New laptop, but what one?

xYUUBINKYOKUx

So I am going to go with one of these 3 laptops. I have been trying to stay around $1,400 with them. Finally going to replace my 4 year old compaq with the Radeon 345M video card ewww. Here are the configs I came up with. What one do ya'll think I should go with.

HP

Dell

Toshiba

woops forgot to put the image tag on those =p

Kingthlayer

I've had nothing but good experiences with my Toshiba. After working in a PC repair shop I will personally never buy a dell or hp again. I dont know if its because most people who buy them dont know how to take care of them, or if they're just really shitty, but I've seen waaaaaay too many busted dells and hps in my life to take the risk.

The Cat

The IT guys at work like Dell, but then they've got the business support stuff on their side, which is apparently quite different from the home-user service level.

I've been happy with Acer myself, but Toshiba have arguably the best reputation among the three you've listed. plus, its got the big screen, and they don't appear to be landing you with MS works, which no one ever uses ever.

xYUUBINKYOKUx

Sounds like the toshiba is a good way to go then. Do you think that the vid card in that one would be able to run stuff like team fortress 2 and EQ2? Even on low settings is fine.

The Cat

Dunno, sorry. My current machine is like half as powerful in all respects as yours and runs civIV fine, if that gives you any perspective. Civ's a resource hog from way back, too.

LaCabra

Strikes me that the Dell has the best specs, and would get TF2 done on high pretty well.

Scrublet

Toshiba is the only brand of the three I REALLY trust. Dell definitely has the best specs, but magic is not the explanation for why Dell computers come so cheap. As they expanded years ago, the quality of their components dropped with their price. I hate that ATI in the Toshiba, but if you're not worried about gaming it doesn't really matter. The 17" is good, but keep in mind you take a significant hit in battery life for it.

Ruckus

I have an HP DV6500 series and it kicks some pretty decent ass, even with shared memory video and an AMD Turion processor.

I play Source engine games at about medium settings, I haven't tried TF2 specifically but I can't imagine it having too much trouble.

Personally I hate laptops exceeding 15.4" WXGA screens, they just seem like they get too bulky after that.

saint2e

I have the Dell XPS from 3 years ago and it's still going strong and can play CS/TF2 quite well.

I've had nothing but good experiences with Dell Tech Support as I've had 2 DVD drives replaced over the 3 years I've had the laptop and they've been very quick with the replacements.

The reason I needed 2 DVD drives? I burn DVD's/CD's like a madman, so take that into the equation.

Rook

xYUUBINKYOKUx wrote: »

Sounds like the toshiba is a good way to go then. Do you think that the vid card in that one would be able to run stuff like team fortress 2 and EQ2? Even on low settings is fine.

You should be fine for those type of games. I have fiends who recently bought laptops with the 8400 and an 8600. Both of them play Source engine games fine on high settings at the native resolutions (8400@1280x800 and 8600@1650x1050). The 2600 HD I think is a bit better than the 8400 and a bit worse than the 8600 so those type of games will definitely be playable on the toshiba.

However, I'd go with the Dell.

Malkor

Wow, I didn't know they gimped the Inspiron line so much. I have the same computer except not an 'XPS'. It works great for TF2 and such.

Scrublet

saint2e wrote: »

The reason I needed 2 DVD drives? I burn DVD's/CD's like a madman, so take that into the equation.

Sorry for the off-topic, but I have to vent this. I'm so fucking sick of dying optical drives in both desktops and laptops I could scream. You would think after so many years of DVD drives they could make one that could last but I still have to replace these all the time, and when they fail in my desktop they sometimes generate all kinds of weird problems (like reboots and such).

xYUUBINKYOKUx

Scrublet wrote: »

saint2e wrote: »

The reason I needed 2 DVD drives? I burn DVD's/CD's like a madman, so take that into the equation.

Sorry for the off-topic, but I have to vent this. I'm so fucking sick of dying optical drives in both desktops and laptops I could scream. You would think after so many years of DVD drives they could make one that could last but I still have to replace these all the time, and when they fail in my desktop they sometimes generate all kinds of weird problems (like reboots and such).

Yeah the dead optical drive in my current laptop is another reason I want to just replace the one I have.

Thanks for all the help guys. I think I am going to go with the dell. I read some reviews of all 3 of them and it seems like besides a sort of noisy hard drive the dell is really nice. I was always turned off on the XPS ones because they just looked bulky but it looks like they redid the design and got rid of the bulk.

Malkor

That is purdy.

saint2e

I think you've made a good choice. I was very happy with my Dell XPS, and I think you'll be happy with your's.

bremon240

I have a dell laptop and I am quite happy with it.

I would make one suggestion to you though. I would invest in the extra 50 or so dollars its going to cost you to get the 7200rpm harddrive vs a 5400rpm. It makes quite a bit of difference in the performance of the system.

TL DR

My Toshiba, though it looks and feels very sexy, has broken more times than I care to count. It's like attempting to compute on delicate plates of fine china.

My old lady's clunky, rectangular, unattractive Dell, on the other hand, has withstood her dropping it several times with no apparent damage.

xYUUBINKYOKUx

Thanks again guys for the help with this. Just put in the order for the dell. Now just gotta wait 2 weeks or so for it to get here!