What laptop should I buy?

[dennis thompson]

I'm looking to buy a laptop for my grandson to use, he's in high school. I'd like to keep it around $500. My son has a Toshiba & is pretty happy with it, so I'm looking at a Toshiba L505d costing $530 at Best Buy.
Anyone have any opinions on this or any other laptops in this price range?
Thanks
Dennis

[Greg Carr]

If he is going to be carrying it around a lot I would recommend something with a 13-14" screen. Much lighter and better battery life. You still get a full size keyboard. After using a 12" for a while the 15" models seem oversize and cumbersome. I don't miss the larger size screen at all, I enjoy missing the extra weight and size.

Greg

[Chris Kennedy]

If he isn't going to be doing high powered computing (i.e. graphic intensive games, number crunching), you might want to consider a netbook. If he's into computers, you get can a cheap netbook with Ubuntu (Linux).

Cheers,

Chris

[Matt Meiser]

I've got a giant screen on my current work laptop and plan to get the smaller screen on the next go-around (we get the choice of two models.) They use Dell, which I don't like anymore. We had about 1/2 of our last Dell desktop replaced during the warranty period and the only parts of the laptop that weren't replaced in 3 years were the LCD, some parts of the case, and the memory. Not joking--hard drive, optical drive, 2 motherboards, 2 power supplies, most of the case, keyboard, battery and probably some incidental items I'm forgetting. And Dell has tried to weasel out of the on-site part of the next day, on site warranty the last couple times. Their definition of next day is pretty shaky too--they'll ship the parts to the tech next day air. But they might not go out right away and the tech might not install them for a few days after he gets them.

The one I'm using right now is an HP from Best Buy which I got a killer clearance deal on. I was going to buy it at $750 on clearance which was a good buy but the store couldn't find the one they showed in inventory. So they sent me to another store who had it on clearance for $525. If he knows anything about computers, tell Best Buy you'll only buy it if they don't open the box. Best Buy is infamous for "fixing" computers.

My 8-year-old daughter has her eye on a netbook but I'm not sure I'm going to let her get one and instead might get her a regular laptop, or buy us a new one and give her this one. I made the mistake a year or so ago of telling her she could get a laptop when she saved enough money. Who knew the girl would diligently save all her Christmas and birthday money and that it would accumulate so fast. :eek: She's even made deals with us to sell us gift cards so she could put the money in her bank account. I think she's only got $50 to go on a netbook.

[Myk Rian]

HP. I've never had a problem with them.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

My college student son had a Toshiba that he had to replace. His second laptop is a Lenovo. He says it is much better than the Toshiba. When he took it to the tech center to get university provided software the techs there were very impressed with it. When I asked the tech director at my school about what labtop to get she said Lenovo. I noticed in yesterday's paper that Fry electronics has a Lenovo for less than $400.

[Randal Stevenson]

If he isn't going to be doing high powered computing (i.e. graphic intensive games, number crunching), you might want to consider a netbook. If he's into computers, you get can a cheap netbook with Ubuntu (Linux).

Cheers,

Chris


A netbook will do word processing, online research, etc. While my preference is Linux, it is next to impossible to buy one readily available with it. The new N450 has better battery life and these can be used with a USB or Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and plug in an external monitor for larger size (when home). The Ion models (just starting to come out) would be good (not great) for gaming, but have worse battery life (not the features you want for a "school" computer).

[Zach England]

Toshiba laptops are like Saabs. They're nice when they work, expensive to repair and sort of ugly.

[Stephen Tashiro]

If he isn't going to be doing high powered computing (i.e. graphic intensive games, number crunching), you might want to consider a netbook. If he's into computers, you get can a cheap netbook with Ubuntu (Linux).

Cheers,

Chris

I bought a Toshiba L555D with the idea of putting Linux on it and found that there is no way to access the BIOS settings under Linux (no key combination you can press as the machine boots to get a BIOS screen). You must used a Windows program to access BIOS. Now I only use the thing to watch DVDs and it runs Windows Vista.

Finding out whether consumer products work under Linux, in any depth, is still nearly impossible. The best you can do is get simplistic answers from the websites - "recognized" vs "not recognized". "not working" vs "fair" vs "excellent". The Linux magazines don't do in depth reviews of laptops, cameras, scanners, printers. If you go to magazines that specialize these products, they naturally only review them with respect to what you can do with Windows software.

[Dave Lehnert]

I'm no expert but computers are just a collection of parts made by other manufactures. Intel processors and the like. Does it matter what brand name is on it????

I have never owned anything other than Gateway computers. Never a problem beyond what one would consider typical. The laptop I am on now cost $500 from Best Buy.

Remember a NET BOOK does not have a DVD or CD drive in them.

