[Easy Limits]

I knew I wanted a new laptop so I could cruise the web while watching TV (my desktop is in the bedroom). I was a little hesitant at first because I knew I may get stuck with a new laptop with Vista pre-installed. Well, I took the plunge. I was feeling a little adventurous. I bought a Toshiba Satellite P205D-S8804. Circuit City has them right now with a $150 mail-in rebate! This laptop is sweet! So far, Vista is not nearly as bad as I have read. I was able to get on-line with my wireless network with no problem. I am able to see, through the network, my other two XP computers in the house with no problem.

Any one else taken the Vista plunge?

 

[SeaRanger21]

I like it ,have had it for quite awhile now with no major problems just a few little glitches but nothing you wouldn't expect from any new operating system

 

[Chuck S]

Its ok until you try and load your software that is 3 years old like a $250 graphics program it will come up and say "sorry, we could care fricken less and wont support this". Then load iTunes and have fun clearing your "REGEDIT" file to file the bugs EVERY single time the iTunes updates the software (which is automatic)

Vista sucks donkey nads with all the hidden bugs. It has been a year of ridiculous learning for me to figure out how to get most programs to work.

Oh .... and those older printers? Good luck. It wont support them either.

In hindsight I would take the puter down and have vista unloaded and load XP. It will save you a ton of memory and you wont have all the bugs that Vista carries.

 

[JacobF]

I've been running Vista Ultimate since June and I really like it. I had some initial issues that I had to work out, but so far so good.

 

[uwhuskytb]

I have had great luck with Vista, no problems to report here. I received Vista the day it came out and have been pleased since then. It will be exciting to see what they do with the next OS with all the windows live integration.

 

[BIG GUY]

No problem's here I like it, been on vista since last march....

 

[Iceshark]

I really like it as well. I bought a loaded new ACER as my work paid half of it. I had heard the nightmares of Vista and held my breath. I have been pleasntly suprised.

I agree with SJ that with some programs there is issue. However if you remember, XP had huge issues with compatibility when it came out as well. I have found far less issues with Vista. I really like the Network auto on it. Much better then XP.

I dont like Internet Explorer 8 and I dont like the Media player. However I use others.

I have heard about that problem with Itunes SJ, They claimed to have fixed it in update. Did you try that yet?

Still like XP functionality better. But Vista has some great video and Picture perks.

But boy it hogs random memory! I had to put 4 gig of Ram in to make up for it. YIKES!

 

[Dr Hook]

Where can I get the best deal on a laptop?

 

[uwhuskytb]

Hook, Dell for me has always had some great deals, you just have to wait. Sometimes they will have 35-40% off of some models. They usually do not do big rebates on the XPS models but on all others they slice and dice. What I have found is this , if you order in April or May you can get some good deals. Because from past experiences the prices of the laptops go out once kids get out of/or graduate from school, as many parents buy their children laptops during the summer for them to go off to college. I know I paid about 400-500 dollars less than a better equiped dell e1505 than my friend who waited till summer. In my opinion dell is great, toshiba makes some good ones as well, Heck I am probably going to switch to a macbook pretty soon here and run both osx and vista when needed. Most of my programs are internet based anyways so it matters less and less which OS i use. Good luck

 

[bass-master]

i have a toshiba satellite also, bought it new last year

 

[talljeeper]

Hook, look at Dell refurbs I have gotten couple of their refurbs with zero problems, great cost savings, and warranty stuff to boot

 

[Iceshark]

I have not been impressed with DELL Laptops. I have had and currently have a vista running new Dell inspiration and its my 3rd in a year from being replaced. This time for had mother board. I really like Toshiba Laptops as they are rated amoung the best made. My wife has a Compaq that is a vista basic unit we got a great deal on from Best Buy during there grand opening last May in Maryville.

Best deals on Laptops are found by shopping the Sunday paper ads each week and jumping on one you see that you like.

Only Pc's I stay away from are Gateway and Emachines. However Acer just bought them so maybe they will get better.

