Question : Problem: Which Laptop is Best?

Hi,

I have an interesting question for you.  I am off to uni. next year, and am keen on buying a laptop - my problem is where to start, as the range is pretty extensive.

So basically I would like some advice on brands (Gateway, DELL, Toshiba, Acer, Comqaq mainly) and more specifically what you think of Gateway and their "Solo 2150 XL" model (PIII 500).  You see Gateway has just opened a chain of new stores in New Zealand (where I live!) and I have heard they are really good (one of the best in America, decent prices etc.) and this 2150 XL model looked like it was a quality product.  

I am not wanting to pay over $5000 NZ dollars, and basically want a 'decently fast quality laptop'.  It will be used all sorts of things such as surfing, email, word processing, and some (lightish) graphics work - and I don't want it crashing all the time.

I don't know how you plan on answering this, but give it a go.  Don't be in too much of a rush to answer either, I'll give a couple of weeks and then select the most thorough answer (even if you rubbish the Solo 2150 you may still get the points - as long as you know what you are on about). Also, please only answer if you have a little more than *just* an opinion - you need some knowlege to back it up.

Cheers,
D.

Answer : Problem: Which Laptop is Best?

Well, my only expertise is that I sell them all day long.  The value of my opinion is that I have absolutely no preference.  So here goes.

I'm surprised Sony wasn't on your list.  It seems to be a very popular brand, especially with students and analytical executive types.  The big plus with Sony is that so far, they are the only brand to devise a way to use a second battery in the PIII models.  While all of the Pentium III laptops use some sort of power control when under battery power, the processor will still consume alot of battery in a short time.  Thus, Sony's answer seems very useful to me.  If you are not going to be on battery very often, then never mind.  Sony will charge you a premium price, just because they are sony, but I have yet to see even one sony notebook come back for so much as a repair.

Dell has the highest reputation in the states right now, and if you can afford one, conventional wisdom would say to go with Dell.  You are sure to get the best service after the sale from them as a manufacturer, if that service is as readily available in NZ as it is here in the states.  

For the money you will spend on a dell, though, I would get a Micron.  Micron is another American company out of Boise, Idaho, and they make what I would consider the Ferrari of computers. Their notebooks are no exception.  Research them thoroughly at their web site.  The best thing I can tell you about them is they don't load a bunch of superfluous crap into their programming, so the Sys Tray and startup menus stay clear and Microns run quicker, cleaner, and more efficiently than any machine I have ever run.

Gateway (and this is only opinion, I will admit) is immensely overrated.  There is little difference between their computers and shelf brands like Compaq, Hewlett Packard, and Toshiba.  Unless you get a terrific price, the extra money you spend for a gateway would be better spent on added features on one of the other brands.

Toshiba has an awesome reputation, but honestly, what decides the purchase for most Toshiba buyers is that they prefer the button style mouse to the touch pad.  Toshiba uses a Lotus suite software package as well, like IBM, so if you prefer Microsoft software, Toshiba won't offer it.

More compaqs are returned than any other computer we sell, (I work for a major retail electronics store so we sell about 75 laptops a week) but that might be because we sell more compaqs than any other brand.  Their JBL sound system seems to be the best.  Compaq is definitely the brand which loads the most extra stuff (read: garbage) into their OEM programming.  After all the programs are on board, you will find your performance down to about 54% of system resources.

Hewlett Packard makes a nice machine, but they have a fairly flimsy screen, especially in the larger sizes.  

For screen quality, and durability, I would rate the machines as follows:

Sony, Micron, Dell, Toshiba, Compaq, Gateway, Hewlett Packard.

I hope this has been useful.  If money were no object, I would get a Micron, hands down.  If budgetary constraints ruled the day, I would opt for a Sony or Hewlett Packard.  Most importantly, if you demand speed, power, performance,  capacity and versatility, don't get a Laptop at all.  You sacrifice all of these for portability when you buy a notebook.  They are great little machines, don't get me wrong, but they are no desktop.