Laptop / Notebook advice sought
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
Before they became Lenovo, I thought that IBM's ThinkPads were the best laptops someone else's money could buy! 
I have no experience with them post-Lenovo.
Also in the corporate arena, I generally found Compaq / HP had taken over Toshiba's mantle as laptop of choice, certainly from 2000 to 2007 or so.
Now I'm not so sure.
Spending my own money on a laptop I'd look first at Acer and Dell, then Toshiba.
SD
I have no experience with them post-Lenovo.
Also in the corporate arena, I generally found Compaq / HP had taken over Toshiba's mantle as laptop of choice, certainly from 2000 to 2007 or so.
Now I'm not so sure.
Spending my own money on a laptop I'd look first at Acer and Dell, then Toshiba.
SD
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I am delighted with my new Lenovo Thinkpad Edge which arrived built to my spec from China last week. It was ordered in their year end offers on their own website.
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I took a chance on a borked old hat Toshiba L300 for fifty quid off fleabay. It duly arrived, I gave it a rebuild with win7 and I have to say it's as good a pc as I've owned. It certainly boots up & shuts down quicker than my all singing, all dancing media box & the build quality is great.
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Surprised no one has mentioned Dell, I swear by them, both laptop and desk top.
I get desktops built to order by a local shop, that's the way to get decent service later.
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I would certainly go to somewhere like pc world and have a close look at all laptops, as these days they all seem to be cheaply made.
I was tempted, but went back to my trusty hp510 thats served me well the past 7 years, runs win 7 no problems (no aeros).
Upgraded battery for £25 now get 3 hrs between charges.
I was tempted, but went back to my trusty hp510 thats served me well the past 7 years, runs win 7 no problems (no aeros).
Upgraded battery for £25 now get 3 hrs between charges.
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Bit of a bump, but I thought I'd add my 2p.
I've had quite a few laptops (now on my 7th) and, basically, my advice is to go with the business models. Ones from Tesco that have naff glowing buttons to open the DVD software, etc. are a waste of time, with poor build quality, none of the features you want and all the features you don't want- and are usually loaded with rubbish software upon arrival.
Macs are good but I wouldn't recommend them as they are often incompatible with 3rd party software, and Windows has matured to the point where it is on par for features with OS X and actually works.
The other day I went on eBay and got a Lenovo T61. It's matt-black and sober and business looking, not shiny or naff. It needed a bit of TLC, but it was extremely cheap (£150)- a new hard disk, new battery (£100 total), and giving the air vents a good clean and it's better than new (2 years ago it would have been about £1000). It has both the "nipple mouse" and a trackpad, and it has a virtually full size keyboard with proper key travel that is highly rated among laptops. It also has a nifty little light above the screen so you can see the keys at night, and little holes beneath the keyboard that go all the way to the bottom so that if you spill your tea on it it drains through with no problems.
So my advice is to get a business-class laptop (Dell, HP or Lenovo), second hand if need be. They are more durable than consumer laptops and spare parts are available and cheap. They are also much, much easier to take apart if you need to.
I've had quite a few laptops (now on my 7th) and, basically, my advice is to go with the business models. Ones from Tesco that have naff glowing buttons to open the DVD software, etc. are a waste of time, with poor build quality, none of the features you want and all the features you don't want- and are usually loaded with rubbish software upon arrival.
Macs are good but I wouldn't recommend them as they are often incompatible with 3rd party software, and Windows has matured to the point where it is on par for features with OS X and actually works.
The other day I went on eBay and got a Lenovo T61. It's matt-black and sober and business looking, not shiny or naff. It needed a bit of TLC, but it was extremely cheap (£150)- a new hard disk, new battery (£100 total), and giving the air vents a good clean and it's better than new (2 years ago it would have been about £1000). It has both the "nipple mouse" and a trackpad, and it has a virtually full size keyboard with proper key travel that is highly rated among laptops. It also has a nifty little light above the screen so you can see the keys at night, and little holes beneath the keyboard that go all the way to the bottom so that if you spill your tea on it it drains through with no problems.
So my advice is to get a business-class laptop (Dell, HP or Lenovo), second hand if need be. They are more durable than consumer laptops and spare parts are available and cheap. They are also much, much easier to take apart if you need to.
What BBox said - tho' I don't know anything about Macs so no opinion there.
I have a Lenovo T42 which I give all sorts of hammer: never any problems. In the past year three people have asked me to find them a cheap lappy and in each case it's been a Lenovo T-series. All three people have been delighted; what's even better is that none of them have come back to me with 'Jim, can you help...'. It's a product which reminds me (in build quality) of the old - very old IBM PCs. They were the original brick s-houses of the PC world - rugged as they come and used by many long after they became obsolete.
And yes, all four Lenovos have been refurbished units from Ebay.
I have a Lenovo T42 which I give all sorts of hammer: never any problems. In the past year three people have asked me to find them a cheap lappy and in each case it's been a Lenovo T-series. All three people have been delighted; what's even better is that none of them have come back to me with 'Jim, can you help...'. It's a product which reminds me (in build quality) of the old - very old IBM PCs. They were the original brick s-houses of the PC world - rugged as they come and used by many long after they became obsolete.
