Wife wants a new laptop - advice

[evorobin]

Firstly I'm not a fan of laptops but the wife is and the Compaq presario we have is getting on a bit and at 2.13hz with 1gb ram is SLOW so

Budget pref $700-$800 max

Don't want windows vista

Needs a camera for skype and dvd burner which they all have now anyways...

So was impressed with Toshiba but have just read their warranty doesn't cover the lcd or keyboard if either of those dies - what does it cover :/

Thanks in advance

[rayray086]

My sister bought a Dell Vostro about two years back. Was $1000+ but was pretty decked out (has a built-in webcam and DVD burner) and had a 17" screen, and it's still relevant to use now (not slow). She's replaced a battery under warranty and then had to replace her adapter after the warranty period. Both times, Dell service was quick and easy to deal with.

I think most Dell computers now come with Windows 7. I have pretty much zero experience with laptops, but I've used my sister's Dell a couple of times and it's great to use. Quiet but does run a little hot.

[Water Boy]

I no computer expert but I thought Dell is like Hyandai.

Maybe HP.

[Corey_R]

I think that all brands have good and bad products. I've used 20+ models of HP, IBM/Lenovo and Dell, and I can assure you of that! Well, one of those brands I've used hundreds of models. I also used to perform random hardware servicing of IBM/Lenovo and HP/Compaq for various VIPs in the companies I've worked at/for and it was sometimes startling at how large of a quality difference there was between the IBM product and the HP over the years (IBM would be a Merc and HP would be a Hyundai in my assessment!). But it varies from series to series, and even year to year.

So that basically means you really need to do your research on specific models and figure out whether the one you're interested in is any good... which makes it pretty damn difficult!

If you are going to get a Dell, their "business" laptops (Vostro, Latitude) are usually pretty good of late, but as with any "business" laptops, they're generally much more than their consumer laptops (Inspiron, Studio, XPS). Of their consumer laptops, the Studio range were great value. Whilst they were a bit more than the Inspiron, the added features and quality made them much better value. But they got rid of the Studio range recently because of that lack of segment definition. I haven't had the opportunity to use the current Inspiron vs XPS to really evaluate whether the price difference is now worth going for the XPS over the Inspiron for the "average consumer".

My work and personal laptop right now is a Dell Latitude E6500. It's been quite reliable over the past 2 years.

[dylan8]

Until last year I had a spec'd up Dell, $2600+ worth, and it was the worst thing ever! 2 years later, i finally got in contact with someone there who spoke enough english to understand i wanted my money back...
All this was 'with' Dell's high customer service I paid more for.
Although both mums and my gfs, who have simple/low budget dells, dont seem to have tooo many problems.

Have used/seen a lot of toshibas, seem to be great computers. the two my dad had both had a hard life (on planes, in the back of cars, dropped etc) and lasted years before they gave out.

I think you have to buy windows 7 from now on...?

[Corey_R]

I think you have to buy windows 7 from now on...?

Yeah, you have to buy 7 now, but why wouldn't you? You're shooting yourself in the foot by buying a new laptop and trying to run Window XP as your primary OS. You need Windows 7 64 bit to take advantage of the hardware, SSDs and 4GB or more memory etc. I don't play a lot of old games anymore, but I do a lot of productivity work in a few "large" organisations. Thus far I've been able to get everything to work on 7 either without hassle, with using the "for Vista instructions", or by falling back to "XP Mode" which is included in the Ultimate and Professional versions of 7. I also haven't come across a game made in the past few years (since Vista's release) which hasn't worked. All the DOS games still work via Dosbox etc.

[BL33SU]

get a acer..
#1 in aus at the moment. much cheaper with better spec's.

all waranty work is done in sydney aswell!

for your price range you can find the Aspire 5742 range in most retailers.. Core i3 CPU, 4GB ram, dvd, webcam etc and Windows 7 Home premium 64bit

[The_Hawk]

My first suggestion would be to stretch the budget and grab a MacBook, if that's not an option I'd say look at Dell because they are simple and easy to get and have some level of support.

Plan C:
Check out this mob: OnLine Computer

Aim for an i3 or an i5 CPU and 4GB RAM, everything else is mostly irrelevant in a budgt laptop.

This Asus looks alright, is under budget @ $699, comes with an i3 CPU and 8GB RAM, 320GB HDD and a DVD Burner.
OnLine Computer

This too, although with the upgrade to 4GB RAM it breaks your budget:
OnLine Computer

[Corey_R]

Whilst I love the MacBook case, and the long-life battery... the insides are not very impressive... and if it weren't for the awesome case (which is sure to cost a bomb compared to standard plastic cases) their price would be criminal. I mean, they're still on a Core 2 Duo generation platform. The rest of the industry is 2 generations ahead (well, lets not mention the Sandybridge issues shall we).

[DiZzY]

Sandybridge blew away from Cyclone Yasi mate