Laptop build quality

[letterk]

Our Macbook is old and I'm trying to find a replacement. Ordered a Dell Latitude and am unimpressed with the build quality. All the specs are great, it's super fast, fantastic screen, but it just feels cheap. I went with the business class thinking it would be better than a consumer grade, but no. The trackpad and mouse buttons are annoying, too. Got any suggestions?

And before all the Mac fans start telling me to get a Mac, you can see, I already have one. I don't really care one way or the other, but my wife said, "Whatever you buy, please don't buy another Mac." I thought about getting one and installing Win 7, but am not a fan of the keyboard layout for Win 7 or the lack of a second mouse button.

 

[Austin]

I have used IBM (Lenovo) Thinkpads for 8 years. They are built well and don't feel cheap like Dell.

 

[mikromicke]

I recently bought a Lenovo w500 for work and in 1 year it's already been sent in twice for repairs. It's also so heavy that the plastic casing can't support it's own weight if you lift it in the wrong spot. So at least for me a Lenovo is something I wouldn't recommend.

 

[mikromicke]

Austin wrote his reply at the same time as me and we totally contradict each other. I guess that just shows how different opinions you can have on things depending on if you've had good or bad luck with them

 

[letterk]

I had a Thinkpad (pre-Lenovo) for years and really liked it. They seem a bit heavy these days.

 

[RichGem]

Have you looked at ASUS? Their prices seem fine and I'm happy with the netbook that I have. (course I installed LINUX on it, but anyhow...)

edit: however, note that if you choose not to use windoz (*ahem*) they will not refund the "microsoft tax."

 

[Austin]

I had a Thinkpad (pre-Lenovo) for years and really liked it. They seem a bit heavy these days.

I thought you had an Ipad.

 

[PlayerPiano]

+1 For the ASUS, I have a monster 16 inch screen laptop from them and it doesnt feel cheap at all, I'm sure the smaller ones that are meant to be more portable are even better.

 

[Judge Kemp]

Our Macbook is old and I'm trying to find a replacement. Ordered a Dell Latitude and am unimpressed with the build quality. All the specs are great, it's super fast, fantastic screen, but it just feels cheap. I went with the business class thinking it would be better than a consumer grade, but no. The trackpad and mouse buttons are annoying, too. Got any suggestions?

And before all the Mac fans start telling me to get a Mac, you can see, I already have one. I don't really care one way or the other, but my wife said, "Whatever you buy, please don't buy another Mac." I thought about getting one and installing Win 7, but am not a fan of the keyboard layout for Win 7 or the lack of a second mouse button.

Okay, if Mac is out of the questions, I'd go in this order:

(1) Lenovo
(2) Asus
(3) Toshiba
(4) Sony

 

[filedog]

I was working on a new latitude this morning, and while it is a small and light (and therefore less robust) laptop, it seems pretty nice to me. I prefer Dells for laptops, but as far as ergonomics, you just have to try them to see if they "feel good". I don't do Macs because they cost twice as much. My second pic after Dell would be Toshiba.

 

[letterk]

Why are all laptops going 1366 x 768? Such a terrible resolution. I was able to go with 1600 x 900 on the Latitude, so that helped. It's really hard to find something else with hi-res.

 

[mikromicke]

My Lenovo W500 has a really nice display at least, 1920x1200. I guess the nice screen might also explain why it only has 1.5 h battery time ...

 

[LinuxMintyFresh]

My only advice it to never buy an HP product. I've known at least 3 people, myself included, that have had major issues with their laptops.

-- All 3 computers had a faulty power connector (a known problem at HP due to poor soldering). To be fixed the entire computer needs to be disassembled and the connector needs to be re-soldered directly to the motherboard, which is quite a difficult feat due to their design. The only other option is to wiggle the power connector around until it makes contact and then figure out a way to hold it in place.

--The screen on mine started flickering after less than a year, and had completely gone out before the second (hp was going to charge me $1500 to fix it, which was $300 more than the computer cost. Luckily I was able to fix it cheaply by taking it apart myself.).

