Gotta buy a new lap top....thoughts?
 

My 5+ yr old laptop just went T.U., and I need to procure a fairly new one soon. I've done the Mac-vs-Everyone else evaluation in my head, and basically decided that since all of my data (Quicken, Turbo-tax, email, etc) are in windows format (correct terminology?), Windows based would be more beneficial to me. Not only that, but I still can't justify spending that much more on what looks to be an equivelent performing system.

I use the pc for the normal bill paying/accounting, email, porn surfing, blah, de blah...I'm not a gamer (have a pS3 for that). Might end up using it for CAD at some point also (and to run my CNC router).

So I've spec'd out a Dell XPS right at about 1800 (2.0/2.9, 1T, 1080p display with 3D, blueray writer, etc) that I feel good about spec wise. My concern is the heat generation of this unit, and the usability of this machine as a part time home theater pc. I am bulding a home theater in my basement, and I'd like to pursue interactive pc on my screen at some point.

What I'm uncertain of is if these video systems are worth getting on a laptop. Is it going to end up being unusable, or such. I dont need the 3D display on the PC, but I think having that processor system on the machine would help when I need to either write a blue ray disc, or send video to my projector.....might be wrong....

Also, part of my thinking is that I will be able to get my old laptop to power up so that I can get the old data off of it......I'd be screwed if I cant.

Data retrieval isn't too hard. You just need to pull the hard drive from your old laptop and buy an enclosure for it. Then you essentially have an external hard drive that has all your data on it. (assuming that a hard drive failure wasn't what killed your laptop to start with). I've done it for like 5-6 friends before. Now I have a stock pile of laptop hard drives laying around since they don't want it after they get their data off, lol.

As per your other concerns, I can't justify macs either...everything else I wouldn't know about really, haven't looked in to higher end laptops before.

Check out the offerings from Samsung right now. They have several really good top tier laptops. They have also maintained very high ratings on them. I recently purchased a Series 9 for a client (ultra thin, ultra lightweight) who is extremely picky and always has computer issues. He has had zero issues in over three months of owning this unit and loves it. Boot speed with it is about 10-15 seconds. The longest it has been is 30 seconds when connecting to the profiles on the network in his office.

I am a big XPS fan but feel like Dell of late has been slipping in the upper tier department. I have never been much a fan of their lower rung choices.

For a solid business machine the Lenovo Thinkpads (Lenovo owns IBM's laptop business now) have been fantastic. I have deployed at least a dozen of these in the past 9 months for different clients and all have performed well. Theses are units costing in the 500 range so I am sure their upper tier offerings are just as good if not better.

Honestly for a home theater unit I would build my own desktop with two terabyte plus raided hard drives. Or buy one. It's just simpler that way and if networked in your home you could still access materials off it from your laptop or any other PC.

+1 on what TexasSP said.

I fully agree with this - but that will come later in the process. I wouldn't even be considering this if my current machine hadn't failed.

It's really the heat generation that I'm concerned about. Don't care about size and weight - its always sitting right next to my laz-y-boy and only there. Even my Inspiron has been affecting my due to heat (HAD to have jeans on to have it sit on my lap, and even then, I'd end up with a red spot on my leg from the heat).

If i was you I would buy a cheap cheap laptop. My current laptop (and my only computer) is a 3year old Compaq and I paid 300 for it at wallyworld. The only thing wrong with it so far is the battery only last for about 30 seconds, probably because it goes with me to the drag strip so i can tune my fuel management and i wore the battery out. Also I dont know about you, but all the cool bells and whistles i paid out the ass for on my old laptop, I never used. kind of a waste of money, hence the reason i bought a cheepie one this last time. Just my $0.02

I know you said that a macbook is pretty much out of the question but I have to stick my nose in here! I had 2 pc laptops before I switched to a macbook pro 1 1/2 years ago. My mac has never shut down on me, never froze up, the battery still lasts for a few hours, and it doesn't burn my legs like the pc's did. If it's that big of a deal that you don't want to mess around trying to convert some of your stuff to work on a mac or some important stuff might not be compatible then ok. If it's a price vs value aspect I would give mac another consideration. I really believe they must be using some higher end goods just based on the fact that the temperature on the bottom of the case is a good 40 degrees cooler on the mac, maybe even more.

