Catnapper Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I saw bpladybug's post about desktop recommendations, and I have a similar question about laptops. My old Fujitsu can't be upgraded any more, and they quit making parts for it, so I've been thinking about getting a new machine. I bought my current machine in 2004 because of its light weight, and it's a good size for me. It has a 13.9" screen. It's only been in the shop once, and has flown all over the world with me. Fujitsu is still around, but I'm having a hard time finding reviews on their equipment. My main considerations are still weight and size. Price is a consideration, but not necessarily a deciding factor. Mostly I use a laptop for office applications and web surfing; the only game I ever play is an occasional hand of solitare. Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 A laptop is something I do recommend buying on brand name. I highly recommend Samsung laptops because they run cool and the screens are bright with good contrast ratios. I have been using a Samsung laptop for a year and haven't had any problems. I consider it to be lightweight even though it has a 15 inch screen. I strongly recommend against Toshiba laptops because they have problems with heat dissipation. My old (2008) Toshiba laptop often shuts itself off due to overheating even after I took it apart, cleaned it and reseated the heat sink with new thermal paste. From what I have read, they still have problems running hot. I have read similar reports of overheating with HP laptops as well. I lucked out buying the Samsung. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrankyMe Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I've had great experiences with Asus computers, but I don't know much about their smaller, lightweight ones. Both of my kids and I (all 3 of us have Asus) are heavy gamers so we favor the largest possible screen we can get. If you don't care about platform, I have a couple of friends with MacBook Airs that they absolutely love. They are also quite pretty to look at! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 A netbook has the small screen and is very light but unfortunately, most of them have shitty spec's (1GB ram, single core, can't run the office software you'll need) I recommend something with a dual core Intel processor and at least 2 Gigabytes of RAM. You shouldn't need a terribly large harddrive. I like HP, Toshiba, E-machine. I am a Mac user, but I had an HP desktop (hate) and an Acer netbook (garbage). I'd definitely recommend one of the Macbook Air's, they're light as can be, portable, powerful, but also really expensive (which is why I don't have one.. dammit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eden Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 (edited) I use an acer, I'm also a fan of asus, I would also suggest a dual core and at least 2 gigs of ram, but 4 gigs is pretty standard these days since the difference between production costs is marginal. Whenever I go shopping for a new machine I tend to lurk newegg.com - there are often great deals and lots of honest reviews. Avoid toshibas, sony vaios are not worth the extra 200-300 dollars and if you can't find reviews on it don't buy it. My acer runs pretty hot, it has never shut off on me but I game on it and leave it on for 6+ hours without a break, I would suggest a cooling pad to anyone who uses their laptop for extended periods of time, solves that problem in a jiffy. Personally, I HATE netbooks, like... I would lead a crusade against their manufacturers. Personal preference I know, they are small, tiny keyboards and screens? I don't see a plus. Crappy specs. Gives me the heeby jeebies. If the money is available you could buy one of the ultrabooks, if I'm not mistaking the term with something else they are basically laptops with solid state drives (as in no spinning hard drive). They tend to be thin, lightweight and even shock resistant (no moving parts). If I can appeal to the inner nerd in you, a solid state drive can also read data at insanely fast speeds, so fast that once one is installed your computer's boot time is entirely dependent on how powerful your processor is. Good luck. Edit: Macs are fueled by the souls of newborns, just FYI. Edited September 22, 2012 by Eden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Check out the Lenovo Thinkpad X series. http://shop.lenovo.com/us/laptops/thinkpad/x-series Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovemusic123 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 I would buy an Acer or Asus.... you can get a cheap one for like $500 on Amazon......after 2-3 years it is old technology and you will want a new one so in my opinion it's not worth it to spend a lot of money on an expensive one..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vapourware Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Another vote here for Asus. I'm using an Asus laptop at the moment and it does a great job. Although mine is not that portable - it's more of a desktop replacement than something you can take around. If you like Apple products, I really like their laptop range. They're a bit expensive though, but they are light and they seem to work very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovemusic123 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215386 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catnapper Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Thanks all for your replies. I happen to be in the big city today (I live in a rural area), and realize that the main problem I experience with my computer is actually the pathetic satellite connection I have at home. There isn't broadband in my area, so I have a sucky and expensive satellite. I may still be forced to get a new machine because of the parts issue, but I'm going to sit tight for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Navel Cord Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 For what it is worth I love my Acer netbook! I use it more than my eMachines desktop now. Lightweight, small, decent specs for a netbook.. it is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grousemouse Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 hiya catnapper, one thing i'd suggest you take notice of is whether the screen is glossy or matte. i've had both in the past and find that matte are much easier on my eyes. as for brands i've had dell, lg, ibm and acer. the only disappointment was the lg whose screen died after only a couple of years and whose battery wouldn't charge at all after about six months. a lot of the internal components are made by other manufacturers anyway. eg. samsung screen, hitatchi hdd, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cetkat Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 I'm a fan of Asus. Lenovo is also good from what I hear. My large 17" notebook is a Dell. It runs hot, but the problem with it turning off was easily fixed with little suction cup feet. Considering I bought it to be a desktop replacement in 2003 with a shittton packed into it, I think that's to be expected. My 12" Asus runs cool and has great battery life. If you think you may want a replacement any time soon, you should check out the Black Friday deals. You may be able to pick up something good for cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notfred Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 I'm very happy with my Lenovo ThinlPad and their reputation is very good. My MacBook Pro overheats but the Lenovo dosen't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogshitsundae Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 If budget is an issue and you need something solid for casual use, get a chromebook. The samsung model is only $200 and it's very nice, solid and no bs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptunesky Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) I have an Asus laptop i got in late 2011, it has an i3 processor, which when i bought it was one of the best you could buy. I can 100% recommend this brand of laptop, it does everything i could possibly want and more, and it does it very quickly. The only problems it has had is virus from the internet, i can completely rely on it. It also makes no noise unless I'm using the DVD drive. Before that i had an Advent, that lasted 18 months, i would not buy advent again. Dell is also quite good. Edited January 26, 2014 by neptunesky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theblack666 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 i recommend macbook pro 15 or 17 inch. i have a 15 inch pro 2 and it works well enough, gets kind of hot sometimes but its not a major issue. my advice though is once you get it to use bootcamp and install windows and/or linux and just wipe os x from the hard drive because it fucking sucks. in my humble opinion. i just got this mac because i had to give back the win 7 machine i was using to my school, and i immediately noticed that i have so much less control than on windows. its a really pathetic gui too. basically you cant do anything. thats my little vendetta against os x. anyway, if i were you i would get the latest model of macbook pro, cause they run well and look totally sweet besides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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