I need a new notebook. I hate to contribute to the cluttering of the board with stupid fuckin threads like “hewp me, i need a new notebook!” but the fact of the matter is, i trust most of you guys more than some pimply kid at the office supply store or elitist computer geeks on computer forums that will tell me i need the $4,000 Noveske of notebooks and nothing less.
my notebook has been making “crunchy” sounds, usually accompanied by odd “squaks” and “squeeks,” which is quickly followed by a drastic digression of performance for an indefinate period of time. today it’s been giving me a warning that says something to the effect of “self-destruct sequence activated, better back up your shit.” everythings already backed up on an external disk, though.
my current notebook is a dell inspiron 1501… got it at wally world for $500 about a year and a half ago. before that i had a Toshiba Somethingerother that Uncle Sam paid something around $2,300 for… it lasted me 5-6 years and never gave me any problems, till i put my fist through the screen one bad day.
anyway… the 1501 is more my price range. i’m not into spending a lot of money on something i use solely for writing contracts and tippitytyping on the internet. i also don’t want a piece of shit that’s going to squak and squeek and crunch at me and FAIL me at the worst time. this one has done pretty decent as a work notebook… it’s been thrown, dropped, punched, sat on, stood on, and even thrown through a piece of sheetrock once (i’m serious)… so i’m willing to accept it’s current state might very well be my fault.
I’d search Costco, Wally World, Sam’s Club, etc. and look for a name brand at a cheap price. Latest Costco coupon catalog has an HP dv4t w/4GB memory, 14.1in screen, 320GB hard drive, and comes with a printer for $599. Also has another HP at $549, Dell at $699. If you’re mainly using it as a word processor then these would fit the bill; not bad for anything, really. Good middle of the road computers.
A couple suggestions as well: Asus and Acer are not as well known to the average consumer as HP or Dell; but a few of their models are quality and can be had on the cheap. You typically wont be paying for the the bundled software that comes with the big names. Im an application analyst in health care and I have a $$$$ notebook and then one I wanted for home use that is just for the web and light office work. I think I spent around 350.00 from Buy.com. If you are OK with older models, the Thinkpad T41 and the Dell D620 were great models. The 620 is available for 341.00 on Buy.com at the moment.
Not trying to talk you out of spending money to stimulate the economy, but a laptop should last longer than 1.5 years.
The Inspirons have an ugly habit of sucking fuzz into the fans which contributes to the odd noises. Fortunately there is an easy fix. Open the laptop all the way (until it is flat). Just above the keyboard there is a panel that opens on the right/hinges on the left. A small flat-blade screwdriver will pop it open pretty easily. Take the crevice tool on your vacuum and suck out the gunk. After that you can use some compressed air, try not to force gunk further into the case, to finish cleaning up.
If you really want a new laptop LMK and I can narrow down some suggestions if I get a little more detail about your needs.
BKB:
It sounds to me as if the hard drive is going in that machine. However, those are fairly easy to replace, and you can get a large/fast one for under $100. Don’t go to best buy and get one, get the neighborhood geek kid to do it, and buy him a 6-pack of beer (that’s what I charged back in undergrad, with the quality/quantity of beer being on a sliding scale based on the work being done). You can find drives cheap on both Newegg.com, as well as Amazon.com. PM me if you’d like, and I can discuss it a little further.
If you are dead set on a new laptop, what are your criteria for it, other than durability? Screen size, storage, etc.
If its not an IBM, it’s just a clone. As you can see on “This Chart” of laptops the IBM is allll the way to the left hand side. An Acer isn’t as good as…
All kidding aside, I have good luck out of the middle of the pack of Dell Laptops. I have seen some bad reviews of Acer laptops but I think most are the Wal-mart special.
Tiger Direct has some killer deals on laptops. Some are refurbs and some are just over stocks. It is worth checking out to see if you can find soemthing suitable for you there.
mechanical noises sound like a hard drive issue. I got a Fujitsu as they have a shock sensor that actually protects the platter when it is subjected to knocks while running and locks it solid when turned off. also, the keyboard is waterproof.
