Laptop shopping!

  • Thread starter Thread starter emad
  • 22 comments
  • 1,391 views
emad

emad

Messages
5,622
Messages
eMadman
The lease for my current notebook is expiring in a few weeks as I'm graduating. That means the laptop goes back to the school to be refurbished and I have the option to buy it for $650 Canadian. My current choices are to either buy this laptop out (currently 2 years old) or to get a new one. I'm leaning towards a new laptop primarily because I want a better battery and more power to handle the occasional photoshopping.

Here's what I have now:
IBM Thinkpad T42
1.8ghz Pentium M
512 ram
80gb storage
cdrw/dvd combo drive
14.1" screen

As you can see, it's not a particularly fast laptop... the battery also doesn't last very long. It struggles with photoshop and it screams in pain when I run flash. However, those won't be the primary applications for it when I get out of school. I'll primarily need it for office use and the occasional photography management stuff. Software used will be MS Office, internet, and the SAPGUI. I'm a heavy multi-tasker though, and while I say these will be the primary uses, I know myself well enough to know that I can easily put even the fastest computers under a heavy burden if I'm in the mood.

Here's what I need and in this order:
Well Built, good battery (4hours or more), Fast, reasonably portable (15" maximum), Roughly under $2000 canadian.

Looking around at Best Buy and Future Shop, I couldn't find a SINGLE laptop that was built as well as my current IBM/Lenovo. The screens were flimsy and flopping around, hinges were either too light or too loose with the screen shaking, panels were made out of very low grade plastics, or the screens were just downright ugly. In the end, I didn't find a single laptop at the stores that really suits my needs.

As far as I can tell, I don't think *any* manufacturer for laptops builds a quality machine for 'home' users. I'm thinking that I'm going to have to limit myself to the business lines offered by most companies despite the extra cost.

As for specs, I'm thinking of the following:
2ghz core 2 duo (i'll settle for no less than 1.8)
1gb ram minimum (2gb preferred)
80gb hard drive (the morer the betterer)
quality screen
4 hours or more of battery
Video Card: dedicated memory and reasonably fast (preferred but not mandatory)

After looking around, I... couldn't find... ANYTHING... that fits my needs other than the black Macbook and the 15 inch Macbook Pro.

Now, I've got a month remaining before this goes back and I need a laptop! Are there any products out there that'll match the MB/MBP? If so, where can I find them? How about hold them in my hands? I don't want a flimsy toy. I expect the thing to last me at 2-2.5 years before I start considering a new laptop. My current one was quite good for it's time and it still runs decently enough... it's just not worth the $650 to me.
 
I've never owned a laptop, so I won't be much help, but I'd like to point out that you can save money by customizing the white MacBook (at least in the U.S. store) to match the specs of the BlackBook. As for its screen quality, it uses a glossy screen which is quite controversial amongst MacBook users. Apple says the image quality is improved, but some users prefer the non-glossy screens (most likely due to glare issues).

Good luck on your laptop search!
 
dougiemeats
I've never owned a laptop, so I won't be much help, but I'd like to point out that you can save money by customizing the white MacBook (at least in the U.S. store) to match the specs of the BlackBook. As for its screen quality, it uses a glossy screen which is quite controversial amongst MacBook users. Apple says the image quality is improved, but some users prefer the non-glossy screens (most likely due to glare issues).

Good luck on your laptop search!
Click to expand...
I like the glossy screens myself. My buddy has one on a 17 inch MBP and it's absolutely gorgeous. As for upgrading a whitebook to blackbook specs, there's no point - the end cost will be the same. Besides that, I like the look of the blackbook :p
 
I still say go for the Blackbook. For less than the price of a stock 15" MBP, you can completely spec out the Blackbook with 2gb ram and a 200GB hard drive. If you can't live without the slightly larger screen (size and resolution) and the dedicated GPU (albeit severely underclocked :indiff: ), then go for the MBP.
 
Keichi Tsuchiya
You can pull off a very good toshiba for around 900-1500 USD., An extremely good tablet for around 2000USD.
Click to expand...
I've seen a handful. There's a major difference between good from a technical level with specs, and good from an engineering and quality control perspective. They make great business products, but their home lines are only so-so from the quality of materials. I can't find anyone that carries their business stuff in the city unfortunately.

