Favorite laptop?

[Papa_Complex]

Originally Posted by fatbuckRTO

Have a low-end Dell Vostro from 2008 that's still going strong. It had some sort of weird problem with a pinstripe screen of death for a couple years, where if I left it on for 24 hours or more it would sometimes lock up and put pinstripes on my screen, but during those years I had the NMCI smartcard software loaded on it. Once I took that off and reformatted, I have had zero problems with the laptop.

NMCI destroys every computer component it touches.

I also have a Dell Inspiron that I got as a hand-me-down, it's from the 2008 / 2009 time-frame. I use it as my primary now because it's a little more powerful and a little more up-to-date (runs Vista, so I've caught up with the last decade). My wife recently sat on it accidentally during a road trip, for about 30 minutes. It was in a cheap Targus case. That laptop is still running fine.

We used Dell Latitudes in Kuwait and Iraq, where we worked in not-dust-tight-at-all-and-air-conditioned-sometimes tents. We cleaned them off at least once a week, and they ran fine for a year in the desert. They were at least two years old at the time, and they were still running fine at the end of the deployment.

Long story short, I recommend Dell.

I've used and serviced a pretty large number of notebooks, over the years. Dell were the first I actually liked. I've used a bunch of Dell Latitude units and rebuilt units from abused scraps left over from clients, and they've all worked well for me. I beat a small XPS unit to death over the course of 3 years by carrying it in my saddlebags, and now have a Dell Vostro. It was the best performance I could get, for a good price, while sticking with Dell.

[LeeNetworX]

Slice, in the price range you are looking at (No more than $700-800) you aren't going to find exactly what you are looking for - your list of requirements don't match up with the money you want to spend. You're going to have to spend more or be willing to live without some thing(s) on your wishlist.

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

Slice, in the price range you are looking at (No more than $700-800) you aren't going to find exactly what you are looking for - your list of requirements don't match up with the money you want to spend. You're going to have to spend more or be willing to live without some thing(s) on your wishlist.

Glad someone finally said it.

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

Slice, in the price range you are looking at (No more than $700-800) you aren't going to find exactly what you are looking for - your list of requirements don't match up with the money you want to spend. You're going to have to spend more or be willing to live without some thing(s) on your wishlist.

I won't be able to get a full SSD one, but there are several hybrids below that price.

And as for being thin & lightweight, that's not as much a priority as having an optical drive. As long as it's under 5 lbs that's fine with me.

Will probably go Newegg, but I'm also scouting Ebay to see if I can trust any of those sellers. Only advantage being some have Office already installed.

[Papa_Complex]

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

Slice, in the price range you are looking at (No more than $700-800) you aren't going to find exactly what you are looking for - your list of requirements don't match up with the money you want to spend. You're going to have to spend more or be willing to live without some thing(s) on your wishlist.

Solid State Drive is a pipe dream and way too expensive at the moment, for not enough drive space. Otherwise, this should fit the requirements. The backlit keyboard is actually pretty useful. When I bought, I thought that it was just a stupid gimmick.

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/vostro-3460/fs

[Gas Man]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

So apparently a lot of Toshibas have shitty touchpads that are way too sensitive?

BTW, what's with resellers who sell refurbs, and remove the Microsoft COA stickers? Is that to prevent the buyer from trying to call MS for support, and then having MS discover that this company sells tons of laptops without wiping the software first?

Cant comment on the touch pads. I never use em, hate them all regardless of the brand of pc. I can tell ya, that my Toshiba's now have a button right abv them that turns them off, which is nice.

[Rangerscott]

Most HDDs that come in lappys are slow. I replaced my lappys hdd with one out of an external case hdd ajd its a3-4 fast. I just got that hdd for cheap on a black friday. Wasnt expecting anything special.

If you can find what u want but yas a crappy hdd then Id snag it and just replace it.

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by Rangerscott

Most HDDs that come in lappys are slow. I replaced my lappys hdd with one out of an external case hdd ajd its a3-4 fast. I just got that hdd for cheap on a black friday. Wasnt expecting anything special.

If you can find what u want but yas a crappy hdd then Id snag it and just replace it.

Usually some 5400rpm slug.
Upgrading to a 7200 unit makes a huge difference but the tradeoff is battery life.
I'd pick up whatever laptop meets my needs and then pick up a SSD separately.
Bare minimum would be a 128gb Samsung 830, Crucial M4 or Plexter (under $100 on sale).
256gb would be just about right if you catch them on sale ($170-$200)

[Smittie61984]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

So apparently a lot of Toshibas have shitty touchpads that are way too sensitive?

Yes they are. My old one wasn't bad but my new one is insane. I keep somehow zooming in and out with it but I can't figure out how. IT does have a lock for it though. But if I could figure out how to adjust the sensitivity it'd be the best touch pad on the market.

[Rangerscott]

Originally Posted by pauldun170

Usually some 5400rpm slug.
Upgrading to a 7200 unit makes a huge difference but the tradeoff is battery life.
I'd pick up whatever laptop meets my needs and then pick up a SSD separately.
Bare minimum would be a 128gb Samsung 830, Crucial M4 or Plexter (under $100 on sale).
256gb would be just about right if you catch them on sale ($170-$200)

Its not just rpm speed. Its read/write speeds.