OMG-I am SO confused about buying a laptop

[KarenB]

My laptop is dead and I need to purchase another in the next few weeks. DH and I spent what seemed like hours today looking at websites trying to figure out which one to purchase. We keep going back to the Dell E1505 Inspiron. It seems to have everything I want after a few upgrades, but I often read about the poor support service Dell has a reputation of having. I had an HP previously. I need it for school (grades on Excel, Works for newsletters, tests), wireless internet, and storing vacation photos from my digital camera. Any help in making a decision would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Signed,
Lost in laptop land

 

[jsmith]

check into the Toshiba Satetllite series-they are sturdy-have a great reputation and the one we have has stood up to a LOT of travel including a year in Iraq with no problems. They are a good value for the money and in my opinion much better put together than the Dells

 

[NewJersey]

I've always been a PC guy until last year when I bought the powerbook by Apple and I LOVE it. I was skeptical because I never used a mac before but I'll never go back to a PC. It's so easy to use. They have MS office for mac which I have on here and it's wireless, great for photos, and never crashes, etc. like my PC's always did.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I have a Dell currently (don't get me started) and I will be buying a Mac next. My sister has a powerbook by Apple and it's amazing.

I regret buying this Inspirion - everyday!

 

[NewJersey]

I have a Dell currently (don't get me started) and I will be buying a Mac next. My sister has a powerbook by Apple and it's amazing.

I regret buying this Inspirion - everyday!

I had a Dell desktop before my Mac and after having to reprogram it 4 times and the countless freezes and problems almost everyday, I decided enough was enough.


My friend ditched her Inspiron for a powerbook too.

 

[bsmcneil]

my acer is pretty good and, other than a crappy battery life (an hour at absolute best), is well worth my investment.

 

[Michelina]

I just got an HP Pavillion DV4000. I love it! I purchased it at Sam's Club & it was pretty reasonable cost-wise and had all of the features that I wanted.
I found a review for it here if you want to check it out!

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

What most people don't realize is that the inner-parts of any computer are made by the same companies.

The hard drives in Dell, HP, Toshbia and even Mac come from the same companies. Same with the memory and other parts. The OS is Microsoft is Microsoft and it doesn't make a difference if you are running XP on a Dell, HP or Compaq.


They all have horrible customer service.
So find the best deal for the specs you want and go for it.

 

[3Phase]

I also have an Acer. I am very pleased with the performace, and my battery life is at worst 2.5 hours. Most of the time I get 3 hours. My range with the wireless card is about 100ft to my router in my basement. I take the laptop outside to our pool deck and my signal strength still says "good". 2 months after I bought it, the screen went bad. Called Acer and they sent Fedex to my home to pick it up, next day. This was on a Tuesday. Had the computer back by the next Monday. I bought my laptop from Circuit City and declined the extended warranty. 7 months later I got a letter asking if I still wanted the extended warranty and if I did, I had 4 more months to decide. So, I then puchased the warranty from Circuit city covering it for 2 more years. I use this laptop to Rip movies from our camcorded and write them to dvds, store all our trip pics, and for work. Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Quickbooks pro. I am very happy I bought this. OH BTW... I have about 120 Disney links saved in favorites on this puter too.

 

[my3kids]

I have always been a PC person but recently bought a Mac and couldn't be happier. For the things you want....photos, newsletters....an Apple can't be beat. You can also put Microsoft Office for Mac on the laptop and still use Excel and the other pc programs you are accustomed to. Customer service is phenominal.

When you look at www.apple.com click on store from the top tap, then on the right column select the Education store and go from there. It takes a few hundred $$ off the purchase.

 

[DebIreland]

Definitely check out Macs. I've been using Macs for 18 years now and I can highly recommend them especially when it comes to working with graphics.

This is actually the perfect time to purchase a Mac because not so long ago Apple released the Intel core-duo Macs which basically means that you can run Apple software while working in the Mac OS or run Windows software while working in the Windows OS. You just choose which OS to start up in!

Whilst the Intel Macs are fairly new and not every software package will run in it yet, there is a temporary measure (I think it's called Rosetta) which allows you to convert software to make it run properly on the Mac. In time, Apple will perfect this and software companies will update their software to ensure full compatibility.

I'm currently working with a Powerbook G3 - I've had it a few years now and I've just ordered the new Intel iMac 20" screen. I can't wait to get it. In a few months Apple will release the desktop intel Mac (as opposd to iMac) and that's gonna be amazing. What I really wanted was the Mac Book Pro which is a laptop (and the modern equivalent of the PowerBook) but hey, my budget dictated my purchase and I'm happy. They've just recently released the Mac Book (which is the laptop version of the iMac) and this could be perfect for you

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I have a Toshiba Satellite model. I've had it for about 4 years. It is an excellent durable computer that suits all my needs. I am running into a problem as of late; because I am working with some larger files it has crashed a couple of times over the last few months. I wish I knew more about what was causing the problem

 

[LoraJ]

I have a Gateway, and I've had pretty decent customer support with them. I had a problem with one of them where my power button was broken. I contacted support through email and after going back and forth about the issue a fewtimes, I got number to call to send it in. I ended up not doing that though because of the cost. I ended up buying a new one and made sure I got the extended warranty. Sold the old one to my BF because he knows how to get around to turning it on.

About Mac's I've had 2. And I have the same problems with them that I do with PC's. In fact, my powerbook is the most unstable of my computers now. ANd before my powerbook, I had an ibook, and that one broke a few days after my first year warranty expired. And the software for Macs are more expensive than PC versions, plus you are very limited as to what you can buy. Well, maybe not so much now with the newer models. But I just wouldn't recommend one unless you were doing heavy graphics and video editing.

 

[punkin712]

My laptop is dead and I need to purchase another in the next few weeks. DH and I spent what seemed like hours today looking at websites trying to figure out which one to purchase. We keep going back to the Dell E1505 Inspiron. It seems to have everything I want after a few upgrades, but I often read about the poor support service Dell has a reputation of having. I had an HP previously. I need it for school (grades on Excel, Works for newsletters, tests), wireless internet, and storing vacation photos from my digital camera. Any help in making a decision would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Signed,
Lost in laptop land

I just got a Dell Inspiron E1505 for my birthday last week (I'm using it right now!) and couldn't be happier. I got the 15.5" screen, 60MB, 1GB with Microsoft Office for Small Business and so far so good. DH and I got a Dell desktop about 10 years ago and never had any problems with it, that's why we got the laptop from Dell.

A friend of mine got a Gateway laptop and he had lots of problems with it. Nothing major, just little inconveniences every now and then. However, about 2 weeks after his 2 year warranty expired, he got the "blue screen of death" and Gateway said that since the warranty expired, he would have to pay for the repairs. I understand their position, but it just seems a little too much of a coincidence that it would break down that close to the warranty expiration.

 

[NewJersey]

I have a Toshiba Satellite model. I've had it for about 4 years. It is an excellent durable computer that suits all my needs. I am running into a problem as of late; because I am working with some larger files it has crashed a couple of times over the last few months. I wish I
knew more about what was causing the problem

you're on a PC..thats why!