Remember, I'm not exactly a 'gentle' user. I don't throw them around that I'd need a Panasonic Toughbook, but I sure as hell don't treat my computers like dainty figurines either.
 
Well, I have a MB (the base model, but outfitted with 2GB of RAM), so you can ask me anything you want. :) It’s definitely a quality machine – I have no problems with it.
 
Sage
Well, I have a MB (the base model, but outfitted with 2GB of RAM), so you can ask me anything you want. :) It’s definitely a quality machine – I have no problems with it.
Click to expand...


Have you had any of the build issues? (cracked casing, discoloration etc...)
 
Nope, none of those. The only &#8220;issue&#8221; per se is that on the left side, the lid doesn&#8217;t sit completely flush with the piece of plastic that surrounds the screen. It&#8217;s really minor though (<1 mm), and it&#8217;s not the kind of thing you&#8217;d ever notice unless I pointed it out. And I don&#8217;t know any other person who&#8217;s had that issue.
 
standard235
2000 CAD is around $1700 USD.

The Blackbook is your best bet.

A 2 inch bigger screen is worth the extra power and storage. Seriously.
Click to expand...
So, are you saying Blackbook or mbp? The blackbook has a 13 inch screen... in fact, the only technical difference between the blackbook and the mbp is the monitor and video card... as well as the mbp having a slightly shorter advertised battery life which doesn't worry me quite so much since they use a lithium-polymer pack on their laptops rather than lithium ion like most companies
 
I think the Blackbook.

2GB RAM and 200GB HDD sounds so good in a laptop...

Alienware has a nice laptop that would suit you, except 17" screen...

EDIT: Aha. Found a good laptop for you.

Alienware Area-51® m5550.

I configured it at $1750 with upgraded GPU, CPU, Vista Home Premium instead of basic, 2GB RAM ($270 upgrade)...


$1050 base price. Go here to configure it.
 
Sage
Nope, none of those. The only “issue” per se is that on the left side, the lid doesn’t sit completely flush with the piece of plastic that surrounds the screen. It’s really minor though (<1 mm), and it’s not the kind of thing you’d ever notice unless I pointed it out. And I don’t know any other person who’s had that issue.
Click to expand...


👍 I have a similar issue with my MBP. The left side does not sit as flush as the right, but like you said, you only notice if someone points it out.
 
emad
The lease for my current notebook is expiring in a few weeks as I'm graduating. That means the laptop goes back to the school to be refurbished and I have the option to buy it for $650 Canadian. My current choices are to either buy this laptop out (currently 2 years old) or to get a new one. I'm leaning towards a new laptop primarily because I want a better battery and more power to handle the occasional photoshopping.

Here's what I have now:
IBM Thinkpad T42
1.8ghz Pentium M
512 ram
80gb storage
cdrw/dvd combo drive
14.1" screen

As you can see, it's not a particularly fast laptop... the battery also doesn't last very long. It struggles with photoshop and it screams in pain when I run flash. However, those won't be the primary applications for it when I get out of school. I'll primarily need it for office use and the occasional photography management stuff. Software used will be MS Office, internet, and the SAPGUI. I'm a heavy multi-tasker though, and while I say these will be the primary uses, I know myself well enough to know that I can easily put even the fastest computers under a heavy burden if I'm in the mood.

Here's what I need and in this order:
Well Built, good battery (4hours or more), Fast, reasonably portable (15" maximum), Roughly under $2000 canadian.

Looking around at Best Buy and Future Shop, I couldn't find a SINGLE laptop that was built as well as my current IBM/Lenovo. The screens were flimsy and flopping around, hinges were either too light or too loose with the screen shaking, panels were made out of very low grade plastics, or the screens were just downright ugly. In the end, I didn't find a single laptop at the stores that really suits my needs.

As far as I can tell, I don't think *any* manufacturer for laptops builds a quality machine for 'home' users. I'm thinking that I'm going to have to limit myself to the business lines offered by most companies despite the extra cost.

As for specs, I'm thinking of the following:
2ghz core 2 duo (i'll settle for no less than 1.8)
1gb ram minimum (2gb preferred)
80gb hard drive (the morer the betterer)
quality screen
4 hours or more of battery
Video Card: dedicated memory and reasonably fast (preferred but not mandatory)

After looking around, I... couldn't find... ANYTHING... that fits my needs other than the black Macbook and the 15 inch Macbook Pro.

