In the market for a laptop, and would like to know from people that have one or have had a few, which brand is better and why, and so on.
Not wanting a debate, just a discussion!
BenettonVW ·
Aussieveedubbers · General Chit Chat
Laptops.. who owns one?
https://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/threads/55341/laptops-who-owns-one
squizy ·
Jim you have u2u....or will be getting one shortly.
malcolm ·
asus make a good range with excellent back up and warranty.
MickH ·
I've owned DELL laptops only so I'm a bit bias...I've had 3 and have only changed to upgrade to another Dell. I've never had a problem with any of them and still own and use the first one i bought (266mhz). I reckon they are great value for money and the quality is always good with Dell. Buying on line is cheap and the last one my old man bought on a Friday morning was delivered to Bowen,QLd on the Monday.....quick service!!! Although i "hear" the Apples are getting riper,but will let someone else comment on that....
speedster356 ·
Bought an ACER Aspire and the speakers failed after 3 months.
56astro ·
Yep.
Optima.
40 GB HD
512 MB RAM
1.6 Processor.
Not very happy with the keyboard - cheap feel and movement, especially along the top row of keys, produces alot of typos cause of the keyboard quality.
My bro-in-law has a Sanyo Viao (?) and his screen quality is alot better than mine.
Apart from that, I love notebooks!
Optima.
40 GB HD
512 MB RAM
1.6 Processor.
Not very happy with the keyboard - cheap feel and movement, especially along the top row of keys, produces alot of typos cause of the keyboard quality.
My bro-in-law has a Sanyo Viao (?) and his screen quality is alot better than mine.
Apart from that, I love notebooks!
warb ·
company dells all along, had many and im not shy to flog them, never fails..
back in the day, used to sell acer, give them a miss.. but that was a long time ago..
back in the day, used to sell acer, give them a miss.. but that was a long time ago..
Dasdubber ·
I have an acer for home use (so far so good after a year or so)....and use Toshiba for work (100gig hard-drive, 2gig ram, dual core yadayada) - from my research and similar fishing expeditions for opinions, I decided to go for the toshiba - also so far so good!
penguin ·
Careful though just had a recall for Dell at work, something about batteries.
Wild1 ·
I have owned a Toshiba Satellite for few years now and it's worked well enough, although it's very expensive to get replacement parts for and as with most laptops, the battery doens't last very long after a few years. A few of my friends have had Dell laptops (Inspiron i think?) and they've never had a problem with them in the four or so years since they bought it.
BenettonVW ·
Awesome. Thanks for the fast responses!
I have checked out Dell, and heard Toshiba was the go, but you may pay a little more.
I was on Dell's website, and spec'd up a basic one, and will get it to the door for less than $1400.
Don't get me wrong, thats not bad, but was hoping to get out of it for a little less, but will spend that if I have to.
Any dealings with eBay/ second hand laptops? Needless to say, a warranty is a good thing whichever way you go?
I have checked out Dell, and heard Toshiba was the go, but you may pay a little more.
I was on Dell's website, and spec'd up a basic one, and will get it to the door for less than $1400.
Don't get me wrong, thats not bad, but was hoping to get out of it for a little less, but will spend that if I have to.
Any dealings with eBay/ second hand laptops? Needless to say, a warranty is a good thing whichever way you go?
helbus ·
Some of the IBM thinkpads are very good, so much so that sometimes when there is a model change people don't want to change.
Euro_67 ·
Hi, I have a company issued Dell, and my personal one is an Apple Powerbook. The Apple units are of a far higher quality and finish in my opinion. The new Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro are the latest from Apple, they also have the benifit of being able to run two commercially avalable operating systems, booting natively into Apple OS X and Windows XP. They are reasonably priced also and come with cool software for all sorts of media projects, if you own a DV camera you will love imovie.
http://store.apple.com/133-622/WebObjects/australiastore.woa/wo/0.RSLID?mco=EA15B21F&nclm=MacBook
If you prefer PC only, I have to agree ASUS is the clear winner. They are offering true value for money, and performance too. The W5 12" comes with two batteries which is unheard of in that price range, also a wireless mouse with the reciever built into the notebook (for those who hate track pads) and a 2 year global warranty. ASUS are an OEM manufacturer for other NAME BRAND computer companies.
http://au.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1011&l1=5&l2=75&l3=0
Yep, you guessed it, I work in IT.
