Laptop question?

[minnie56]

My daughter is heading off to College in Sept and we want to get her a really good laptop...any suggestions?

She thinks she would like one that can also play DVD's and has a 'docking port' I think it's called.

All help appreciated!

 

[Dan Murphy]

As with most things pertaining to computers, hard to go wrong with Dell. I just got a new Dell laptop a month or so ago, it is great. Maybe check their 'refurb' section, good as brand new, fully warrantied. Best wishes to your daughter, and you too, Minnie.

 

[Michelle]

Definitely Dell.

 

[minnie56]

That's pretty good support of Dell right off the bat!

I guess it's "Dude, you're getting a Dell" ??!!

Thank you both for taking the time...

Dan, you are too sweet!

 

[Ted and Holly]

Another vote for Dell.

I work in a lab with more than 80 Dell desktops. Our company uses exclusively Dell PCs and laptops. They are very reliable and their service is excellent.

My next home computer will probably be a Dell.

Ted

 

[Brisully]

I would definitely recommend Dell too. I finally convinced my boss to stop buying Gateways and start buying Dells. Great quality, and the best support out there.

A couple of items to think about if you are buying Dell -

• If you are buying a laptop, it is worth your money to buy a 3 year warranty.
• Get the "CompleteCare" especially with a laptop. It will cover ANY damage, including liquid spills, and accidental drops. It is very expensive to repair/replace a damaged laptop screen, and this is covered with CompleteCare.
• If you have to call Dell tech support, call during normal business hours. After business hours, they move their call centers overseas, and it is very hard to understand some of the operators

Finally, if you buy a laptop, memory is usually cheaper if you purchase it from www.crucial.com or www.googlegear.com.

Hope that helps!

 

[helenabear]

I have to echo a lot of what Brian just said there. I normally never buy extended warranties or the like, but with my laptop I did. It is expensive and extremely hard to fix a laptop (even with one full computer geek and a partial one who do all repairs themselves, we bought it for mine). It might look/sound like a lot of money but it is worth it!! With their tech support, Dell is a good choice. I have a Sony Vaio personally (as does my dad) and both have had good luck. Toshiba also makes a GREAT laptop but has very bad support which is the only reason why I passed them up.

Good luck hunting, have fun and all the best to your DD in college (don't forget to get a very good lock for that computer too!)

 

[rhett972]

I bought a toshiba for personal use because of the great value it provides but my company bought me an IBM cuz it really is a workhorse.

It sounds like a little issue but make sure the thing is lightweight and has some way to light up the keys. My IBM T30 has a little light up in the top of the screen that illuminates the keyboard like a miniature flashlight. Good battery time as well.

 

[katerkat]

Another Dell - specifically, Dell refurbished - vote here! We've had our Dell for 8 months now and it's doing great.
I'm at Gateway, so I don't recommend them.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Originally posted by Brisully
.....

• If you are buying a laptop, it is worth your money to buy a 3 year warranty.
• Get the "CompleteCare" especially with a laptop. It will cover ANY damage, including liquid spills, and accidental drops. It is very expensive to repair/replace a damaged laptop screen, and this is covered with CompleteCare.
• If you have to call Dell tech support, call during normal business hours. After business hours, they move their call centers overseas, and it is very hard to understand some of the operators

.......

I echo all three. I have 3 year, on site service, Complete Care and I have talked to the Philippines at 11 PM. Interesting, but a bit tough. Easier talking to Texans at 2 PM.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

Dell's are good.

I have a Dell Inspiron 600m laptop. It's great. It has the docking station (sold seperately though) and an internal wireless card. It also has the fairly new Intel Centrino processor (mobil technology). The battery also lasts longer than many other laptops, which is a good thing for a student on the go. While my other classmates can only go about 90 minutes without having to plug in, I can make it 2.5 to 3 hours (depending on how much my computer has to "think") with my laptop. I think it's a great laptop for students

 

[preshi]

We just got a Toshiba Satellite with a DVD player/burner... I really like it...

 

[glo]

My first laptop was a Dell refurbished, and I loved it. It still works and is being used. I got a refurbished Gateway, and am happy so far, but I thought the Dell gaurantees and stuff were much better. When we bought a new home PC we went with a Dell there too...

 

[WebmasterAlex]

There is one specific problem with Dell laptops that I know of that would stop me from buying one. If you are outside of your 30 day return window by even a day and you need a repair? They will send you a refurbished notebook. It has happend to several clients. You will not get the original one repaired, just someone elses used stuff.
I am not too thrilled with spending several thousand dollars for something and ending up with a used one after 4 weeks.

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by Brisully
After business hours, they move their call centers overseas, and it is very hard to understand some of the operators

They must get pretty tiring, having to travel back and forth all the time....

 

[Ted and Holly]

Originally posted by WebmasterAlex
There is one specific problem with Dell laptops that I know of that would stop me from buying one. If you are outside of your 30 day return window by even a day and you need a repair? They will send you a refurbished notebook. It has happend to several clients. You will not get the original one repaired, just someone elses used stuff.
I am not too thrilled with spending several thousand dollars for something and ending up with a used one after 4 weeks.

One good reason to get the On Site agreement. A co-worker had his monitor go. All he had to do was wheel back in his chair and watch someone fix the contacts right in his office.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

The problem with the onsite service is it is not done by Dell, it is done by a third party (it says so right on the order page)
It is kind of spotty, either you get lucky and get someone who has a clue or you don't.
I had one customer, they had a bad hard drive in their desktop computer. The tech came in, replaced the hard drive but didn't load windows on it, he said that you had to do that yourself. He also didn't save any of the information on the computer!!!
He tried to take the bad hard drive with him and they had to fight him to keep it.
Since the information for their business was on there they ended up paying us several hundred dollars to get their data back.
Pretty useless "on site service".

 

[Ted and Holly]

I would definitely agree with that.

I would imagine most PC manufacturers out source their field service work. It would be up to them to make sure they get the best people to do this.

Many service agreements have to sign something that states that they are not liable for data loss. This is why the at least give you emergency recovery disks with your machine.

Holly recently had her laptop sent out. The screen was blinking and the power connector was loose. They did a clean Windows install anyway.

Luckily, we had saved off anything important before we sent it out.