 

[uwhuskytb]

I have had amazing luck with dell laptops and they are continually rates among the best if not the top picks.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4370-3121_7-214 ... l?tag=lnav
http://reviews.cnet.com/4370-3121_7-214 ... l?tag=lnav

I have had good luck with the Inspiron series as well as the XPS

Hook it depends what you are going to be doing with the laptop. A lot of people never take their laptop out of their house and only move it around every once in a while, when other people take it everywhere with them. You need to look at how you think you will use it then make a choice. There are some sacrifices though with mobility you lose a little bit of power. But it all comes down to what you want, do your research and most of all go out to the stores and check them out, dell used to be online only but now you can go give them a test drive at some stores, same thing with apple.

 

[donno]

Where can I get the best deal on a laptop?

Apple.com

 

[Iceshark]

I have had amazing luck with dell laptops and they are continually rates among the best if not the top picks.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4370-3121_7-214 ... l?tag=lnav
http://reviews.cnet.com/4370-3121_7-214 ... l?tag=lnav

I have had good luck with the Inspiron series as well as the XPS

Hook it depends what you are going to be doing with the laptop. A lot of people never take their laptop out of their house and only move it around every once in a while, when other people take it everywhere with them. You need to look at how you think you will use it then make a choice. There are some sacrifices though with mobility you lose a little bit of power. But it all comes down to what you want, do your research and most of all go out to the stores and check them out, dell used to be online only but now you can go give them a test drive at some stores, same thing with apple.

Take Cnet with a grain of salt. They are paid for advertising with Dell and others. I have the top Inspiration reviewed here at very good 7.9, I have had it replaced 3 times. It does not hold up well in the field. Uw makes a good point. If you are going to be taking laptop in the field then search for reviews (by end users not so much cnet) and see how they hold up. From my 15 year laptop field experiance I think Toshiba and Fujitsu are best at being banged around and flown around. Dell has a nice case as they sell mainly commercial now and usually tote well too. The past year since Dell started selling in big box stores aimed at more residentual users I have seen the case quality go down some. My first Inspiration had a motherboard problem. The second the hard drive failed. Now my third seems to be working fine.

The problem with Dell , Gateway-Emachine is both are known for using very low grade quality components. Only in the last 2 years have both admitted that and started using better boards and drives. Still Dell uses garbage Cd/Dvd drive so expect that to fail Compaq uses same and they are just not good for a laptop. In fairness Dell is fairly well reviewed in the last year on Laptop.com site. So I may be being hard on them from my past commercial dislikes of there product.

Gateway actually scores points as the lowest priced Laptop with an HDMI output. Usually you have to go Sony high priced (Sony laps rock but are most expensive) for HDMI. I may even buy a Gateway for the bigger 19inch HD screen and HDMI.

Really like UW said, investigate and see what suits your application.

Here are the respected Notebook review sites,

http://www.notebookreview.com/
http://laptopmag.com/Review/review_cate ... y=notebook

 

[fishn2gthr4ever]

Toshiba satellite loaded with vista premium. Tup:

 

[Iceshark]

Where can I get the best deal on a laptop?

Apple.com

Never owned one but damm they look awesome!

 

[uwhuskytb]

You know what, I have never owned a apple but I am SO close to switching after spending all morning dealing with Windows Live Onecare which can die btw. I am looking at the macbook pro, best of all mac's run office as well and are pretty much fully compatible with most windows programs that people use, word, ppt, excel, etc etc

 

[Iceshark]

You know what, I have never owned a apple but I am SO close to switching after spending all morning dealing with Windows Live Onecare which can die btw. I am looking at the macbook pro, best of all mac's run office as well and are pretty much fully compatible with most windows programs that people use, word, ppt, excel, etc etc

Looked at them today at Frys. They sure are nice. But wow they are expensive! Maybe someday....

 

[uwhuskytb]

Looked at them today at Frys. They sure are nice. But wow they are expensive! Maybe someday....

lol yeah I know, thats one of the reasons I am stalling on my conversion to apple because all of their products seem to come with a premium price as well.