Wayne.
http://store.apple.com/133-622/WebObjects/australiastore.woa/wo/0.RSLID?mco=EA15B21F&nclm=MacBook
If you prefer PC only, I have to agree ASUS is the clear winner. They are offering true value for money, and performance too. The W5 12" comes with two batteries which is unheard of in that price range, also a wireless mouse with the reciever built into the notebook (for those who hate track pads) and a 2 year global warranty. ASUS are an OEM manufacturer for other NAME BRAND computer companies.
http://au.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1011&l1=5&l2=75&l3=0
Yep, you guessed it, I work in IT.
Wayne.
Bizarre ·
I just bought an ex-gox Compaq EVO N600C 1066MHz 512k ram for $340.BenettonVW wrote:Any dealings with eBay/ second hand laptops?
No OS..... but for those $$ who gives a whoop.
Connects to internet, now has Office and plays games. Perfect for the teenage son.
Cheap bribe!
I have a Toshiba for work - brilliant, but yeah, they are a bit $$$
[ Edited on 15-8-2006 by Bizarre ]
byronbus ·
I have a work issued compaq N1020v, works great...
Thinking a dell for personal use, several i know have had them and have never had a problem...
Thinking a dell for personal use, several i know have had them and have never had a problem...
DubCrazy ·
the wife bought a full whistles and bells Dell for her graphics work and its a bloody ripper, it does everything and more, never let us down,batterys last a fair while when she is out doing on sight photo/graphic enhancements. used to have a ibm and hated it, looked at the toshiba but it was a fair bit more money for the same specs. the model we got wasnt a cheap one but everyone who has used them says the same thing no matter what price range u go they are a very good unit..
steff...................
steff...................
JAGS ·
Fujitsu for me...best of all it's got fingerprint recognition so I never have to worry about passwords...LCD really good quality, can't beat the Japanese for technology but I guess you have to pay the price! Dell has just had a recall on batteries, couple have gone up in flames..major recall in progress.
warb ·
up in flames... cool, new lap top early!..
DubCrazy ·
you have any idea what models are on recall??? as the last thing i need is it to shit its self or is it all dells ???
steff...........................
steff...........................
squizy ·
Email sent Jim with Word Doc of some screen dumps.
warb ·
a website and all... https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/
DubCrazy ·
thanks mate ours isnt on the list so all good... phew:P
steff........................
steff........................
phil ·
use dell for work..they seem fine..no problems
but
daughter has latest apple ...kinda compulsory for her graphics/photography stuff...i don't normally get excited over laptops
now
i lust over the apple
but
daughter has latest apple ...kinda compulsory for her graphics/photography stuff...i don't normally get excited over laptops
now
i lust over the apple
last celtic warrior ·
I tend to like the durability of Dell. I'm writing this post on an LG with a few bells and whistles, but my Dell PII 400 with 6.4GB HDD (not quite current spec, but great for writing) is a good sturdy and trusty machine. I scavenged it from the tip face and payed $10 for it with extra parts. Took it home, plugged it in, and it worked, nice screen too.
Considering the way it was treated and where it's been, it earns a little respect...
Considering the way it was treated and where it's been, it earns a little respect...
crewcabconnection ·
MacBook - small, light and much improved eyesight and functionality now. Very Nice.
iBook G4 - cheap, never dies, but shitty keyboard design.
IBM - overpriced, under powered and poor keyboard design (like the G4). The shell key attachments pop keys are they never quite go back as well as they should.
Some of the newer wide screen machines are hot, heavy and take up more room that a desktop (almost). Don't buy more than you need.
http://www.notebookreview.com/
just dont go to Harvey Normal etc., out going tech for current money.
Suprisingly ... ALDI have decent spec machines at low prices on special, but get in early, they sell out quick ... will do what most people need for low $$$.
iBook G4 - cheap, never dies, but shitty keyboard design.
IBM - overpriced, under powered and poor keyboard design (like the G4). The shell key attachments pop keys are they never quite go back as well as they should.
Some of the newer wide screen machines are hot, heavy and take up more room that a desktop (almost). Don't buy more than you need.
http://www.notebookreview.com/
just dont go to Harvey Normal etc., out going tech for current money.
Suprisingly ... ALDI have decent spec machines at low prices on special, but get in early, they sell out quick ... will do what most people need for low $$$.
monique__d ·
we have the apple macbook.
its awesome to use and it has all of the latest stuff like airport.
it is small and light and easy to use.
its awesome to use and it has all of the latest stuff like airport.
it is small and light and easy to use.
sax ·
Ebay can be good for cheap laptops, we have bought a couple of factory reburbished HP zv5000 machines, basically burgers with the lot for under a grand each. Great value for money and have full factory warranty and software.
zac_smits ·
you could also try GraysOnline auction house.
my flatmate picked up a VERY nice high spec dell for under $1500
http://www.graysonline.com.au/sale.asp?SALE_ID=18215
my flatmate picked up a VERY nice high spec dell for under $1500
http://www.graysonline.com.au/sale.asp?SALE_ID=18215
kaoskombi ·
your qustion is like " i want a car, which one should i get? " its too broad.
