Lets talk laptops

[moparmaniac07]

I stay away from HP, Sony, Asus. HP's have motherboard issues. I replaced 3 HP laptop motherboards for that same customer, & it's still junky. Sony & Asus have various issues, nothing like HP though.

The DV6000 series? Or all HPs? My previous laptop was a DV6000 series, but lasted for almost 4 years without problems. I got it because it was like a top of the line laptop for 3/4 of the price. Recently I read that most DV6000s had the same issues mine did, luckily I bought the 4 year coverage, though I had to send it in for repairs 4 times. Then it crapped out a few months later, but the warranty was out so I bought a new one. I might fix it someday, or shoot it, haven't decided yet.

The main reason I didn't get a $300 laptop is because I couldn't find one under $400 that had an HDMI hook-up, and sometimes I'll use it to watch movies on the TV. If you don't need the HDMI port, or can deal with a few less usb ports, cheap laptops seem are ok for most things.

[tardis454]

The DV6000 series? Or all HPs? My previous laptop was a DV6000 series, but lasted for almost "4 years without problems".

Recently I read that most DV6000s had the same issues mine did, "luckily I bought the 4 year coverage, though I had to send it in for repairs 4 times". Then it crapped out a few months later, but the warranty was out so I bought a new one.

Sending it out 4 times in 4 yrs hardly qualifies as "without problems".

The problem is HP knew there was a problem, did nothing about it, & a lot of people who didn't buy the 4yr warranty got stuck with junk.

I'm not a fan of HP anything, they use proprietary parts, their parts are crap. They had a line of office terminals (d530 slimline) that the power supplies blow up on. The adhesive they used on the PSU parts dries out & become highly conductive! Once again they knew there was a problem. I've fixed my share of them...

The main reason I didn't get a $300 laptop is because I couldn't find one under $400 that had an HDMI hook-up, and sometimes I'll use it to watch movies on the TV. If you don't need the HDMI port, or can deal with a few less usb ports, cheap laptops seem are ok for most things.

There are plenty of laptops in the $300-$500 range that are fine for home/office/garage use. I recommend Acer & Lenovo(IBM) because they're cheap & reliable. Dell still makes a solid laptop, Toshiba does too if you pay up. I like Asus products but I've noticed some quality issues, & Sonys ok but you get what you pay for.

Laptop prices go by hard disk speed/size. Most 'good' laptops are 5400rpm, the 'better/best' ones are 7200rpm.

I listed some laptops below. Check them out.

Lenovo: Good rating, amd dual core, free ship, no hdmi

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246310

Lenovo: Good rating, core i3, free ship, no hdmi

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246308

Acer: Good rating, intel pentium, free ship, no hdmi

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215190

Dell: Good rating, core i3, free shipping, HDMI!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200400

I'd buy this. Acer: AMD Quad Core with HDMI

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215257

I'd DEFINITELY buy this one. Lenovo: AMD A-series, loaded up. It's badass...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246328

If you want something bigger & faster than those you gotta pay up...

[Beagle]

I've been running xw8400 HP's for over 5 years at work, no problems. Daily abuse. 16gb RAM, dual Xeon four core procs. Not much experience with the LT's other than if one goes bad, it will be a short conversation becuase of a service plan. Like tire warranty "certificates" I don't seem to have any problems with them unless I don't buy one.

I like the i5 in this turd. It stomps on my work junk on heavy computational processing. I'm sure an i3 is fine. A solid state drive (why do they call it a drive? There's no drive... just Zoool... I mean, storage.) will make most of them SING if you are into that sorta thing. I've been putting them in at work on tools boxes to keep them usable. Solid state baby. Scaaarrreewwwww a "hard drive"... grin. They're down to a buck a GIG and will sling data like nothing I've seen to date. 6gb/s is hauling. Man, I'm old. I remember when I thought a buck a MEG was dirt cheap and we spoke in millisecond access times instead of transfer rates. Modern drives will move my first disk's entire contents before I can blink. ..lol.

[moparmaniac07]

Sending it out 4 times in 4 yrs hardly qualifies as "without problems".

To clarify, I said ALMOST 4 years, meaning a few months before the warranty ran out, then it started acting up. Then I had to send it back 4 times in the last 3 months of the warranty period. It was slow anyway, it took literally 15 minutes just to start Solidworks on it. I liked it because I could plug 2 sets of speakers into it and it had lightscribe.