In reply to alfadriver:
On my old Toshiba, I had 3 harddrives replaced under warranty and on my new HP I have had 4 power supplies replaced under warranty (the Best Buy replacement power supplies suck horrible).
In reply to alfadriver:
On my old Toshiba, I had 3 harddrives replaced under warranty and on my new HP I have had 4 power supplies replaced under warranty (the Best Buy replacement power supplies suck horrible).
Toyman01 wrote: Asus. The last two I have bought have been Asus just due to their cases being more durable than anything else. A net book for me and a laptop for the daughter to take to college. I will also recommend the Sony Viao. I have one I use for graphics and videos. Outstanding computer, but more expensive than the Asus. I would avoid the Acer units. On the newer ones, the only thing that supports the screen is the screen. My wife has broken three of them.
This. I have an ASUS G73 I bought over a year ago, and it will still handle anything gaming wise you'll throw at it.
In reply to 93EXCivic:
The only Toshiba I had a problem with was a few years ago when they berkeleyed up a power connection at the solder joint. I only wish I knew how to solder a little better back then.
I actually did all this research last month when I bought. I had always used government surplus cases and stuffed them with HDs and such. The well kinda dried up so I broke down and bought a new one.
HP gets a lot of bad press mostly due to the Pavilion line of PCs, but they are actually one of the best on the market. Their bios platforms are stable, their MB construction is darn near MIL-spec, and the hardware they use is super top-notch. I just bought an HP G62 about a month ago for $459 from Tiger Direct. 4g mem (made by Kingston), upgradable to 8g, 500gb HD (made by Seagate), 6-cell battery that lasts a LONG time, and an i3 processor that kicks ass
Overall, best bang for the buck I found. Tiger Direct has a ton of laptops in the $299 range that should be fine for you, but do the research and see who makes the HD and memory. Those are keys to stability. Then research the quality of the MB.
Another thing to add... Take a look at the software that comes with it. The bigger name companies like Dell, HP, and Sony have their marketing fingers pretty deep in the software companies so they often times offer more stuff.... not that more is better, just something to consider.
My Sonys, dells, and HPs have all come with things like MS office, a free 6 months or so of Norton or McAfee, and some nice media software. The Sonys and Dells I've had went another step and took bribes from a few hundred other upstarts and crammed them in there as well. My Dell has no fewer than 6 different software suites for burning DVDs, only one of which I had heard of. What a mess.
The HP I got has the basic essentials but none of the BS. My Asus came with basically nothing. I had to find either open source stuff, borrow somebody's old Office 98 CD, or pony up the cash and buy software. Some of that stuff isn't cheap.
Open Office is free and does word files. Works great for saving money vs coming up with the cash for word.
alfadriver wrote: This might be a dumb question- but who has had their computers serviced by someone other then yourself in the last 5 years? In the last decade, I've had 2 major laptops, and 3 desktops. Each time, when one failed (and i use that loosely), things had progressed so far that it was easier to just get a new one. I may be an odd one, but I've not had a single major computer failure where repairing it was better than replacing it. Which is why I found it quite hard to justify a $1000 mac when I could get 2 $500 Dells. So, honest question- is repair tech support REALLY that important when buying a computer?
I tend to hold on to my laptops (macs) for 3-4 years, and in that time they invariably need something I can't easily do myself. Logic board or display or something like that. It's almost always worth repairing.
FWIW, most of my friends have been on Mac laptops for several years, and none of them have ever switched back. Even the open source software nerds who are morally opposed to Apple's business practices keep buying their laptops. I use my computer every day for hours and no way am I going to tolerate bad ergonomics, poor build quality and a less efficient (for my purposes) OS. Factoring in the mac's gentler depreciation curve and slightly longer usable life of the mac, it probably costs me 5 cents an hour more to use the more costly box.
Worth it the same way it's worth spending a few bucks more on a hand tool you use every day, IMO.
ppddppdd wrote: Factoring in the mac's gentler depreciation curve and slightly longer usable life of the mac,
Do people really include resale price? I tend to use computers until they are dead... Interesting.
alfadriver wrote: So, honest question- is repair tech support REALLY that important when buying a computer?