[Stephen Tashiro]

I'd say that brand name (e.g. Gateway, Dell) is important if you are getting technical support from the company. Brand names like "Toshiba" or "HP" don't necessarily imply that you get significant technical support. As companies, brands have certain traits. For example, every time I've used HP technical support, I get the folks in India who want to follow their troubleshooting flow charts to the letter. Many Toshiba laptops have a Phoenix BIOS that can only be accessed from windows.

It is true that looking at the components of a computer is a good way to evaluate it. There are reviews on the web of that say the Toshiba L555D does not have a webcam, WiFi or bluetooth. (That info may have changed with later versions of the L555D.)

[Steve knight]

depending on what he is doing with it a ipad may be a good choice. very long battery life light weight and tons of games. if I used a laptop I would get one.

[Bryan Morgan]

I'm looking to buy a laptop for my grandson to use, he's in high school. I'd like to keep it around $500. My son has a Toshiba & is pretty happy with it, so I'm looking at a Toshiba L505d costing $530 at Best Buy.
Anyone have any opinions on this or any other laptops in this price range?
Thanks
Dennis


Depends on what you want it to do.... ultra portable, get a netbook. Good quality and reliable with good support, get an HP or a Dell. Want durable, get an IBM (they use em on the space station). Honestly, I would generally not recommend Toshibas these days. We've had many break and have had not so great support experiences. Of course, your experience may be different.

Having bought several hundred notebooks for our sales staff, we typically get them IBMs as they are not friendly to equipment. For some we also get them an Acer netbook, which they seem to love. We get them because they are ultra portable and cheap enough to be considered disposable if they break. Way back in the day we used to get Toshibas but after awhile we weren't happy with them.

At home, I buy Acers for myself. Excellent quality and features for the money, but terrible support. (Not an issue for me because I fix them myself... its part of my day job anyway...:) )

Want pretty/shiny/admittance to the cult of Jobs and overpriced, get a Mac. :p I would actually own a Macbook Pro if they weren't so expensive. :)

[Bryan Morgan]

I'm no expert but computers are just a collection of parts made by other manufactures. Intel processors and the like. Does it matter what brand name is on it????

Thats not entirely accurate... the build quality and technical support very significantly between brands...

Even with desktop machines, some of them use proprietary parts which means you can't just run to Frys and get parts to fix it if something breaks. Notebooks of course don't have many user serviceable parts anyway...

[Kevin Groenke]

I researched extensively for a light laptop with long battery life.

Ended up with a 14" Acer Timeline 4810TZ and couldn't be happier. It's stable and fast. REAL battery life of 6+ hrs. Sturdy feel and quality build. Honestly the only machine that I considered that "felt" as good was the MacbookPro (too much $). The Acer looks good too: HP, Compac, Toshiba, Dell etc... all look and feel like cheap plastic crud.

Depending on how portable you want, there are also 13.3" and 15.6" Timelines. Forget about tech support, warranty's etc, they're all horrible. If your machine crashes, you're in for a bunch of frustration regardless of the name on the lid.

Netbooks are great for web browsing, email, occasional word processing etc, but not so great if you doing any significant data crunching. I personally prefer and have the HPmini for traveling.

-kg

[Jim Terrill]

Forget about tech support, warranty's etc, they're all horrible. If your machine crashes, you're in for a bunch of frustration regardless of the name on the lid.


I would tend to disagree on that point. Apple has the best cust service of any computer company I have ever dealt with in terms of dealing with hardware issues. They overnight you a box, you overnight it back, repairs in <1 day, overnighted back to you. The computers aren't cheap, but when something goes wrong, saving some money isn't worth the 2 weeks some mfgs take to repair the computers. I had a couple of issues with my macbook, after 2 trips to the repair depot in a year (battery issues for one, flickering screen for another), Apple offered me a replacement laptop and the option to pay the difference if I wanted to upgrade. Needless to say, they have earned my business.

To the OP, I wouldn't say that any mfg is better or worse than another, buy one based on what has the features and price you think is reasonable. Acer seems to be getting pretty good reviews these days, same with HP, dell not so much. If you want something special, getting it online is good, otherwise the wholesale stores such as BJ's can have some good prices.

[Dave Lehnert]

Does a Mac run the same programs and surf the web like a windows unit?
Never used a Mac, what is different?

FYI- Acer and Gateway are one in the same company now.

[Jim Terrill]

Does a Mac run the same programs and surf the web like a windows unit?
Never used a Mac, what is different?

FYI- Acer and Gateway are one in the same company now.

Depends which programs you want. I have word and phtotoshop and such on mine, as well as parallels with windows 7 for anything that requires windows. Best of both worlds. FWIW, I got windows for free through school, if I had to pay for an OEM copy it would be a much worse deal.

