[wackywaldo]

Hi, I am wanting to purchase a new laptop and wanted to know what ppl thought about brand vs. getting one built (no name). I made a mistake, and my first desktop was a Tiny, yeah, 8 months later and $1800 later, I have a nice big dust collector on my desk. A friend couldn't figure out what happened to the computer, so he took me to a small private computer store and helped me build a new tower. $600 bucks later, I have more memory than I know what to do with. The store guarantees their work, so if something goes wrong, I bring it in, their labor is free, I just pay for parts. I have only had one problem, and it was the cmos battery.

I plan on using the laptop as my own personal computer (hubby just can't resist opening those 'secret admirer' email attachments no matter how much I yell at him). I will surf the web, watch DVDs/video, photoshop, games (a friend wants me to get me into WOW), graphic design projects for work, and basic word & excel documents. I like the HP dv6500t, have little experience with XP , no experience with vista, (currently on Win2000 Prof) I want something RELIABLE, and if something goes wrong, I want to be able to reach someone to talk to, not burn up my minutes. I know I need a new OS, so I have to figure in the price of that software. (I have $2k to spend) I know many ppl who hate their Dell/Gateway...so, HP? Toshiba? Sony? Custom built at the computer store? Any suggestions are much appreciated.

[RastaMon]

I would recommend either a MacBook or a MacBook Pro, depending on how demanding your graphic design projects are. (Gaming benchmarks show that the MacBook Pro offers about 3 times as many frames per second, aka video performance, as the MacBook, which may or may not be necessary for your needs.) When I bought my MacBook 2-3 months ago, the MacBook offered the best hardware bang for the buck, compared to similarly equipped laptops from Dell, HP, etc. PC World said that the MacBook Pro (17 inch) was the fastest Vista laptop they tested in 2007. While I doubt that you would want or need to run Vista on a Mac (except perhaps some specialty work related software) since OS X is similarly featured and much more efficient in terms of system resource use. Most applications, excepting games, have Mac versions. Your employer may even have a Windows license that allows you to legally install it on your computer without having to purchase a separate copy, provided the laptop will be used for work.

Apple's hardware quality and customer service both rank near, if not at the top of the industry. A Kansas City area school district recently deployed 6000 new MacBooks, of which less than 15 (I think the exact number was 11, but I can't remember for certain.) had initial problems, which equates to over 99.7% success rate. (In the interest of full disclosure, I believe they are all running Tiger and have not yet been upgraded to Leopard.)

Note: DO NOT purchase memory upgrades from Apple. It is much cheaper to buy equivalent (high quality) third party memory and install it yourself, which will not void your warranty. Should you purchase a MacBook, the same thing is true of the hard drive. You can buy the smallest drive available and then quickly and easily (It takes about 10 minutes and requires two screwdrivers and a coin.) upgrade it with a third party hard drive for less money, without voiding your warranty.

[rgreen4]

I have an HP dv9500t with is the 17" version of the dv6500t, with the larger screen comes about 1 pound in additional weight. Unless you are going to be toting the laptop around a lot, it will not be that noticable. I have Vista on three machines (2 desktops and the laptop) and XP on 2 (an older desktop and an older HP 15.4" laptop). If you clean up the crapware that the manufacturer puts on the machines with PC De-Crapifier and the Norton's Removal Tool (to remove the trial of Nortons's), you will have a good machine. The dv9500t also has room for a second hard drive.

I have had very good service with my HP computers, and found their technical support via the chat option very helpful, and there is no accent problem. Laptops being laptops, I also opted for the extended warranty with accidental damage coverage (which is really what I was after - from my experience the risk is greater from being dropped than part failure).

Custom or home built computers are fine for desktops, but although there are some in the laptop area they cannot compete with the manufactured machines for looks, fit and finish. The tolerances in assembling laptops is extremely small, and if the manufacturer controls all design aspects of the machine we are greeted with the thin, light machines. Custom builds must acquire cases, motherboard, etc and assemble and their tolerances for assembly cannot compete, resulting in slightly thicker, and possible heavier laptops.

Find a computer store that has a variety of machines in stock and look and feel. Keyboard touch is important. Then after you have decided, make your decision. Then order exactly what you want directly from the manufacturer. The Big Box stores will only carry what they think will sell the quickest and it may not have all the features you want.

[RastaMon]

Here's the link regarding the MacBook Pro running Vista. Note that the entry level MBP will easily do the tasks you have mentioned. For that matter, if the graphic design tasks you are doing are not too video card intensive, a MacBook will work well, also, with more bang for the buck. (I've been pleasantly surprised by the video performance of my MacBook, and wouldn't anticipate you having any problems with one for your stated needs.)

