Laptop buying advice, anyone?

[ZephyrSamba]

Help, please! I'm returning to grad school this autumn and think it's about time to upgrade from my 6-year old desktop (gee, do ya think?); I've got a laptop for work and love its mobility so that's what I'll be getting ... but! I'm having a hard time deciding just what brand / type to go with so I thought I'd see what you guys thought. If you were buying a laptop today, what would you get? My needs are pretty mainstream - primarily word processing, creating presentations, and surfing the net, although I'd like something that can handle the occasional game as well ... Price-wise, I'd like to stick to around $1500 USD, give or take a bit ... As for the company I buy it from - my work laptop is a Dell and while it's powerful, I've only had it for a few months and half the keys are already coming off(!) - not to mention, I've heard nothing but horror stories lately about both Dell and Gateway's rapidly deteriorating customer service ... feh.

After a quick look around yesterday I think I'm leaning towards an IBM T42, they seem to offer a nice price/specs combination plus I've heard they're fairly sturdy (good news for a klutz like me!) ... but what would you say? Any advice you can offer in terms of laptop specs or recommended company would be much appreciated! :)

[HumanoidTyphoon]

We gave a bunch of teachers Toshiba Tecra notebooks a few months ago they seem to like 'em and they're all nice and shiny.:zim: Nice enough that one even got stolen. They might be a bit higher than you wanted to go though.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?Submit=list&catalog=32&InnerManu=1259&DEPA=0&bop=and&order=PRICED&CMP=KNC-600673key

of those I'd probably get this one. Don't really know about they're endurance levels.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=34-114-087&depa=0

[silverwings]

Wow, you've heard bad things from Dell? Huh, maybe it's just where I am but everyone has Dells and loves them. They last the standard length computers should 5-6 years.

I love my Inspiron 8500 by Dell. However I wished I went with the larger harddrive... That's what I like about Dell, though, the ability to customize. :)

[Stardust]

I have a Toshiba laptop...my little brother picked it out for me. I recommend buying the laptop warranty in case things happen to it, like the moniter wouldn't start on mine so when I called them, they sent me a box and fixed everything for free. I have a memory card reader (don't know which one) in mine but no floppy drive. It's lightweight and teh speakers are pretty good. Most laptops these days come with a wireless connection built in. Some have free trials or free memberships to one of the wireless connections to use when you're in coffee shops or something, so you might want to check that out. I hear Toshiba is pretty reputable and mine was fairly cheap, but then again, my little brother is a computer geek and totally rips off some vendors when he negotioates with them.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,3483,00.asp

[zmanjz]

Personally I recomend Toshiba laptops. I've had mine for two years, and it only recently needed some work done (It has basicly been on for two years non stop 24-7-365.25)

(The only problem with my laptop is that their Portege laptop/tablet PCs did not take into account gyroscopic stabilization of the harddrive in a rotational environment, so if you're getting a standard (non-tabletpc) laptop, then even that problem wouldn't exist.)

Toshiba: They're solid machines.