Recommend a laptop for my wife?

[shaveice]

i thought i knew what i'd get for her (an acer from costco); price is great (around $530), 4 gigs ram, 320 gigs of hard drive space, wireless, windows 7, etc. but thankfully, i went to amazon's site to check on a similar acer (basic model the same but the last 4 digits were different) and there were three strikes against it: faulty keyboard, slow wireless connection and poor customer support (based on customer reviews).

she's not a gamer but she does want a solid laptop; not for carrying around; she's got a netbook for that; wants to use it as her 'desktop'. (her current lenovo is a couple of years old now) basically uses it for word processing, web surfing, picture viewing/editing, watching videos/movies.

costco has a bunch of HPs but there was an article online recently about how HP is the most likely laptop brand to run into problems; there was a dell and one toshiba at costco tho it doesn't have to be limited to what costco sells.

dependability is the most important factor. price? maybe up to $800.

you guys have consistently provided great ideas in the past and i'm sure your suggestions regarding this request will be just as helpful.

thanks

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

I could have gotten my "17 HP DV7Z for$50 less than the $580 new I paid, + $40 shipping, had I waited a few more hours on ebay, and it might not have been a victim of 3 GB of RAM theft..., but it's been great, no probs. Really sharp looking and acting unit w/quality components. Comes w/Vista, but you can get W7 for free w/proof of purchase.
If you can live with a smaller screen, check out their other DV7 models. Some now have even more options than mine, and are comparable to the stats you mentioned for the Acer, at under $600.
Only down is the battery life is stupid at 1 hr.

If you can find a better unit for that kind of $, let us know!
For $800 you can get a killer laptop.

What were the problems w/HP you alluded to?

[shaveice]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

this is the article i was referring to:

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/154921

"...The most reliable companies? A shocker: Toshiba and Asus, both with below a 16 percent failure rate due to hardware malfunction.

The least reliable brands? Acer, Gateway, and HP. HP's hardware malfunction rate, the worst in SquareTrade's analysis, is a whopping 25.6 percent...."

thanks for your suggestion; will follow up and check it out.

[anapuni808]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

I'm currently shopping for a laptop to replace my desktop PC. I put my bro on the trail and through research by both of us, we have narrowed it down to a Toshiba Sattelite model or a Dell Inspirion. They both get good ratings from Consumer Reports, and both have all the features I'm looking for. I'm looking for one to use at home for basic word processing, spreadsheets, web surfing, email & some games. and I don't plan to carry it around with me. I've pretty much made up my mind at this point to get a Toshiba.

[shaveice]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

sounds like your needs are the same as my wife's moreover, at the moment, i'm thinking of a dell (the one at costco is around $750 i think) or a toshiba; the same article noted above gives toshiba a good reliability rating so that's a real plus. i don't want to spend more than i have to but spending a little more for a product that's more reliable is sooo worth it; i don't want to spend hours on the phone with customer support and i don't wanna send something back; the frustration of a laptop that doesn't work properly is not worth a "bargain" price.

just curious: which model toshiba are you thinking of getting?

[anapuni808]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

yes, we are pretty similar in what we want. As to which model - it will depend on price. Best Buy had one advertised yesterday @ $499, but of course that was for "Black Friday" so those prices will change. But hopefully, they will stay down til after Xmas. For me, it's going to be a compromise between features, RAM and price.

Check out Dell's website - I think you might find out it will be cheaper than even Costco. I was looking at the Inspirion model that starts at $499. By the time I added all I wanted to - it was still under $600! I looked at Costco & Sam's Club and was surprised/disappointed at their prices. They didn't seem like such great deals at those 2 stores.

[Ron Whitfield]

correction

$580 new I paid

Paid $630 + $40 shipping. Could have gotten it for $580.00

Still, with yet having to lay out $80 more for a new 4GBs of RAM, I'm really happy with this sturdy sucker, even at a slower speed w/1GB of RAM. With a full compliment, it's hard to think how it would be kickin'!

In looking at the current competition, I feel I got the better lower priced unit, and there are HP DV7s that are even better equipped, and well under $800.
I did my homework on these, and the colors were flying in all reviews.
But I can see Toshiba being worthy of a look too.

[shaveice]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

ana, that's a really good suggestion. i actually bought my dell laptop from their website and fortunately it's been running smoothly with no problems.

yup, like you said, you can customize what you want and as i recall, my price was pretty decent and there was some instant rebate thing going on at the time so i got a sweet deal. i'll definitely check dell's site tonight and try to put something together to get an idea of what the price might be.

and yes, it pays not to assume that costco, etc will automatically have a lower price.

ron, i give you credit cuz i wouldn't buy a laptop from ebay (generally speaking); i'm too reluctant to do it cuz if something goes wrong, i'm not sure what recourse i might have; on the other hand, maybe you bought yours from a very reputable seller.

you're right: for $800, you can buy a really good laptop. it's amazing how things have changed; i remember forking over $2,000 for laptops! and just today, while looking at the laptops at costco, i'm impressed at what you get for the money (under $750!).

still, the main thing i'm looking out for is reliability. all of the laptops look shiny and inviting but that's just the surface of things...

[matapule]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

tho it doesn't have to be limited to what costco sells.