Do you want to spend $1000 or $5000?
Also what do you want it for ? portability, speed, just web and email?
You should get an Intel-Mac like one of the new PowerBook( Pro)s..
...Run Mac OS X and Windows natively (Mac now uses Intel Pentium(-like) chips - now the same as PC) and dual boot (select which Operating System you want to use when you turn on the notebook). Checkout Mac OS X Boot Camp.
Do you want to spend $1000 or $5000?
Also what do you want it for ? portability, speed, just web and email?
You should get an Intel-Mac like one of the new PowerBook( Pro)s..
...Run Mac OS X and Windows natively (Mac now uses Intel Pentium(-like) chips - now the same as PC) and dual boot (select which Operating System you want to use when you turn on the notebook). Checkout Mac OS X Boot Camp.
oval TOFU ·
i got a 17" widescreen Dell (porn sized screen) I was seduced by the good offers they have on the net offering free upgrades to RAM, hdd and delivery and even a free carry case.. The quality of the finsh is good, though, they're not fooling anyone - you can tell it silver painted plastic. Looks a bit tacky IMO. I rather it just be all black or all white like they have accented the sides (Inspiron series) I saw a Toshiba recently and it had a 101 keyboard... something I miss dearly as I use the keypad quite a bit. The aesthetics of it looked much better than the Dell too... I'd get it based on the looks, and from what hear, they're just as reliable..
jo_tas ·
Hey
We have an ASUS and love it... AMD Turion 64bit.. 1.5gig ram... 80gig HD.. 256mb Geforce graphics card.. its good for gaming!
Paid about $2600 for it around 6 months ago.
We have an ASUS and love it... AMD Turion 64bit.. 1.5gig ram... 80gig HD.. 256mb Geforce graphics card.. its good for gaming!
Paid about $2600 for it around 6 months ago.
h ·
toshiba satellite M100 light good does everything and was only $1600, last laptop was same brand and it still goes after 7 yrs, my cheese n kisses uses it for wring her novels..
goodluck with the search
goodluck with the search
nickr ·
We run samsung's here. M40+. 17". They have been really good. Real thin and real sexy. Good battery life, would recommend a ram update though for anything to graphical. More expensive than Dell though unless you know peeps.
fekkinell ·
Mac Powerbook G4... love it... best computer i ever had... runs Microsoft Office:mac and Msn:mac so it's still fully compatible with PC as far as documents go. Plus it never crashes, doesn't get viruses, and is just generally easier to use.
I can have photoshop, iTunes, iMovie, Office, msn, and Safari all open at once, and it never misses a beat.
Couldn't recommend one enough 🙂
I can have photoshop, iTunes, iMovie, Office, msn, and Safari all open at once, and it never misses a beat.
Couldn't recommend one enough 🙂
Volkswagenboy ·
I have a laptop, it turns on.
It has Acer on it.
It's okay for me, goes good enough.
Quite a short battery life (Between charges) though.
-Staggers.
It has Acer on it.
It's okay for me, goes good enough.
Quite a short battery life (Between charges) though.
-Staggers.
butidontunderstand ·
MAC MAC MAC!!
pete wood ·
i've had two dells. The second one I bought on line a few months back. I bought the second one coz the first was about 4 years old and the screen finally died after a long ailment. I'd fallen over with it in a backpack a few years ago and that was really the beginning of the end for it although it ran for another 2 years with few problems. The second one is fine as computers go, however, actually recieving it from Dell was another story. They promised it would be something like 10 days, it was over a month later that I finally got it. I wouldn't have minded waiting a month if htat's what they'd said in the first place, but no, they promised ten days. Anyway the point is, you have to deal with dell in Malaysia to get the machine and their couriers at this end have no idea what's going on with dell. If I'd known all this at the beginning I'd have bought something at office works or some other local retailer and had it that afternoon.
p.s. I think it's the same deal as ovaltofu's. Cheap at like $1300, runs fine, but def not the best machine on the market. BTW, make sure you get proper Microsoft office, the cheapo version is painful if you are used to word.
