Laptop thoughts

[bakaduin]

So I am thinking about getting a new laptop. We currently own a Mac desktop, an iPad original, and my Dell Latitude D410. For various reasons this laptop has seen better days.

This will be my third laptop. The first was a top of the line Dell that I used for gaming (WoW). This one I bought for word processing/internet and it is pretty basic. For my next laptop I can't decide what I want.

I like the Macbook Pro 13" model except the graphics card isn't great and I would like to play some games (Diablo III is on my mind). The 15" is out of my price range. I like the reliability of Macs but since we already have a desktop it would be nice to have a PC.

I like Alienware laptops but don't know if I need all that.

What is the feasibility of building a laptop? I've seen plenty of people build desktops but haven't seen anyone's custom laptop. Anyone ever done it?

Any other brands you'd recommend?

[LeafUF]

Don't have any recommendations of my own. The only laptops I have had recently are Lenovos which are nice enough but I use them strictly for business and not what you are looking for. I am looking into a personal laptop and am interested in what others have to say.

[superman2318]

What IS your price range?

[secgator]

Originally Posted by bakaduin

Any other brands you'd recommend?

I can't speak on building a laptop, but as far as brands--I am Toshiba all the way. Had three of them and they ALL have been top notch with no problems.

I have to admit that one company I was repping did provide us with Dell laptops since they had some propietary software. It meant lugging two laptops around with me all the time, and I ONLY used the Dell for their work. I didn't like it at all. Some folks love em--I still will take Toshiba any day over Dell or HP or any other brand for that matter.

Probably depends more on what you want to do with it than anything else.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Building a laptop is not nearly as fun, as forgiving nor as cost efficient as building a desktop.

I would not buy an alienware computer, they build ridiculously overpriced machines.

[helix139]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

I would not buy an alienware computer, they build ridiculously overpriced machines.

They are reasonably priced on the dell outlet or when you can get a coupon code. Other than that, though, you're right.

[AFGator]

Apple should be releasing an update to its computer lines late this spring/early summer with the new Ivy Bridge Intel chips. If you're not in a rush, it might be worth it to wait and see what the specs are on their new 13" laptops.

[amangator08]

I'm gonna go against sec and strongly disagree on Toshiba. I had heard for years how wonderful Toshibas were and took the plunge about 5-6 years ago. It seemed great at first, but I started having problems about a year into it. My screen slowly went completely out to where I had to hook it up to a monitor.

This was not an isolated incident. My sister, my best friend, my mother, then my bro-in-law TWICE had the same issue - and then some - with Toshibas. SIX different Toshibas in about a 2 year period!

I went with a 13 inch Macbook Pro and haven't regretted a single second.

[bakaduin]

Originally Posted by AFGator

Apple should be releasing an update to its computer lines late this spring/early summer with the new Ivy Bridge Intel chips. If you're not in a rush, it might be worth it to wait and see what the specs are on their new 13" laptops.

It just seems they reserve the worthy graphics cards for the 15" and 17" models.

I'd say price range up to 1200.

http://www.alienware.com/Landings/promotions.aspx

I was looking at that base model of alienware but the downside is it has no disk drive unless you add one.

[Gator_Tom66]

What did you end up getting?

[bakaduin]

Still debating. Anither compounding factor is the image viewer I use for radiographs is windows only.

[holloffamer]

Oh, Toshiba is not a good brand for a laptop? I was thinking of getting myself one. Good thing I read your comment. Thanks!

Originally Posted by amangator08

I'm gonna go against sec and strongly disagree on Toshiba. I had heard for years how wonderful Toshibas were and took the plunge about 5-6 years ago. It seemed great at first, but I started having problems about a year into it. My screen slowly went completely out to where I had to hook it up to a monitor.

This was not an isolated incident. My sister, my best friend, my mother, then my bro-in-law TWICE had the same issue - and then some - with Toshibas. SIX different Toshibas in about a 2 year period!

I went with a 13 inch Macbook Pro and haven't regretted a single second.

[Zendra]

I would say that if you want the best bang for your buck, you first need to determine what you need the laptop for. Then from there, you can figure out what brand and model to get.

[bakaduin]

Ended up getting a 15" Macbook Pro and a copy of Windows 7 to run on bootcamp.

[red4512]

Same for me with Toshibas. At first it was good. But problems started with the mousepad and the moving cursor. When typing the cursor would move an you would end up with: GO gget up gauptors get up and go up.
And the keyboard was extremely sensitive, the keys were recessed into the computer instead of raised, and there were very few adjustments you could make in program controls.
Forget about cust service. They want you to D/l a program it is to shut down your laptop.

What ever brand you go with, give mousepad and keyboard a thorough testing.

[Zendra]

Originally Posted by bakaduin

Ended up getting a 15" Macbook Pro and a copy of Windows 7 to run on bootcamp.

Err what do you mean? You go a MacBook Pro but it's running on Windows 7?

[bakaduin]

Originally Posted by Zendra

Err what do you mean? You go a MacBook Pro but it's running on Windows 7?

I have a Macbook Pro that runs Lion but I also have some HD partitioned off for Windows and can boot Windows. 90% of the time I am in Lion but for the programs I need Windows for I can run them.