Re: Laptop brands/experiences -- PCTECH

I'll refine this by also asking what features are requirements/needs, what
are some wants, and what things are undesirable. Example: If an internal
optical drive is required, that rules out some - but not all - of the more
compact units. If required, is DVD OK or is Bluray wanted? If Bluray,
then your options are more limited, though there are still several
manufacturers to choose from. BD support does rule out Apple, which is
surprising given their heavy slant towards media consumption.

My wife's had good luck with her Sony Vaio. You can get a nice machine for
$700-900 with a 15" screen, Bluray drive, and all the normal stuff. I was
considering a Vaio S-Series with a 7 hour battery + a battery slice
extender giving it 15 hours of battery time, 13.3" hi-res screen, BD drive,
etc. for not much over a grand if you don't go nuts.

I stopped considering the Vaio when we wound up buying a gently used HP DV4
from one of my wife's coworkers. It's a run-of-the-mill 14" unit with an
AMD CPU. The fan is too loud and runs more than I would prefer. Battery
life is adequate so far, but I have had issues with the WiFi dropping at
random intervals. I haven't looked into a fix yet. Overall it's just OK
but was cheap.

I'm also using a D830 as my work machine. It's fine for work but for me
personally I want something light, hence my interest in the sub-4-pound
S-Series.

Whatever he decides, for high-end stuff like using an SSD, I'd suggest
buying the laptop with the cheapest internal drive it comes with &
replacing it with an SSD aftermarket. OEMs still charge a premium for
SSDs. Do that, then put the OEM HD in an external enclosure for $6 (
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0323860)
and he'll have an external drive to use for backups.

On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 9:45 AM, John Jones <chianime@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Before talking brands, what kind of laptop is he interested in?
Thin-n-light, luggable but big screen, gaming-capable, "mainstream",
netbook?

Some brands will be better at some categories than others.

On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 9:20 AM, Jeff Crosby <jlcrosby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

All,

My youngest son will graduate next spring with a degree in Informatics.
When asked what he would like for Christmas and graduation, he replied he
wants a new laptop to replace his 4-year-old Dell.

I haven't followed laptops recently. What do some of you who have made
fairly recent purchases recommend?

Thanks.

--
Jeff Crosby
VP Information Systems
UniPro FoodService/Dilgard
P.O. Box 13369
Ft. Wayne, IN 46868-3369
260-422-7531
www.dilgardfoods.com

The opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily the opinion of my
company. Unless I say so.
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John Jones, CISSP