I am in need of an honest opinion on something

[ChaseMePleez]

My laptop is on its last legs and I am researching on dependable models that are affordable. Right now I am using an Acer Aspire. I would like anyone's opinion on a good one for me to look into.

 

[Cathleen]

I've only had HPs, and have been happy with them mostly. One thing I'd double check is with how the keyboard feels to you. Mine have been quite different from one another and sometimes still feels odd. I don't know much about Acer, sorry.

Good luck with the search, I know it can be a pain in the tush.

 

[NightL]

yeah - but then you get trackpad problems and have to reboot to get it back to normal again.

YES!!!

Sometimes my MacBook Air does this with the trackpad, I usually find a shutdown and restart fixes it.

 

[NippleMuncher]

My $1500 HP laptop crapped out on me 18 months ago. It was a boat anchor (i.e. complete and total crap ), when we bought it when the monitor went out. I got a couple years out of it before the processor decided to take a dump as well.

The point of telling you that is that it was replaced by a $500 Asus that is 10 times the machine in every way. I've had zero issues with it, it's fast, quiet, doesn't produce heat, has about a 3 hour battery life (comprised of internet surfing and videos ), and it's fairly light weight.

Purchased it from the Amazon returns department.

 

[box13]

I've had good luck with HP in the past, but some have been in the $1800 range, and then the others were $350 netbooks...those are hard to type on if you like to do that a lot, and the screen is way too small. A macbook pro I bought for a college kid has held up pretty well for a few years, considering the banging it gets, but you have to like the way Mac's work...which I hate.

And I hate Windows.

I've heard generally good stuff about Asus.

Depending what you want to do, and if you never ever need MS Office, you might consider a tablet PC and a bluetooth keyboard for when you need it. I've seen people excited about those, but I don't have one. My last big 10lb brick HP laptop died a few years ago (after like 6 years of pretty constant use) and I have a desktop system now with lots of monitors.

Lots of monitors is good.

 

[Porkwarrior]

Asus is good for the "cheap & cheerful", but the chassis are pretty fragile. The Spousal Unit has a habit of picking up laptops by the screen and that cracked the chassis in my last two Asus. They still work, but it is annoying.

Sony Vaio's have always been great, but a little bit more money.

Meh, stay away from Dell & HP. IMHO.

NewEgg is a decent place to shop, and great service.

And I think she likes gaming, which kinda rules out tablets & netbooks.

 

[silverwhisper]

i was considering replacing my 10 year old dell laptop and did some research myself. for work laptops, i consistently hear the best things about lenovo re: reliability, which to me is always a concern with laptops.

they do have non-work models but i can't speak to those.

ed

 

[D_Black]

My laptop is on its last legs and I am researching on dependable models that are affordable. Right now I am using an Acer Aspire. I would like anyone's opinion on a good one for me to look into.

Recently I was in a similar situation: my acer aspire (bought in 2004) was falling apart.

I really did a thorough research before buying a new one, especially because I had a really small budget

The best solution I have found is this Lenovo laptop. I didn't even know about this brand until my brother showed it to me. I'm writing from my new Lenovo right now and I can tell you that it goes pretty well (no, I don't work for Lenovo).

A piece of advice: if you decide to buy a Lenovo (there are pretty cheap models, look for the "thinkpad") I would suggest you to buy it online from the Lenovo website. It's usually cheaper.

Let me know if you want to know more details about my experience.

 

[silverwhisper]

hey d, do you use yours for personal, work, both?

ed

 

[albertaboy]

i was considering replacing my 10 year old dell laptop and did some research myself. for work laptops, i consistently hear the best things about lenovo re: reliability, which to me is always a concern with laptops.

they do have non-work models but i can't speak to those.

ed

I use one for work and wouldn't buy one for love nor money. I have had Toshibas over the past number of years. My latest one is 17" and three years old, it's been back once for a faulty hard drive and it overheats, I don't think I would buy another.

 

[silverwhisper]

odd, that's easily the first negative thing i've heard about lenovos.

ed

 

[D_Black]

hey d, do you use yours for personal, work, both?

ed

Silverwhisper, I use it for work (but also personal, since I only have one laptop )

If you need a laptop to watch movies and play games, maybe a Lenovo thinkpad is not the best thing for you, but for business it works like a charm.

One of the things I love most and which was a priority for me when I bought it is the "matte" screen, which is basically an anti-glare screen.
It comes very useful if you like to write when you are traveling, in a park or wherever there's sunlight and potential reflection.

Sure, when you watch a movie a night time in the bed, with no lights on and in a complete dark room, a glossy screen is much cooler.

