Need laptop recommendations......

Well, my 2-year old Toshiba Satelite laptop is officially a piece of crap! About a year after getting it, the mousepad stopped working entirely. Last night, some very strange noises were coming out of it, and I couldn't do anything at all. The screen kept freezing up. It came very close to becoming little pieces of scrap. I am done! This thing sucks. I will never buy another Toshiba again. It is a 17" screen, which is too big to haul around and use on a plane, so I've been looking for an excuse to downsize anyways.

My criteria;
14" - 15" screen
300GB+ hard drive, prefer 500GB
3 Gb RAM minimum
Maximum $600

I guess I don't need a specific model recommendation, but a specific brand would be nice. I don't think it's normal to have any issues with any laptop as soon as I have had with the POS Toshiba.

 

I have a HP, I like it but my battery gets extremely hot and the battery life is non existant. Probably a issue with my laptop only...haven't researched if it is a common problem.

 

I've not had any reliability problems with the Sony VAIO I bought in 2005. It's still my main computer even all this time later and the only thing that's really changed is some discolouration on the case where my palms rest in front of the keyboard. They do seem a little more expensive, but I think they justify their price over the years. When it comes time to get another in the next year or two, the first thing I'll do is see what Sony's current offerings are.

Furthermore, my dad bought a Sony laptop in 2004 and replaced it in 2008 with another Sony - so there's a proven repeat customer for you.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Lenovo (formerly IBM) ThinkPads. No eye candy, but of excellent quality and rock solid. Wouldn't want anything else.

 

+1 Bought my Thinkpad six years ago, still going strong as my daily 'home laptop that also comes along on vacations, etc.

 

I ended up ordering a Dell Inspiron. It has a 15.6" screen, Intel Core™ i5 Processor, 6GB of RAM, and a 640GB hard drive. Price is $830.

Decent deal?

 

depends on whether or not that includes a special warranty...

My HP laptop i just bought in July is a 15.6", i5-540m, 4gb RAM, and a 500GB HD + Inkjet printer for $699... granted I didn't purchase one of the in-home warranties...

 

Nah, I rarely go for any type of extended warranty.

 

then I'd say you got an OK deal. I was about to pull the trigger on one for nearly that price as well until I saw the one ended up getting, and jumped on it.

 

Okay....even though I ordered the above-mentioned Dell, I am getting antzy waiting for it. I went into Best Buy to see what they have available now. They have a Samsung that caught my eye. Any opinions about Samsung laptops? Are they good performers and reliable? I have a Samsung TV and love it.

 

Or even used,
I got a 13" macbook a year old and love it.
reinstalled the OS runs better than any windows PC
does not crash and much lighter than my wife's 15" MBP
I use it at home after work for hours
open office, safari, emails, music