[smax013]

RastaMon said:

I would recommend either a MacBook or a MacBook Pro, depending on how demanding your graphic design projects are. (Gaming benchmarks show that the MacBook Pro offers about 3 times as many frames per second, aka video performance, as the MacBook, which may or may not be necessary for your needs.) When I bought my MacBook 2-3 months ago, the MacBook offered the best hardware bang for the buck, compared to similarly equipped laptops from Dell, HP, etc. PC World said that the MacBook Pro (17 inch) was the fastest Vista laptop they tested in 2007. While I doubt that you would want or need to run Vista on a Mac (except perhaps some specialty work related software) since OS X is similarly featured and much more efficient in terms of system resource use. Most applications, excepting games, have Mac versions. Your employer may even have a Windows license that allows you to legally install it on your computer without having to purchase a separate copy, provided the laptop will be used for work.

Apple's hardware quality and customer service both rank near, if not at the top of the industry. A Kansas City area school district recently deployed 6000 new MacBooks, of which less than 15 (I think the exact number was 11, but I can't remember for certain.) had initial problems, which equates to over 99.7% success rate. (In the interest of full disclosure, I believe they are all running Tiger and have not yet been upgraded to Leopard.)

Note: DO NOT purchase memory upgrades from Apple. It is much cheaper to buy equivalent (high quality) third party memory and install it yourself, which will not void your warranty. Should you purchase a MacBook, the same thing is true of the hard drive. You can buy the smallest drive available and then quickly and easily (It takes about 10 minutes and requires two screwdrivers and a coin.) upgrade it with a third party hard drive for less money, without voiding your warranty.

Such a beautiful, Shameless Mac Plug ™! It brought tears to my eyes! !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1! Couldn't have done better myself!
!http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!




If I now try to get back into serious mode, I cannot disagree with anything that [~80584] offered. I would more strongly say that it does not not make sense to me to get a Mac just to run Windoze (i.e. if you only wanted Windoze and would not bother with the Mac OS). If you are set on Windoze, then I would stick with a Windoze based manufacturer. If you were going to use the Mac OS most of the time, but needed Windoze on occasion for some particular programs, then that can be a GREAT use for a Mac (that is how my MacBook Pro gets used...I need Windoze for my structural engineering applicaitons, but use the Mac OS for other stuff such as word processing or spreadsheets). And I agree with his thoughts on quality. I have yet to use a laptop that seems to be as well made as my MacBook Pro. And will I like MacBook Pros much better than MacBooks, they also feel rather solid and well made...better than just about any Windoze centric laptop that I have laid hands on. That does not mean that people don't have problems. People experience problems with all different kinds of computer, including Macs. In the end, however, I have a WHOLE lot fewer problems/issues with my Macs than my Windoze PeeCees.



But, it is a change. If you have never used a Mac before, then I would suggest going to a local Apple store (or some other store that had them) and try one out a bit. While not hugely different from Windoze overall (many concepts are the same or very similar), there are some differences that could drive some people nuts.

[wackywaldo]

Thanks for everybody's suggestions, I can hoof it to an Apple store on my lunch and check them out. No promises, the last time I used an Apple was in 6th grade, and it was a "IIgs"...gee, that makes me feel old!

[yankeeDDL]

I think the first question you should ask yourself is "what do I need this laptop for".

If you need to have service, maybe "on the road", then you probably want to go brand-name. Lenovo is pretty big in customer service and it's "global". Of course it's not cheap. That's true also for Sony and other brands, however I have no direct experience for that.

I use a Lenovo for work and had no problemw with it or with the support, but, honestly, I needed very little support.

For personal use, I have a Dell. Not sure if you consider Dell a "brand name" or a "custom built" since Dell is, in my opinion, the company that offers the most customization on laptops.

My Dell laptop is 8 years old. Things have changed since, but I wished it was sturdier and better built.

I like Dell and I like being able to customize it. I like to have more ram than normally is default: I find it that extends the lifespan ofPC/laptop since new software tends to be more and more RAM hungry. I normally don't care about CPU speed, especially these days wherebaseline AMD and Intel CPUs provide a lot of bang for the bucks.

For games, you may want to "spice up" the graphics: don't expect much from a laptop.

All this said ... with 2K you can buy a "monster" laptop. And for amonster laptop, I would recommend a pre-built, where you know that all components have been proved to be working well together.

If I were you, I would be looking at something from MSI: http://www.msimobile...px?cid=6&id=102

I read many good reviews from MSI's laptops and for $1700 you get a 17" powerhouse :)

Last question ... why getting a laptop instead of a desktop?