New notebook suggestions?

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olegeeza
olegeeza's picture
Joined: July 20, 2009

Hey all.

I'm in the market for a new Laptop (running Windows).

Been using my dell xps m1210 for a fair while now and it's done me well. A fantastic laptop.

I've been looking at the latest Dell XPS Studio 13, and i'd consider it now that they've sorted out a lot of the heating and graphics card issues with it (thanks to some pretty huge bios updates).

I'd also be interested in anything from ASUS or Toshiba if anybody has any good suggestions from them.

No Sony or Apple thanks.

Minimum specs:
No larger than 14" screen.
4gb RAM
nvidia graphics card
7200rpm speed drive or solid state drive.

any suggestions? dell, toshiba or asus?

cheers.

olegeeza
olegeeza's picture
Joined: July 20, 2009

sorry, doesn't really have to be only a nvidia graphics. anything decent. ATI or whatever. i do some video stuff, but mostly music.

malutki
malutki's picture
Joined: June 25, 2009

Hi Olegeeza
I had an ASUS before and was pretty happy with it.

thought it was better than the dells or toshibas i saw at friends.

but last year I found a great price on a ThinkPad when they were changing models, and ehm...

I Love It.

i don't know what prices you can find now, and how much money you want to spend. but do look at a thinkpad, touch it! ;)

This thing means Business,
and the buildquality is sturdy.
and the red mouse thingy between the keys,
turns from weird to great almost immediately.

Ross B.
Ross B.'s picture
Joined: April 11, 2009

I agree with everything said about ASUS and ThinkPad.

If I didn't need to have a MacBook I would probably get one of those two brands unless there were other factors (Toshiba seems to have some models with amazing battery life for example)

That said I've owned two (pre-Lenovo) ThinkPads and they both broke down after a while (3 or so years) with display issues.

Not sure if that helps

malutki
malutki's picture
Joined: June 25, 2009

two of them? whoa...

I am beginning to suspect that the displays are the weekest link in a laptop. My friends Dell needed a replacement after one (!) year.

My Asus worked fine for 3,5 years, and then the hinges started acting up. I fixed it for a while by replacing some screws, but there must have been a busted cable or something. Soon the image got all messed up and I had to use an external monitor. Then he was dead :(

Probably depends on how (much) you use them.
The only really old still working Laptops I have ever seen were Thinkpads, but that could be selective perception, now that I have got one... ;) At least i can be sure it will not be the damn hinges again!

malutki
malutki's picture
Joined: June 25, 2009

oh, speaking of displays:

one advantage with Dells and Thinkpads:
I think you can still get them with a non-glossy one?

Ross B.
Ross B.'s picture
Joined: April 11, 2009

Another thing I thought of (which I considered last time I bought a laptop) is that Dell have on-site service for some (all?) of their laptops. At least they did here in .au last time I checked. My friend had a problem with his Dell laptop, and the service technician visited his office and replaced the motherboard on the spot -- that sure beats back-to-base wait-a-week service you get with many other manufacturers.