Okay, so my previous laptop decided to die on me. II’ve been laptop-less for a little while now, and I want to splurge a tiny bit and get a new one because the computer repair store by the house said that repairing the old one just wouldn’t be cost-efficient. My workplace gets deals from Apple, Dell, refurbished IBM, refurbished HP, Lenovo, and Sony. Of course, this puts way too much variation into the decision process.
My question to you guys is pretty simple. How can I get the most bang for the buck? The perfcentage differences for the discounts seem to be approximately the same across the board. Keep in mind that I’m looking fto get a pretty nice laptop here. A 17 inch Dell with some bells and whistles runs about 1100 bucks. It’s got 2 gigs of ram and Vista. A 17 inch Apple runs about 2100 bucks (I’m not averse to getting an Apple. I’ve been a Windows user my entire life, but the Mac MUST be able to run XP or Vista, seeing as how I’d rarely use Leopard). It seems that Apple can cram more RAM into the computer, but for 700 bucks? Is that worth it for 4 gigs? IBM doesn’t seem to have 17 inch laptops, which is fine, but they also seem to be the lowest end of these computers. Lenovo seems to be a little better quality, but of course, more expensive.
Has anyone got any suggestions?
Also: it has to be able to run pretty fast and do it in a pretty way. It wouldn’t necessarily be for playing video games, although that capability would be greatly appreciated. Nifty video editing software is also a big plus as well.
I love my Dell laptop but am on my second battery ($129-$179) and third power adapter ($65) for a computer that is only 18 months old. I would definitely recommend checking the reviews on the power sources as well as the computer itself before purchasing from Dell. Apparently they produce some of the worst batteries in the industry.
If you are going to run XP or Vista, then there’s no real good reason to go with Apple (IMHO). XP runs faster than Vista. XP is also more compatible with current software that is out there.
I personally have a Lenovo. Work picked it out and paid for it, so I don’t even know what it cost. It came with XP. I have it set up now to dual boot XP and Linux. I use it mostly for work, but I have played games on it. I can’t say how it compares to other laptops on your list, but I don’t have any complaints about it.
You can dual-boot Windows on Intel Macs at no extra cost beyond paying for the Microsoft OS, so that’s no reason to absolutely rule Macs out. You can even use Windows on the Mac desktop through virualisation software. It becomes more a question of, do you want to pay for the polish of the Mac?
And yes, that extra gig of RAM is ridiculously expensive. The first two memory modules, 1-gig SODIMMs, are around a hundred bucks each, but there’s only 2 slots in the portable Macs and if you want more than 2 gigs of RAM, you need to get 2-gig SODIMMs and those are like $350 each.
No, it’s the monopoly. Apple is the only seller, so they can get away with overcharging. Monopolies always lead to price-gouging. The basic Microsoft software (Vista & Office) are about as expensive as the hardware that it runs on!
Regarding the best value, I would pay a lot of attention to reliability. Especially on a laptop. The best source I’ve found for this is the Consumer Reports Frequency of Repair charts. Those are based on reports from thousands of actual buyers – far more reports than any of the reviews in PC magazines. And a couple of friends who do computer repairs have told me that the CR reports are generally in line with their experience.