Thinking of getting a new laptop

[DRW50]

I was thinking of getting a new laptop, I guess somewhere around $300-$400, and was wondering if you had any suggestions. I was thinking of getting a Dell or getting a Compaq. Which do you prefer? Or is there another you prefer?

[Mr. Vixen]

I got a new laptop in May...It was a Dell. It was $1,200 dollars..

However, when I was looking at Best Buy they had a TON of Dell laptops that were in the 3-500 range, that the sales people told me were just as good.

I have had 3 laptops in my life...

I had a Gateway...I got it, and it was such a stinking pile of crap that I had to return it in two weeks, because literally nothing on it would work...The sales people told me Gateway has gone COMPLETELY down hill since about 2005, and is no longer a reliable or good brand.

Then I had a Toshiba for about 3 years...I really liked the computer at first, but I would NOT recommend getting a Toshiba! Everything on it seemed to fall apart. The clasps to keep it closed broke within a couple months, and Toshiba wouldn't fix it for me... The plug in jack broke, and it wouldn't charge...again, they did NOTHING for me...The touch mouse was OK, but I've seen better...And they tend to be slow...I didn't have that much stuff on it really, but they just kept telling me to clean stuff out. I deleted a massive amount of stuff, I ran virus and spyware software regularly, I cleaned out cookies...And nothing, it was still slow. They say Toshiba is a good brand, but I didn't like them at ALL, would never buy them again, and the customer service was BAD..

Now I got this Dell in May...I haven't had ONE problem with it. It is fast, everything works well on it, and I haven't personally had any problems or reason to call Customer service...But my brother and father both have Dell computers, and said Dell is the BEST customer service of any brand they've had...I am overall completely happy with mine...The screen is large and bright, the keyboard is easy to use, the touch pad is EXCELLENT...I would recommened a Dell.

I have never had a Compaq, so I don't know anything about those! Sorry

I hope this helped, and happy shopping!

[DRW50]

Thanks. I think we have some of the same history...I had a Toshiba for a little while and the keyboard drove me insane and yeah it did seem slow.

I also had a Gateway for a while, or an offshoot of theirs.

Thanks for your advice.

[Jonathan]

I would NOT recommend a Sony Vaio. I was juggling different projects on 3 separate vaios and each one and its problems. Plus, Sony doesn't give you a Windows backup installation disk so if for whatever reason you have to do a clean install of your operating system the only way is to access a copy that Sony has pre-installed in your computer. That's not a very efficient way to reload Windows.

[DRW50]

Thanks.

[NYC123]

I would NOT recommend Dell. The reason why I say this is because their Tech Support is just HORRIBLE. It took me 2 hours to get someone when trying to fix my computer

I would STRONGLY recommend any HP computers. They are reliable and last a long time. I have had 2 HP laptops. One lasted 6 years. Not bad. And the new one I have is going on a year and still working VERY FAST AND QUICK!

[Cheap21]

Cosign on the HP reccomendation. I only buy HP now. Ive bought 2 HP desktops and one HP laptop. Id reccomend buying directly from HP.com. You can custom design one with the features you want and you can even do a goggle search for a coupon code to knock the price down.

[DRW50]

Thank you both. I did get an HP, so we were on the same wavelength

[Sylph]

Are you satisfied with it?

[DRW50]

It seems OK so far.