In Need of a New Laptop, Looking for Advice

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Joey D

Joey D

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I've had an Acer Aspire One netbook since December and it's been nothing but problems. The power supply died 6 weeks ago on it, although Acer tech support thought it was the battery. After trying to get through the broken English that is their New Delhi tech support I finally sent them the battery on 22 July and they received it, and promptly lost it, on 24 July. Here it is 13 August and I don't have a battery yet. I've spent numerous hours on the phone with New Delhi trying to figure it out but between their lack of English skills and my lack of patience it isn't getting anywhere. Any way long story short is Costco said they would fully refund my money for the Acer, battery or no battery.

So I need a new laptop because it has sucked being with out one this long, especially for work. I need some suggestions on what to get. I don't mind netbooks, although I'm not opposed to an actual laptop barring the screen isn't much larger that 13 or 14". I don't want anything huge. I'm also not *gasp* opposed to a Mac either, barring someone can convince me that it's worth the extra money and I'm not paying for a fancy white case and a half eaten apple on it.

Price would preferably be under $1,000 and all I really do on a laptop is use document processing (Word, Excel, etc.) and internet. If I got a Mac though I'd probably get Final Cut and Garage Band too.

The only thing I will not get is another Acer computer. Ever.
 
I just went through this with my mother over an argument over a reset computer. she tends to scoot things around or reset the whole thing after using mine. she has no problem with even something bare bones, but when I told her that she would have to pay for a whole new internet connection because of the built in Wi-Fi, that put her off.

we all know dang well that all customer service is stationed somewhere in India due to the cost in the US, including the potential for Lawyer's Interference. it seems like I'm one of the few people in the US that can understand an accent outside of their own COUNTY. I've had battles with Indian customer service (though I think this might have been Indonesia or Malaysia instead), bad enough to get the Supervisor for customer support. the situation was resolved because I could understand them.

i suggest, this time, you buy and send out LOCALLY. even here in the Genuine boonies, we have office supply stores and so on where you can talk face to face with someone who speaks with your own accent. try the locals, this time, including for repairs and replacements.
 
Sniffs
i suggest, this time, you buy and send out LOCALLY. even here in the Genuine boonies, we have office supply stores and so on where you can talk face to face with someone who speaks with your own accent. try the locals, this time, including for repairs and replacements.
Click to expand...
So locally joey is left with Best Buy, Costco again, office max, Staples etc. He could go to Micro center but I would do my homework and look for it online. If its under warranty, local help is of no use. This my help.
http://laptoplogic.com/top-rated-laptops/
Second on the list.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146585&Tpk=Lenovo IdeaPad Y650
lenovo IdeaPad Y650 $799.99 with free shipping

Model
Brand lenovo
Series IdeaPad
Model Y650 (4185-55U)
Part# 4185-55U
General
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium
CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 2.53G
Screen 16" WXGA
Memory Size 4GB
Hard Disk 320GB
Optical Drive Dual Layer DVD Burner
Graphics Card Intel GMA 4500MHD
Video Memory Shared memory
Communication Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Card slot 1 x Express Card
Battery Life 3.5 hours
Dimensions 15.4" x 10.2" x 1.08"
Weight 5.62 lbs.
CPU
CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo
CPU Speed P8700(2.53GHz)
CPU FSB 1066MHz
CPU L2 Cache 3MB
Display
Screen Size 16"
Wide Screen Support Yes
Display Type Wide XGA
Resolution 1366 x 768
Operating Systems
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium
 
If you want a 13-14 inch screen then I would go for a Dell Studio 14 with a 14" screen. You can get great performance for under $800 (2.1+ ghz processor, 4gb RAM, 320gb+ HDD). You can take a look and customize one at dell.com
 
I would say to look into Lenovo, something like this or this. Dell's business line shouldn't be bad either.

If you don't want to deal with broken English you might want to consider getting a warranty through a store. At Best Buy it took them about 3 weeks to get our laptop back, though it wasn't a battery or power supply issue.
 
