I need a new laptop
Posted on 28 October 2007 | 9 Comments
Here’s the deal folks. My laptop is on the fritz and is only intermittently working. Posting may be a little spotty until I can get it fixed or replaced. Speaking of replacements, any suggestions for reasonably priced (inexpensive) and reliable laptops (non-Mac) would be welcomed.
This recent computer failure comes as no surprise to me since we live in what I affectionately call “Appliance Hell.” In the last two weeks we’ve replaced a microwave/range hood, replaced the pump in our washing machine, and found out that our refrigerator needs to be replaced due to a busted compressor.
Filed Under: Blog
Comments
1
JC - 200 days ago
you know, you are just asking for the inevitable "you should be using a mac" responses. just saying.
2
Mr. Ed - 200 days ago
It all goes at once my friend. I understand the dilemma completely.
We bought a new fridge not too long ago -- a big Samsung at Lowe's for $1500 and it's awesome. They've got another great one in the $900-1000 range as well.
My wife's laptop died about a month ago and we replaced with with the Compaq that Wal-Mart sells ($600) and it works great so far.
We bought a new fridge not too long ago -- a big Samsung at Lowe's for $1500 and it's awesome. They've got another great one in the $900-1000 range as well.
My wife's laptop died about a month ago and we replaced with with the Compaq that Wal-Mart sells ($600) and it works great so far.
3
Bobby - 200 days ago
For cheap laptops you can always get something from acer, although if anything goes wrong, it won't be as easy to get fixed. A HP laptop might be better since they are fairly cheap and are real good. Plus you could always see if they would repair it for you, especially with some of their extended warranties. I had fairly decent experiences with HP in the past. As for which laptop specifically, it just depends on what you want to do with it.
6
Bobby - 199 days ago
If you want here is a suggestion for a cheap and good laptop by HP. If you want it to last longer it would be good to go with Dell or HP, as I said before, since you can always have them repair it for you. If you want to get a pre-customized HP, then check out: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147523
It is fairly decent and cheap enough. Although if you go to their website, you can always customize and have exactly what you want/need. It would cost $734.99 and an additional $12.63 for shipping, but has $50 mail-in rebate which you could use. Although if you get it from newegg, you will not be able to get HP's extended warranty, which may offer more peace of mind than their limited warranty.
It is fairly decent and cheap enough. Although if you go to their website, you can always customize and have exactly what you want/need. It would cost $734.99 and an additional $12.63 for shipping, but has $50 mail-in rebate which you could use. Although if you get it from newegg, you will not be able to get HP's extended warranty, which may offer more peace of mind than their limited warranty.
7
Anonymous - 199 days ago
Don't get Toshiba - both my sister and my cousin had terrible experiences with them. There was one point where whenever my sister would try to do anything on it, it would make a sound like a cat dying. Unless that's your kind of thing, I'd avoid them.
8
A - 190 days ago
Three issues here:
1. What will you use it for? Who else will use it? Althoug I use Apple systems, though I try not to be a zealot -- amongst my other geek friends, the ones who use Windows do so for completely legitimate reasons -- but I think that the key thing is to make the decision for purely practical reasons.
The reason I bring that up is that you say "we" -- and if I was sharing my computer with anyone, you couldn't force me to use Windows under any circumstances. I can keep my computer clean, but I find that if others use it, I'm constantly fighting just to keep the damn thing spyware-free, etc. I tell my friends to buy Apples because I know it'll mean fewer charity tech-support calls for me :) I'm upgrading my mother's laptop to Leopard just so I can fix things via the remote desktop client...
The other aspect of that question is that for the bulk of everyday computer use, I'm not convinced that there's a whole lot of difference b/w OSX and Windows. All the basic apps are there.
2. I'm not sure what brand I'd go for in the Windows world, but you NEED to go to a Best Buy (or wherever) and play with all their laptops hands-on. Do that first, and then go back and look into the models in detail. The computer that looks best on paper isn't necessarily the one that works for you, and that's the most important thing; a lot of the everyday stuff you'll be doing, again, is going to work fine on any new laptop.
When I bought my first 12" G4 (I had two) a few years ago, I tried out PCs first (since I was already using PCs), then the 15" and 17" G4s, and nothing really struck my fancy -- but the second I picked up the 12" Powerbook, I knew that I'd found it.
It wasn't that it was an Apple (like I said, I was pretty committed to Windows and I didn't like 15" and the 17") -- it was some combination of the form factor, the keyboard, the weight... I could just tell. It was weird.
On the other hand, my business partner picked up a 17" G4 at the time and ended up ditching it just months later.
This is such a matter of personal taste that I cringe whenever I see people trying to make these decisions based on 'net discussions. Alien though it may seem in this day 'n' age, this is one of those things where you really need a hands-on experience. Would you buy a new car without test-driving it?
