[NTLUG:Discuss] Laptop opinion request

[Stephen Davidson]

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Dennis Rice wrote:
> I am in the need to look into a new laptop for both Linux and MS Win 
> XP (yes, ugg).
> 
> Looking for suggestions of brand and opinion why, and if you like a 
> particular vendor.  This is not an expense does not matter, I must 
> watch the $$$$$.
> 
> Your thoughts and opinions please.
> 
> Dennis
> 
Hi Dennis.

Dell has good support for the (very rare) times that one of their
laptops acts up.  You want to get the 3yr extended with Home Service if
you go that route.  Repair tech in the Front Door the next day is hard
to beat.  For a while, there was an issue dealing with them if you got
their India Call Center, but so far as I know, they did eventually fix
that (I've not had to deal with them since a USA call center figured out
that the India one had seriously messed me up, and sent me an upgraded
laptop -- that laptop is still going strong, even though the warranty
died Spring 2005).

HP/CompUSA is also a tough combo to beat.  Downside, you have to bring
your machine into CompUSA, and if you are towards the end of a 3yr
warranty, they may not be able to swap HD with the loaner.  (On board
power plug just died on mine -- first failure since I purchased that
machine 2+yrs ago).  On the other hand, their policy is 'fix while you
wait -- or free loaner until your machine comes back in'.  And they
store their warranty info in a central location that all stores can get
at.  So you can deal with whatever store happens to be convenient to
where you are.  And, at least in my case, they have had at least one
store (sometimes several) within a short distance of where I happen to
be.  (Why I went with them in the first place).

Toshiba Tecra A1 -- don't know what they are like this year, but for
2003, 2004, 2005, everytime somebody on the team had one, they were
trouble.  2003, the average life of the machines was 3weeks, before
something critical died to make it unusable.  And at that time,
everybody (5 people) was trying to use them.  One consultant, we had to
transfer her data off using the IR port, because the following had failed;
- - Wireless Networking
- - Wired Network ports
- - Onboard CD burner (and the CD was integrated)
For 2004/2005, we did not use their machines heavily, but did not see
any improvements for anyone that was assigned one.  By the end of 2005,
we had given up on them.  Don't know about the other Tecra lines, though.


Me, I'd go with HP or Dell, depending on who was giving the better deal.
 And I would definitely get the extended warranty, as its not a lot, and
definitely beats the alternatives if something DOES break.

Regards,
Steve

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