Recommend a laptop please.

OverUnderPump · Post by **OverUnderPump** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:12 pm

Oh, a few more important points. In case you buy Dell internationally, make sure the warranty covers India.
Edit:
Portable Hard Drives-
Seagate Portable Hard Drives with a Transcend casing will leave you lighter by 3,500 INR to 5,000 INR depending on the size of the drive.

regards

OUP

tirths · Post by **tirths** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:56 pm

Was just thinking, should I comment or shouldn't I as there are already many suggestions.

-Acer Aspire travel mate, 98 dec and since then it is running. I have installed XP in it and surfing net, good speed. I have a bad habit, I hardly switch of my pc.

No service required so far except the hinge (that the weak point) I have replaced twice.

-Dell latitude d610. -2005

Very good servicing

They have replaced all part of my PC 3 times except the service tag

One observation: 1. Dell has a very bad cooling system. never keep your pc on bed for long time.
2. Hinge is another week part. As long as you keep the monitor open it is ok.

Toshiba( Satellite ): 2008

Cooling system is again an issue, it require a flat surface to seat. Otherwise good one.

IBM (not mine but my brother's one) -2002

-Very well built
-Cooling system is a plus

Note: except dell none of them I called for servicing

-Tirtha

snIPer · Post by **snIPer** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:54 pm

Mack The Knife, Dell laptops are reliable and also robust. I would recommend it.
/s/

msandhu · Post by **msandhu** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:04 pm

mundaire";p="55140 wrote:Not current with the models BUT MAKE SURE you don't buy one with Vista preloaded! It's a waste of money as you will invariably end up dumping Vista in favour of XP.

Edit: 40K is a decent enough budget. Avoid Dell & Acer or any of the new brands. I'd consider Toshiba, Compaq, HP , Lenovo in roughly that order.

Would have suggested the Macs but they are frightfully expensive in India and am not sure if AutoCAD has a compatible version.

Hi Mundaire,
I have been using Vista for about last one year and initially there were many compatibility issues with other software an hardware but with time it has become quite stable now. Another thing is that all new systems come compatible with vista. Also Microsoft has stopped support of XP. So i will personally recommend vista over XP now.
Regards
mandeep

YouTube · Post by **mundaire** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:21 pm

Vista is nothing but Microsoft's attempt at plagiarising *NIX systems like Linux & Apple's OSX... and as expected it does less than either of the two while hogging more resources (hardware). Also, the learning curve is similar to if one were to migrate to either of these two platforms (from XP). Therefore if one is willing to take the time & trouble I'd suggest a good FOSS Linux distro like Ubuntu (easier for newbies) or Suse (better hardware support).

They will run faster for a given hardware configuration (right out of the box), come bundled with pretty much all applications a normal user would need, have almost no virus/ trojan/ spyware issues, are 100% free to use AND they don't lock your data into proprietary formats. There are other aspects as well but this will take this thread completely OT

Cheers!
Abhijeet

bullshitwalks · Post by **bullshitwalks** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:31 pm

i had an ibm earlier i was pretty sattified with the performance, sevice was tedious as u had to carry the laptop to the service center, whereas dell provides complete cover (including physical damage and theft) and onsite warranty i.e. technician will visit ur place and address the problem.
buy a dell with 3 years complete cover and get all the parts replaced once every year.
however the cooling as quoted is bit tricky as u have to keep it on a flat surface. do not install vista.
go for a dell online not through a dealer and negotiate the prices. the prices thogh they say are not negotiable yet if u quote a final price and stick to it , u will get it.
cheers

Post by **Mack The Knife** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:52 pm

Thanks a bunch for all your replies.

My brains are a bit fried at the moment, so I will get back with my questions on the 8th or 9th after I have re-read all the posts carefully and made my notes. I am taking the kids fishing for a couple of days tomorrow morning.

However, I do have two questions at the moment:

1) Dell seems to be a reasonably well regarded company but their products also seem to require more servicing. At least that is the impression I seem to be getting.

2) Abhijeet, how difficult would Linux be to learn and would it support programs such as Auto Cad?

Thanks once again.