Your mac cost around $2000, right? have you ever had a $2000 PC laptop with similar specs? You would find that they are usualy built better, have more options, etc... The high end sonys come to mind

There are valid reasons to have a mac, build quality is not one of them.



IMO, go with a dell XPS, (15/17in) get the upgraded video card AND the best screen they have, get the 3 year advanced warranty, do the rest yourself.

memory, HDDs, and CPUs are fairly easy to upgrade. 8gb DDR3 kits are going for under $35 on newegg now, and WD just came out with there 1tb laptop drive($110 IRRC)



the XPS won't be the best laptop for the $$$ but when it fails(ALL modern laptops do) you can't beat the next day warranty.


Lots of info here...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/

No, my MacBook pro was $1200. My last pc laptop was $900. The PC only lasted 2 years before it died

So what died?

first time, it needed a new motherboard, under warranty. Returned to me and was non functional, needed the HD replaced. This was what I was told at least by HP. Last time it died my computer guy said I needed a new motherboard. This is what happened to it at that point -
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/axWX-Lv42Hc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

HDDs fail, thats normal. Did it have a nvidia video "card" in it? I've fixed soooo many of the older HP DV laptops its not funny.

I've come across several of those HP DV6000/9000 and a friend has the cheaper version, the Compaq V3000 or V6000. All have had trouble with something on the motherboard. How did you fix the ones you came across? Reflowing the northbridge/graphics chip? My friend's V6000 first had the USB ports die, then the LCD got cracked. I took the screen off and made it into a thin lightweight desktop since the VGA port still worked. A few months later it wouldn't turn on at all however.

As far as getting a new laptop goes, Toshiba is my favorite brand since the ones I have are fairly easy to work on and don't cost much. I don't think I would ever put over $1000 into a laptop since a $600 or $700 one will do pretty much anything a $2000 one will do (unless you're looking for epic graphics chips or a 3D screen or multiple hard drive bays etc).
If you want something that's going to be really quick, get one with an SSD. They are pretty expensive and are fairly low capacity, but my SSD is what makes my desktop so snappy and responsive. The ideal setup would be to have an SSD and a 500GB+ drive in a laptop, but dual hard drive bays are slightly harder to find than single ones, especially in smaller 15.6" laptops. I have a 3 year old 17" Toshiba right now (16:10 ratio, so not as wide as most newer laptops) and it is really nice. I think I will buy a 15.6" next time, however, because the 17" screen is not as portable as I would like. Great for movies tho.

Good luck!

If you want a good desktop, AIO or laptop from HP, buy the commercial units. Take it from me, as I work there.

My family has 2 toshiba satellite laptops and love them...simple and cost effective

I still prefer a full custom built desktop at home as everything is a lot easier/cheaper to fix, and they can do anything with power to spare. Other times, I use my phone for internet/email/etc. I have a couple of older still perfectly usable laptops but they hardly get used unless I travel for vacation or something.

By the way, has anyone tried Ubuntu 11 yet? It's the first time I installed Linux on a new box and and old box where it found all the hardware perfectly. Usually, I have to fiddle with the command line to get stuff to work. And the UI seems quite usable too. I find myself working with it more and more unless I want to play games or something.

I'm also curious on the fix for the old hp dv series laptops. I have one that works for about 5 minutes and then stops working. I think its a mb or video issue and something overheats on the mb.

I'm also agreed with the guys that say to buy a separate computer for an htpc. I always buy a cheapo laptop for around 400 or so and then put my money into my main pc.

You might want to check sites like techbargains.com. They will have coupon codes on a lot of the dell stuff posted regularly.

Damn straight, because their non consumer/home units suck!

The Nvidia 8600 (can't remember the rest of the model number) had major issues due to flawed components. They failed in every computer they were in including Mac's.

Little note, Mac's fail too. I have seen it several times. They also use the SAME components as PC's and have for quite a few years now. So if you buy an equivalent PC with like components hardware reliability will be equal. My other big issue with Mac is their non-compatibility with much of what I use. Funny thing is that every client I have using a Mac runs bootcamp with Win7. You know what OS they use most of the time?????? Win7.................. Mac's will always have limited market share due to their limitations they put on themselves.