And yes, all four Lenovos have been refurbished units from Ebay.
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Whatever you buy, I'd make sure you look at the warranties and insurance.
I've been using laptops as my main machine for over 15 years, both my own and in corporate environments. At home Mrs Lafite and the two teenage Lafites have laptops: wife a Vaio - fulfils all requirements by being pink. For kids - Dells, mainly for durability and the warranty/insurance/maintenance offers.
Laptops often have problems due to the constant need to make the electronics smaller, the performance better, to make the package itself lighter. In general this translates into too much heat being created with less ability to get it out of the machine, and everything's pretty bleeding-edge technology, so it's more likely to break.
This then increases the failure rate well above that of a desktop, and because so much of the machine is modular, bits are expensive to replace - often the whole motherboard because thats where everything resides. The fan is a critical part - if that goes, and if the machine doesn't shut down fast, you're in big trouble.
Current laptop is a Lenovo T61p, was top of the range when new, has had engineers out 4 times under warranty - screen problems, overheating (fan), Graphics card failed, and something on the motherboard broke.
I now always buy one with a 3 year warranty minimum (pay more for it), and upgrade to next-day onsite support. I also back it up daily, but I use it for work and home.
Its also worth checking on accidental damage: you're going to take it places and you will, eventually, drop it onto something hard. The screen will crack. You learn several things over time:
- if kids are going to use it, it needs warranty and accidental damage cover for at least 3 years. Hand over lots of money at purchase time and smile: you'll easily get it back.
- if you *ever* put a laptop into a laptop bag, secure it with the straps, because sooner or later you'll pick up the bag with a flap open and it'll fall out if the strap's not secured. It always falls on to a hard floor.
- If you leave it on a table next to your sofa, and you also put glasses of tea/wine/beer on the same table, you *will* eventually knock them over and soak the laptop, which will then require an engineer and new parts to fix it.
Other than the above, it's the way to go, despite all the problems, I couldn't live without my laptop, & take it everywhere!
Lafite
I've been using laptops as my main machine for over 15 years, both my own and in corporate environments. At home Mrs Lafite and the two teenage Lafites have laptops: wife a Vaio - fulfils all requirements by being pink. For kids - Dells, mainly for durability and the warranty/insurance/maintenance offers.
Laptops often have problems due to the constant need to make the electronics smaller, the performance better, to make the package itself lighter. In general this translates into too much heat being created with less ability to get it out of the machine, and everything's pretty bleeding-edge technology, so it's more likely to break.
This then increases the failure rate well above that of a desktop, and because so much of the machine is modular, bits are expensive to replace - often the whole motherboard because thats where everything resides. The fan is a critical part - if that goes, and if the machine doesn't shut down fast, you're in big trouble.
Current laptop is a Lenovo T61p, was top of the range when new, has had engineers out 4 times under warranty - screen problems, overheating (fan), Graphics card failed, and something on the motherboard broke.
I now always buy one with a 3 year warranty minimum (pay more for it), and upgrade to next-day onsite support. I also back it up daily, but I use it for work and home.
Its also worth checking on accidental damage: you're going to take it places and you will, eventually, drop it onto something hard. The screen will crack. You learn several things over time:
- if kids are going to use it, it needs warranty and accidental damage cover for at least 3 years. Hand over lots of money at purchase time and smile: you'll easily get it back.
- if you *ever* put a laptop into a laptop bag, secure it with the straps, because sooner or later you'll pick up the bag with a flap open and it'll fall out if the strap's not secured. It always falls on to a hard floor.
- If you leave it on a table next to your sofa, and you also put glasses of tea/wine/beer on the same table, you *will* eventually knock them over and soak the laptop, which will then require an engineer and new parts to fix it.
Other than the above, it's the way to go, despite all the problems, I couldn't live without my laptop, & take it everywhere!
Lafite
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Originally Posted by 61 Lafite
a Lenovo T61p, was top of the range when new, has had engineers out 4 times under warranty - screen problems, overheating (fan), Graphics card failed, and something on the motherboard broke.
I would second all of what you said, although aren't T-series supposed to have spill-proof keyboards with drain holes?
I got a Mac from John Lewis a few years ago, and when it was 2 days before the end of the 2 year warranty period (free with JL laptops), it started to repeatedly do the mac equivalent of the blue screen of death. JL collected it from my house in the middle of nowhere and delivered it back a week later having spent £600 on it, all for free, and the guys working on it phone every couple of days for the odd question and status update. So awesome.
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A has recommended that I go for one of these Acer laptops from Tesco site.
Would people who use laptops agree with this?
Would people who use laptops agree with this?
- Walk into computer shop
- Ask "what's the cheapest laptop you've got in stock right now?"
- Pay for it
- Walk away with laptop under arm
- Use laptop until lost/stolen/landed on (trials cycling with laptop in rucksack not good idea
) - Repeat process
Works for me, if nothing else because I hate shopping, and this approach minimises the amount of time I have to spend in the store.
