Widescreen Notebook PC

[sparkie]

On Widescreen Notebook PC, Which one you like the best? I'm getting one for my little girl for Christmas. I don't know what to buy for 700 or less.
Toshiba
Dell
HP
SONY
Gateway
Compaq
Acer
Averatec

[Mike T]

Out of those choices.... Get an Acer. I'm a manager for a local computer company and we build our own laptops using "whitebooks". The only other manufacturer we will sell are Acer's, and that's for damn good reasons.

[aceshigh73]

Out of those choices.... Get an Acer. I'm a manager for a local computer company and we build our own laptops using "whitebooks". The only other manufacturer we will sell are Acer's, and that's for damn good reasons.


Its funny, because being in I.T. myself, Id say you would do better than Acer with just about any other listed above... They've never been known for quaility.....
I have no experience with Avertec, and Dell is Dell, but I would stay with Sony, HP/Compaq, and Gateway..... then Dell, Toshiba, and Acer....
Let it be known, there are "value lines" with any brand, there are a couple of HP/Compas that royally stink....
So do your homework online and see what model you are getting before pulling the trigger....

[Surfer]

Have a few friends in IT and two who own a IT company down here, and for whatever reason they don't care for Acers either, they were never known for qulaity but are making a decent comeback and going head to head with Dell's type of business model. They too recommend Sony or HP, Dell is decent as well for large businesses or small as it's easy to buy in bulk. I have a new HP I bought a couple months ago witha 17" widescreen, and I absolutley love it for business and personal use. Mine is the dv8000 model, I was going to buy the dv9000 but they were out of stock and the 8000 was awsome already and I needed something at the time. Sometimes for my business I have a ton of screens open and browers on different things, multi-tasking like hell, and it doesn't slow down or anything.

Plus the remote control rocks:D

[ryandamartini]

In my experience as an A+ tech, get a Dell. Call them up and haggle them over price for a model, its surprisingly effective calling them for a deal.

Im basing this mostly off of their warranty program. Its the best in the industry hands down.

[Truls]

He....Hey, just bougth me a laptop thursday last week, i bought the Compaq Presario V6000, that was the laptop a friend that works with computers recomended to me, with my needs. In other words: surfing the AG forum.

I think its a nice laptop, but which one is the best laptop of the ones you listed? I dont have a clue

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l284/truhaa/IMG_2528.jpg

[P1et]

I work for Dell, so I'm going to have to go with that!

[Reddwarf]

My wife has a compaq and I have a Gateway. Both have widescreens. We bought at different times but in both cases went for the best prices at the time. I got mine in Sept. after rebates it was $750.

The big concern I would have is what are you using the laptop for? If it is for gaming then you need one way better than mine. If for basic word, excel, and surfing the internet then any of the lower end notebooks should be fine. I would go with which ever one of these has the best price for the features: HP, Gateway, or Compaq. Dell makes great products but they tend to be pricey as they target corporate accounts more than consumers. I would stay away from Sony. They tend to use proprietary pieces that make it more expensive to upgrade or repair.

Thats my opinion anyway. Oh, and don't get suckered into an extended warranty. Again, IMO.

[Surfer]

Thats my opinion anyway. Oh, and don't get suckered into an extended warranty. Again, IMO.Depends, I had an extended warrenty on my HP laptop before I bought the new one. Right when the warrenty was about to expire my laptop fell and whatever happened the screen went out. Took it in and they sent it off for repair under warrenty luckily even though it was my fault (they didn't know that lol). The bill that came back from the warrenty repair was about 1K, it can cost almost as much as the unit itself to fix a burnt/broken screen. Think I paid 2 or 3 hundred for the extension, so it paid for itself.

[gandblah]

I work in IT....since the past 8 years !!

Have owned the following laptops across that time period:

- Dell
- Sony
- HP

My company uses HP. They switched over to Sony's and it was horrible. Systems crashing left right and centre. We've switched back to HP.

I've never had a bad experience with HP. Solid products !!

Dell would be my second choice...you can go in for one if you get a good deal.

Hope that helps.

[ScottB]

I find this amusing ... especially given that each of those "different" laptops can actually come with one or more of the same parts in them. The hardrives, memory, graphics cards, excelators and more are usually generic parts bought in large bulk.

Did you ever do a little homework when buying a tv, and found out who actually made the tube ??? Sometimes whats labeled on the top as a brand, is not necessarily whats on the inside.

[P1et]

In regards to the warranty, I don't think it's a bad idea to get it. I have a few personal Dell laptop and got the 3-year warranties on both. On my personal one, one of my sticks of memory went bad. Once diagnosed, they sent out some new memory which didn't solve the problem. So they sent someone out to put in a new motherboard. That didn't solve it. So they sent out a few hard drive. That didn't solve it either.

Turns out the initial stick of memory they sent out to me was faulty from the factory. Great support and great resolution and I'm not saying that just because I work there.

[dengood1]

I find this amusing ... especially given that each of those "different" laptops can actually come with one or more of the same parts in them. The hardrives, memory, graphics cards, excelators and more are usually generic parts bought in large bulk.

Did you ever do a little homework when buying a tv, and found out who actually made the tube ??? Sometimes whats labeled on the top as a brand, is not necessarily whats on the inside.

He's absolutely correct. Plus, my wife and I bought an Acer (for price) and we have never had a problem with it. I've heard Toshiba is very good along with Dell and Sony.

[Surfer]

He's absolutely correct. Plus, my wife and I bought an Acer (for price) and we have never had a problem with it. I've heard Toshiba is very good along with Dell and Sony.My IT professor back at college had a Toshiba Tablet, I thought that was pretty cool how you can swing the screen around and also use the electronic pen to write transcribe notes and everything on the screen and save it and not worry about losing papers or anything. Cool laptop.

[RTexasF]

I've had a Compaq, HP, and three Toshibas. The Compaq was just gawdawful, always having problems. The HP was good for a while and went back three times, on the fourth I danced on it with my boots on. Of the three Toshibas, all still working well (oldest 5 years, newest 3 years), only one has had a problem which was minor and repaired. No question what name I'll buy in the future.