J, I highly suggest checking out the Samsung offerings, they have everything you want, are priced competitively, have good warranties without a buy up, and are of very high quality. If you plan on storing Media I strongly suggest getting a high capacity external hard drive and storing it on there. Easiest thing is to tie it into your wireless router and access it over your network. If you want a movie or something to take with you on the go, copy it over.

I own XPS machines and I loved them, I am just not happy with what they have become in recent years. If you are buying a Dell, the XPS is the way to go though. Fortunately Dell's servers still seem to be top notch which is mostly what I install with a few HP's thrown in here and their.

In the end I deal with computers from ALL manufacturers day in and day out. I see what works and what doesn't. I only perform service and do not do retail so I am pretty unbiased as to what people buy and use from a sales standpoint. I simply recommend what works. I put everything in from high end brand new units to refurbished and off lease units. I see the good and bad and base my opinions on this. My customers like it because I give straight answers and don't feed them bull because I happen to have a contract with XYZ computer company.

Oh boy, well to begin with, everything that TexasSP has said, is pretty much what I was going to say.

The Samsung Series 9's have been really awesome, we sell them quite frequently at work..

The HP's, such as the DV2/6/7/9 series are notorious for their GPU chip soldering jobs.
It's quite pathetic really.
Now that's it's school, I really only work once a week (Saturdays) but even then, I'm seeing at least 2-3 reflow or motherboard replacements just sitting on the shelves waiting to be picked up or waiting for parts.

Toshbia's aren't bad, however they're definitely not my cup of tea.
They feel way too cheap IMO, and we haven't worked on many due to hardware issues, but the amount of crapware they put on is absurd.

Dell XPS laptops are pretty nice really, they're customizable and all that jazz, their warranty is also fantastic.
They're usually pretty good, I'd much rather grab a refurbished laptop over a new laptop, if you can get an extended warranty.

IMO, if I were to get a PC, I kinda of want something nice and thin, like those Samsung Series 9, or the Thinkpads, which seem to take on anything and just keep going.

Overall, either way, whatever you get, I'd recommend wiping it right away, and reinstalling Windows.

This way you don't need to deal with all that crapware manufacturers put on, with all their trials and nonsese.

Just my 2 cents; good luck!

I used to reload windows when I purchased new PC's, however now I just download and run CCleaner and remove it all.

The Dell warranty is nice though and next day on site repair is awesome. Another nice thing with the XPS line is you get XPS support which is US and Canada based.

I am with you on the Toshibas. They seem nice but have cheap outer components and buttons always seem to come off much like the Sony Vaio's.

Another one to check out is Prostar. They have a great reputations for high end customizable laptops. I have one client that has had one for 4 years with literally zero issues.

http://www.pro-star.com/

I'm gonna go check out those Sammy's.

On another forum, someone recommended ASUS as a possibility. They have some unique features, but I'm not thrilled with the RAID array.

I'm also on the fence about what SSD would do for me. Cost isn't really an issue, but I am concerned that I'd kill the low memory with them. Are there aftermarket means of increasing or aleviating this. It seems that graphics are what I end up freezing my machines with most of the time.

To me, the SSD's are too high priced to be worth it at this point. They are fast and almost impervious to damage though. Don't think you really need or would benefit from RAID with what you described. There are also hybrid drives which are faster than standard but much less costly than SSD.

Asus are okay, but to me they still need to prove themselves a little more. I have seen them have issues.

Make sure to get 6-8 gb of memory and a 1gb or better graphics card and you will be okay on that front. At least a core I5 or I7 and you will be rocking!

I've seen some nice Asus one's out there, they're pretty nice, though I haven't really dealt with them too much.

As far as SSD goes, they're amazing, but for the price, I'd pass.
But if cost isn't an issue, then by all means go for it.
However, if somehow your SSD does become corrupt & crashes; retrieving the data is next to impossible; or so I've heard.

However, with TRIM support and all the goodies supported by OS's, you should be quite fine.

The 120 gig SSD's have come down in price a bunch and at around $150 with 500mb/s they are super fast. Big problem is you still have a lot of them failing. I say give it some time, but they will get there eventually. I decided to go raid 0 with the 1tb samsung drives for my home pc and it smokes.

I've been using SSD drives for a while now and none have failed in my laptops, portable drives and desktops. But for desktops I still prefer a WD 10Krpm drives.

