New Laptop!

[binrdow]

I'm a student, and I need a new laptop for school. I will be using it for the newest Auto Cad, MS Word and e-mail, but I also need it to be under $1000. Does any one have any reconendations? Any sugestions would be greatly appreciated.

[proxops-pete]

First, will you be doing anything 3D on it?? If so, you won't find anything less than $1000...

But if you will only be doing 2D, just make sure you have 1 GB or more... and as there's 64-bit version of AudoCAD, you may want to think about going 64-bit OS as well...

[kpxgq]

dell latitudes... Built well and can be configured with workstation graphics

[wh666-666]

Lenevo thinkpads or possibly a toshiba ..... Why would you want any other brand?

[binrdow]

Well, I'll only be doing 2D. I an thinking about the Toshiba Satellite U300-AS1.

[Hammerstein]

Dell Latitudes, HP NC-series laptops, and Lenovo Thinkpads are all good choices.

I would pick any of the three over a consumer-level Toshiba any day, because all three are business class computers. This means that they usually have 3 year warranties standard and are designed to be more reliable than consumer laptops so that businesses will not have unacceptable failures at critical times (i.e., right before your big presentation!) In addition, they tend to have better customer service -- if a business' IT department guy calls a tech support and gets bad service, you can imagine that there is an increased chance the next upgrade contract will not be going back to the company with poor service.

The Toshiba Satellite line are consumer level laptops, so I would not recommend one. In fact, during my time at college, I saw /several/ of them fail (one I know about actually failed once, was serviced, and failed again within a week), often with dead HDs, so I would personally never buy one.

If you are set on Toshiba, then do yourself a favor and buy a Tecra. These are also business-class computers, as are the Protege lines, but the latter tend to be somewhat pricey and underpowered for their cost due to small size.

All business class laptops are more pricey than their consumer counterparts, but I suspect that you would rather a computer that will definitely be able to render your latest AutoCAD project instead of one that spends time in the shop days before your assignment is due. While not perfect, business class will help make that a more likely reality.

[WyldGoat]

I'm using a Toshiba Satellite X200 and it runs fantastic. It's a bit more pricey than what your looking for, but so far I've had no problems with Toshiba at all.

Great for CAD too on the 17"!

[drs1771]

Toshiba laptops are just great. As a computer repair shop owner, I can tell you that Dell pc's fail just as much as any other. Just be sure to get a good graphics solution. You'll want at least the gig of ram, but get a decent nvidia graphics chip as well.

[Nick_B]

The only advice I really give to people is that, if you buy a laptop, buy a three year warranty. I see all the brands come in with failures. I usually dont' do warranties, but with the kind of technology in laptops, it is well worth it.

[wh666-666]

The only advice I really give to people is that, if you buy a laptop, buy a three year warranty. I see all the brands come in with failures. I usually dont' do warranties, but with the kind of technology in laptops, it is well worth it.

Id have to disagree with that but it all depends on price ...

For instance buying an extended warranty in the UK from many retailers for three years costs almost the same, or more, as the cost of the laptop originally and if ever replaced due to catostrophic failure is only replaced to the same specs rather than if you purchased a new one years later ......


IMHO its best to purchase a rugged laptop without extended warranties, replace any parts that fail, unless its more viable to get a new one. A decent laptop though should last decades even, unless you work them in to an early grave ....

[WyldGoat]

Id have to disagree with that but it all depends on price ...

The price of the laptops decides if it's valid to purchase the extended.. your right. My 2500$ will more than likely crap out somehow in the year and half mark, simply because it's a gaming laptop, it heats up alot, and chances are a fan will die and something will fry :P So in my case, I took it.

If your only paying 1000$ for a laptop, chances are it will be obsolete in a year.. year 1/2 anyway. Depending on the purpose of it.. and buying the extended waranty is almost pointless. Get the cheap part, and fix it.

[ua549]

Lenevo thinkpads or possibly a toshiba ..... Why would you want any other brand?

I've had bad luck with ThinkPads and Toshibas.

The brand does not really matter as much as the model. Business grade models are made with better components and carry a much longer standard warranty than consumer grade models.

[Nick_B]

You're right, it depends on price. If you buy a 400 dollar laptop, skip the extended. If you get closer to 1500 dollars get the extended (which when I bough ta laptop last month, is generally 2 or 300 depending on the laptop price for 3 years). I also recommend them for college students who aren't well funded. If you rely on a laptop, you don't want to lose it Junior year and not be able to afford a replacement.

Rereading the OP, I think, yeah, he might skip the warranty to keep it under 1000.

I don't know about year to 1.5 year obsoletion. You can surf the internet and write reports on pretty old equipment. Then again, I stopped buying the absolute top performance and instead play around with whatever I had. It's just as fun (I don't game anymore) and a lot easier on the pocketbook.

[wh666-666]

I've had bad luck with ThinkPads and Toshibas.

The brand does not really matter as much as the model. Business grade models are made with better components and carry a much longer standard warranty than consumer grade models.

Yea kinda sucks. Ive had nothing but good experiences with all of their models so far *fingers crossed*


Not to hi-jack the thread but did you get a better result after the problems you've had with your dells and would you recommend them after your experiences?

[ua549]

The Dell's seem to be working OK since I have not required additional service.
The 4 year on-site, next day warranty is a comfort. Perhaps the next service guy will know what he's doing.

I'm not sure I'd recommend them.
The biggest issue was in the sales process.

They said the D620 handled ExpressCards.
They didn't say the 34mm ones and not the 54mm ones.

They said there were many multimedia and video capabilities.
They didn't say a docking station was required to access those capabilities such as video out, full audio, ...

I'll probably buy HP next time. I've used HP since the PII and have never had an issue with them. They didn't have a comparable product when I bought the D620's.