
I was thinking of getting a HP or Sony Vaio, are these any good/reliable?

oh i forgot im expecting a new laptop to have vista installed and ive heard people on message boards not liking it, why is this?

[GMaq]

Hello,
I've only had one laptop, the one I am currently using, a DELL Inspiron 9400, Core Duo 2.0 Ghz. I have encoded probably more than 250 movies/home videos etc. to MPEG-4 on this machine as well as video editing etc. I have had it for almost 2 years now and haven't had ANY trouble other than 1 battery replacement which is a wear item on any laptop. I highly recommend a chill mat under the laptop when encoding, they don't cost much and control the number 1 cause of laptop failure -heat!

Some people don't like DELL, I have 2 older P4 Desktops and the above mentioned laptop that have been rock solid under both Windows and Linux. Of course there are many good brands out there, this has just been my personal experience! Good Luck with whatever you purchase!

[oldandinthe way]

In my opinion, there is hardly any difference other than price between low and moderate cost laptop brands.

HP/Compaq, Toshiba, Lenovo and Acer all offer similar configurations which are reliable and good values. I use a Lenovo myself.

Many of the components used in these systems are identical.

Unless you have specific out of the ordinary needs, the selection can be simplified to choose a processor - Intel or AMD, single or dual core, speed; choose hard disk storage size, choose a screen size.. Most of these units use a Synaptics pointing device, similar audio chip sets, similar video chipsets.

Ignore trivial features like webcam.

Pick a price you are willing to pay. Compare the price for the same features.

Here in the US, each Sunday brings us many promotional prices to choose from at the major retail chains.

Note my list of makers did not include Dell. Dell will aways cost more than comparable systems and offers little which is unique.

A note on special requirements - this includes Linux. If you are planning to run Linux, you must choose a machine which has all of the required Linuxdrivers available for it. This includes power management. Running Linux on a machine which does not have proper Linux power management can lead to overheating and system damage.

[fingers]

I spent months looking over different laptop models, HP, Sony, Dell, LG etc... in the end I settled on a Lenovo R61 model 773412u. Lenovo are primarily for business use, and at work I use a T-series, we use these things day in day out, and after years of use they are very reliable.

I mean it's not the sexiest looking laptop, but the build quality is solid. There are a lot of different models to choose from, basically pick the one that has the features you are looking for... I didn't really want a webcam, but I definitely wanted bluetooth. I went with a 14.5" screen because I wanted something light weight.. and have large desktop monitor when required...

The warranty on most laptops is 1 year, but Lenovo offers between 1 and 3 years depending on the model (mine has a 3 year warranty). Also some models still offer Windows XP if that's what you prefer.

You could go with a 3000 series (more consumer oriented), but I love using the track point (red eraser like thingy) instead of the trackpad, but the R series comes with both, so user can choose..(I disable most of the functions on the trackpad). My model also has a fingerprint reader, which means I can login to the laptop by swiping my finger instead of typing in my password..

I don't intend to be a salesman for Lenovo, just relating my purchase... I basically browsed the Lenovo site until I found the model I wanted, added it to the cart to get the model number, then searched online and bought it at another retailer for less than Lenovo was selling it for directly..

Anyway that's my experience... my only complaint so far has been that I ordered a second power supply (I like to leave one in my home office, and one in my bag) directly from Lenovo a few weeks ago, and that has yet to arrive, but otherwise the laptop itself is great...

[SatStorm]

Toshiba laptops are considered the best, followed by the LG, Dell, HP and Asus ones. Some like Fujitsu Siemens also.

Lenovo are products of high quality, so Sony's but those are overpriced.

Acer Laptops are the cheap ones (I own one). The travelmate series seems better the other ones, so the Ferrari one.

IMO, better give a bit more for a laptop. Also get a 3 year warranty at any cost.

[Snakebyte1]

Make a list of the I/O ports you want such as Firewire, Serial, Parallel, # USB, IR, Blue Tooth etc. then check to see if the model of laptop has those built in.

You may or may not want/need some of them, and you can always get an adapter or PCCard if the machine does not come with what you need, but I prefer to have it built in if I know I'm going to use it, like Firewire.

[TBoneit]

Here at work we Prefer Sony or Thinkpad by Lenovo. We've seen hinge & Mobo problems on HP, Toshibas ehhhh..... E Machine & Gateway? Forget it.
Dells seem to hold up average.

However As I said, The Thinkpads and Sonys are very durable and seem to hold their Value better too.

[Video Head]

Lenovo

[andie41]

I purchased 3 Dell's last year, and to this point, I am very pleased with all. It may be that Dell's are more expensive in the US, but I am in Canada and when I purchased, Dell was noticeably less than any of the others mentioned. As the OP is in the UK, Dell may be more competitive there, as well.

[Tbag]

thanks for all the info, i'd never heard of Lenovo till now.

How about the operating system? Vista Home Premium is on all of them, is it any good?

[rhegedus]

I've a 4 year old Toshiba tha's still going strong despite being on 24/7 for most of that time.

[SCDVD]

Although it a bit more on the subjective side, look at the screen to make sure it is to your liking. There is a pretty substantial variation in screen quality among various brands / models. Even if you plan on buying on line, it's worth going to a store to look at one before you make a decision.

[MOVIEGEEK]

The best bang for the buck are Toshiba laptops.
I have a Satellite and it was 25% cheaper than other brands with the same features.

[MOVIEGEEK]

How about the operating system? Vista Home Premium is on all of them, is it any good?

"Good" is a subjective term,some people like it and others don't.
I for one will be using XP Pro for many years to come.

[MJA]

vijaygunners.check the Asus Eee.4 colors to choose from

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Laptop-Celeron-Processor-Preloaded/dp/B00114TA3M/ref=pd_bbs...2432170&sr=8-9

[lordsmurf]

Not a fan of Dell displays or keyboards.
Scared of Toshiba and Sony in recent years, so many problems.
Currently a fan of HP.

Like the MacBook Pro too. Parallels runs Windows XP.

[MJPollard]

My Dell Vostro 1500 has turned out to be a very good choice... powerful, lots of features, and very capable. (It's also a more "serious" machine than the candy-colored Inspirons, a good thing for me since I also use it for job-related activities.) Also, I specifically chose the Vostro 1500 because it's one of the few Dell laptops that have XP as an option, which was good for me because Vista was not an option.