Best make for a laptop?

[bsemaiktehr]

What is the best manufacturer for a solid, mid to high performance, Windows-based laptop?

All I know now is that I don't want a Dell, because they are loaded down with all that annoying Dell-bundled software.

Edit: I'm asking this because I have to buy one for college, so ideally also one that will last a while.

[als814]

I plan to get a Dell and just see if I can get the install disk so I can reformat right from the start to get rid of all that stuff if I can. Reliable PC without all their heavy software that I don't want.

[hobey19]

Originally Posted by bsemaiktehr What is the best manufacturer for a solid, mid to high performance, Windows-based laptop? All I know now is that I don't want a Dell, because they are loaded down with all that annoying Dell-bundled software. Edit: I'm asking this because I have to buy one for college, so ideally also one that will last a while.

depending on what college you are going to, they probably have deals for incoming students. i understand not wanting to have all the add-on stuff, but typically any of teh major companies are going to have that. i personally am an acer fan, as well as asus.

also, it would help to know what your budget is, and what you consider mid-to-high performance. if you are looking to game, but are on a tight budget, its hard to make a good recommendation. if you are just looking to do teh typical college things (im, email, internet and type papers) then you won't need to spend a whole lot to get something nice

craig

[rspassey]

What's your budget?

IBM Thinkpads are topnotch, and very, very solid. For performance laptops (to game), Dell and Alienware have nice ones, though they are very expensive.

Personally, though, if I were getting a laptop for College, I would get a mid range Thinkpad for productivity and performance (for school related things). To suffice the gamer in me, I would take along my high performance desktop (as I wont need to take it to class or on travel - because I don't play games there).

[Joeberg]

Thinkpads are the some of the most reliable laptops out there,

Toshiba's are very very good machines as well.

I've owned a number of Dell laptops, and they've been nothing but rock solid - the bundled software, as Craig said, comes with most of them... nothing you could really do but uninstall them.

Is there something you are planning on using them for in particular?

-Joe

[glc]

It's not hard uninstalling the Dell preloaded software that you don't want - I can do it now with my eyes closed. It all uninstalls cleanly.

[bsemaiktehr]

Because I'm going to be majoring in Mechanical Engineering, I'll need a pretty speedy machine. I would prefer a 64-bit Athlon-based processor - unless you guys think a P4 w/ HT would be more suited to CAD and Drafting programs, etc.

I do know that I'm going to be buying a Suite of High-End software that'll be pretty demanding.

[thefultonhow]

If you're getting a laptop you should be looking for one with a mobile processor. The Intel Core Duo is both dual-core (high performance) and power-efficient (long battery life).

So, what is your budget? We can't make good recommendations without knowing that.

BTW, I would not buy a Toshiba after all the problems I've seen with my brother's. They used to be rock solid, but more recently they've seen a number of problems, typified by several pending and settled class-action lawsuits.

[bsemaiktehr]

My budget for this laptop is anywhere in the $1250-1750 range -- I'll be fine with anything in there.

[glc]

How about a Dell Inspiron 6400 or 9400 with a Core Duo and an ATI card?

[thefultonhow]

If you're not going to be gaming, a lower-end ThinkPad T60 would fit nicely in that price range too.

[glc]

I don't know about that - for CAD work a discrete video solution is better than the Intel GMA, even if it's Hypermemory.

[thefultonhow]

A T60 with the X1300 would probably fit into the price range, although I'd have to check.

[bsemaiktehr]

Thanks for all the feedback guys - but I just found out that beginning with my class, Engineering majors are required to buy Tablet PC's.

[thefultonhow]

The ThinkPad X41 Tablet can be had for $1600-1800, although it comes with integrated graphics.

[XRUNNER]

Just got this for my 72 yr old mother,http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/n...9750&SubType=V
she loves it, she has been "ubergeek" for many years, we figured she should have a taste of the latest tech (was actually cheaper than her first computer/IBM).

Sager builds some awesome laptops (expensive too) and when it arrives it is obvious the machine is yours, no ghey company mal-ware, these,http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/c..._specials.html
are within your price range, and easier on the battery life if you don't mind Intel, and you don't need to pay for a "no dead pixel guarantee" just return within 30 days under the no questions asked warranty if your not satisfied.

Its a good feeling when software actually recognizes your hardware
Cheers...John

[glc]

Xrunner, please read all the posts - the criteria now is it must be a Tablet PC.