[Yager]

OK,,,,


so I have it narrowed down to Toshiba, HP and Fujitsu Life book


all are under $850
all are 2 GB memory, 1.66 or better processor, more than 100 GB HDrive.
and I think all have cam/mic and DVDRW.

I'm just not a laptop expert and not sure which brand makes the "better" machine.




these will be used for surfing, paying bills, uploading pictures and chatting and emails.


PLEASE do not suggest a DELL, I've learned the hard way.

Please only tell me which of the 3 you would pic or will last longer with less problems and which one has customer service that is not in India and unlike DELL.

Thanks.

[Yager]

Please,,, one at a time guys..

[n2gun]

Check your local Circuit City or look online. They have a Toshiba with these specs

Satellite Laptop features 1GB memory and 120GB hard drive.
• AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor TK-55.
• Built-in wireless b/g .
• Burns and plays DVDs and CDs.
• Windows Vista™ Home Premium

Locally its $449.99 after rebate of $180.oo

[Yager]

man, this site has always been a lot more helpful than this...



almost a week later and over 70 views I only get one respond?!



does anyone here have some experience with these three laptops and can recommend which one to get?

[adamm321]

Hi Yager...

Sorry you are not able to get more input. I see in this forum there are a couple of other threads on this topic. One has 115 posts to it. Not all on topic though. I have been shopping for a computer too, so I can't be of much help. I don't have any experience with any of those manufacturers. I have a Dell right now.

I have noticed though, that a lot of people on this site build their own machines and there is less discussion about commercial machines. You might want to google those brand names with the word 'comparison' and see if you can find a forum discussion on them.

Good luck..
adam

[Yager]

build their own laptops???

[JohnWill]

One reason I don't respond to most threads of this nature is it's so subjective. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

My recommendation is to scan the reviews of various models and pick from the better ones. You also have to read the fine print in the reviews to see where they were nit-picking and where there were real flaws.

[Yager]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

One reason I don't respond to most threads of this nature is it's so subjective. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

My recommendation is to scan the reviews of various models and pick from the better ones. You also have to read the fine print in the reviews to see where they were nit-picking and where there were real flaws.

That's just it,,, for a person who knows nothing about Laptops how can I know/tell which brand has been producing the best machines!?

I'm asking for the experts "what brand/model Laptop has had the best performance and reviews in the past year"

[RedHelix]

Thats the problem, Yager; nobody really knows how well a laptop holds up until it's had a decent amount of time on the market. A year isn't really long enough to review a laptop unless you're PC Magazine and the manufacturer is padding your pockets.

Other than that, all you can really go by is manufacturer trends, and most of the time that just boils down to a matter of opinion. (Besides eMachines anyway, which all suck without exception.)

[JohnWill]

Originally Posted by RedHelix

(Besides eMachines anyway, which all suck without exception.)

ROTFL!

[adamm321]

Just in case you are still looking for more information, I found this site....

www.notebookreviews.com

adam

[adamm321]

Ooops....sorry about that. Good thing I clicked on the link in my post. It does not go to the correct site.

It is www.notebookreview.com

[iltos]

Originally Posted by RedHelix

Other than that, all you can really go by is manufacturer trends, and most of the time that just boils down to a matter of opinion. (Besides eMachines anyway, which all suck without exception.)

hey...wait a minute

i can't vouch for any new ones out there (are there any?....i don't even know) but mine is six years old and i'm only now starting to think it's time for a change (getting a bit noisy)

maybe it's was the only one made to last....dunno

leaning towards an acer, fwiw....

[Space Cowboy]

FWIW I'd steer clear of any Sony VIAO's

[captainphoenix]

They don't make 'em like they used to, but I owned three HP's back in the days when 3.11 ruled the world and AOL was just an acronym and they were excellent. I've never heard of Fujitsu Life, but Toshiba has experienced a dip in general quality in most of their electronics recently (most noteably in televisions), and the only person I knew to own a Toshiba laptop did nothing but complain from day 1 until it crashed fataly less than a year after he purchased it. It caused him such loathe that he immediately switched back to desktops and personally boycotted laptops entirely. I did own an HP laptop starting in around November of 2003, and it finally kicked the bucket around february of 2006; I was pleased with its performance, but it inevitably fell prey to the change in times (256MB of RAM was no longer premium) and eventually simply stopped loading despite dozens of attemts to reformat. I would like to say, though, that the processor was slow even for it's time, and it gave me nothing but problems despite claims of what were at the time great processor speeds and large amounts of RAM; in my two experiences owning a computer powered by AMD, I was quite displeased. I would like to point out, though, that the person I gave it to did invest around 600-800 bucks in repairs and got it up and running - albeit poorly - and it still is in use today. I suggest that you stay away from the Toshiba and am inclined to trust the HP, but do take this with a bit of a grain of salt knowing that my experiences with HP might be out of date and the Toshiba thing might just be the halo effect. I can say, however, that I have had multiple experiences with AMD processors (although only owned two) and have had friends that had laptops with AMD's and every one has been subpar. I'd say if either one of the three is an AMD give it the boot. Hope this helps!