Medion MD 96340 Laptop-Anyone hear of?

[jbitakis]

I am thinking about buying a Medion MD 96340 Laptop from Aldi. It sounds like a good deal, 2gig memory, 160gb hard drive, nice graphics card, 4-1 memory card reader, DVD writes,reads, wireles G card. And a firewire port plus a couple usb 2.0 ports Surround sound. But I have never heard of Medion so I don't know it they make good laptops. It comes with a 2 year warranty vs. 1 year for most other laptops.
James

[classfour]

I like the groceries at Aldi...they're cheap.

I wouldn't think about buying an overpriced computer there.

Look at Dell HP Gateway: Better support, known components etc.

Aldi would have to be giving them away.

If you still want the Medion, GOOGLE is your friend.

I hope these weren't the computers that were in the scam back in August - maybe not, just not certain

I did Google, and what I have is a German website, with a huge Aldi logo, and promising specs.

For $599 (cash, I presume), you can match this with a reliable brand like I mentioned above.

You may have to give up some hard drive space, but you'll get it back in service and support

visit their website http://www.medionusa.com/

[guns1inger]

The desktops that Aldi have released over here have received pretty good reviews, and the Median brand seems reasonably well regarded in Germany. I haven't really looked at their laptops. The issue is one of support, and the fact that they seem to only carry them for a few days before selling out. Certainly the ones sold over here are as well spec's as anything Dell offers, and for at least the same if not better price. Not a big fan of Dell boxes personally, so I wouldn't recommend them as an alternative.

Much of what Aldi sell is, frankly, crap. Tevion DVD players and recorders are not impressive, and their capture cards are just re-badged, low-end k-world cards.

Personally, I believe cut-priced laptops are a false economy. You buy a cheap laptop you get low specs and cheap parts. What doesn't break is too slow to use in 12 months, and unlike a cheap desktop, you can just swap out a few parts and get new life into it. If you want a laptop to last, bite the bullet and something decent. Yes, it may cost you $1500 (or over here $2500 - 3500), but at least in 12 months it still works, and can still run current software.

I have a large school as a client. Every student from year 5 - 12 has a laptop. The school provides 2 - 3 models of that years latest Toshiba on a 3 year lease. Total cost is around $3000 per unit. About 10% choose to source laptops themselves, either because they saw a Mac ad on TV, or because they believe it will be cheaper. Those who buy low cost laptops always end up replacing them within 18 months because they have either stopped functioning correctly (wireless, screen and HDD issues are the most common), or they are simply too slow for the current software. Those that lease get better support, the machines last longer, and it is only toward the end of the final year they start to struggle a bit.

[The1]

I've had a medion desktop for about 5 years never had any trouble with it, just increased ram to 2gb and use a medion 19" professional crt monitor with it.

The specs on medion computers are usually pretty good,and this one is no exception.

If it was in Australia I'd certainly look at it


http://www.medion.de/md96340/us/flash.html

[hech54]

My wife's friend buys nothing but Medion computers. At the time they were only sold at Aldi but now they are available almost everywhere (here in Germany).
The computers also sell very well in America...so well in fact that I doubt you will be able to get one....they have sold out pretty damn fast in the past.

[jbitakis]

Just got a Business Dell flyer. They have the new Vostro 1000 Notebook for $499.
It has 1gig memory, 120gb hard drive,dell wireless 1390 g card, cd/dvd(dvd+/-rw) burner, 15.4 widescreen display,
ATI RADEON Xpress 1150 Hypermemory card+ my choice of Windows XP Home or Windows Vista.
What do you guys think of this deal?
My friend says to stay away from Windows vista at all costs. What do you guys think?
James

[hech54]

That Dell wireless card is BRUTAL....it will connect to the toaster if it can't find another connection....my wife has it in her Dell laptop.
I'd stick with XP too.

[jbitakis]

hech54
What do you mean by Dell's wireless card is BRUTAL.. That it will connect to the toaster if it can't find another connection. Isn't that a good thing? I mean I want a wireless card to connect to any wireless router nearby, right??

[classfour]

I would agree that Toshiba makes a nice $1500 or more laptop: I've had to clean the bloatware from some for friends. I have two Dell laptops, bottom feeders, that I have $1500 in the pair - I did upgrade the RAM - 1 has 1GB, 1 3/4 GB, and keep them clean. Both work like a champ - but do not boot as fast as this machine. I buy Dells because it is my belief they put enough into components to keep them from coming back - and I personally cannot build a machine for what they can sell it to me for. (Unless I install an illegal or free OS)