Which Laptop Do You Use / Would Buy

[som nam na 0]

Guys, armed with your comments and advice I am off to the shops this weekend to have a look, should be intersting because I am presently based in Japan.

 

There have been some good suggestions to but a cheapo but I travel a lot for work (oil industry) and need a good ultra portable since it will be my main machine and need to perform where ever I am at the time.

 

Just found the attached link which compares Ultra's http://www.itpro.co.uk/labs/1/business-ult...s/products.html

 

Thanks

 

SNN

[BenMajor 0]

I have always stuck with IBM ThinkPad (now Levano) because I have always found them to be the most rugged and reliable. Not cheapest, and not always with the latest cool features, but reliable, reliable, reliable. And when I travel, that's what I care most about. I bought mine at PonTip Plaza in Bangkok earlier this year. The shop I got it at pre-loaded everything under the sun for me (ahem) and was very generous about maintenance. No regrets.

Edited October 27, 2006 by BenMajor

[som nam na 0]

I have always stuck with IBM ThinkPad (now Levano) because I have always found them to be the most rugged and reliable. Not cheapest, and not always with the latest coolness features, but reliable, reliable, reliable. And when I travel, that's what I care most about. I bought mine at PonTip Plaza in Bangkok earlier this year. The shop I got it at pre-loaded everything under the sun for me (ahem) and was very generous about maintenance. No regrets.

 

I bought a IBM T40 in 2003, it was expensive at the time but an excellent machine, and came with a 3 year international warranty. Gave it to one of the kids when I got my laptop from work. The one from work was nowhere near as good (HP) but it was free and saved the cost of buying the laptop for my son.

Edited October 27, 2006 by som nam na

[Sammy 30]

ASUS, half the price of other machines with all the bells and whistles of the higher priced machines. Excellent service and warranty in Asia. (CD Rom cratered.) Can buy them in Panthip in Bangkok or Tukcom in Pattaya.

 

Asus

[Gary 3,587]

I too use an IBM (Lenovo). I just bought a new T43p that is loaded with all the bells and whistles. It retailed for $3,600 and I got it for $1,555 because the new Duo Core is a hot item now and the IBM is a Centrino 2.26 Ghz Single Core. It was a last year leftover. It has a three year international warranty.

 

I still have my IBM 600 that is over 6 years old. It still works great except the keypad took a shit. My wife now uses it with a remote Thai/English keyboard. She wouldn't use the built in keypad if it did work. In the past the IBM's were pretty well bulletproof. I hope this new one is as dependable as the last one.

 

OOPS! I forgot I already posted on this thread. Never mind, I still like the IBM.

Edited November 13, 2006 by Gary

[Gonzo 419]

Hi,

 

I notice whenever I've mixed with the more geeky types an Acer has been one of several laptops they have had. Usually a Toshiba as well, which is my fav as they are rugged.

 

Hi, Acer are by far the best value for money and very seldom they will let you down. Choose the configuration which is right for you, but keep in mind that last year's models are sold at very attractive prices.

 

Computers seem to be cheaper outside of Thailand and overseas there seems to be a lot less hassles with warranty issues, refunds, et cetera.

[Rex7777 0]

I'm currently using a Fujitsu Lifebook. It's fairly heavy, but seems to be built like a rock. Bought it about 18 months ago, and no problems so far.

 

If I had to buy something right now, I'd buy a MacBook Pro, if price was no object. I like the Mac operating system, and the computer is pretty cool.

 

Rex

[Rhoel 2]

Laptop can be nicked by BG when asleep

I have a cable and conbo lock system for my Sony Viao - I chain it to anything from the fridge to the A/c piping duct. Not an absolutely theft proof but a deterant to casual theives.

 

The other solution of course is to handcuff your BG to the bed - kinky and practical all at the same time

 

Rhoel

 

 

BTW, the Viao can overheat in Thailand - I retuerned mine to Sony BKK because of thermal shutdown - they just cleaned the filters and other vents and returned it: Overall, best laptop I ever invested in.

