Laptop advice

[alva]

I'm not very up to date when it comes to laptops and a friend of mine is thinking of buying one, so here goes:

Money: no real issue (within limits of course ).
games: nope
software: meh, I'll deal with that if needed.

One thing I think that will be important, is that it has to be sturdy.

Can't really think of anything else (don't think batteries are going to be an issue either way and I guess,
that if you buy a better build quality, all other points will be met too, right.).


Thanks

[Nostromo]

I recently checked out the laptops at my local Futureshop. Toshiba are still pretty good, AFAIK. But the HP's impressed me. They look good, the price is right and they tend to have much better screens than the other brands: the other laptop's screens looked washed out in comparison. Not sure if they're sturdy, though. If you want sturdy you can always get a Thinkpad. But they're expensive for nothing, IMO. And I'm not sure if the quality is still there since Lenovo bought the brand from IBM.

[Kuciwalker]

Don't go with HP for laptops, I've had nothing but pain from mine.

[-Jrabbit]

With gaming out of the picture, look for trauma protection and battery life as key factors.

Your key application will be Vista. I think if you're getting something new and don't skimp on RAM, you should be fine. But I'm no expert. I tend to buy more than the minimum as a hedge against next-generation requirements.

Ergonomically, the key user options are screen size, matte vs glossy screens (a personal preference issue) and the like. If it's substituting for a desktop and doesn't travel much, you might consider a bigger screen size (17"), which sometimes gets you a numeric keypad. It's worth a trip to CDW to get a handle on your preferences.

I leave it to others here to address the meaty issues of Vista-readiness, preferred chipset and the like.

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Don't go with HP for laptops, I've had nothing but pain from mine.

Yeah. My HP lasted 17 months, faded and died.

There was a thread about HP laptops issues a few months back.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Don't go with HP for laptops, I've had nothing but pain from mine.

You realize that your experience is statistically meaningless, don't you?

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit


Yeah. My HP lasted 17 months, faded and died.

There was a thread about HP laptops issues a few months back.

Again, that's absolutely meaningless, statistically speaking. Alva should disregard it. Of course, he won't. According to some researchers, evidence suggests that our brains can't help but take into account useless information like the one you and Kuci provided. Its as if we were hard wired to do so. I have to admit that I'm like you guys. I make the same error again and again. That's why I constantly have to remind myself that single cases mean nothing.

The real question is: are HP laptops less reliable, on average, than other brands?

[Kuciwalker]

The problem with my HP laptop was a design issue, not a random defect.

[Nostromo]

alva, go here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/

There's a "what laptop should I buy?" forum. Fill out the precise FAQ and people will make some suggestions based on the specs you want.

[alva]

thanks, will do.