No (and agreed with your other statements). In the case of warranties, a lot of times they will just GIVE you a brand new laptop.
The problem that comes up is when a faulty device is repeatedly installed by the manufacturer (like EVGA 8600GTS gfx cards, all of them pop capacitors, ALL of them).
my first laptop (5 or 6 years old) is still kicking... I had it for 4 or 5 years and sold it to my bro in law... only thing it ever needed was dust blown out of it and a new power supply after the old cord died from being jerked around over the years... stays on most of the day as he can't seem to figure out how to shut it off.
curtis is right... the business end of HP isn't near as bad... but they are still one of the worse for internal repairs... very difficult to get inside of to replace parts if/when needed.... the entertainment based pavilion line was the real bad...
I would look for a business class ThinkPad used. They are really well made and will travel very well.
Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: I would look for a business class ThinkPad used. They are really well made and will travel very well.
Or any of the majors' enterprise brands. Look for HP ProBooks or EliteBooks, Toshiba Tecra/Portege, Dell Precision (Latitudes appear to be not much better than their consumer line). Precision may be more than you want to spend - but you should be able to find a ProBook or EliteBook to fit your price pretty easily.
tuna55 wrote: Just buy a cheapie Dell - not a bad deal, and super cheap. We've had an Inspiron whatever for a few years, it was $430, and does everything we need. In my humble opinion, computers are not as hard to select as they used to be. Unless you're doing something very serious, just get whatever for hardware, it's all pretty fast.
Yup. I've had very good luck with ours. We have three.
Okay... my price points seem to slowly keep creeping up. I'm starting to like the looks of some of these HPs. My girlfriend has an HP Pavillion that's fairly nice.
I like the idea of the HP EliteBook. They seem to have really put some extra thought into travel durability, and for noticeably less than similar competition. I do like the idea of a spill-resistant keyboard given the beer-centric nature of my planned trip.
So, I'd been hoping to spend less, but this EliteBook seems to be a leading contender: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157831
For $100 less, this HP Pavillion also seems pretty nice. I've got a feeling that it has better construction than competitive brands, and it has a huge screen and solid battery life: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157844
I've got a relative who works for Apple, and I'm seeing if he can't maybe get me a deal on a nice MacBook.
Don't forget the Apple outlet section of the online store - that's where I seem to get most of my Apple gear. Same warranty as the non-outlet one, too.
alfadriver wrote:ppddppdd wrote: Factoring in the mac's gentler depreciation curve and slightly longer usable life of the mac,Do people really include resale price? I tend to use computers until they are dead... Interesting.
Some of us do, I'm a programmer and thus tend to need fairly up to date hardware so it's a bonus if the hardware is actually worth a few bucks when it's due for replacement.
Well, it's been a long time computerwise I guess, but the only really bad experience I ever had with a computer was an HP. Thing was a POS. Never did work right. Replaced it with a Dell and never looked back. But that was probably close to 10 years ago so may not have any bearing on what they're doing today.
Might see if you can find frequency of repair info or buyer satisfaction info. Consumer Reports usually has that kind of thing.
You don't have to spent $1,000 to get a good Mac. I spent some time on Kijiji - found one that had been purchased for a student who couldn't use it because all her course software was PC based. Parents were asking $800, I offered $600 - got it for $650. 2.4 ghz core 2 duo, 250 gig hard drive, 4 gigs ram. I've seen 2.0 ghz machines go for under $500.
the DV7 happens to be one of the specific models to RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN from...
i know there where at least a dozen dead ones "for parts" on the back shelf of the dv7 and dv9... the heat kills the mobo and costs more to fix than buy a new laptop...
Sorry I can't resist
I have been fairly happy with my Dell XPS its held up remarkably well for the last 6-7 years. Its only real weak point has been the annoying screen hinge. I swear every single dell out there has a wobbly screen after a year...