3. You seem afraid about equipment failure; here's my advice, and this may be the most important thing. Support contracts of all sorts are a ripoff. You'll get some default coverage in case your unit is a lemon; if your parts are defective they should be replaced anyway; and repairs are often not super-expensive b/c it's just swapping out components.
The thing to worry about with laptops is accidental damage and theft. Thus, if your homeowner's insurance doesn't cover this, go somewhere like SafeWare (they're an awesome company) and just buy insurance. It'll be a lot cheaper, and it actually covers the more serious dangers to your computers. If anything breaks, they'll next-day a box to you to put it in, you next-day it back, they'll fix it or replace it (they have great technicians), and you're as good as new. I once kicked my laptop off a table and they had it back to me in no time as good as new -- replaced the entire bottom casing (which was bent) and the hard drive.
1. What will you use it for? Who else will use it? Althoug I use Apple systems, though I try not to be a zealot -- amongst my other geek friends, the ones who use Windows do so for completely legitimate reasons -- but I think that the key thing is to make the decision for purely practical reasons.
The reason I bring that up is that you say "we" -- and if I was sharing my computer with anyone, you couldn't force me to use Windows under any circumstances. I can keep my computer clean, but I find that if others use it, I'm constantly fighting just to keep the damn thing spyware-free, etc. I tell my friends to buy Apples because I know it'll mean fewer charity tech-support calls for me :) I'm upgrading my mother's laptop to Leopard just so I can fix things via the remote desktop client...
The other aspect of that question is that for the bulk of everyday computer use, I'm not convinced that there's a whole lot of difference b/w OSX and Windows. All the basic apps are there.
2. I'm not sure what brand I'd go for in the Windows world, but you NEED to go to a Best Buy (or wherever) and play with all their laptops hands-on. Do that first, and then go back and look into the models in detail. The computer that looks best on paper isn't necessarily the one that works for you, and that's the most important thing; a lot of the everyday stuff you'll be doing, again, is going to work fine on any new laptop.
When I bought my first 12" G4 (I had two) a few years ago, I tried out PCs first (since I was already using PCs), then the 15" and 17" G4s, and nothing really struck my fancy -- but the second I picked up the 12" Powerbook, I knew that I'd found it.
It wasn't that it was an Apple (like I said, I was pretty committed to Windows and I didn't like 15" and the 17") -- it was some combination of the form factor, the keyboard, the weight... I could just tell. It was weird.
On the other hand, my business partner picked up a 17" G4 at the time and ended up ditching it just months later.
This is such a matter of personal taste that I cringe whenever I see people trying to make these decisions based on 'net discussions. Alien though it may seem in this day 'n' age, this is one of those things where you really need a hands-on experience. Would you buy a new car without test-driving it?
3. You seem afraid about equipment failure; here's my advice, and this may be the most important thing. Support contracts of all sorts are a ripoff. You'll get some default coverage in case your unit is a lemon; if your parts are defective they should be replaced anyway; and repairs are often not super-expensive b/c it's just swapping out components.
The thing to worry about with laptops is accidental damage and theft. Thus, if your homeowner's insurance doesn't cover this, go somewhere like SafeWare (they're an awesome company) and just buy insurance. It'll be a lot cheaper, and it actually covers the more serious dangers to your computers. If anything breaks, they'll next-day a box to you to put it in, you next-day it back, they'll fix it or replace it (they have great technicians), and you're as good as new. I once kicked my laptop off a table and they had it back to me in no time as good as new -- replaced the entire bottom casing (which was bent) and the hard drive.
9
A - 190 days ago
Oh, besides the virus/malware bit, one other advantage that Apples have is that the software is cheap.
-Almost everything you need is included with the system.
-If you really need a word processor (although I actually like TextEdit and it works with .docs) (and if you don't want to use NeoOffice for some reason), iWork is cheaper than Office, and Keynote is apparently pretty awesome (though I haven't used it).
-You don't need virus-protection software.
-Since Apple wrote most of the basic software (and their APIs are just better in general), programs tend to be much more interoperable.
-There's tons of free or open-source applications available for most anything you need; even the commercial software tends to be pretty cheap for what you get, I think.
Regardless, it's worth thinking about this. I know it made a big difference for me when calculating effective purchase prices.
-Almost everything you need is included with the system.
-If you really need a word processor (although I actually like TextEdit and it works with .docs) (and if you don't want to use NeoOffice for some reason), iWork is cheaper than Office, and Keynote is apparently pretty awesome (though I haven't used it).
-You don't need virus-protection software.
-Since Apple wrote most of the basic software (and their APIs are just better in general), programs tend to be much more interoperable.
-There's tons of free or open-source applications available for most anything you need; even the commercial software tends to be pretty cheap for what you get, I think.
Regardless, it's worth thinking about this. I know it made a big difference for me when calculating effective purchase prices.
