Top Laptop Brands: Ranking the Best for Your Needs

[amuron]

Much depends on the end use application. In my case, I only buy older IBM's, before they went cheap... But, a consumer grade laptop will not last. I have 2 Dell's that need to be cared for like glass... And 7 IBM's, with the oldest ones being the most bulletproof.

Then again, most people do not expose their laptop to the hazards I deal with. My 755 took a 13.56Mhz, 5KV hit on the serial port... the cable caught on fire, but the laptop still runs, even years later. My 770's have seen rain, snow, sand, and other than the cases covered with battle scars, they still run fine. The T23, otoh, dies every few months... The keyboard is cheap, the LCD is cheap, everything is cheap... but still a lot more robust than the Dells. Ruggedized laptops are extremely spendy, as such, even the somewhat fragile T23, and its repair costs is still a bargain. Sure wish they designed them as well as the antique 755... its never died.

 

[r3dxP]

Yea.. IBM just sold their company.. which sucks. I would now prefer getting a toshiba protege series. My parents friend who has one had no problem ever with it.. except when his son dropped it and had to get it fixed for 900$(monitor broke). :-)

 

[DrKareem]

Many of my friends bought HP, and they are having random problems with it. Also, a friend of mine that has a part time job dealing with puters, and he told me that the most troublesome laptops are Dell.

I have a Toshiba, it's great and almost pricless, i really like it. However, if i had more money, i would have defenitely bought an iBook.

 

[Moonbear]

Our department has several Dell notebooks and I have a Mac Powerbook, and know others with iBooks. While Dell desktops are pretty decent, their notebooks are terrible. There always seems to be a problem with them; I don't think they can take the little bumps that come with toting them around. Plus, they seem so big and clunky; just don't feel sturdy at all.

The PowerBook is great, feels solid, is light, easy to travel with, etc. One of my friends also has a PowerBook and managed to drop it hard enough to dent the case, but other than that small dent in the case, it's still fully functional. The iBooks have plastic cases, so don't have quite the same sturdy feel, but still seem more solid than a lot of PC notebooks I've played with.

Someone else I know has an IBM notebook (a few years old now though), and I liked that one. Seems to run well and sturdy, but I never got to play with it enough to really know how well it held up.

To me, a sturdy laptop is important, because I'm rough on them when I travel, and I travel a lot.

Oh, someone mentioned a weird battery problem on an iBook...I can't remember if it was for iBooks or PowerBooks, but there was a known battery issue where they recalled batteries for one of the Mac notebooks last year...I think it was that they overheated. Don't know if that was the problem your friend had.

 

[r3dxP]

what is happening with IBM right now? Couple months ago. i heard that IBM has sold their company to some chinese company or something. So some people discouraged me in buying a IBM thinkpad. Whats the deal?

 

[Asphyxi8]

That sounds kinda racist. On their part, not yours.