Best Sub-$1000 Laptop?

[cegerer]

OK, I'm in the mood to buy a laptop (Windows). Need it for a business trip in a few days. So, mailorder is out of the question. Probably go down to one of the big box retailers and just buy one tomorrow. This will pretty much be used for word processing, spreadsheets, eMail, internet, etc. So big power is not an issue.

What is a good brand or - better yet - a good model to purchase? Thanks!

[dd74]

Dell. They have specials all the time. Late last month, they had a 14-inch Pentium 4 with 512 mb ram, CDRW and a big hard drive for about $800.

Check Dell. IBM, though a better keyboard, is just too damn pricey for what you (do not) get.

[motion]

Don't buy a Gateway... what a POS.

[Zeke]

Dell might be able to get one to you ina hurry. Doesn't hurt to ask.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Dell will never get to you in time. Check out the first page of the thread I posted way back when....

Dell Laptops suck...I want a Mac ;)

[osidak]

Stay FAR FAR AWAY from GATEWAY

My office bought 2 Gateway Projectors (210)

One took a month and half to get to us and was DOA. They refused to send out an advanced replacement so I followed their directions and sent it back. They promised 5 day turn around. Well to make a very long story short after 2 months 10 phone calls which I spent about 15 hours total they sent me a new one to replace it.... Then sent another. Then they sent a bill for $9,000 (projector cost $1800 new) saying I did not return the original defective one.

I had kept all tracking numbers so I could prove delivery of the original DOA unit and also the return of the 2 second one they sent to replace it.

The second unit that was ordered took almost 3 months to get.

Stay far away from the cow otherwise you may suffer from mad cow disease.


If you can order one go with an IBM or Winbook (www.winbook.com)

I am not real fond of the HP/Compaq units you find at Best Buy or CompUSA

[motion]

Costco is actually the best place to buy... 6 month return policy, no questions asked. I think their cheapest laptop is around 1300 or so, though. Check costco.com.

[cegerer]

Well, we've got all Dells in my office and have been very happy with them. However, I need to go today and just buy something. If ya had to pick between Tosihba, Compaq, Sony and HP what would it be?

[layzee]

Toshiba for me. Used them for years with no problems and have survived abuse well.

Sony = paying for the design.

[osidak]

Toshiba

HP / Compaq = POS
Sony = POS service and somewhat fragile

[lendaddy]

Also Toshiba, good value no problems yet.

[911SC Pilot]

Ive never had an issue with my 3 Gateway Home comps, or my Lap top.,.,.,.,.,.Dell on the other hand, pure Schite

Wonder what gives?

[dd74]

Originally posted by cegerer
Well, we've got all Dells in my office and have been very happy with them. However, I need to go today and just buy something. If ya had to pick between Tosihba, Compaq, Sony and HP what would it be?

I think they're all about the same - get the one with the most features for the least money.

Is there a Frys or Circuit City out where you are?

[cegerer]

Well, didn't get to check back in with your comments this afternoon! I had about 30 minutes to pick something and buy it. Wound up with a full warranty "open box special" on a Sony VAIO. It's quite small (12.1" screen) which will work well in my Cayenne-hi-speed-mobile-office ........ also, has a memory stick slot built-in to make it easy to transfer my digitial photos and dictation from other Sony devices. Pentium 4, 2GHz, 40G drive, 512 RAM, wireless LAN, blah, blah, blah. Under $1000. I've got a 14-day return policy so we'll see how it works. Thanks for the help guys. -- Curt

[speeder]

Curt, I was going to recommend Sony Vaio based on just my personal experience, but didn't think that it would fit the budget. That sounds like a smoking deal!

I can't believe how cheap these things are getting. Sony is the Porsche/BMW/etc. of PCs. (The Windows equiv. of Mac stuff).

[cegerer]

Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good deal. It's a 1-year old model, but who cares??? Hell, it seems to load photos faster than either of my desktop units!

[dd74]

Sony's good.

[epbrown]

Curt, is this a V505 or a Z1?

In another incarnation, I'm the list admin for the Sony505 mailing list on Yahoo with about 2200 members last time I checked. I've owned about a dozen Sony VAIOs, and currently have an R505TEK and Picturebook C1-VPK. Most of the time you see posts from me, they're coming from a 1 kilogram Picturebook using a Verizon cellular modem pc card (works everywhere, unlike a wifi card). Easy to carry anywhere and does most everything, thanks to a 60GB 7200-rpm hard drive and 320MB of RAM. I've got a ton of MP3s on it, as well as 10 DVD movies and my favorite episodes of Friends, Mad About You, Frasier, and Sports Night.

The VAIOs are well-designed and durable, but you'll find that they aren't as well supported as IBM or Toshiba. Replacement parts are trickier to get, driver updates a little less forthcoming, and DIY info from them is non-existent. But I've yet to have a Sony just die on me.

My other favorite laptop model is IBM's Thinkpad. I've got 4 of those currently, in various states of hot-rodding/modification.

As a side note - Best Buy sells an off-brand notebook that's designed by Porsche's design business, the VPR Matrix.

Emanuel

[cegerer]

It's a V505B.

[epbrown]

Good machine, it's the successor to my R505. Only lookout I've heard about them is to watch for the screws coming out (a recurring Sony issue). They tend to vibrate free over time unless you put Loctite on them - think the recommended type is blue.

Emanuel