Get an IBM/Lenovo thinkpad without a doubt, they are as good a laptop as anyone's, but as far as I have seen are the only ones to have forward and back web navigation hotkeys above the cursor keys, it makes web surfing much easier 24/7 but especially so if you need easy one handed operation.

It grinds my gears, no one would buy a mouse without forward and back buttons these days, yet on laptops were expected to trudge all over the screen with the trackpad/rollerball/nipple or remember the 2 button combination hotkeys and use both hands which is a PITA. What REALLY grinds my gears is that some Mfg's laptops have a pair of blanked off caps above the cursor buttons where they could easily put forward and back buttons but chose not to for whatever reason, GRRRrrrr! Anyway god bless IBM for their quality of life improvements, I shall be sticking with you at least until the others catch on to the importance of ergonomics.

I dual boot with windows XP to run all my old software (its an old machine, but I have a desktop too so am not bothered about upgrading often) and Ubuntu which I primarily use for browsing (and Brian Ubuntu found and installed drivers for all my stuff automatically on both my and my dads laptop, installing was much easier than with windows) which is a good solution for getting the security of a Mac (and lower temps/longer battery life, Ubuntu asks a lot less from a PC to run than Win does) with the compatibility, design variety and price of a Windows PC.

If you do buy an IBM laptop and follow the tip above to reinstall windows to remove all the bloatware, i would recommend you back up and reinstall the IBM hard drive software as it senses a zero G freefall situation and parks the hard drive before it hits the ground avoiding any damage, my 2004 IBM T42 has fallen of the arm of my armchair onto the wooden floor in my lounge countless times without damage and I see that as a testament to the software.

or... you could just install non oem drivers for the touchpad to enable multitouch...:na:

I don't use the touch pad at all - can't stand trying to move around with it. Wireless/bluetooth mouse all the way for me.

I think I have narrowed it down to the HP 3D 17", the XPS 17", or an ASUS. I've got a business discount at Dell (@16% off), a 30% off with HP, nothing for ASUS. I looked at the Sammy's, but they dont appear to have the specs that I want - thier website details are not geared towards "technical" shoppers.

HP has a dual drive available - so I could get both SSD and standard - I'd have to go back and configure it to get the specs.

Frustrated trying to find local places that carry high end laptops. One of the downfalls of the internet I guess. I'd pay a little more to be able to have one today instead of waiting 2 weeks for one to be built, but it appears that I dont have that option available to me.

Laptops
 

We have 8 laptops in our family. Three of them are Macbook Pros. The only reason we have the Apples is because the school our kids go to require them. The one I am using right now is a Toshiba and it works great for $700. Intel I-5, 360gb Hdd. We have a 6 year old Dell that still works, and we use that one for visitor that stay with us on vacation. Otherwise we hate it. We also have two HP laptops and they seem to work just fine for the money. If I have learned one thing it is that you can make just about any laptop last a long time if you truly take care of it, and keep your anti-virus up to date. Its pretty easy today with automatic updates as long as you keep your software current.

Considering your first post about considering $1800 for a laptop I would just get yourself a decent Toshiba, Lanovo, or HP laptop for around $700, and then build yourself a pretty nice desktop to do all of your household PC stuff including the home theater setup. We have a ten year old Compaq desktop in the kids TV room for a media PC, and they stream all of the TV shows they want and listen to music anytime they feel the need. I have a home made desktop as our Command Center that controls all of our network needs and keeps an eye on everything the kids are up to computer wise. Trust me you don't need a $2000 laptop to be satisfied. deversify and this way you have a back up in case anything goes wrong. Use a portable HDD and do periodic backups and you will never run into a problem with a dead PC again. Hell you can get a terribite Passport that fits into your shirt pocket for under $100. If that is not big enough to store your backup data needs, then you need to be using a server.

I just remembered there is Fry's about 30 miles south of us. I'm going to run down there as soon as I come to grips with the fact that the Seaflops have no chance of winning.....:neutral:

Like I said before, I do plan to build a HTPC. Honestly though, that's going to be a while down the road. Gotta get the room finished first (its all framed and mostly wired. Got some additional house electrical to wrap up before I can start soundproofing and sheetrocking).