Because apple has absolute control over the hardware, they can do some interesting things, such as the new macbook pros which can switch between integrated and discrete graphics chips on the fly to save power when the discrete chip is not needed. Kinda cool. I personally like the apple apps and the UI, and one thing to keep in mind- check ebay- macs hold their value. The initial cost is more, but if you go to sell it at some point, you will get more than a comprable PC. For example there is a core duo black macbook where the bids are now at $500 that was $1200 new 3 or 4 years ago. Not many 3 or 4 year old computers with old processors like that are going to go for that much money.

[Bryan Morgan]

Does a Mac run the same programs and surf the web like a windows unit?
Never used a Mac, what is different?

FYI- Acer and Gateway are one in the same company now.

No. If you want them to work together with your Windows machines it is possible, but its not really the same OS. You can't take a CD with your Windows program and drop it into a Mac and have it work. Now, it is possible to run both Windows and OSX (the Mac operating system) on a Mac. Its not difficult, but its not really a novice type thing either. I set our graphics guys up with Macbook Pros that run both OSs. If you are used to a Windows machine and are comfortable with it (and whatever issues it has) you might as well stick with a Windows box. A Mac is different. Not a lot different or even difficult, but nonetheless... They have their own problems no matter what the happy users tell you. I'm a Unix guy so I don't care either way, so thats where I'm coming from, but I manage a small network (~600 nodes currently) with Macs and PC's, not to mention dealing with our customers.

The web browsing is the same on either machine...

[Darius Ferlas]

My experience with some laptop brands.

HP - 5 failures out of 7 laptops. Unfortunately, all in month 13 to 15 so out of warranty.

Toshiba - never again.

Acer - durable workhorses, somewhat unappreciated.

Dell - 1 failure out of more than 50 laptops (DOA, replaced within 3 days) .

[Van Huskey]

Really it seems to be luck of the draw. I have bought probably 20 laptops for business or family over the last ten years and have found no 1 absolute goto company. Contrary to the tenor of the thread I am still having excellent luck with Toshiba, typing on one right now. I have had good luck with HP and Gateway as well. I have had less than steller luck with Acer save my two Acer Ferrari laptops BUT they aren't budget minded. Also so so luck with Asus and Compaq has been a nightmare for me.

In the end if I were buying a budget laptop based on my experience it would be a Toshiba or a Gateway BUT much like woodworking machines it is important to buy model and not just brand.

FYI Consumer reports ranks laptop brand reliability based from 2005-2009 from best to worst:

Toshiba
Sony
Compaq
Acer
Apple
HP
Gateway
Dell
Lenovo


They are all pretty tight percentage wise with Toshiba at 16% serious problem or repair down to 21% for Dell and Lenova. YMMV

[Curt Harms]

Finding out whether consumer products work under Linux, in any depth, is still nearly impossible. The best you can do is get simplistic answers from the websites - "recognized" vs "not recognized". "not working" vs "fair" vs "excellent". The Linux magazines don't do in depth reviews of laptops, cameras, scanners, printers. If you go to magazines that specialize these products, they naturally only review them with respect to what you can do with Windows software.
I have two portables, an R61i Thinkpad and Asus Eee1005HAB. Both work very with Ubuntu. The only function on the R61 that doesn't work is using the center button on UltraNav for scrolling. There's a setting in Firefox to enable scrolling but I don't know about OpenOffice. All the functions on the Asus work except the button to enable/disable the touchpad. There's a setting in OpenOffice to disable the touchpad when typing so that isn't worth fussing with. Personally I much prefer the "eraser head" pointing device to a touchpad but the "eraser heads" aren't common so I guess I'm in the minority there.

As far as finding a machine with Linux installed, the only one I know of is System 76 (http://www.system76.com) I know nothing about them. I figure having Windows installed is a plus in case I need software that only runs on Windows, e.g. Photoshop, Autocad, Quickbooks. As long as Windows is not connected to the internet, e.g. networking disabled it doesn't seem like a security risk. I have windows installed on all my computers. I haven't used windows in months. It is there if I need it.

As far as Hardware compatibility, I do research before I buy. HP & Brother both seem to have good Linux support. Canon, Epson, Lexmark not so much. Newer wireless adapter are problematic. Some work, some don't. Again, research is in order.

[Chris Kennedy]

I bought a Toshiba L555D with the idea of putting Linux on it and found that there is no way to access the BIOS settings under Linux (no key combination you can press as the machine boots to get a BIOS screen). You must used a Windows program to access BIOS. Now I only use the thing to watch DVDs and it runs Windows Vista.

Finding out whether consumer products work under Linux, in any depth, is still nearly impossible. The best you can do is get simplistic answers from the websites - "recognized" vs "not recognized". "not working" vs "fair" vs "excellent". The Linux magazines don't do in depth reviews of laptops, cameras, scanners, printers. If you go to magazines that specialize these products, they naturally only review them with respect to what you can do with Windows software.

When I was looking for our netbook, you could get Dell Minis with Ubuntu on them, direct from Dell. I half considered it, and it was cheaper than the same machine with Windows 7 Starter on it.