Buying a new Laptop, Opinions?

Vampyr · 01-14-2010, 06:09 PM

Or just get a Windows machine and avoid the annoyance. :P

I've really been enjoying my Sony Vaio that I got last semester. It looks really nice, it's very sturdy, and I've never had a problem out of it.

That being said, I had a really really horrible experience with my last laptop, which was an HP. It was manufactured with a flaw in the motherboard which caused it to overheat and destroy the wireless capabilities and caused the video to stop working. The problem was so widespread that they actually issued a recall. However, upon sending the machine back, they tried to tell me that there was a liquid spill inside the machine and that they would not fix it for free.

I ended up arguing with them for a few days (I even found links online from other people they had sold the exact same story to), and they fixed it.

However, upon fixing it, the only "change" they make to prevent the problem from occurring in the future is to change a setting in the BIOS which caused the fan to spin more.

The computer failed again about 6 months later from the same issue, and I bought a Vaio.

Also, if you're going to be using that machine to play video games or run high end computer aided design software, your video card will be the bottle neck since you have shared memory and not dedicated.

If you have the cash I would probably go for the accidental warranty...just for peace of mind.

Bond · 01-14-2010, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyr

Or just get a Windows machine and avoid the annoyance. :P

I've really been enjoying my Sony Vaio that I got last semester. It looks really nice, it's very sturdy, and I've never had a problem out of it.

That being said, I had a really really horrible experience with my last laptop, which was an HP. It was manufactured with a flaw in the motherboard which caused it to overheat and destroy the wireless capabilities and caused the video to stop working. The problem was so widespread that they actually issued a recall. However, upon sending the machine back, they tried to tell me that there was a liquid spill inside the machine and that they would not fix it for free.

I ended up arguing with them for a few days (I even found links online from other people they had sold the exact same story to), and they fixed it.

However, upon fixing it, the only "change" they make to prevent the problem from occurring in the future is to change a setting in the BIOS which caused the fan to spin more.

The computer failed again about 6 months later from the same issue, and I bought a Vaio.

Also, if you're going to be using that machine to play video games or run high end computer aided design software, your video card will be the bottle neck since you have shared memory and not dedicated.

If you have the cash I would probably go for the accidental warranty...just for peace of mind.

Annoyance? I'd rather go through the "annoyance" of installing Windows on a mac than go through what you did.

I like both macs and pcs, but the reliability of a macbook cannot be beat - especially when you're on the go.

Professor S · 01-14-2010, 07:09 PM

I'd avoid HP laptops. My work gets them and for the last 2 years they've had nothing but problems. They drive our Ops team nuts.

Maybe Lenovo?

And I'd love a Macbook as well if I was independently wealthy...

Vampyr · 01-14-2010, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bond

Annoyance? I'd rather go through the "annoyance" of installing Windows on a mac than go through what you did.

I like both macs and pcs, but the reliability of a macbook cannot be beat - especially when you're on the go.

Windows isn't why my machine failed.

And there's nothing special about the hardware in macs, and I've heard quite a few stories of them failing as well.

And even if the hardware is more reliable than the average PC (I know now to never buy an HP again, I'll probably stick with Vaio's), I would rather not endure the annoyance of having the Mac OS for the lifetime of the computer.

Bond · 01-14-2010, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyr

Windows isn't why my machine failed.

Where did I say Windows was why your machine failed?

As I said, I like both macs and pcs, but I think macbooks are superior for mobile computing.

ZebraRampage · 01-14-2010, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bond

I know you said you want to use Windows, but you could still get a MacBook or MacBook Pro and dual boot OS X and Vista or Windows 7. I would, personally, go this route. I've had excellent luck with my MBP, and running Windows on it is no problem at all.

Just for the record, I'm not going to get a Mac. One of the main reasons is because I WANT a keypad. I use keypads so much for calculations and entering formulas into excel. I know that keypads can be bought separately and hooked up via usb, but I honestly do not want to do that. I also want a big screen, so that automatically makes a Macbook Pro out of my price range. The Macbook isn't big enough either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyr

That being said, I had a really really horrible experience with my last laptop, which was an HP. It was manufactured with a flaw in the motherboard which caused it to overheat and destroy the wireless capabilities and caused the video to stop working. The problem was so widespread that they actually issued a recall. However, upon sending the machine back, they tried to tell me that there was a liquid spill inside the machine and that they would not fix it for free.

I ended up arguing with them for a few days (I even found links online from other people they had sold the exact same story to), and they fixed it.

However, upon fixing it, the only "change" they make to prevent the problem from occurring in the future is to change a setting in the BIOS which caused the fan to spin more.

The computer failed again about 6 months later from the same issue, and I bought a Vaio.

I have heard from some people that HP laptops aren't reliable, and then I've heard the exact opposite about them. I hear the same thing for almost every company. Some say that they suck, and others say that they're great. Personally, I've never had any major problems with any of the computers that I've owned. The only major issue I had was with a Dell Monitor that had to be replaced twice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyr

Also, if you're going to be using that machine to play video games or run high end computer aided design software, your video card will be the bottle neck since you have shared memory and not dedicated.

If you have the cash I would probably go for the accidental warranty...just for peace of mind.

Another point to make is that this laptop will not be used for playing games. My desktop is setup nicely with a new video card to handle this. Maybe if I get a game in the future that can only run on Windows 7 I'll use it for this purpose, but seeing as I'm not a big PC gamer, I don't think I will have to worry about this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyr

I've really been enjoying my Sony Vaio that I got last semester. It looks really nice, it's very sturdy, and I've never had a problem out of it.

Do you know if there's a Vaio that is a comparable price for the specs that I stated above?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Professor S

I'd avoid HP laptops. My work gets them and for the last 2 years they've had nothing but problems. They drive our Ops team nuts.

Maybe Lenovo?

And I'd love a Macbook as well if I was independently wealthy...

Were the HP laptops high end, or were they just average machines? I know that this might not matter, but I'm still curious. Also, I've seen some Lenovo stuff. Do they also have a comparable machine?

I will probably look into Sony and Lenovo, but I really like the what I'm seeing with this HP. I've talked to two computer programmers that I know (Yes, I realize that they don't know as much about hardware as they know about software), and they seem to think that this computer's a good deal and should be fine. Is it a general consensus that HP laptops are bad?

Vampyr · 01-14-2010, 09:38 PM

A Sony with the same specs will probably be more expensive - that was the reason I bought my original HP laptop...for the price it had the best specs of any brand.

But I guess you get what you pay for. There seem to be far more horror stories of HP computers than any other brand.

Here is an article on some research done just a few months ago:

http://www.ditii.com/2009/11/18/asus...-and-hp-worst/

I've actually heard really great things about Asus machines from people I know who own them, maybe you could check them out.

(note that Sony is higher than Apple

)

ZebraRampage · 01-14-2010, 09:59 PM

I was looking at the Sony Vaio F-Seires, and it seems to be comparable. I just don't know what the wireless card is, and if there's bluetooth, when I customize. That link you sent me does make one think twice about getting an HP Laptop. I've been putting this purchase off for months now, comparing everything. I guess I haven't looked at some companies, but I always thought that HP was somewhat reliable. Do you think that the bigger companies tend to get more malfunctions because more people who don't know what they're doing with computers get them from the bigger companies? I really want to make this decision in the next few days because I'm tired of waiting.