It's about your priorities in my opinion.

 

[DanFS]

Hi ChaseMePleez,

I would also check to see where the vents are, as I fell for that with our Dell XPS Studio model, which vents at the bottom, so when placed on a desk, the CPU can't cool down, and overheats.

Over time, this will affect its optimum performance, like it did ours...what a stupid design for a High spec laptop, for gaming!



Other than that, I have had lots of HP ones for work, over many years, and they have all been fine, but then only for office type tasks.

Hope this helps,
Dan

 

[soflabbwlvr]

A lot of opinions, but a dearth of facts. We could all be more helpful if you provided a little more information.

First, what is your budget? "Affordable" means something different to everyone here. Also, are you planning to pay for it up front or finance? I wouldn't recommend financing beyond two years, as you will find yourself frustrated by the fact that you are making payments on obsolete technology. In fact, I wouldn't finance beyond 12 months if you can avoid it.

Second, what are you going to use it for? There are an infinite number of hardware configurations that optimize different programming functions. What you plan to do with the machine determines which ones you should consider.

Third, how portable does it need to be? In other words, what screen size is ideal for you? An 11" screen is the most portable, but the keyboard is tiny and difficult to use, especially if you have large hands. A 17" gives you the biggest screen and keyboard, but doesn't fit into a backpack. A 14-15" is a compromise that might or might not work best for you. Think about how and where you plan to use it before you commit.

Fourth, are you ready to make the leap to the next evolution in personal computing? Everything I've read in the last 12 months says that smaller solid state hard drives are the wave of the future, with most applications becoming cloud based. Personally, I'm not yet ready to make that leap of faith, but the experts are all saying that is where the industry is going. The question you have to consider is whether you want to purchase the old technology or the latest.

If you can answer some of these questions, we can make intelligent recommendations that fit your needs, as opposed to merely pimping our own purchases.

 

[Lord Pmann]

I'm no laptop expert. Not by any means. However, I am really fond of Alienware. Now, their stuff may be a bit expensive. But holy shit those things are fast and the fit and finish is amazing.

I will say, the one good thing about a MacBook Air is that you can drop it on your nose and it leaves no real damage.

 

[Primalex]

My laptop is on its last legs and I am researching on dependable models that are affordable. Right now I am using an Acer Aspire. I would like anyone's opinion on a good one for me to look into.

Wrong approach. Get a geek boyfriend. Make him get you one.

 

[ChaseMePleez]

Wrong approach. Get a geek boyfriend. Make him get you one.

I wouldn't get toothpaste off of craigslist, let alone a geek boyfriend.

 

[Primalex]

I wouldn't get toothpaste off of craigslist, let alone a geek boyfriend.

Worried they would find your real picture? Too late.

 

[NightL]

Go to bed -

 

[NightL]

well turn the bloody iFlop off

 

[Primalex]

Detective Primalex, on the case!

Actually I was on the case quite some time before this thread. When someone posts with such an AV, I always have the urge to figure out who the AV is and how the reality looks like. Bad habit, I know.

 

[ChaseMePleez]

Actually I was on the case quite some time before this thread. When someone posts with such an AV, I always have the urge to figure out who the AV is and how the reality looks like. Bad habit, I know.

Ever thought maybe its none of your damn business. I was stalked for a year and don't appreciate that at all. If I want someone to know the more important details of who I am, I should be the one who decides to give out that information. You or anyone else have no right to butt in.

And if you haven't guessed yet, I do not need your 2 cents in this thread if it does pertain to my initial question. If you and your little friend want to speculate on my real appearance, you can do it on your own time and in your own threads or pm's.

I am very protective of my privacy.

 

[Primalex]

Ever thought maybe its none of your damn business.

No.

I think it's my goddamn business to know who I am dealing with.

If I want someone to know the more important details of who I am, I should be the one who decides to give out that information.

Uhm, you did. It's not like I would use telepathic brain scans.

I am very protective of my privacy.

Of course. Maintaining an illusion takes a lot of effort.

 

[Loverskitten]

No.

I think it's my goddamn business to know who I am dealing with.

Of course. Maintaining an illusion takes a lot of effort.

After hours of research, I have found that your AV is not you!

The profile pic, on the otherhand, is.

 

[lovecraft68]

THis is what I have a H2000 laptop

http://www.walmart.com/search/searc...wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=s&wl2=&wl3=22601144547&wl4=

I didn't buy it at Wal-mart, but that was the first link that came up. I've had it over two years and spend about 8 hours a day on it between writing and e-bay, I've never had one problem with it and by the time I was done adding some extras to it I paid just under $600