[lorry86]

I' ve had a Dell Inspiron 600m for almost 4 years which has had its share of problems but any tech help has been covered by my warranty. I now want to buy a new one for graduate school. I cannot deal with Mac computers but I am unsure if to stay with Dell due to tech support or try an HP or Sony. Also is Vista that bad? I have XP but it seems everyone wa nts to buy new computers with XP. Any suggestions? I'm willing to spend up to $2,000

Thanks!

[masterjim]

Take a look at Fujitsu,Acer,Toshiba Tecra and Sony here: www.notebookshop.com
XP is still available there too.

[RedHelix]

If you're uncomfortable with switching out of Dell because of their tech support, why not stay with them? Personally I hate Dell computers and don't even scrap them for parts, but if they've served you well then go with what you know.

On the flipside, Asus is probably the best laptop manufacturer there is, in terms of cost-effectiveness and reliability. They come with a 2 year out-of-box warranty with (I think) a 7-day guaranteed turnaround time from the manufacturer on repairs.

If you're using a machine strictly for working, you might also want to look at Asus eee. They're tiny, $400 work-oriented laptops that have been taking the industry by storm since November.

[JohnWill]

I really can't visualize doing a lot of "work" on the Asus Eee PC! It's tiny, and principally useful for very limited duty, like some casual web browsing and email. Can you really imagine having to use that minuscule keyboard for long periods of time? You also have very limited storage, not to mention the performance...

[lorry86]

Regardless of brand I need a computer that would be used primarily for research. So Excel and Statistical scientific programs will be used regularly. Other things running will be my itunes and a dvd player.

[RedHelix]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

I really can't visualize doing a lot of "work" on the Asus Eee PC! It's tiny, and principally useful for very limited duty, like some casual web browsing and email. Can you really imagine having to use that minuscule keyboard for long periods of time? You also have very limited storage, not to mention the performance...

Pfff, I typed most of my thesis paper on heuristic scanning on my old smartphone, haha

Though for lory's purposes, which we've just learned probably requires editing massive, sprawling spreadsheets rather than writing line-by-line papers, yeah, the Eee is a bad idea

[masterjim]

You might also consider HP and Lenovo. HP is number one and has the best tech support according to a JD Powers survey. You can find HP laptops almost anywhere these days. They do run on the hot side so I would get a laptop cooling pad too. My first computer was an HP laptop. Excellent hardware and tech support. Lenovo(formerly IBM) is number one in the business world and has the best keyboard of any laptop if you do a lot of typing. Fujitsu has the best and brightest screens and are built in Japan.(number one there too) Acer is number one in Europe and gives you the most bang for your buck. The new Acers are designed by BMW. Asus is excellent too. I prefer Fujitsu and Acer since they make their own parts in the same factory and tend to run cooler than other brands (magnesium chassis and more air ducts). Add Asus and those are my top three.

[lorry86]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Just wondering, since i know HP's are everywhere...are their warranty through the store you buy it or directly with HP. Cause I definitely don't want to deal with people like Geek Squad. And are most of those companies tech help were u send out your laptop to be fixed if nothing works over the phone? I know Dell is definitely annoying with all the phone calls to India that take hours and days to find the problem but at least they send someone local to replace stuff I cant figure it out how to.

[caraewilton]

I live in South Africa, so I don't know if everything applies, but here is my opinion.

In SA, acer offer the best after sales in warranty and out of warranty support. There prices are very good to. We have a variety of acer laptops, from the very cheap bottom of the range to the very expensive tablet laptops. All of these laptops have worked well and stood the test of time, some of them hitting 4 years old with never a glitch.

Toshiba have some excellent midrange laptops which are solid and give few problems. But the upmarket ones are simply over priced and the bottom of the range are very dodgy. In SA part take a while to get, but the laptops are pretty simple to open up for that sort of major maintenance.

We also have a couple of sony viao machines. After sales support non existent. I really don't like these pc's.

HP/Compaq have great laptops to. The only reason why we no longer buy them is that there aftersales support is shocking and they will not even fix things that are acknowledged manufacturing faults!

I personally use a dell. I really like my little dell as it is a solid machine which thus far, have given me no problems. It also came with almost no extra junk installed, although I know that this is not always the case. That said, my particular model is a nightmare to open up. For instance if I want to up the ram, the ram slot is located under the keyboard and requires using a screw driver and prayer to lift off the keyboard. Technical help from the help desk is limited as the people don't seem to know much, but if things go horribly wrong on a machine still under warranty, a call to Ireland produces results, like within 48 hours the machine had been picked up and replaced with a new one.

I could go on about other makes, but I need to go to work, so in conclusions, to locals who ask me. If they are advanced users who can get around a machine, I recommend Dell and tentatively HP. To others, I always recommend the acers, simply because if they get stuck they can phone the toll free acer support and they technical guys are really helpful. If the machine is broken, acer even pick it up, fix it and return within three days if under warranty, about a week if not.

[caraewilton]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

I really can't visualize doing a lot of "work" on the Asus Eee PC! It's tiny, and principally useful for very limited duty, like some casual web browsing and email. Can you really imagine having to use that minuscule keyboard for long periods of time? You also have very limited storage, not to mention the performance...

My boss has one of those tiny sony viao machines, about the size of an A5 page (half a regular page). She loves the thing and uses it for all her work. That said she has tiny hands. Whenever she needs help with it (fairly regular, those sony's are over rated) I end up plugging in a usb keyboard and mini mouse as I simply can't type on the thing. Please keep in mind I am a woman too, and do not have excessively big hands. So got to agree, those little pc's are not great for real work unless you are very petite.

[masterjim]

Dell laptops in the USA are notorious for breaking down. They have a 1 in 4 failure rate. They are made in Malaysia and have tech support outsourced to India. Jeff Levy,who does a radio show on computers in Los Angeles does not recommend Dell laptops. On the other hand, Dell makes excellent desktops and Jeff Levy recommends Dell,HP and Gateway desktops. A friend of a friend had a new Dell laptop fail right after the warranty expired (motherboard and/or graphics card issue). If you want a Dell laptop get the extended warranty,at least 3 years. My HP laptop lasted 5 years and I'm on my second year going on 3 years with my Acer laptop. Jeff Levy would recommend Fujitsu,Toshiba Tecra series,Sony and Acer in laptops. More info at www.askjefflevy.com and www.jefflevy.com which has Windows and Mac lessons and show notes.