My mom is wanting to buy a laptop. Which company is best?

Question

Since technology keeps changing, I wanted to get everyone's feedback on which company is best. It's been over a year since I've done some serious research and I know how fast things change.

She's been looking at Dell and Sony notebooks. What do you think? I've heard Gateway's aren't good. Any info would help. Thanks

Also, is it now safe to get Vista?

Answer 1

Well world of Laptops is huge to choose from in today's time. My opinion is first pin down on what you exactly want :
Budget economical laptop
business laptop
good looks laptop..etc

My suggestions are for brand persey:
Compaq - Cheap laptops but not very robust for long run
Toshiba - Good Laptops with nice looks and features mostly for teens
Sony - Best latops for price, features, looks etc can be used for business as well as personal
HP - Not very great, but some new models are very good
Dell - Economical business laptops
Fujitsu - hmmm not very sure

So crack down the exact budget u wanna spend then features u r looking for and then choose models from different brands..do comparison and come back to me I ll help if u need further help then.

Answer 2

I think Sony or maybe even Apple are the best. I would definitely not go for Dells anymore because their customer support/service has been dropping recently.

And yes you heard correctly, Gateways are long past their prime. Which is why I say you should go with Sony because they have good choices for business laptops. Apple iMacs are a little pricey, most people only invest in them because they are willing to spend a lot for a nice computer.

Answer 3

Since I own a laptop myself, I'll tell you the best place to get a quality laptop with good warrenties is CompUSA. They are going to be kind of pricy though.

The best thing to do before you research the company and type of laptop, is to decide what you need a laptop for? are you going to be travelling a lot? In that case you may want a smaller laptop that is lightweight. If its going to be primarily sitting on your desk at home, you should get what I have which is a widescreen laptop. The bigger laptops do weigh a little more, but if home is your primary use, don't settle for the small...spend the money to get the bigger. I think HP is the way to go. Dude, don't get a dell!!! lol Seriously though, dells are great laptops, but if you have something wrong with them, you have to rely soley on Dell support...and since you sound somewhat "out of" the current technology, you're going to have to make sure you have a good provider. Gateway isn't great either I've heard. I'd go with HP or Compaq (same company).

Make sure you also get a laptop with a bright screen. That might sound really minor, but your mom is going to be staring at this for awhile and, (depending on her vision) you need to make sure you get a laptop with a clear, bright color to it. Battery life can be important too, if you are planning on traveling and using it without electricty...make sure you have at least 3 hours of battery life.

At least...512 MB of RAM...no less!

Intel Centrino is a great processor. Make sure it has that.

100 GB hard drive is a pretty decent size...but less is ok too unless you have a huge amount of things you are saving to your laptop.

Other than that, just look for deals on HP laptops with the things I suggested. Bestbuy, Circuit City, and especially CompUSA are good laptop stores. I would avoid stores like Walmart, Micro Center, and small computer shops unless you want a cheap laptop, with average or below average service. If all you wantn to do is the basic stuff on the computer (check mail, listen to music etc) then that may be the best way to go. Your local retailer will probably try to talk you into buying the really expensive laptops, but you only need to buy one that is more than $1000 if you are going to be using it quite often, for playing games, listening, recording, and burning music etc.

Go with your gut, if you need professional opinions ask the experts http://www.download.com . Best of luck and I hope that offered you some help!

Answer 4

There are lots of different high-quality laptops. Sony is OK, Alienware is of course excellent but very expensive. HP is also OK. I personally like Macs.

One thing — Dells are really bad. Don't buy a Dell.
Compaq is also OK.

About Vista — I would wait until SP2 comes out. That goes for any Windows operating system.

Also about Macs — if you buy a Mac, wait until OS 10.5 comes out. "Service packs" of a sort come out for Macs all the time — but they are money and hassle free.

Answer 5

Youre right, technology changes FAST, If you can hold off, there will be huge pricewars in July. There is no need to bu the "latest and greatesst, because tommorrow it wont be. The best bet is to get something that wont age too fast, but is still cost effective. Desktops last longer than notebooks and they are upgradeable.

IF cost is no object, Alien, XPS, Voodoo, Falcoln Northwest. If Value is the prime mover, Dell, Compaq, HP and Toshiba. Dell has killer deals on the 6400 because they are releasing a new model in mid June. It is the best bang for the buck right now. In july, ALL retailers will be having price wars. I'm buying a notebook for my nieces graduation, but she knows she's not going to get it untill at least July

Pat from ohio is right, while name is important for reliability, tech support and quality of mfgr process. It is important to configure it to your needs.



****EDIT*** blinkingsuperstar is incorrect, Dell is being sued mostly because

1 a lady wanted 0% interest and didn't qualify (DUH, I want 0% interest on a Lexus, but I wouldnt be surprised if I got turned down and had to pay a highger rate, heck I know not only woldnt I get the higher rate, they'd laugh me out of the building DUH)

2 people complaining because it took a long time to get a tech to their house (DUH, replacing HARDWARE is NOT going to fix a SOFTWARE problem)

Answer 6

More important than the brand would be what you plan to do with your computer. Gaming would require a faster processor and better graphics card. For listening and storing lots of music you would want a media edition operating system with more storage. Talk to somebody at a real computer store that sells multiple brands about what you are looking for. It's better to buy what you need than to try and upgrade later.
Once you definitely know what you are looking for in a computer then it is time to shop around for the best price. Most of your "brand name" computers have equal performance and warranties versus equally equipped models.Anything you buy will be outdated in a few years so don't be too concerned about "state of the art" equipment unless you have a big budget. That fancy new processor will be old news and dropped in price soon enough.

Answer 7

Unlike a desktop where there are multiple places to install hard drives laptops only have one. If your hard drive failed you need a new one. Problem two the laptop drives use special cables which do not match a desktop hard drive. You may be able to go the the hard drive manufacture to obtain a cable adapter to install it in a desktop. Depending on the type of crash there may not be much data on the hard drive. First I would send the computer back to the manufacture and have them repair the Hard drive or replace it. It may be that the cables vibrated lose in transport and there is nothing wrong with the hard drive. If they have to replace it request the bad Hard drive back. Then if you have a desktop then see if the manufacture of the hard drive can provide you a cable to install it in your desk top and then you can find any files that may still be good.

Answer 8

I have a Dell with Vista Home Premium edition. I can say Vista is great, I've been running it since it was released, but Dell's customer service is deplorable. So much so that the State of New York is suing them.

Answer 9

Go for Dell with the extra 3 years warranty, a dual core with 1GB of memory with XP on it, stay away from Vista for now.

Answer 10

The IBM Thinkpad has always been in the top of the pack. They sold off their laptop side to Levono a few years ago but still make a solid product. There is a reason that everyone wants to be IBM compatible.