Help Me Choose A Laptop!

[momof1princess]

I've narrowed my choices to two, and the stats are VERY similar. one is a sony vaio and the other is a HP. the only major difference is that the VAIO has a pentium T4300 processor, and the HP has a celeron 900. price is the same. HELP!

 

[nd5056]

T4300!

But if they are around $650 get THIS ONE before it sells out quick.

 

[stevenpensacola]

macbook

 

[momof1princess]

actually, they're $399. the HP is at wal-mart and the sony vaio is at best buy. i just saw a report on squaretrade that says HP has the highest failure rate of all laptops. sony was ranked 3rd behind ASUS and Toshiba.

wish i could afford a mac, i'd give my computer to my DD and use it, lol. the laptop is for her for Christmas.

 

[Soarin08]

HP or Mac hands-down. HP if you prefer Windows but if you want to try something different, get a Mac.

I have an HP, have had it for over a year, hasn't given me any trouble. Dell laptops are what are horrid... Dell computers in general, really. My family had two Dell PCs that died within a year after purchasing them. We got a Gateway PC about 3 years ago and still going strong.

 

[momof1princess]

HP or Mac hands-down. HP if you prefer Windows but if you want to try something different, get a Mac.

I have an HP, have had it for over a year, hasn't given me any trouble. Dell laptops are what are horrid... Dell computers in general, really. My family had two Dell PCs that died within a year after purchasing them. We got a Gateway PC about 3 years ago and still going strong.

i have to agree about the dell-we have a tell laptop and it's a total POC. even with the power cord plugged in, it only works for maybe 30 minutes before it shuts off, saying the battery is low. the battery doesn't even work anymore.

 

[nd5056]

... i just saw a report on squaretrade that says HP has the highest failure rate of all laptops. sony was ranked 3rd behind ASUS and Toshiba.

Perhaps it’s because HP is popular Business laptops and they outsell Sony 3:1 ??? Just thinking out loud, don’t quote me on this one…


If it was my choice, I’d choose the T4300 Processor rather then opt out for “Celery stick” in my PC. And the brand I wouldn’t touch would be e-Machines, desktop or laptop. Most of the owners of e-Machines that I know were looking for motherboard replacement shortly after 2 years of ownership.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

macbook

A Macbook for 399? are you dreaming buddy? Not everybody wants a one button mouse

 

[momof1princess]

Perhaps it’s because HP is popular Business laptops and they outsell Sony 3:1 ??? Just thinking out load, don’t quote me on this one…


If it was my choice, I’d choose the T4300 Processor rather then opt out for “Celery stick” in my PC. And the brand I wouldn’t touch would be e-Machines, desktop or laptop. Most of the owners of e-Machines that I know were looking for motherboard replacement shortly after 2 years of ownership.

we have an e-machines desktop, and it's AWFUL. it's what my DD is using now and the fan stopped working, so it only runs for about 30 minutes before it overheats and shuts itself off. it's so frustrating for her, she doesn't even bother with it anymore.

ETA: the sony vaio has the T4300 processor. the specs are pretty good-identical to the HP.

 

[Poppinsme]

Yes do NOT get a Dell. The worst. I spent over $2500.00 on a new Alienware M17x laptop. The first day I had it it didn't work, it started and stopped continuously, then lost the OS. Called Dell tech support of course and they couldn't fix over the phone from India. They said they would send a tech to my home. I gave them 3 phone numbers to call me. Never heard from them again. Anyway after talking to 8 different people in India and finally getting someone to come to my house, who said my laptop was crap and THEY couldn't fix. I got a new laptop. Still had to get my AG and BBB involved and it took a month(and at least 40 hrs) but I got a new laptop that has worked fine but I will NEVER buy another Dell. I have blogged about this and visited many BBs to tell my story. Dell Hell.

When I buy another computer my first criteria is customer support!!!

 

[nd5056]

we have an e-machines desktop, and it's AWFUL. it's what my DD is using now and the fan stopped working, so it only runs for about 30 minutes before it overheats and shuts itself off. it's so frustrating for her, she doesn't even bother with it anymore.

The fan is easy and cheap to replace, why don't you do it?

.

 

[momof1princess]

The fan is easy and cheap to replace, why don't you do it?

.

honestly, the computer is old (probably 6 years) and i didn't even think about replacing the fan, just the computer, lol. i am glad you mentioned that though. my DH can fix pretty much anything and i know someone who works on computers, so we might just give that a shot.

 

[Papa Deuce]

I just bought a Vaio, and I love it! And I absolutely hated my HP....

 

[lsyorke]

I just bought a Vaio, and I love it! And I absolutely hated my HP....

Just got a new Vaio too.....awesome!

Had an HP and a Dell in the past...wouldn't get either again, I'm Sony all the way.

 

[momof1princess]

well, i talked to my DH, and he LOVED the idea to try replacing the fan in DD's old computer first. we have 2 junk computers we can raid for parts, so if it doesn't work, we're not out anything and i can always order a laptop later. i'm sure there'll be more sales before Christmas.

 

[nd5056]

..and i can always order a laptop later...

or sooner like right now for $297.99

Check this out:

 

[momof1princess]

i saw that on the budget board! you are REALLY on top of this computer stuff! thanks!

 

[phillmolly]

I have had my sony vaio for since labor day and I love it! It is fast and boots up quickly. I used to have a gateway but I always had problems with it!

 

[OK!]

I just got an HP laptop at the end of October to replace my Dell that was staggering toward oblivion and had been for some time. LOVE the HP. Rather, I LOVE Windows 7 and love having the hardware to maximize its potential. My main criteria were a sizable internal hard drive (having just suffered through the catastrophic failure of my POS Seagate 1.5 TB external HDD...lost all of my photos, my entire iTunes library--which is not insubstantial by any means--all of my other music and videos, EVERYTHING.), a quick processor, and Windows 7. I ended up with a 500 GB internal HDD, a 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, with 4 GB or DDR3 RAM that's expandable to 8 GB. It's this one and I got it at Best Buy.

Obviously, I'd heard all of the hype surrounding the various Apple laptops, but having done extensive (to the point of being OCD about it...it was truly ridiculous) comparison shopping before I bought, I just can't justify spending 3x the price for the same specs and a different OS. Sorry.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I've had an Dell in 2005, HP in 2007, I use my mom's Compaq from 2008 (an HP brand) and I use my boyfriend's Mac and I can honestly say that I love the Mac much more. BUT, I understand Macs are soooo much more expensive.

After the Mac, both the HP and the Compaq run great! I'm not going to lie and say that I haven't had to use a system restore on my HP because I have had to twice now since the 2 years I have had it but I back up my important stuff on my 2006 Dell desktop. I have never had to go into repair mode with the Compaq. Between the 2, I would select the Compaq. I paid $1400 for the HP and the Compaq was $450.

The Dell however, was AWFUL! and I have heard this with others as well. The desktop I got from them works well, especially for being a 3+ year old system but the laptop was just a piece of crap and it's something I saved up for quite a while. And of course, it started giving me trouble AFTER I could take it back

Between the two, I'd say go for the best processor and storage, especially with all those Disney pictures

Like you, I did a lot of shopping around before I found what I wanted for this HP. Finally I gave up and just custom built it on the HP site, which is why it cost so much. But you're in a great season for buying a computer!