You did say you were a bit accident prone, have you considered a tough book? I know they are a bit pricey but they are pretty rugged and they look cool....
Capt Slow wrote: You did say you were a bit accident prone, have you considered a tough book? I know they are a bit pricey but they are pretty rugged and they look cool....
"Accident prone" is not how I'd describe myself. I'm just a bit rougher and more demanding. I don't typically abuse equipment, but I'm not delicate and careful. My equipment should be able to handle my needs; I shouldn't have to adapt the way I operate to account for underbuilt equipment. I put a bit more wear on things than the average person. I need solid construction, especially from things like keyboards. I mash keys playing games, will probably put more scuffs and scratches on a case, and jostle it around.
I had a Dell laptop when I went off to college and ended up getting frustrated because the keyboard developed issues and crapped out after a couple years.
BoxheadTim wrote:alfadriver wrote:Some of us do, I'm a programmer and thus tend to need fairly up to date hardware so it's a bonus if the hardware is actually worth a few bucks when it's due for replacement.ppddppdd wrote: Factoring in the mac's gentler depreciation curve and slightly longer usable life of the mac,Do people really include resale price? I tend to use computers until they are dead... Interesting.
Bearing in those kinds of requirements really changes the choices one would make- no doubt about that. Would it be safe to say that the average programmer would be hard enough on a computer to need repair/maintence, too?
I fully admit being more of a "band wagon" kind of user.
Interesting to think about, and it will be interesting to see what you get for this great adventure in Germany!
Stay away from Tough Books. They are tough beut also SLOW. Some of the Agents here at work use them and I hate it when they bring me one because it seems like it takes me twice as long to get anything done on one.
Like myself and others have said, as long as you stick with the bisness class machine you should be fine.
alfadriver wrote:BoxheadTim wrote:Bearing in those kinds of requirements really changes the choices one would make- no doubt about that. Would it be safe to say that the average programmer would be hard enough on a computer to need repair/maintence, too?alfadriver wrote:Some of us do, I'm a programmer and thus tend to need fairly up to date hardware so it's a bonus if the hardware is actually worth a few bucks when it's due for replacement.ppddppdd wrote: Factoring in the mac's gentler depreciation curve and slightly longer usable life of the mac,Do people really include resale price? I tend to use computers until they are dead... Interesting.
My experience so far is pretty good, I don't know too many of them that did need repair. Mine hasn't in the 3-4 years I've had it. The iMac had for my company in the UK also "just worked".
At work we've got a lot of Macs for the programmers, even though we work on Windows so they're Bootcamp'd. Compared to previous places of work where the corporate spec Dells/HPs/Compaqs/Lenovos had to be swapped out so often that you'd get dizzy, these just soldier on.
My MacBook is getting a bit long in tooth so I'm eyeing up a 27" iMac as a replacement...
Of course for me, a computer is a work tool the same way a professional mechanic has the Snap-On filled box and probably wouldn't buy the socket set at HF, so the perspective is a little different compared to the average user.
BoxheadTim wrote: Of course for me, a computer is a work tool the same way a professional mechanic has the Snap-On filled box and probably wouldn't buy the socket set at HF, so the perspective is a little different compared to the average user.
This.
My last Dell lasted 1.5 years - and that was mostly with the fairly soft use at work. My last Mac laptop lasted 4 years before the cd drive and fans died; I then sold it for $200 to a friend who popped in a dvd drive, new fans, and it soldiers on now as a home media server. That Mac banged around the world, was dropped at least once a day (I am seriously freakin' clumsy), the cat slept and bounced on it religiously. I got my money's worth out of that thing.
If you do go Mac, buy a refurb from apple.com. It comes with the same 1 year warranty as the non-refurbs. I always pony up for the full 3 year warranty [see: Doll is a freakin' clutz] and still come out cheaper than a regular priced Mac. They kind of hide it on the website, but searching for "refurbished mac" will get you to http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac ... they'll also clearance out previous models here.
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