Time for a new laptop, any suggestions?

[1623]

Wifey and I are in the market to replace our four year old HP dv9000 that recently gave up the ghost. Seems there is a known issue with many HP notebooks having a poor thermal solution, which apparently caused the failure in ours.

Our main uses are media based: surfing, music, video, photos etc. and I may get into some non-online gaming here and there. I'm not super picky, however I do like a crisp screen and nice audio.

Just looking for some feedback to help narrow down my research field.

[Blerv]

I've had great luck with Lenovo and Asus. Lenovo seems to have more consistent reliability (personal and consumer reports); Asus gives more stats per buck for beefy processing.

If mobility isn't needed I much prefer a spec built desktop. Performance, cost, ease to repair/upgrade, etc. With a server style tower they have more ventilation than a Boeing hanger.

[David Lowry]

I would say, grab a Lenovo laptop. I prefer the T420 currently. We use it at work and it kicks butt and is a solid durable laptop. They are still called Thinkpads and I originally thought that when a China company bought the IBM Laptop and Desktop line that it would turn to crap. It has not. They are still rock solid laptops. Love 'em.

I also like MacBook Pro's but they are expensive. If you have the money I would consider one of those instead. Just my $ .02.

[w3tnz]

I use a sony viao C series, worth a look, pretty high price but high spec'd too. Love mine wouldn't swap it for anything, maybe some alienware
Will handle any web based activity with ease, great video processing, amazing full HD display with HDMI output, audio well laptop speakers are laptop speakers, good headphones are your friend there. The only game I play in any depth on it is counter strike, but the limiting factor there is the game not the hardware.

[Blerv]

Most modern online games are targeted for mid-range computers. As long as it has decent ram and a name brand video card it should do fine on at least the low graphics setting. If its a memory hog game or you want to keep your FPS optimal for competitive play it's a bit different.

Beefy is better but price, weight, and heat usually goes up. They really just are portable desktops at a certain point. Kinda.

[tonydahose]

I just got an email from frys yesterday for lenovo for 300. Don't have the link, sry


edit: the speakers stink on mine which is model G560, dont know if they make any with decent speakers or not.

[rodloos]

I just got an email from frys yesterday for lenovo for 300. Don't have the link, sry

You mean this one for $259? Here That's the email I got anyway. Looks like a pretty good deal unless one is looking for a real high-end laptop.

[DCDesigns]

Go with Vaio. Sonys are expensive, but there is a reason for that. They last... I love my NS series. Got it for 1k 3 years ago and it still smokes my family's new hp's and dell laptops.

[Nick D. Fingerz]

Can't beat the Lenovo Thinkpads for rugged construction and reliable service. Ask anyone who travels and uses a laptop everyday. Also, Lenovo has great customer service.
I got my niece one for graduation and just ordered one for my nephew today.

[David Lowry]

Can't beat the Lenovo Thinkpads for rugged construction and reliable service. Ask anyone who travels and uses a laptop everyday. Also, Lenovo has great customer service.
I got my niece one for graduation and just ordered one for my nephew today.

Yep. Agreed. I worked and traveled with one for years. Now I use a MacBook Pro but I would go back to a Thinkpad any day. Love 'em.

[xceptnl]

...Now I use a MacBook Pro...

I have used Sony, HP, Dell and nothing (IMHO) comes close to the MacBook Pro. I like paying the money up front and having the thing work, day in, day out for coming up on 3 years. Worth the extra money for the super long battery life too. Just my $.02, but when this one finally dies, I will be buying another without question.

[sir_mike]

I prefer the business class laptops from HP, mainly the Elitebook!

I just bought another one that is 12.5 inch one so I have a 15.6 inch one to sell!

The model is called a HP Elitebook 8540P and it has a Core i5, 8gigs ram, 320g h/d, dvdrw, HD+ 1600x900 with/1gig dedicated video, 8-cell battery for longer life, fingerprint reader, camera, bluetooth, fax, ethernet, wireless, sperate numeric pad on right side, the usual ports plus USB 3, Win 7 Professional and under warranty until May 2016....and I am only selling it for $750

Nice laptop and upgradeable!

[DeathBySnooSnoo]

I've been using an old HP for a long time. I bought a cheap refurb about 5 years ago and it is just starting to give me issues now. And that is mostly just over heating, which could easily be fixed. I've never had to do anything to it, no issues with windows, no hard drive problems...it is just old now. But a good little computer that has a lot of features for not a lot of money.

So I say that HP is a pretty good way to go.

[MsbS]

I've used 5 or 6 different Thinkpad models at work (first IBM, then Lenovo). I travelled with them quite a bit, and I never had any issues. The build quality is amazing, and I always preferred matte LCD - so much easier to read in sunlight!

So, when I decided to buy a laptop for home use, I simply got the best ThinkPad that was within my budget (T420). But be aware:
- Thinkpads are generally slightly more expensive than the competition (excluding Apple) - so you might get better specs for the same price in a Dell, HP, or a non-ThinkPad Lenovo.
- Thinkpads are UGLY AS HELL - but that didn't really matter to me. Make sure you consult your wife and show her some photos first :-)

If you want reliability, then Lenovo Thinkpad would be my suggestion.

[rosconey]

my toshiba has been a real good machine

[1623]

Thanks for the input guys.

My wife has a lenovo Think Pad that she uses at home for work and honestly, I wasn't too impressed with it so I didn't even give them a second thought, but after so many of you suggested that particular brand I decided to check out some of their other machines.

I'm liking this particular model:

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...AC7A#techspecs

Still going to do more research but this one's starting the short list.

[Rwb1500]

I have used Sony, HP, Dell and nothing (IMHO) comes close to the MacBook Pro. I like paying the money up front and having the thing work, day in, day out for coming up on 3 years. Worth the extra money for the super long battery life too. Just my $.02, but when this one finally dies, I will be buying another without question.

Couldn't agree more. The wife and I have a Mac Book Pro, a new Imac, and an Ipad (toy). It's highly doubtful that we will ever buy another PC. These machines just plain work. No slowing down, no viruses, no going obsolete in a few months.

Just reliable high performance.

However, I will say that if this notebook will only get minimal, casual use you may not want to drop the coin on an Apple. Although if I had to do it all over again I'd still go Mac everytime.

[dialex]

If I only had the money, I'd get myself an Alienware...