Best laptop computer you have ever owned?

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Originally Posted By: 45ACP
Originally Posted By: robertcope
I'm not an Apple fanboy, but Apple notebooks are top notch. I wouldn't really consider anything else, as someone who is on his computer for most of the day most days.

robert


The Asus I am buing has a Mac OSX on it as well? What can i do better on the "Mac Emulator" on my i7?

"Mac OSX Lion Operating system (VMware)" is what is on it, Im a Mac IDIOT i know 1. Everything about PCs 2. NOTHING about Mac, as is true of 90% or more of computer users so please educate me!


Software-wise? Depends. Email is email, web browsing is web browsing. Some scientific and graphics software can only be had for mac (ditto for some PC sw).

What Ive found is the following:
-Far better stability (W7 seems much better than in the past)
-Much better build quality
-Better hardware grade selection in some cases (maybe not the processor, but let's just leave it at electroltic capacitor selection on dell computers as an example, and the fact that my dell shocks me every time I touch it, since new).
-Historically no real viruses or trojans - this may be changing
-Higher quality screens, etc. - not that the can't be had on a PC laptop, the just wont be had on an $800 special. While man like to attribute Apple computer cost to some hipster status thing, the reality is that a superior screen or superior part is more expensive. Sitting here with my dell and Apple open next to each other is glaringly obvious.

71afee88.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Tie between macbook pro and IBM Thinkpad.

The thinkpads were heavier though... Equally well made and equally expensive.

I know you wrote "IBM Thinkpad" but lest someone read that as a modern Thinkpad...

Lenovo has diluted the Thinkpad branding for marketing purposes. Has anyone seen the Thinkpad Edge, now called the E series? Nothing like a Thinkpad. The only redeeming feature is that Lenovo came up with a chiclet keyboard that is decent, unlike the dreadful flat-topped chiclets on other brands.

The 'real' Thinkpads these days are the T, W, and X series.

I like the latest X series with its full size keyboard but, as 45ACP wrote above, I've seen the (X41/X61?) fail around 3 years old (just after warranty) due to what seem to be motherboard or cooling problems. And Lenovo continues the poor power input design - a straight out plug in the back that unnecessarily stresses the PC board connection.

I think if the power plug is in back it should be a right-angle plug. If on the side, a straight plug is ok but right-angle plugs are still better.
 
Originally Posted By: BearZDefect
And Lenovo continues the poor power input design - a straight out plug in the back that unnecessarily stresses the PC board connection.

I think if the power plug is in back it should be a right-angle plug. If on the side, a straight plug is ok but right-angle plugs are still better.


A friend had this issue. Snapped right off.

The plug is similar on my dell (standard straight DC connector) but never any issue like that.

The mag safe adapter is yet another reason why apple is more $, but it really is a nice feature if you ove your computer around a lot, or use it in unstable situations.
 
IBM/Lenovo T-series... Any I've ever had under my watchful eye at work or in family, have all been nothing short of perfect. Even with abuse, they continue to work perfectly. My mother has a T60P, I have a Lenovo 3000 N100 that is flawless as well. (will be 6 years old in April and is still my primary laptop)
I truthfully given the choice would just never buy another brand. They are worth the extra $.

My next machine when I do eventually upgrade will be a T-series for sure. I have no idea when that will be as mine is still working perfect and even the lid hinges still feel just as good as new.

I would never in a million years buy an HP. Not a fan of older Toshiba's too. Mainboard problems on the old Tecra's turned me off that brand forever.
 
I'm still using my T42, upgraded to an SSD drive.. runs cool as a cucumber.. sadly.. battery life is about 20 minutes..

but I'm a fan of toshiba.. always have been.. but their batteries never really lasted as long as the Lenovo's.
 
I enjoyed my Lenovo T- Series for work. My subsequent experiences with HP/Compaq Elitebooks has been less than stellar-motherboard and HD issues. My home notebook is a 18 month old $400 dollar Toshiba with AMD processor. Bought my son the same style with core i3 processor, which seems slightly better. (Same $ as mine),they both have been flawless. I even dropped mine off the couch on to concrete floor in basement, still running well.

Both were best buy holiday specials. Go to store, grab box and bring home and go!
 
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Still using my Dell Inspiron 500M I got back in 2003 or so. It was build like today's Lattitude and it is still working great. Unfortunately since 700M they cheapened it so much Inspiron is now junk.