[ Edited on 15-8-06 by pete wood ]
p.s. I think it's the same deal as ovaltofu's. Cheap at like $1300, runs fine, but def not the best machine on the market. BTW, make sure you get proper Microsoft office, the cheapo version is painful if you are used to word.
[ Edited on 15-8-06 by pete wood ]
Starbug ·
im still running my trusty 2.5 year old 12" ibook G4... never had any problems with it, the only kernal panics ive had were when i was trying to make it do so 😀 ive often got photoshop and office running on it at the same time (i.e. studying but procrastinating)
i maxed out the RAM as soon as possible... 1.25gb is enough for most things.
This thing lived on my back for 2 years... its taken many bumps and even a few spills...
the only problem i have with it, is that my A key is completely rubbed off, and my E and S keys are following suit... but i instinctively know where they are so its not really a big deal.
i maxed out the RAM as soon as possible... 1.25gb is enough for most things.
This thing lived on my back for 2 years... its taken many bumps and even a few spills...
the only problem i have with it, is that my A key is completely rubbed off, and my E and S keys are following suit... but i instinctively know where they are so its not really a big deal.
Ich fahre ein Kdf ein Tag ·
Compaq, i bought it for uni assignments a couple of years ago...is great except for the battery, runs of mains power most of the time but I use it everyday and it gets the job done. Would not buy a laptop for games tho...maybe design work but not games, awkward ergonomics for gaming.
H
H
tdegens ·
Whatis this we have the mackbook business?monique__d wrote:we have the apple macbook.
its awesome to use and it has all of the latest stuff like airport.
it is small and light and easy to use.
It is
we have the black macbook.
Tone:beer matters
and it is awesome
battery life is 4 hours or more with the screen adjustments.
I photo for picis with simple presentation capabilities and built in airport.
And no
-oooooooooooo('.') wormies
kara&herkombi ·
Ive got a Dell Inspiron 6000.. got it about 1 year ago and so far so good!! I have no complaints so i would recommend it.. It was about $1400 which included a few upgrades and a printer, and arrived quickly! I bought it mainly for uni stuff and now just emails, music etc so its good for that!
BenettonVW ·
Thanks again for the replies, very useful in my research.
This would be a secondary computer, mainly for surfing the net, the basic office type stuff, and not much more. Certainly not gaming. Again, a secondary computer, and something to take away and log on if I was away.
Capable of playing with pictures, listening to tunes, etc. DVD capable.
Definitely a budget..
Somewhere between $500-$1500. We are going to the USA next year, and need the precious money for spending over there!
Dell sounds okay?
This would be a secondary computer, mainly for surfing the net, the basic office type stuff, and not much more. Certainly not gaming. Again, a secondary computer, and something to take away and log on if I was away.
Capable of playing with pictures, listening to tunes, etc. DVD capable.
Definitely a budget..
Somewhere between $500-$1500. We are going to the USA next year, and need the precious money for spending over there!
Dell sounds okay?
crewcabconnection ·
mmm, how interesting ... massive Mac users in the forum, which stastically, speaking should not be the case. But then again, creative people tend to buy macs and you gotta be creative to drive a VW. Not that PCS are totally hopeless.
Current Mac ads are very clever ... really go and check out the MacBook, run XP and OSX, get the best of both worlds and have a machine that is not built out of the spare parts box ... as far as laptops go, a MacBook will serve you well for many years ... though have to say, the build quality of the Intel Macs is significantly better than the Moto G4s.
For mobile computing, massive battery life, size, grunt and functionality out the box, its hard to go past - especially as Apple has finally got a decent price point.
I do have an IBM laptop, it cost more than the MacBook, has crap battery life, gets really hot, has a shity keyboard, limited functionality out the box, average wireless performance and a hot and heavy power pack with a stupid connector that is in the wrong place and has shat itself twice in 6 months.
It also cost more than the Mac.
Like the dude said, if you just want to pootle about, spend min bucks on a PC, if you want to run photoshop, edit movies, make tunes and get creative - then Mac all the way.
Current Mac ads are very clever ... really go and check out the MacBook, run XP and OSX, get the best of both worlds and have a machine that is not built out of the spare parts box ... as far as laptops go, a MacBook will serve you well for many years ... though have to say, the build quality of the Intel Macs is significantly better than the Moto G4s.
For mobile computing, massive battery life, size, grunt and functionality out the box, its hard to go past - especially as Apple has finally got a decent price point.
I do have an IBM laptop, it cost more than the MacBook, has crap battery life, gets really hot, has a shity keyboard, limited functionality out the box, average wireless performance and a hot and heavy power pack with a stupid connector that is in the wrong place and has shat itself twice in 6 months.