My idea of using this as a part time HTPC is if I've got video that I'd like to watch on the big screen, I can just send it wirelessly to it as needed. But that might be a naive look at it - not sure if I have the correct equipment yet to receive wireless like that (I think my PS3 can do that...)

I agree with the antivirus. I've been very happy just using the Microsoft Defender system. The only times I've ever had any issues is with XP updates. Just restore back to previous config and good to go.

Yes but???
 

Yes I think we got that, but what everyone is trying to tell you is that you do not need to spend $1800-$2000 on a laptop to have a good PC based system which will accomplish your desires. The PC market in general is very flakey right now, and prices are dropping across the board. If you are not a serious PC gamer anything over $1000 is a waste of money looking at what is presently available at the moment. Look you have the right to spend your money any way you like, but you came in here asking for opinions and advice regarding your laptop plans. At least listen to the masses and consider what they have to say. The desktop that I am using for our home Command center was originally built (by me) in 1993-93. This was my first PC desktop and with the help of a close friend I hand picked all of the components and put it together myself without any previous training. Of course over the last 15+ years I have gradually replaced nearly every component as I kept upgrading the original system. keep an open mind and do some research, but listen to the experience being shared on here. TexasP and a few of the other guys posting not only have experience, but work in the PC industry and can give you some pretty good first hand knowledge on the subject.

what HP and asus? both companies make good and crap laptops...

Jerry - what the heck makes you think I have not taken into consideration the advice given? I also got advice on another forum (one specific to HTPC users). Just because I'm not following your "model of need" to the tee, doesn't mean I did not think about it.

The only two machines that I have been able to find locally that have the three features I want (BD player, 1900x1020 screen, and numeric keypad) are the HP ENVY 17" (@$1400) and the ASUS 17" A1 (@$1700).

A BD player is easy to add later. You can find the drives for under $100 on ebay. Do you know that you need to pay for a decent program to play them? I have yet to find any free ones that will play all BD movies out there...


If you don't need something right now, check with dell/HP/asus return policies to see if you can try them out for a few days. IMO I would NEVER buy something from a B&M store unless it was a super deal.



Don't pay for an memory or HDD upgrades from the man. memory is dirt cheap, and a good aftermarket HDD will have a 5 year warranty.(unlike the laptop)



EDIT: another thing you can do is order over the phone/kiosk in the mall. You can usually haggle your way to a 5-10% discount

Calm down
 

Calm down Thiessen dont get mad because we are trying to share our advice with you. You started this thread asking us for advice and info, but your continuing communication seems to be that you have already made up your mind. Please share with us why the resolution on a laptop is so important, when you stated that you would be connecting this to your home theater system, which would pretty much make the resolution on the laptop itself a none issue. Plus as stated one can add HDD's and memory much cheaper after market through suppliers, rather than paying top dollar from major PC dealers. If you are hell bent on spending $1800-$2000 on a laptop regardless of the great info being supplied on here, than why did you ask? Please don't take it so personal as we are only trying to help to advance your research and maybe save you a few bucks in the process as you requested. There are ways to avoid paying through the nose for PC gear that you can get much cheaper through other venues. I did not come in here to battle with you, but to try and help just like a few others are.

soooo, what did you buy?

Yes, I agree; what did you end up buying!?

Sorry guys - been putting in 70 hour weeks here. I ended up with the HP Envy noted above. Seems great so far - only complaint I would have is that it doesn't have the matte screen. Taking a bit to get adjusted to the size too - but its not much heavier than my old 15" Dell.

You can always pick up a matte screen:wink: check ebay, any screen that is the same size will bolt right up.

Nice!

I actually like the HP Envy series, they're pretty nice!
They have a MacBook look to them, which honestly, appeals to me.
Simple, sleek, and beautiful.

We haven't seen many Envys in the shop, except one... Where the lady was just.. well, let's just say there was never an issue.... :whistle:

They don't seem to have the same issues the DV series has, so woo!

Hope it runs for years to come!

Not exactly.
There are different connectors in different models, usually, you can just get lucky and get one; but there ARE other specific ones per specific laptops.

That's why when a laptop comes into the shop, we either start looking through our screen stack for a viable option, or order a replacement right as we get it regardless of it's # in queue, so when we're ready to work on that laptop, the part is handy.