Planetfurry BBS

Elfen_Furry · Moderator Joined: 18 Jun 2002 Posts: 2601 Location: NYC NY

Almost 2.5 months in the making, but both computer labs of "The Computer School I & II" are done, upgraded and the next time some Apple Rep says that their OSX Servers Dont Crash, I'm gonna Kick Him with my Size 11EEE...

Finally- The PTA paid me for my hard work with a paycheck of $2185; though thats slim because we all agree to pay me by my Bd of Ed rate of pay so some idiot with a clipboard wont be crying "Conflict Of Interest!"

But its money... Mr. Green

Time to pay off some bills. What's left is going into repairing my 3 Mac Laptops (each one has its own function, unique to its own software- other than backing up data for the other two), and investing into a new PC Laptop. My Mac Laptops are my livelihood, and necessary for my job(s), and therefore must be repaired. The PC Laptop is to show that I aint a Mac Geek that does not know Windows.

As for the PC laptop, what would you guys recommend in the Under $900 catagory? Mind you, I had several, so I know what a good bargain should be.

Dont recommend Sony Vaio's to me- every Viao I've known suffered horrible deaths 3 weeks after their 90-day warentee expired, each one being different.

Currently I have a Gateway Solo P3/266MHz unit. In short, I need an upgrade.

And mind you, I am rough with my bag and the laptop inside must survive the abuse I give on travel. ooo... Almost forgot, gotta upgrade my pda too... Mr. Green

Dont say what I should get, tell me why I should get it... Price? Durability? Reliability? Performance? etc... Back up what you say... Personally, I'd go for a Panasonic ToughBook, but their price range is double that of what I got, so that excludes them Sad

Many thanx for the input...

Bearion · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 8:15 pm Post subject:

You didn't give us much to go on... Wink

I've heavily used Toshiba and IBM laptops. My Toshiba was nice, but the IBM I use now is wonderful. Both take my abuse nicely...The Toshiba had to be serviced once in 4 years because some idiot (me) slammed it into the docking station wrong and broke the connector. We have Dells where I work too, but many (10-15%) had problems in the first year to two years, and I’m not impressed overall with how they work. They seem...flimsy.

If battery life is an issue, go with one with the new Intel "M" series processors. Otherwise, that is one area to save $$$.

Are you a picky touch typist? If the keyboard really matters, go with IBM or shop in person where you can try it out.

Do you do 3d gaming? You can (finally) find decent video in some laptops. Expect a premium. $$$

If none of the above matter, buy the cheapest damn one you can find with a decent processor speed. ( >1.6Ghz) Seriously, PC laptops are a commodity now, and are cheaper to replace than to fix. Warrantees are mostly worthless because of exclusions unless you pay big $$$ for a replacement warrantee. Something like the Toughbook is nice for a jobsite tool for a contractor or insurance salesman, but is overkill for most of us.

That’s my $0.02