It also cost more than the Mac.
Like the dude said, if you just want to pootle about, spend min bucks on a PC, if you want to run photoshop, edit movies, make tunes and get creative - then Mac all the way.
EgeWorks ·
What ever brand you buy I highly recommend getting a 3yr warranty - they are basically all going to break at least once in 3 years and if there is no warranty you may as well chuck em out and buy another as replacement parts are very expensive and hard to come by in most cases.
pete wood ·
crewcabconnection wrote:Like the dude said, if you just want to pootle about, spend min bucks on a PC, if you want to run photoshop, edit movies, make tunes and get creative - then Mac all the way.
Not all of us are ex-IT professional and closet computer geeks Deano. Most of us just want to be able to write letter, upload pics off cameras and surf the web. I don't want to run photoshop or edit movies or make tunes (I use my other PC to record with). And we all know real creativity involves a grinder and a welder. So I guess a PC laptop will do just fine. If I want MAC I'll go to Maccas.
:P
sinecure ·
Um, I can get laptops and parts quite cheaply, they're not all that hard to come by either. I probably get one or two excellent ones a year, and a handful of good units (usually just requiring a battery re-pack). Just sold my old personal rig (Toshiba notebook) to an AVD member, and replaced it with a high-spec Dell. I still have my trusty ancient IBM thinkpad, used and abused, stuffed battery, but works perfectly. And remember, IBM no longer makes portables, they sold that branch to Lenovo.
My advice would be don't buy a second-hand IBM laptop that 'just needs a battery re-pack'. Most early IBM batteries have an integrated circuit board that is actually the point of failure, and you have to buy a new IBM stock battery (quite expensive), no re-packs available. Toshiba, HP/Compaq and Dell don't suffer from this problem.
Acer are having problems with screen failures at the moment, Dell with batteries, HP/Compaq with Compaq part supplies since the takeover.
Asus have always produced what I consider to be excellent products, but their portables are basically re-badged.
The move to 64bit architecture and OS has hit the portable market too, so you may find buying the cheapest second-hand laptop that will suit your needs now would be a better idea than an expensive new, but superceeded technology, 32bit system, and hang off buying a new machine until 64bit is the 'standard'.
My advice would be don't buy a second-hand IBM laptop that 'just needs a battery re-pack'. Most early IBM batteries have an integrated circuit board that is actually the point of failure, and you have to buy a new IBM stock battery (quite expensive), no re-packs available. Toshiba, HP/Compaq and Dell don't suffer from this problem.
Acer are having problems with screen failures at the moment, Dell with batteries, HP/Compaq with Compaq part supplies since the takeover.
Asus have always produced what I consider to be excellent products, but their portables are basically re-badged.
The move to 64bit architecture and OS has hit the portable market too, so you may find buying the cheapest second-hand laptop that will suit your needs now would be a better idea than an expensive new, but superceeded technology, 32bit system, and hang off buying a new machine until 64bit is the 'standard'.
Oasis ·
Macs are "Rarer".....:Ppete wood wrote:crewcabconnection wrote:Like the dude said, if you just want to pootle about, spend min bucks on a PC, if you want to run photoshop, edit movies, make tunes and get creative - then Mac all the way.
Not all of us are ex-IT professional and closet computer geeks Deano. Most of us just want to be able to write letter, upload pics off cameras and surf the web. I don't want to run photoshop or edit movies or make tunes (I use my other PC to record with). And we all know real creativity involves a grinder and a welder. So I guess a PC laptop will do just fine. If I want MAC I'll go to Maccas.
:P
hipichic ·
In our house we have an Acer, an Optima and a Medion. No major issues with any of them. The Acer is almost 4 years old and is on its second harddrive,( but that didn't surprise me) no other issues, I thrashed that thing...and I had paid for extended warranty on it so was rapt that it died just before the warranty was up, they even doubled the hdd size for free.
Optima is not too bad, no major issues, has been in for a couple of minor things, again this was still under warranty.
The Medion is the newest, had it for 10 months now, hasn't missed a beat, got it from Aldi for $1799 or $1899(can't remember which) when similar spec laptops were well over $2000.
I'd be lost without my laptop 🙂
Optima is not too bad, no major issues, has been in for a couple of minor things, again this was still under warranty.
The Medion is the newest, had it for 10 months now, hasn't missed a beat, got it from Aldi for $1799 or $1899(can't remember which) when similar spec laptops were well over $2000.
I'd be lost without my laptop 🙂