I carry my notebook in the bags of my motorcycle often and the vibration made this a very desirable feature. this is as close to getting a “hardened” notebook as I could find without spending the big bux.
It’s a Lenovo Notebook. For those who don’t know, they bought out IBM’s laptop business a few years back, and have continued putting out incredibly nice rigs. They are on the VERY short list of companies that I would buy a laptop from these days.
Avoid HP, if at all possible. Worst CS in the business, and their build quality isn’t far behind. I can tell my story, if you want.
Lenovo’s Thinkpad line of laptops are built like tanks. Magnesium/Aluminum frams, hard casings, drip holes, etc. You might pay a touch more, but, you’ll get your money back in the durability of the rig. You can get a Thinkpad (a decently spec’ed one) starting around $630.
I don’t know what specific features you’re looking for, but my thing has always been max durability, since one processor has always seemed much the same as another to me.
To date, I’ve found out that Toshiba seems to make the toughest non-ruggedized laptops. I’ve still managed to destroy 2, of course, but they’ve held up better than any other brand I’ve purchased, and certainly better than the inevitable Dell that the job ponies up for.
I bought my current U405 from Circut City when they were going boobs-up, and I’m still getting harassing sales emails about stock that they continue to try and sell off. I’ve also used newegg and tigerdirect for purchases, and been very pleased with what I got.
I agree with the advise avoiding HP/Compaq. Between the crappy CS and the proprietary nature of their platforms (even adding RAM is a PITA, in regard to finding the right chips, or it just won’t work; totally unsat, it’s RAM, ffs), they’re of no help to anybody. Except for printers. I still buy those. But that’s a whole 'nother thread, huh?
Go for a 64-bit machine with max 3GB or more of RAM. Make sure it has a Wireless N draft card, and a 10/100 NIC. HDD’s are cheap, get one that is more than 160GB…
Most of those Vista 64-bit machines should include a free upgrade coupon to Win 7.
Added stress on the “or more of RAM” part. I have three systems with 64-Vista. One has 3GB, it’s slow as hell. The top end (desktop system) has 8GB of RAM. It runs like a marble on glass. RAM is key for Vista.
sounds like i’m not gonna have to spend the cost of a new M4 to get a new notebook, then…
as far as my needs- screen size isn’t important, weight isnt important… the unit will just hang out in my brief case in my truck 90% of it’s days. it will get knocked around a bit- i don’t “need” (nor does my wallet want) a ruggedized laptop, but i do need something that isn’t going to faint at the mention of danger.
i need MS Word, i need windows obviously… im probably too computer-illiterate to know what my needs are beyond that. longer range on the wireless would be nice.
my uses are wireless internet, filling out pre-made business forms… i think thats about it. my PDA almost fills the role- if only the screen was a little bigger. thats how simple my needs are.
My litmus test for this is generally “what happens to my computer when it’s in a backpack, padded with my coat and a neoprene case, and gets tossed to the ground from the top of a LAV-25 turret?”
Toughbooks laugh at that sort of thing, mostly, but everything besides my prior 17" and my current 13.5" Toshiba gave up the ghost pretty quick
I could not justify a ruggedized laptop either, especially the price. Check out this Dell Latitude.
If it is truly a toss in the briefcase kind of thing, a netbook like THIS may be the ticket. I just deployed 35 of them in a test and have had positive feedback.
If you just need Word, get Office Basic bundled with the machine, it will be less than getting an aftermarket copy of Student Teacher Edition.
In most cases the internal wireless NIC (typically B/G) will be all you need. Wireless N is cool, but for best results you need to match the NIC to the access point (AP), otherwise the speed will fall back to G speed. Also if you have any devices other than N, many APs will only run at the speed of the slowest connected device. There are some new APs that run N and G at native speed, but just like all new toys have a premium cost.
If you decide on a Dell, spec something out in your cart and then call a sales rep and hammer them for a “better” price.
Back everything up and format the drive. Getting slammed with spyware and adware and junk we get all day every day will make any computer run like hell. Short of hardware failure, most computers can be fixed with a format of the hard drive, and a fresh OS install. Takes about 2 hours and saves you $500+. I format about every 6 months or so. Makes everything run so much smoother.