-- The hard drive on mine went bust right around the time I had to fix the screen, and had to be replaced resulting in a loss of a bunch of data and my OS.

-- The battery was shot after only 1 year. I know they aren't expected to last a very long time, but having to buy a $100+ battery every year is ridiculous.

-- A friend of mine had the motherboard on his computer burn out after about a year and a half to two years.

Sorry to dump all that on you, especially considering nobody has even mentioned HP yet, but I vowed to discourage as many people from HP products as possible. Personally I enjoy my Toshiba, though it won't run Linux, and my sister has a great little Lenovo that I think is rather robust and quite attractive as well.

Cheers!

 

[RichGem]

My only advice it to never buy an HP product. I've known at least 3 people, myself included, that have had major issues with their laptops.

-- All 3 computers had a faulty power connector (a known problem at HP due to poor soldering). To be fixed the entire computer needs to be disassembled and the connector needs to be re-soldered directly to the motherboard, which is quite a difficult feat due to their design. The only other option is to wiggle the power connector around until it makes contact and then figure out a way to hold it in place.

--The screen on mine started flickering after less than a year, and had completely gone out before the second (hp was going to charge me $1500 to fix it, which was $300 more than the computer cost. Luckily I was able to fix it cheaply by taking it apart myself.).

-- The hard drive on mine went bust right around the time I had to fix the screen, and had to be replaced resulting in a loss of a bunch of data and my OS.

-- The battery was shot after only 1 year. I know they aren't expected to last a very long time, but having to buy a $100+ battery every year is ridiculous.

-- A friend of mine had the motherboard on his computer burn out after about a year and a half to two years.

Sorry to dump all that on you, especially considering nobody has even mentioned HP yet, but I vowed to discourage as many people from HP products as possible. Personally I enjoy my Toshiba, though it won't run Linux, and my sister has a great little Lenovo that I think is rather robust and quite attractive as well.

Cheers!

Does this also apply to HP desktops? I was considering one.

 

[LinuxMintyFresh]

Does this also apply to HP desktops? I was considering one.

I'm not really sure. My mother has an HP desktop that is like 9 years old and still runs like a champ, but due to my issues with them and their customer service I don't purchase anything associated with them on principle.

 

[RichGem]

I'm not really sure. My mother has an HP desktop that is like 9 years old and still runs like a champ, but due to my issues with them and their customer service I don't purchase anything associated with them on principle.

Thanks. They're one of the few vendors that support Linux, so I'm inclined to like them. But, not at the cost of QC issues.

 

[professorchaos]

I have used IBM (Lenovo) Thinkpads for 8 years. They are built well and don't feel cheap like Dell.

+1. If work didn't provide computers for me, I'd own nothing but. Alas, I am stuck with HPs which also feel cheap. Can't beat free though.

 

[LouieGrandie]

My only advice it to never buy an HP product. I've known at least 3 people, myself included, that have had major issues with their laptops.

-- All 3 computers had a faulty power connector (a known problem at HP due to poor soldering). To be fixed the entire computer needs to be disassembled and the connector needs to be re-soldered directly to the motherboard, which is quite a difficult feat due to their design. The only other option is to wiggle the power connector around until it makes contact and then figure out a way to hold it in place.

Had a HP laptop that suffered from the dreaded faulty power connector. It would sudden power off. Ruined one hard drive because of it. HP had a class action law suit because of it and a lot of people got them fixed for free. I just missed the deadline *ugh*

 

[mretzloff]

Does this also apply to HP desktops? I was considering one.

I had one which ran for seven or so years. The same cannot be said for the Dell I purchased after that. Maybe it was Vista, but the thing has been a nightmare. The HP, my iMac, and my Macbook Pro have been the most reliable so far.

 

[letterk]

Does this also apply to HP desktops? I was considering one.

I have an i7 HP that runs flawlessly. But I've never been a fan of HP laptops.