Don't buy a MacBook unless you really want one. Otherwise in 3 months you'll wind up hating it and will forever be moaning about how you wasted your money.

Go and have a play around in an Apple store (as if you haven't already ;)) and see whether it all suits you. Pay particular attention to playing with Pages, Keynote and Numbers - they're sort of like MS Office but... nicer. If you decide you like them, your life will be forever enriched.
 
Thanks for all the input guys, I appreciate it.

I'm not feeling "the deal of the week", I've heard way to many horror stories about Toshiba laptops.

I don't know how I feel about Lenovo, they are a Chinese company and I don't know if I want to go that route again. Acer was seriously one of the worse companies I have ever dealt with in terms of customer service. Sony is actually not that far behind either.

I'm perfectly comfortable using a Mac, one of the girls I work with has one and I'm always working on it because it has a copy of CS3 on it opposed to the PS7 that our machines have on it. The keyboard and what not don't bother me in the slightest.

The only problem I have with buying a Windows based laptop is that I'm probably will get stuck with Vista, which I hate and I'm not so keen on Windows 7 until they can actually prove that it's not going to be Vista 2.0. This is why I'm think about a Mac, if Windows 7 is good then I could easily just dual boot or whatever.

I'm still up in the air about about what I want. Can anyone comment on Lenovo or Mac's customer service?

Oh
 
Lenovo are IBM, yes? So in theory you shouldn't actually even need to consider the quality of the support as it'll never go wrong in the first place.

Apple... well, mixed reviews. When I took mine in for repair (having voided the warranty myself) they were very helpful and very quick to respond. They didn't even charge me a diagnostic fee when I said I wanted to get it repaired elsewhere. But that was my 'local' Apple store rather than Apple themselves, and customer satisfaction tends to vary from store to store like it does from car dealer to car dealer.
 
I've used Windows 7 RC, its on one of my HDD's and I like it. If I didn't have some of the games I use on the XP os I would use it now.
 
Well I popped for a 13" MacBook Pro with the 2.26 GHz processor. So far I'm pretty happy with it and it's not that hard to get use to. I really did just sell my soul to Steve Jobs, oh well...I guess.
 
So far I like it but I've only been using it for a couple of hours. I love how bright the screen it and the backlit keyboard. Not having a right click is really weird but I'm getting used to it. I really do like the click touch pad, I never thought I would but for some reason I do.

And the the upgrade to Snow Leopard is only $30 apparently so I think I'll be good. If I think I need it in my life I can spend $30 on it.
 
I may have to block you now Joey. A mac?👎
Wow after looking at the prices for that (insert expensive lap top) computer, i'll refrain any further help.
 
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Yeah, first a mini, now a mac. He might as well walk around with a sign saying

'Im an arts student'

:lol:
 
Joey D
Well I popped for a 13" MacBook Pro with the 2.26 GHz processor. So far I'm pretty happy with it and it's not that hard to get use to. I really did just sell my soul to Steve Jobs, oh well...I guess.
Click to expand...

Good boy ;)

I see you went with iWork too - good choice, you'll love it :)
 
Apple customer service is generally top notch, but it does depend on keeping a cool head. I've never had a problem with warranty repairs or replacement. If there is a problem, then Apple Customer Relations will solve it in a jiffy (got upgraded from an iPod mini to a nano, kept engraving too!).

Since it's a laptop, I recommend extended AppleCare since it may get tossed around. You can get it for cheap over at L.A. Computer Company.
 
I got the AppleCare plan since they were running a deal, iWork and AppleCare for $150. Mircosoft Office was $150 without the AppleCare. Oh and before someone says something I am not a fan of Open Office.

The reason I ended up getting an Apple over a Window's based laptop was that I couldn't find any decent laptop without Window's Vista on it. OSX is much better, at least in my opinion and the way I use it.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the computer.
 

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