Philip Perkins Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 I need a PC laptop--nothing fancy, it just needs to run the new "native" Sadie 6 (which ran on a 6 yr old Dell I borrowed this week). Whatever it ends up being has to use 32 bit WXP or 7 for now (not 64 bit and not Home versions). Lots of strange brands out there---are Acers ok? Dells? I'm looking at a sub $1k box to do simple edits, no recording or etc.. phil p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimPitot Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 In my experience, stay well away from Acer. I had a motherboard fail on mine which basically rendered it a very expensive paper weight. I have since been told that they are cheaper than the 'bigger' brands because they use low end components in their machines. This was a few years back though, so maybe they have pulled finger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 Dells are fine. HPs are good, too. I liked the Sony laptops for a long time, just because they seemed to have the same design sensibility as Apple's. Whatever you buy, make sure you try out the pointing devices; some of the trackpads out there are terrible. (Like the one on the Eeesus netbooks.) --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 Can not go wrong with asus!!!!!!!!!! 15 years user. Never had a problem. using a 2 years old N50 at the moment. Never failed me! Dells are fine. HPs are good, too. I liked the Sony laptops for a long time, just because they seemed to have the same design sensibility as Apple's. Whatever you buy, make sure you try out the pointing devices; some of the trackpads out there are terrible. (Like the one on the Eeesus netbooks.) --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 Lenovo ThinkPads, at least their non-cheapest versions, seem to hold up pretty well. I may buy one next week (end of year sales + tax write off). Don't go too cheap...the under-$700 laptops appear to generally have flimsier chassis and cases... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Reineke Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 'This months' (Jan. 2011) PC World magizine had a best and worst reliability survey on laptops. Dell and HP were the losers. Apple, Asus and Toshiba the winners. I don't think you can view the article without a subscription so. Best to worst: Apple Asus Toshiba MSI Sony Samsung Acer HP (business) Lenovo Alienware Compact Dell (business) Gateway Dell HP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Daddyo Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 Rick, It really depends on the model. Consumer Reports rates many Dell laptop models better than Asus and Toshiba and in some cases rates some HP models better than Toshiba. Most Apple models were rated very well but were more than twice the cost of most of the PCs. I've always found Consumer Reports to be very accurate in their testing and ratings. Andy 'This months' (Jan. 2011) PC World magizine had a best and worst reliability survey on laptops. Dell and HP were the losers. Apple, Asus and Toshiba the winners. I don't think you can view the article without a subscription so. Best to worst: Apple Asus Toshiba MSI Sony Samsung Acer HP (business) Lenovo Alienware Compact Dell (business) Gateway Dell HP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 " In my experience, stay well away from Acer. " beware the sample of one. no brand has not had some problems... We have had some bad Apples, too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 Rick, It really depends on the model. Consumer Reports rates many Dell laptop models better than Asus and Toshiba and in some cases rates some HP models better than Toshiba. Most Apple models were rated very well but were more than twice the cost of most of the PCs. I've always found Consumer Reports to be very accurate in their testing and ratings. Andy I have had actually the exact opposite experience with Consumer Reports regarding their reports on computers. Computer Reports has been very sloppy in their comparisons of cost, model for model, amongst the various computers they have rated. They have consistently been wrong when they have tried to compare Macs to any of the other computers (all PCs). They do a much better job when comparing PCs to PCs (by PC I mean a computer running Microsoft Windows OS). That said, I did quite a lot of research after Rado had recommended Asus and relayed his personal experiences with that manufacturer. I am convinced that they make really good reliable computers and if you have to have a computer running Windows it would be as good choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted December 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 Thanks. I'm looking for a PC laptop to essentially be an APPLIANCE, like just run that one app and its attendants (MP3 convertors, Wave Agent etc), not a general purpose machine. That's why it has to be cheap. May look for a used one, but knowing the brands is a big help there too. phil p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 I have personally been very happy with recently discontinued and/or refurbished computers, laptops and "towers". try the refurb section of www.tigerdirect.com I often add additional memory to my refurb computers to fill them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Reineke Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 Rick, It really depends on the model. Consumer Reports rates many Dell laptop models better than Asus and Toshiba and in some cases rates some HP models better than Toshiba. Most Apple models were rated very well but were more than twice the cost of most of the PCs. I've always found Consumer Reports to be very accurate in their testing and ratings. Andy Just conveying what I read in the mag. This was a PC World 'survey'. For more info on the number of respondents and methodology one should read the article. Have a nice holiday. Cheers, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted December 25, 2010 Report Share Posted December 25, 2010 Wait for this: ASUS Eee Pad EP121 Teaser Video - CES 2011 IT WILL BE AWESOME! Just conveying what I read in the mag. This was a PC World 'survey'. For more info on the number of respondents and methodology one should read the article. Have a nice holiday. Cheers, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfisk Posted December 25, 2010 Report Share Posted December 25, 2010 I have to say, I've been very impressed with what I've been seeing in terms of price to performance ratio when looking at windows laptops. I am currently an apple user, but I've been thinking of getting a second machine, and I've heard good things about Toshiba. I haven't heard of Asus, but I've been out of the windows machine market for a long time, and ones that I have used have been custom built by my employers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 ASUS is an established company...They've made OEM PC motherboards (and other equipment) for lots of desktop machines from a bunch of companies...perhaps even the ones built by your employers. Ya, there are lots of crappy Windows laptops out there...also plenty of good ones. I currently have a MacBook Pro and a HP laptop. The MBP is newer and fancier. The HP works well enough... Though as I said earlier, if I buy another Windows laptop, it will probably be a Lenovo ThinkPad (and will also run Ubuntu, so that's not really Windows...) Phil, what did/will you end up ordering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Gilbert Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 I just bought a Samsung Q330 which is a great little machine, available in 32 or 64 bit variants, good price and good machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted December 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2010 ASUS is an established company...They've made OEM PC motherboards (and other equipment) for lots of desktop machines from a bunch of companies...perhaps even the ones built by your employers. Ya, there are lots of crappy Windows laptops out there...also plenty of good ones. I currently have a MacBook Pro and a HP laptop. The MBP is newer and fancier. The HP works well enough... Though as I said earlier, if I buy another Windows laptop, it will probably be a Lenovo ThinkPad (and will also run Ubuntu, so that's not really Windows...) Phil, what did/will you end up ordering? Feelin' poor, thinkin' Craigslist, at least right now. Sadie 6 still wants 32 bit, and for simple stuff a lowtech computer will work (but I don't want a used Brand X laptop). I too like those IBM/Lenovos (had one for awhile), but I notice everyone who is sellng one is down in San Jose....long schlep. phil p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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