One good reason to purchase from Costco is:
1. they give a 90 day money back guarantee on computers
2. they double the mfg. warranty to two years - that's worth at least $100

(I sound like Yogi Berra......one good reason! )

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

ron, i give you credit cuz i wouldn't buy a laptop from ebay (generally speaking); i'm too reluctant to do it cuz if something goes wrong, i'm not sure what recourse i might have; on the other hand, maybe you bought yours from a very reputable seller.

My seller has a 100% rating with many sales, and I never had a worry, maybe due to zealous naivete, but it went ok even with the RAM thing. I'd do it agan, I'm that happy with this laptop, only I'd get a model with full blu-ray and TV, neither are deal breakers tho.

Good luck!

[shaveice]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

yeah mata, the return policy at costco is pretty amazing; 90 days is a long time and it's nice to be able to just drive to the store and return it or exchange it vs mailing it. (btw, i didn't realize the warranty is doubled; nice surprise ;-))

after talking to my wife about the various options, she's now leaning towards the one toshiba that we saw at costco; i think that model was around $650...

[anapuni808]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

if you DO get the Toshiba - please let me know what model & the cost? I'm very interested in making this purchase!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

I...am...so...shocked!! So I'll be the first to mention it...GET A MAC!

Yep that's what I said! There's no second guessing it, a MAC is simply foolproof (for now) but you'll pay the bucks for it, and I'm sure she'll love it. For PC's they're good too but it comes down to brand loyalty as well. Hey if she wanted a Toyota but you got her a Nissan instead, I'm sure the disappointment would be all over her face, but a MAC? Heck even I'd be giggling over one if someone forked out the Kings Ransom over it for me.

I'm a PC'er but if you don't want to disappoint her, get a Mac. You can't go wrong.

[shaveice]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

if you DO get the Toshiba - please let me know what model & the cost? I'm very interested in making this purchase!

i'll be at costco this saturday and i'll get the info for you ;-)

craig, that's a good idea but cost is a factor so that won't be happening!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Recommend a laptop for my wife?

Okay from a techie who fixes laptops, I've only had to repair one Mac and that was for a keyboard. Aside from that, here's the rundown on brands I've had to work on regarding laptops:

Toshiba - Great but when they break (and they do)...the time to repair is lengthy thus costly. Common problems with Toshiba's? GPU's fry because of proximity to CPU. Remedy? Don't do too much video editing on these machines unless you run a laptop cooler. Recommended laptop for video editing? Mac's because they are the most widely used computers for this profession.

HP/Compaq - One in the same. Easier to fix than Toshiba thus cheaper labor charges. Common failure on HP/Compaq? Displays go out (either flourescent tube or inverter board). Remedy? Use an external monitor as often as possible. Pros - Recovery disk contains complete OS and can be reloaded onto any x86-based computer. Cons - Cheap cheap cheap components.

Dell - Nice solid entry level laptop. Easy to work on so lower labor costs. Common problems with Dell? Keyboards go. But they're easy to replace. Remedy? Use an external keyboard as often as possible. Pros - If insured, field repair is available even in rural areas. Cons - they break often (UPS knows a Dell return and repair package intimately with over 30-units in the Hilo area alone per month) and the recovery disk (contains full OS on disk) is propietary to Dell computers only.

Sony Vaio - PC's answer to Mac. Clean lines, expensive and fairly bullet-proof. Difficult to repair thus costly labor charges. Highly proprietary components making off the shelf repair difficult. Pros - very reliable. Cons - Expensive to repair.

Lenovo ThinkPad (formerly known as IBM) - Chinese company that bought out IBM's Thinkpad division. Older Thinkpads are rock solid and THE choice of corporate IT departments when it comes to durability and reliability. Difficult to work on so labor costs will be high. Pros - Great machine to work with, very reliable and solidly built (even the newer Lenovo's). Cons - Expensive to repair.

Acer - Cheap, high failure rate, you will be disappointed. Pros - Very low cost. Cons - You will be disappointed within a year of purchase.

Asus - Still kinda new to the laptop market. Better known to techies for their dependable motherboards. Did their homework and competes directly against high end Toshiba's and Sony Viao's. Pros - Solid build. Cons - Still new to the market to base any complaints.

Gateway - One notch above Acer. Nuff said

Of all PC laptops, the only ONE laptop that shines above all others when it comes to looks, reliability, portability, and curb appeal...is the Lenovo ThinkPad series of laptops.

Bang for the buck PC? HP/Compaq.

I have an older IBM Thinkpad T22 running a Pentium III CPU on 512Mb of RAM and XP Pro. Looks wise it still has that fresh out of the box looks, performance wise, it manages to outpace some of the BRAND NEW laptops I repair. My wife takes this laptop all over the US for presentations and it hasn't failed her yet. Corporations across America choose the IBM/Lenovo for their field agents for a reason...high reliability. Mine is over 10-years old and is still as solid in looks and performance since DAY ONE! Haven't had to replace anything except the battery. This is one solid machine and my choice for the best laptop outside of a Mac. As a matter of fact other than OS requirements, I truly believe when it comes to durablity as a benchmark for reliability, the Thinkpad is in a higher catagory than even a Mac...any Mac for that matter! So that tells you a lot about how it rates against all other PC laptops