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Thread ID: 116590	2011-03-10 23:21:00	Reliable Laptop Brand	ephesus (2509)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1185108	2011-03-10 23:21:00	A friend has asked for advice about buying a laptop. He is a pensioner and wanted a performance mid price reliable laptop. I dont think he is bothered about size and portability as he uses it mainly at home. I have sugessted at least a Core I5 and 4GB RAM. What is a reliable brand he should look at? Advice would be appreciated. Also names of independent dealers in ChCh would be welcome. Thanks in advance.	ephesus (2509)
1185109	2011-03-10 23:29:00	Asus and Toshiba are the ones to go for at the moment. You can't go far wrong getting a Toshiba from Dick Smith.	wratterus (105)
1185110	2011-03-11 00:05:00	I've been a big fan of the HP / Compaq stuff the last 9-12 months, it's become pretty damn good! Got myself one of these, very good bang-for-buck! www.pbtech.co.nz Any reason in particular why they'd need a Core i5? What's the laptop going to be used for? Games? Programming? Web browsing?	Chilling_Silence (9)
1185111	2011-03-11 00:34:00	I don't think an i5 processor is that required. I would just get something under $1,000. Maybe even a $599 Celeron should be fine for a pensioner. A decent 15.6" screen which is about the avg. As I understand it many geeks get a i5 cos me thinks they cannot afford a i7 but it still provide v good performance for stuff geeks do. I'm running a 1.8Ghz 4GB Core 2 Duo. Bought it used.	Nomad (952)
1185112	2011-03-11 04:04:00	If reliability is the most important thing, you could consider HP Elitebook (to a lesser extent, Probooks), Lenovo Thinkpad and Toshiba. They are used by enterprises precisely because they are reliable and last a long time. Macbook pros are also well built. Unfortunately all of the above are quite expensive because they use less plastic and more alloys for chassis strength I've been a big fan of the HP / Compaq stuff the last 9-12 months, it's become pretty damn good! I thought Compaq/Presarios were HP's budget brand? I think Pavilion is the next step up, then Envy for HP's consumer line.	utopian201 (6245)
1185113	2011-03-11 04:15:00	They are, but I've been very impressed by how robust mine has been so far. I've also got about 8 people close to me (Friends / workmates) who've now all got them too, so far no complaints :)	Chilling_Silence (9)
1185114	2011-03-11 05:09:00	A friend of mine also bought an hp/compaq lappy late last year, he's quite happy with it so far, got a good feature set and the chassis is really stable for such a price.	8ftmetalhaed (14526)
1185115	2011-03-11 05:09:00	Any reason in particular why they'd need a Core i5? What's the laptop going to be used for? Games? Programming? Web browsing? Always read in pc mags that you should buy the best you can afford therefore suggested Core i5, rather than lower specs. I think mainly browsing stuff, download pics etc. I know it might be overkill but best not to behind technology too much. Looks like I should suggest Toshiba, HP, Asus, Lenovo in that order for brand reliability. What about Sony?	ephesus (2509)
1185116	2011-03-11 05:14:00	Personally I don't like Sony. I think it's a consumer toy. PS. Not just any Lenovo. Lenovo Thinkpad. That's the corporate line and yes you pay more for it, usually only in laptop specialists or e-stores or directly from them. Lenovo Ideapad is the consumer line up. But you would have the same with other brands like HP/Tosh. All that stuff you see at DSE is the consumer range. Tosh Satelitte is the consumer range. I think the corporate is Portege or something ... You may pay $2k or $3k min depending which corporate brand you are after. If you want them v thin as well, the ones a business traveller uses and you have them well spec'd NZ can charge $8k. I still prefer an i3. Up to you thou but I rather save my money and an i3 is new/current. Well an i3 is not exactly bottom range in the market now, you can still get Pentium (normal) and Pentium Celerons ...... Personally for an individual - I would just get something that meets the job, save my money. The thing is if you have a v reliable laptop for an individual that might be overkill and you do pay for it but after 2 or 3yrs value just drop. We have a Thinkpad X20, year 2000 bought 1yr used. We used it daily. It's still working but screen just died 1yr ago. But having said that even if this was 2002 it would not of been worth much. We use it daily for just browsing the net and as a print server.	Nomad (952)
1185117	2011-03-11 05:31:00	Toshiba Tecra is another pro range. I am biased to Thinkpads thou :D Laptops 15yrs ago were expensive, so I had to buy used. 1st was a Tosh Satellite which you open the palm rest to take the battery out but some plastic rod there snapped by the prev. owner. Then I had a used P1 Thinkpad, P2 and P3 and now a Core 2 Duo - all solid. The thing is Thinkpads has a spill resistant keyboard and they have drain holes, liquid drains out of the bottom of the laptop. Motion detectors so it parks the HDD. From a corporate point of view, the drive bays are consistent throughout all the models and swappable. A lot more options than other firms. Like ZIP/Super floppy, floppy, CD, DVD, Blue Ray, 2nd HDD, cell modem, 2nd battery. What you may find with corporate models, generally speaking IMO they are targetted more for business or CAD work but not for games. They're also used by NASA and Daytona.	Nomad (952)
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