Now, I've got a month remaining before this goes back and I need a laptop! Are there any products out there that'll match the MB/MBP? If so, where can I find them? How about hold them in my hands? I don't want a flimsy toy. I expect the thing to last me at 2-2.5 years before I start considering a new laptop. My current one was quite good for it's time and it still runs decently enough... it's just not worth the $650 to me.
Click to expand...

I think this site, (http://www.smartratings.com/computers/notebooks), could be helpful in finding the best product that you're looking for. It contains expert and user reviews for each of the item listed. Good luck.
 
...taking a look at the Dell M1210 sporting the following:
1.83ghz Core 2 Duo, Vista Ultimate, 2gb ram, 120gb hdd, 256mb GeForce Go 7400 (shared memory) and a 9-cell battery (roughly 4.5 hours)

Price: $2013 Canadian for a 12 inch laptop...
Macbook (Black) has all of this, minus the video card, and it offers a better battery for the same price. I can also get a base model Macbook Pro for this much... The only thing I'd sacrifice is the physical size of the thing. The MBP has a better video card thanks to dedicated vram.

Moving onto the Dell Latitude D820, I think I may have actually found a laptop that could spank *almost* the macbook pro's butt:

1.83ghz Core 2 Duo, Vista Ultimate, 1gb ram, 120gb hdd, 512MB NVIDIA® Quadro NVS 120M TurboCache**, 9 cell battery.

The benefit here is that it has a 512mb video card and a higher resolution screen. The con is that it's shared memory. That means that immediately after receiving the laptop, I'll need to go buy another dimm or else it'll be useless. Upgrading ram through Dell is also unnecessarily expensive.

Unfortunately, I can't find info on this thing's battery life.
 
their 15" is too heavy and and their 12 is too small and underpowered for what I'd like :indiff:. I also need some reasonable battery figures. Besides that, theirs would cost me waaay too much to have shipped from the US. UPS and Fed Ex both charge exhorbant fees to bring stuff through customs. The ones I've quoted so far are, for the most part, more powerful than I'll need for another year or so
 
Ahh yeah, they are not great for portability but the power/price is pretty good. I just figured I'd throw it out there.

I think you may have had a bad experience with IBM (or is that someone else I am thinking of?) but from what I have seen they are pretty durable and fairly portable. Where I worked the company gave everyone IBMs for pretty much what you are going to use it for (office, SAP, occasional development) and they didn't come back for service very often (usually it was abuse, like spilled fluids, that sent them back).

Personally I have an ancient IBM T20 which has had 2 owners before me (I paid $220 2 years ago) and has never been refurbished and it's still ticking.
 
I'm on my second IBM now thanks to my school's 2 year lease setup. The first one was an R series and was godawful. I mean it was HORRENDOUS. The lease for that one ended with me on my 3rd motherboard, 2nd hard drive, and 2nd plastic enclosure. That's not counting the failing optical drive, the 1 hour battery, or the screen with enough faded pixels to make even using MS Paint an unpleasant experience. My current one though, has been absolutely amazing. This time around, it's a T series, and it's been nothing but smoothe sailing. The only thing that causes issues for people is the battery (3.5 hours when it was new) and the fingerprint reader (which I disabled).

In all honesty, I wouldn't mind another IBM/Lenovo... but I'd prefer to actually see and hold it before I pay for it. I only say that because I've seen some very shoddily built laptops these past few years. I've even seen $2000+ machines with screens which would just flop around with like 10-15 degrees of sway before the friction of the hinge would stop it from moving, and others where plastics felt like something off a dollar store toy. That's what has me leaning towards the business line laptops and the Apple notebooks. They cost a touch more, but they're built with the understanding that they more than likely WILL see a bit of abuse.
 
I saw some insane laptops for your price in a mag like 2 days ago. I'm at school right now but I will go home and look for it.

The best one was actually a Lenovo/IBM...
 
In all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if Lenovo came out on top with Dell (business line) or Toshiba trailing not far behind. It's really just a matter of me going out and looking at them to make a choice now :p
 

Latest Posts

Back