Laptop recommendations
 

I may be in the market for a new laptop, as my Dell might be on it's last leg... I was wondering if anyone had recommendations/warnings about laptops.

Basically looking for something smaller and lighter and under $2K. I'm really interested in a Sony Vaio TR3, but my friend is trying very hard to convince me to get an IBM x40 series or t series, but the issue with the x series is that you have to add on a lot to get a CD RW drive (which I do want). The Vaio has all the features I want,but i've heard bad stories about people having problems with them.

What kind of laptop do you have? What kind of problems have you h ad with it?

I recently got a Mac 12" Powerbook, and have absolutely nothing but success on it. :) It was under $2000CDN...

I have a 15" MAC Powerbook, and LOVE it!! The only drawback I can see is that certain applications don't work with MAC unless you add Virtual Windows...but then I'd be opening up my MAC to the possibility of viruses....which isn't an issue for MACs at this point in time...

Mac it. Since you're a student, you can get a pretty sweet discount. Plus, they just look better.

When I was laptop shopping--it was between the thinnest Sony VAIO that still had internal drives and the Powerbook (12"). The Mac was cheaper, with wireless and Bluetooth combined. With my student discount, I was able to buy a printer and upgrade to a DVD burner and still pay less than regular ticket price.

Thanks for your recommendations, I should probably have stated that I wanted a PC. I hate Macs, I have lots of experience on Macs from a former job and I am not going to be converted ;)

If you're determined to go PC (no conversion attempts here! ;) ), I would recommend Dell and STAY AWAY from Gateway!! I've heard nothing but ridiculuous stories about their customer service....

Good luck!

I have a Sony VAIO and it's been superb for me - no issues at all, extremely lightweight, and out of control side features.

have you had to deal with their support at all?

I had a Sony Vaio and here was my issue with it. The fricking monitor on the laptop died. What crap is that? Sony didn't fix it.

If I were you I would go with the thinnest Dell with built-in wifi (not a card). To me the support on these pc laptops has to be astronomical since they're getting thinner.

Also I don't know about you but for me, the size was a huge issue. Apple makes this amazing 17 inch powerbook but who the heck carries a home theatre system with them as a laptop?!? I got something that was 12 inches and about an inch thick. Also you don't want to hook up the cd drive or any drive externally. That is rather annoying.

-Rudey

When I was shopping for a Powerbook, my husband wanted me to get the 17" because is was such a large screen...my feeling (as is yours) was that if I was going to get that large of a screen, then there was no point getting a laptop! I got the 15" and have never had any regrets.

Another recommendation is to make sure that the CD/DVD drive burns and plays CD/DVD's...and know what type of media it'll use...the Powerbooks only use -R/RW discs...there are others that use +/- R/RW media...know what you're buying...

What? I've heard the exact opposite! I have a Gateway laptop (450 series I think) that I've had for almost two years, and it's only ever given me a problem once, about 6 mo. ago. I called customer service and they were very helpful and helped me fix the problem.

I have no first-hand experience with Dell customer service, but one of my friends violently hates them for the time when she had to deal with them. Apparently they took over a month to fix the problem and were very rude.

Do NOT get a Compaq laptop. That was my first one and it really sucked. All sorts of problems there.

I'll agree with the Compaq....even their desktop have problems!!!

As for Gateway...I had a friend who bought one and had nothing but problems with the setup, the customer service, and the programming...ironically, all the Gateways in my area have closed down...hmmm....coincidence?? I think not ;)

You've probably never heard of the company, but I bought an Averatec laptop about a month ago and so far it's been really nice. I got a widescreen and it's still pretty lightweight, and very expandable. I almost got their lightweight one, but I'll admit that I didn't like how limited I was with the RAM.

I looked at Dell, and I was getting a better computer for the same price with the Averatec I bought. They're a small company, but they're getting a lot more notice.

I had a dell desktop and my dad had a dell laptop. Both worked fine for about a year and started having all kinds of problems. The service and support was awful. One time this technician transferred me to himself and then said it was another person. I also was asked repeatedly if the computer was turned on or plugged into the wall. I'm not completely clueless when it comes to computers and I felt insulted and as if my problems were a joke to the service guy.

I recently made the switch June 30th to a 12" iBook and I'll never look back. It's not without it's problems but it's not like being on a windows machine at all. Also when I call AppleCare I don't feel like I'm being made fun of at all.

While mine is a Toshiba, every techie I know really raves about the Dell. The other message board I frequent has about 8 techies on the one thread where I post - every last one of them loves the Dell.