Comments

apit34356 wrote on 8/9/2006, 6:05 PM
Dell laptops have a weak record with me, I go with Sony. Take a look at Acer, then Sony for best $per performance.

I still perfer IBM laptops over all others if you travel alot. But Sony, Acer are good too.
Chienworks wrote on 8/9/2006, 6:13 PM
I just picked up an Acer a few weeks ago and i am very impressed with the value for the money. Dell & Sony don't even come close to what i got for that price.

If i recall correctly, Acer got it's start a few years back manufacturing the lower end PCs and laptops for IBM, so they still have a lot in common with IBM's models.
kleb wrote on 8/9/2006, 6:46 PM
Thanks for the tips! I'll check 'em out.
Cheno wrote on 8/9/2006, 8:55 PM
The new Sony Centrino duo cores are nice but my preference in a PC laptop is still HP. I've owned two and absolutely loved them both. Bang for the buck, they seemed to be the best performers. I've now added a MacBook Pro to the mix and it's running as fast as my dual xeon workstation, plus the opportunity to run both OSX / Win XP

cheno
TeeJay wrote on 8/10/2006, 5:06 AM
I've used a Sony Vaio for a couple of years and it's been rock solid. I use it for live capturing on location (to DV Rack) and also use it for playing back live audio sequences with my band. I edit on it when i am away from home and it does all of my day to day tasks, internet etc. True, for the price you can get another brand with more features but it's important to own a notebook that isn't going to crash on you, and the Sony has been brilliant.
jwcarney wrote on 8/10/2006, 10:02 AM
The newer duo cores have blue ray and hdmi output at full 1080p. Very expensive though. I saw one at a Sony style store and it was cool.
Dan Sherman wrote on 8/10/2006, 12:02 PM
Gateway.
Got a Gateway and it's still running after a couple of years.
Dan Sherman wrote on 8/10/2006, 12:02 PM
Gateway.
Got a Gateway and it's still running after a couple of years.
birdcat wrote on 8/10/2006, 2:49 PM
My last three machines (plus one for my sis-in-law, and two for two sons) have all been Dells (plus several hundred for businesses over the years) - That said I would not buy another Dell until

1) The quality is brought back up to at least consumer levels (forget about superior or even business adequate);
2) They bring customer service back to places where they are not just reading scripts but actually have some idea of what they're talking about;
3) I can connect with a person in less than half and hour; and
4) I can actually understand the person on the other end of the phone.

Just MHO.
FrigidNDEditing wrote on 8/10/2006, 6:05 PM
I just ordered a laptop from dell (personal use but I expect the business will get worked on it here and there as well). That being said - I would order from Sony or someone else. Dell has designed over a dozen laptops in the last two years to develop a short on the motherboard where it causes the charger to stop charging the battery and creates a system performance drain / throttle issue. In short, this is the last chance I'm giving Dell. If the problem persists past this, and there isn't a class action law suite brought against them for it, I'm done. BTW - interesting to note that Dell will not allow those words to even be posted on their forums Class Action Suit will get your post haulted, and if you "work around" that little hinderence pulled in less than 24 hours.

Dave
kleb wrote on 8/10/2006, 6:42 PM
On further inspection I really liked the Acer Ferrari and TravelMate specs and prices. Buyer beware alert, after looking at Acer's lineup and talking to TigerDirct sales I decided to bite on a mid-priced model. Afterward I did even more homework on the 4220 and found a bunch of other places selling this model for under $1k. Finally got an order confirmation and COULD NOT BELIEVE the bait and switch. They had jacked the price up with 8 filler software items and printer cartridges (I was told they were throwing them in for free). The base cost of the unit was well below $1k just as I had found. They were polite and canceling the order, but WHAT A PAIN!. I should just go to CrpUSA and buy one off the shelf on closeout or something...any suggestions? Still looking over the crop of mid-priced units in this order Acer, Sony Vaio, HP, Gateway, (and Dell is bottom of the list now). Boxx, Alienware, MusicXPC and such are probably out of my range.

Should I stay away from Pentium M and stick with Core Duo?
busterkeaton wrote on 8/10/2006, 11:08 PM
If you can afford core duo, buy core duo.
kleb wrote on 8/12/2006, 7:44 AM
The Sony Vaio's appear to have Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives. I can't readily determine what most of the other laptop brands are using. Will SATA HD make much difference here?
kleb wrote on 8/12/2006, 7:47 AM
What's a minimun laptop spec for heavy Vegas and Photoshop use? Will a mid-priced unit suffice? Of course current models that are dropping in price to the $1k level were in the $2k range less than a year ago!

Thanks!