The +1 is looking to buy a laptop, so I'll keep an eye on this thread.

 

^^ I bought a dell laptop a while back. At first I really enjoyed it, but after it was just a few months old had some probs. Dealing with Dell was an experience created in hell. (One realllllly big problem was a lack of english speaking tech support).
My daughter has a Gateway laptop that she bought at BestBuy for about $700 - $800. She's had it just under a year and LOVES it. She's been very, very happy with Gateway's tech support as well. She had some trouble with the battery charger and they replaced it within 2 days. I can't remember all the features, but I do know it has 140 gig hd and 2 gig ram, pentium processor, along with a high def screen. It is lightweight, looks well put together and seems durable (it'd have to be durable to still be in one piece with the way she lugs it around). She bought it on one of those daily special deals BB offers in the store.

 

^^Comments about Dell confuse me. Maybe it is the Home division that uses none english speaking techs. I deal with the Small Business division and always get a tech in Tampa. The service is the best. I have next day on site service. The screen on my laptop broke Christmas Eve and they had someone out to fix it the day after Christmas. This meant that they had to ship the parts on Christmas to get them to me the day after. Not many companies would do that!

I am not completely sure what the difference is but I am extremely happy with Dell.

 

My recent purchased Dell PC tower was purchased from the Small Business division. I'm HOPING that IF I need to call customer service I'll be satisfied. I too have heard of the horror stories of dealing with Dell.

 

About 2 years ago, Dell moved their Business support lines back to the US after a big customer outcry. The Home customers still have to deal with offshore support.

The main piece of advice I give folks nowadays, since laptop features & prices change so much, is to go to a store where they can check out the keyboard of any models they are interested in. I've found keyboard feel to be a big differentiator between cheap & expensive units. Personally, I liked the HP keyboard by far the best. The only exception was the IBM/Lenovo line, but you pay more for that luxury with them.

If you're looking for serious road-warrior laptops, I'd look at Asustek. UNder the name ASUS, they are the biggest motherboard manufacturer in the world. They make a line of ultra-small & light laptops, priced from something like $299. I read about them here:

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/cne...nt.php/3719776

If I had the extra $$$, I would get one just for keeping in touch on the road.

JonasM

 

Ah, yes, the Eee PC. A friend of mine has one, and this is what he has to say:

[QUOTE]so far so good...the keyboard issue is slowly resolving itself (read i'm getting used to it).
the screen is still small, and at a nonstandard 800x480 resolution, but there's some
hacks as well as some hacked drivers out that force the screen up to an 800x640 res
WITHOUT panning. at just under 2 pounds, i have no problem leaving the eee in the
backpack all the time. it runs xp at acceptable speeds: i have vlc, thunderbird,

 

^^ Could you translate that for me, please, Ulrich. What is "kludging" and "aircrack" Inquiring minds want to know.

I'm assuming this is a teensy little computer. Would it fit in my purse? I carry a fairly large purse.

 

Obligatory Apple comment.

$1099 gets you a very nice machine and empirical evidence suggests it will last you much longer than a PC.

 

[QUOTE=valentine,Jan 8 2008, 01:19 PM]^^ Could you translate that for me, please, Ulrich.

 

I have two programs that don't seem to run on Vista. Niether of them have a patch by the sofeware mfgr to work with Vista. Although they do have a new version of the software and that the cost is in the thousands. (ouch)

The tuning software for my BMW also does not work with Vista.

So not being able to find a laptop in a store without Vista already loaded I ordered a Laptop, Dell Vostro 1500 and they pre-loaded XP for me.

Not a bad laptop I actually like it better than my Compaq.

Dell was around $600 I only updated the graphics card beofre it was shipped.

I would shoot for Vista O/S to be ahead of the curb unless you have some favorite programs that are not up tp speed! Good luck!

Autocad 2005 does not work with Vista!