OverUnderPump · Post by **OverUnderPump** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 10:20 pm

Linux is a breeze, contrary to popular opinion. You can have Linux boot by default to the GUI instead of the command line based interface and wouldn't even notice much of a difference in appearance.

I'm more of a Red Hat Linux user,and prefer the command line interface for most configuration and administration issues but I have used Ubuntu as well (mainly GUI). I would agree with Abhijeet on Vista, I like to call it Circus-ware (not even bloatware). Its designed to be resource intensive and wastes several CPU cycles as compared to XP, thereby requiring higher processing power which translates to a high end processor(read more $$$). Its the Windows Millennium of this decade, Microsoft might just bring about another OS for the home user very soon.

Remember seeing Autocad 2005 run on Ubuntu and 2000 run on GNU Linux and Wine which is a FOSS implementation of the Windows' API. So, its possible

, would require some exploration.

As for Dell machines, if you go for a Latitude or an XPS as I mentioned they would not require much service, anything lower on the price rung might not give you the same dependability (note the usage of the word might, as it also depends on the end user).

regards

OUP

TenX · Post by **TenX** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:14 am

tirths";p="55206 wrote: ...never keep your pc on bed for long time. ...

HA Ha HA

TenX · Post by **TenX** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:46 am

Some quick links of Laptops and prices/specifications in India:

General listing of laptops in price range of 40-50K: (If link prompts for a password, use the 'Browse by price' option on the left)
http://www.swamilaptops.in/advanced_sea ... b17931cec0

Compaq Presario C795VU
http://www.swamilaptops.in/laptop/compa ... b17931cec0

Compaq Presario C794VU
http://www.swamilaptops.in/laptop/compa ... b17931cec0

When you decide on what you want, I will give you a very reliable contact, matter of fact, two close contacts, who are dealers in Bangalore. Will try and get you the best price. If possible, I can join you too.

BTW, wonder why no one mentioned about the Sony Vaio

I used it sparingly, and was more than impressed

Of course, the price stings, but if your company buys you, then....

archer · Post by **archer** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:17 am

i have been using a sony vaio for the past 3 yrs...no prob....i was planning to replace it with a dell ...but decided against......the only prob with the vaio is its price tag...i paid close to 55K in thailand for this one 3 yrs ago....

regards
Parag

Post by **Mark** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 6:16 am

OK, sorry but I just gotta ask you guys this-

When you call computer tech support, to they route your call to a help center in the United States?

I have seen Acer mentioned. I have had an Acer laptop for about 2 years now and have been quite happy with it, except for some warranty repairs.

Based on my experience with how they deal with warranty issues, I will never purchase another Acer product.

GasramGandu · Post by **GasramGandu** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:46 am

Rusty, if you are looking for a laptop to replace your existing desktop, go with one of the following. Both are 17 inch screens, anything smaller may not work very well for you.

Compaq Presario A909 TU
HP Pavilion DV9701 Ax

GG

OverUnderPump · Post by **OverUnderPump** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:22 am

TenX";p="55245 wrote:BTW, wonder why no one mentioned about the Sony Vaio

I did mention the Vaio TZ series infact

. It is pretty hardy, but its around 1,15,000 INR - 1,30,000 INR which is three times the budget mentioned by Rusty. This carbon fiber based machine is pretty tough and stood up to a lot of stuff that I dished out over the years.

I had also tried out the Dell XFR series just for kicks to check out its moisture/dust/shock proof capabilities and found it be pretty decent. I had received one to try out for demo purposes, but I returned it after that period as the price tag was about the same range as the VAIO (1,00,000 onwards). This was the only MIL Spec notebook that I have tried out till date.

regards

OUP

Sid_kapur30 · Post by **Sid_kapur30** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:58 am

Sorry for going off topic,
My brother gifted my mother a laptop it's one of those machines to which nothing happens when dropped.....
the duck-up is it's comes preloaded with windows vista and the machine is kind of screwed because of that.

So is there a way i can downgrade to windows XP without spending too much $$$$.

Cheers
Siddharth

Indians For Guns

Indians For Guns

Recommend a laptop please.

Re: Recommend a laptop please.

Re: Recommend a laptop please.

Re: Recommend a laptop please.