[whitespider 1]

Computers seem to be cheaper outside of Thailand and overseas there seems to be a lot less hassles with warranty issues, refunds, et cetera.

 

Historically this has been true, but like the phones they are now tumbling in price. There are brand new Toshibas (not sure of the model number) at TuKCom for 16,000'ish.

[monsterman 0]

I have an 8 year old HP its still work fine, will replace with new one soon with AMD 2 core chip, maybe HP again , ACER or Toshiba,

 

Loads of broken down Sony VAIO s around pattaya, they seem fragile.

 

Monstorman CEO Pattaya Industrial Fucking Corporation

[Eneukman 1]

I use a Packard Bell laptop, which is now 2 years old. It came with 256 mg of RAM. I took it back to PC World and got them to put in another 256 mg of RAM because it was so slow.

 

It's still slow at times but when I upgrade, I'm going for a MINIMUM of Igb of RAM.

 

Alan

[hybrid 1]

are laptops cheaper in LOS or in the UK ?

i'm looking at an acer machine at tesco in the UK 17" widescreen .. dual core cpu, forget what speed .. but think around 2ghz, 120gb HDD, 1024mb ram , built in webcam , wifi etc ..

they are selling these for £699 i think

[whitespider 1]

are laptops cheaper in LOS or in the UK ?

i'm looking at an acer machine at tesco in the UK 17" widescreen .. dual core cpu, forget what speed .. but think around 2ghz, 120gb HDD, 1024mb ram , built in webcam , wifi etc ..

they are selling these for £699 i think

 

Hybrid - like for like they are cheaper in the UK. Try the Advents (I think at PC World - they are more than adequate (maybe little bulky) and wi-fi set up - around #350 GB

 

If you are moving here just bring your PC for home. I did in the end and it used up just a fraction of my luggage space. I bought new flat screen here (these ARE cheaper in LOS).

[Badtz 0]

Can't go wrong with Asus. Great quality machines. I have 2 Dell laptops here. An XPS2 Gaming laptop that never leaves the desk and an Inspiron 700m that ways a few pounds, that I take everywhere with me. They are both great laptops. Have had a few friends here buy Acers and they seem to be real happy with them. They bought them at Tukom.

Edited December 6, 2006 by Badtz

[volsfan 43]

Agree Jimmy. I bought an Acer for my wife and it has performed flawlessly. Only issue was that the Windows was not genuine.

[som nam na 0]

ok guys, at last I went and did it ...put my hand in my pocket and pulled ..out the plastic. May not be everyone's choice but I bought a HP Pavillion dv 2195. It was the best value machine on sale when I was on a business trip to Dubai. Was tempted by Acer (good vaue), the Sony S series (expensive). Toshiba (too bulky and not as good a spec as the HP). The IBM was really nice but too low a spec for the price. Originally started off thinking I wanted a laptop to travel with then decided fuck it, If I am going on holiday leave the laptop at home so went for something poratble whixh won't get carried around too much. Paid GBP 660 for the HP 2195 which includes an international warranty. Thanks for all the advice. SNN

Edited December 11, 2006 by som nam na

[LocalYokul 140]

just love my new R60 ThinkPad from Lenovo (previously IBM)

 

I have always been endeared by IBM's R&D and support

[The_Fat_Controller 25]

Between my GF and I, we have 3 ACER computers.

She has a desktop and laptop, both bought in BKK, and neither has missed a beat.

I have just bought an ACER 5103WLMi from Tesco in the UK, and must say that it is exceptional value for money.

[Owen` 2]

Thumbs up on Acer so far.

