Laptop preferences

[mare]

I will soon be needing a laptop computer and a portable printer. It will also need to be able to manage burning CDs and DVDs.

My work will be taking my on the road and I'll be doing some on-site evaluation and training.

I'm hoping some of you have ideas about specifics to consider. I'm pretty comfortable with both PCs and MACs as far as desktops go.

Thanks.

[CaddoCinnamon]

I have a Toshiba laptop and I like it pretty well. It can burn cd's and dvd's.

[HeavensEast]

I'm also interested, as I will be getting a laptop for my high school graduation present. I will be using it for college. Not really sure what features I will need as of yet.

[dame_wolf]

My Dell does all that and wasn't that expensive. Go to the clearance or build your own (that's what I did). Sometimes you can find a clearance that has everything you want.

[offgridgirl]

Toshiba Toshiba TOSHIBA!!!! Did I say that you should reeeeeallllly get a Toshiba!!:)

Hubby sees a lot of problem laptops and we never see HP or Toshibas....
I really like the options and warranty on them. I have one that is old that is still going strong with XP. I use it to edit all my videos and it's slow but works and no problems....ever!

[mare]

Thanks for the ideas. I'll look at those. :)

[JackieB]

I've had great luck with three Dell's now. They are all Latitudes, which is the business class of laptop. Not more powerful than the consumer ones, but more geared toward business applications rather than gaming and stuff.

Big tip. If you buy a Dell, do a search for "Dell Coupons" online. They have a lot of extra coupon offers that you won't find on the Dell site. I had our most recent one configured for $1,400. I found this coupon and entered it at checkout and the price dropped to $1,150 instantly. And I know from all the shopping that the $1,150 price was a good one indeed.

Dell has always been very good to me when I've needed something, too.

[iluvbo]

HP all the way. I absolutely HATE toshibas. My dad has one, and after a year or two, it runs horribly. My mom doesnt like it either...she steals my HP to use instead. I got mine on black friday for 400 dollars and it is amazing. Another thing....many people will tell you to get a dual-core processor, that the intel celeron processor is no good and makes your laptop run slowly. Actually not true, unless you are going to be using crazy software that requires tons of power...like a high-tech photo/graphic editing program or something.
I know too many people that waste alot of money buying a laptop with tons of features they dont need or use, because they think if it doesnt have them that the laptop wont run well. Not true. Hope this helps!

[AUEquine]

I just got a brand new MAC last year and I'm probably the only person who'll say this.... I HATE IT!!! The only good thing about it is it's quick and it boots up in seconds. Other than that, I hate it! I was told it has all the features that make it compatable with windows and that it's the only way to go for makeing the sales videos and photos for the horses. WRONG! Yes they offer all of those things, but none of them come standard on the machine, and they cost and arm and a leg more to buy the software add ons. Lots of my students have the new dells, and their software is so much better than mine. My movie maker doesn't even have a way to make slow motion scenes.

I vote Dell! They've never let me down!

[mare]

Good info! Thanks everybody.

[shewasmyshadow]

My husband works for E & Y and the whole company uses Dell. At home we use a mac, but only because that's the only type of computer that can survive me for longer than 6 months. Every PC we've ever had has been killed within 6-8 months of being in our house. The mac has been here 5 years and is still going. It's not the easiest to use, but it has yet to get a virus or be killed by me. :D

[Oreos Girl]

Asus is now making laptops. According to techie husband, ASUS typically makes the motherboards that are in most of the computers you buy now. I have to say I really like mine. One feature to look at is to make sure it has either a dual or quad processor in them. That makes it much faster computing.

Oreo's Girl

[FredRock]

I love my Dell! You can customize your own computer, pretty much building it from the ground up, on their website, so you can make it conform to your needs.

But pretty much every laptop is good besides MACs. They're a lot of money for half the specs that you can get in a PC for the same or less price. They're not even as resistant to viruses as they were in the past, since they're becoming more popular.

[mare]

I really appreciate everyone's input.

Some have suggested "building my own." I like the idea of customizing: getting just what I need and not paying for programs/features that will just take up space.

[Fork]

I've had terrible experiences with Dell computers. These issues all happened after 6 months - 2 years of use.
Laptop 1: Randomly died if it got too hot underneath. Wouldn't restart until it cooled down.
Laptop 2: Keyboard keys are sticky when typing. So it either gives you too many letters or you have to push really hard.
Laptop 3: Some keyboard keys are broken. One of the keys adjusts brightness, and it doesn't work anymore. The screen is terribly dim.

I would avoid Compaq as well as the quality of parts is really low.

HP customer service is AMAZING. They'll do anything to solve your problem or they'll send you a new one if it's under warranty. Toshiba computers are great, but their higher end ones are better.

Macs? I loove my MacBook Pro. $1800 well spent. It has incredible imaging and photography features. Fantastic for graphics. 8.5 hours of battery life (honest, not spec) on the lowest screen brightness. I've used it for listening to music for a 5 hour drive. iTunes and full speakers. Boots up fast. You can get PC compatible programs. I live without MSN and I use Adium instead. Word? I use Pages, or you can buy Word for Mac.

I suggest looking up computers on Google. Really highly rated ones that I found were Lenovos, especially the Ideapads.