Had a Thinkpad T41 (or something like that) and used it till the battery won't hold a charge. It was great as well.

To be fair, laptops cost $1k back in the days so they are better build.
 
Dell Inspiron 6000. 1.6Ghz Pentium M which is what the Core and Core2 series were based off of. 2GB RAM. XP Pro.

Still kicking. Had to do a fan replacement on it which is understandable being from early 2005. Also replaced the HDD but that was because I needed more space and wanted a higher rpm drive.

The wireless on that is fabulous. Intel 2200b/g. It will lock onto signals that other laptops cannot even see even on newer bgn hardware from Intel, Broadcom, or Atheros. 5 hours on a charge. The battery finally died after 5 years and I was able to replace it with an OEM for less than $50.

I'm glad it still works as I need XP when working on seting up wireless APs as tftp doesn't work nearly as well on Viata and 7.
 
at work we switched from the Thinkpads to the HP Compaq business series a few years ago (2510/20/30 and I think 2540 now).

Not impressed with the reliability of the HPs. The Thinkpads were better. I have an R52 as my 2nd machine, 1st machine is a desktop.

Home laptop is a Toshiba A205-S7442, it's almost 4 years old and still going, but the battery is dead. It came with Vista and 1GB of RAM which was unusable, but now it's got 4GB and dual booting Windows 7 Enterprise and Ubuntu 11.10. C2d T5250 1.5, slowest C2D ever but it's ok for general use.
 
Of the brands I have owned Toshiba holds up the best. Have one ten years old that still works as it did when new and an older one I gave away to a student. Worst? HP, Compaq, Dell......you couldn't give me one of thoose in a laptop but a desktop yes. Asus & Toshiba are the most reliable according to many sources.
 
My home laptop is nothing special, but I'm pretty fond of it regardless. It's a $399 Compaq C300 that we bought back in 2006 or something on a Black Friday sale. It has a very nice glossy 15.4" display, a roomy keyboard, a nice design that resembles an Apple style aluminum unicase but is really silver plastic, and it's been reliable. The OEM extended-range battery is still kicking with 89% of its original capacity. It has an Intel Celeron M "Yonah" processor, 1.7 GHz, and I upgraded the RAM to the maximum of 2 GB. Vista ran a hair sluggish on it, but I've got XP on it now and it runs like a champ. I may upgrade it to 7, not sure yet.

It was a decent laptop back in 2006, and still works as well as anything else today for what we use it for, which is email/internet (and I take it along when I travel for work). Nice little machine.
 
My old Toshiba Satellite was pretty good for the first four years. It went through college with me and was dropped, had drinks spilled on it, and was taken on many trips and sometimes to class. I saw more than one laptop die as a result of a beer spill, but not this one. It did occasionally have Windows freakouts, but nothing major and the Core 2 Duo processor was generally always fast enough. After four years the screen started to get horizontal lines across it. Moving it could either make the lines worse or go away, so it was a component problem I guess. I avoided moving the screen too much, but it got worse until the screen was nothing but lines.

I replaced it with another Toshiba Satellite, but this one is a cheapo one with an Intel Celeron processor. It's good enough, but a little more aggravating than the old one at only two years old. It gets overwhelmed by Firefox and Thunderbird, which is ridiculous. Windows 7 might have something to do with it too. This one also has lines on the screen when first turned on, but moving the screen doesn't cause any changes. The lines fade away from top to bottom after a few seconds to a minute, then everything is normal. Not sure what's up with that, but as long as it doesn't get worse I guess it's not a big deal. This computer has always been treated gently.
 
all the toshiba's I've had fell apart usually power plug issues.
(4 or 5)


I had a gateway pos THAT I WISH FELL APART.. still going strong at 5 years old Coreduo GF uses it for facebook etc.


Lenovo T400.. msrp at time 1350$ picked it up at the I-series processor switchover (mine is core2duo) for 650$

Its been upgraded to ssd. 2 years old now everything works good. Battery still 2.5-5 hours(I have the 6cell "regular" battery not the extended) depending on what I'm doing.
very good keyboard. Love the 14" form factor..not to big to haul.. or to little to be useful.

the bad
The viewing angle on the screen is moderately HORRIBLE. usually not an issue for one person using it. This can be good if privacy is a factor.

Straight out power cord. The design is much more robust than other straight out cords (ie toshiba) but still wish it was a 90degree or safe design.
 
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