[Hippie 0]

Too late to help the OP, but wanted to add some info for others reading this thread. Almost all companies have both a business and consumer line. The business line will be significantly more durable and better built, have better components, fewer bells and whistles, and are more expensive. An example is the Latitude line from Dell. Be sure you are comparing similar models, and also keep in mind that most companies do not build their own laptops, and some don't even design the main chassis. Almost all laptops are made by a handful of companies in China, and several retailers like HP/Compaq use multiple builders. Therefore, two different models from the same line of the same company may vary significantly in quality. Two notable exceptions to all of the above are Lenovo ThinkPads and Asus. These companies build their own computers (or their subsidiaries do) and have no true low end consumer models. Lenovo does have a non-ThinkPad line from before they acquired ThinkPads from IBM, which would be their consumer models. The ThinkPads are with little doubt the top choice if reliability, durability (in normal use), and build quality are the primary factors, and this has so far not declined since the move to Lenovo. That is why so many large companies use them - the extra cost is more than made up for over the life of the machine, and the chance of data loss due to failure is greatly reduced.

 

Apple is also a different situation. If you want to use the Mac OS, you have no other practical choice. Their notebooks are built in China to Apple's specs. The components are high quality, but the build quality varies. Generally, if you wait until a particular model has been out at least six month the quality will be much better, and at least the equal of everything but the ThinkPads.

 

What do I have? A very expensive employer-supplied ThinkPad X41 ultra-portable and a very cheap desktop replacement Compaq. If I were buying my own laptop to be an all-around tool, I'd probably get a Thinkpad Z or T series, or an Asus, with the Macs getting serious consideration as well now that they can run the Windows apps I need.

[aussielongboat 20]

For the past 4 years I have used my laptop about on average about 8 hours per day. So I have clocked up some miles. Plus it is in and out of my bag and car about 4-5 times per week when I do presentations to clients.

 

I am on my secong one ánd the ones I have been using are ACER travel mates. My current version I purchased in may 2006 for a$1700. It has built in wi-fi plus 100mb drive and centrino etc.

I take it to Patts and have one of those cable things that secure it to the desk. I stay on floors 2 or 3 at the Sandy Spring on soi 13 and I have internet and email into the room.

 

It has been a really hard working mother and has never missed a beat.

Edited January 20, 2007 by aussielongboat

[ozijeff 9]

dunno why i did it? i went to get a lcd monitor for my home pc... came out with acer travelmate 2483!!

i am a laptop novice but this appears to fit my needs, wifi, 80gb HD, multi dvd burner, card reader.

never used wifi so will be winging it.

i do a lot of photographic stuff so the burner/card reader should be great.

so i guess this beast will accompany me to Los march/april.

For security, i'll do like i did with my camera and video equipment ... this stuff ALWAYS lives in my locked suitcase. TG's dont know whats in the case anyhow.

makes it tricky for a TG to sneak a big case past security.

[Mi Papa 6]

I now have a Dell Inspiron 9300 with 17" monitor.

My first computer, after a long time the Hard Drive crashed and I lost every thing.

My first Lap Top, after 7 years the H/D started to crash, So I bought a 100 gig, USB supported external H/D and back up my Hard Drive.

Now I back up the Hard Drive when I add pictures

So take a FOOLS advice and back up your Hard Drive,

Jerrol

[Gary 3,587]

Here's something else to think about. I bought a new IBM T43p computer while I was in the US. Email is my main link to the US and since my folks are elderly I check my email often. My IBM has WiFi, Bluetooth and both modems built in. BUT, now I no longer drag my laptop around. I bought a Nokia N80 phone. It has WiFi, Bluetooth, Edge and 3G built in. It checks to see if there is a WiFi connection available and if not I just use GPRS. GPRS is a little slow but has been pretty dependable. The N80 is awesome, no more laptop to drag around. The N80 also has a 3 megapixel camera with a flash. I'm impressed. It has a fairly big screen and there is a wireless keyboard available if you want to reply to your email. I now just read my email on the phone and if I have to reply, I still go to an Internet cafe. If I see the wireless keyboard somewhere, I'll probably buy one. The phone has 60mb of memory and the memory card has 128 mb. That's a lot of pictures. You can also buy bigger memory cards if you plan to take a lot of pictures and have a lot of MP3 music on your phone. The FM radio has poor reception but the MP3 player is great even using the phone speaker.

[Blazer 0]

I haven't had much luck with Dell laptops. The next one for me will be a Sony or Apple once they get the battery issue sorted out.