Show off your latest purchases here!

[Matra et Alpine]

I'm biased ( ex-HP employee and shareholder ) but check out the HP family.

eg HP G62

Taking the lead on Dell in some areas and for the right machine can get the right performance and price
Dell (imho) have lost the edge and having fought the market on price are now losing hand over fist to the likes of Acer and ASUS who can do the same tech for lower price.


I prefer the Pavilion packaging tho' for a few bucks more

Seriously tho', don't buy a laptop unless you NEED to and dont' buy one without trying it. So many times I find folks who in the end dont' liek the keys or the touchpad or the location of the buttons. We are all different and it's worth hitting the high street stores to get the "feel" before buying

[LeonOfTheDead]

I hate new laptops with >15" screen. Surely they has the num pad integrated on them, but the whole keyboard is moved to the left, and I can't stand that. Fortunately it's the gf's laptop, not mine (hail to the almighty dying celeron...)

[f6fhellcat13]

Or you could have the Lenovo Thinkpad.
It drives me insane like no other inanimate thing could. (But I have a 4-year warranty through my college. so perhaps I should throw it at the wall...)

[Sauc3]

I'm with matra, home computer? Get a desktop. I got a laptop thinking it'd be versatile, it moved about twice a year with me somewhere, and that was it, the rest of the time I really needed a proper computer with cooling and a proper screen and I didn't have it. My desktop I've only just built, screen arrived less than 24 hours ago but I'm so overjoyed with having proper things to work off again.


Also, avoid Dell like the plague. I'm coming off the back of my second ownership stint of a Dell laptop, first an Inspiron 9300 and then a XPS M1530, and both had horrid overheating problems, the first one dying twice and the XPS just recently had a spate of failures including the screen stopped working completely. JUST out of warranty of course...

Go anywhere but Dell for laptops, trust me...

Also for those that pick up on it, I know my new screen is a Dell but this range (24"/27" ultrasharp) is world renowned in the photographic communities and my particular screen has been getting phenomenal reviews. Anything comparable from non-dell would cost twice as much. At least.

[henk4]

I recently bought an ACER Aspire 5740G to replace a five year old Dell Inspiron, which mainly had to go because of a very tired keyboard, but never had any overheating problems. (probably the ambient temperatures are lower here). I still have to get used to the left centered mouse pad of the ACER, but I really need a laptop for both home and travelling.

[Commodore GS/E]

IMO, stationary PCs are way too underrated now. They are great because you can easily update them if their hardware isn't temporary anymore. And you can fix things by yourself. Ever tried to repare a laptop? It's simply horrible because everything has to fit.

[Kitdy]

Basically every laptop that I have ever known anyone to have (including my very brief foray with a 4 year old laptop - yes I know it was old) has been a piece of shit that breaks down constantly.

I rock a 2 year old desktop that I bought from my friend for 100 dollars that runs everything I need to perfectly (I gave up games because I got bored of them). Surprisingly, the graphics card died (as I mentioned) but other than that, it's been really good. Don't even have a widescreen monitor, used a widescreen on my Mom's computer when I was getting the GPU replaced, kinda enjoyed it, but am unwilling to spend 200+ on something I don't really need.

[cmcpokey]

I'm with matra, home computer? Get a desktop. I got a laptop thinking it'd be versatile, it moved about twice a year with me somewhere, and that was it, the rest of the time I really needed a proper computer with cooling and a proper screen and I didn't have it. My desktop I've only just built, screen arrived less than 24 hours ago but I'm so overjoyed with having proper things to work off again.


Also, avoid Dell like the plague. I'm coming off the back of my second ownership stint of a Dell laptop, first an Inspiron 9300 and then a XPS M1530, and both had horrid overheating problems, the first one dying twice and the XPS just recently had a spate of failures including the screen stopped working completely. JUST out of warranty of course...

Go anywhere but Dell for laptops, trust me...

Also for those that pick up on it, I know my new screen is a Dell but this range (24"/27" ultrasharp) is world renowned in the photographic communities and my particular screen has been getting phenomenal reviews. Anything comparable from non-dell would cost twice as much. At least.

funny... i am pretty much exactly opposite of you. i have had my dell inspiron laptop for about 2 years, and have had pretty much zero problems with it. there is a small crack on the front left corner that annoys me when i type and it can get warm if air circulation to the bottom is suboptimal, but it has been hard to fault with what it endures.

when i first had it, i would take it to and form the ship almost daily. for the last year and a half i have taken it to school daily, and do most of my school work/notes on it. i have also taken it with me when i travel, and again, have never had a problem. and at home i keep it on the couch arm next to me, and use it frequently throughout the evenings. i have a desktop that i have turned on once in the last 6 months, and can't see myself using a desktop other than an HTPC in the foreseeable future.

[Rockefella]

IMO, stationary PCs are way too underrated now. They are great because you can easily update them if their hardware isn't temporary anymore. And you can fix things by yourself. Ever tried to repare a laptop? It's simply horrible because everything has to fit.

Especially true if you build your own and go by route of HTPC (Home theatre Personal Computer). I can stream my content from this computer -- music, videos, tv, etc -- to my xbox in my room upstairs if I don't want to watch it on the monitor, although this 24" Asus widescreen is pretty sweet.

[pimento]

Basically every laptop that I have ever known anyone to have (including my very brief foray with a 4 year old laptop - yes I know it was old) has been a piece of shit that breaks down constantly.

I have a Toshiba Tecra A6 that's just over 3 years old that has been rock solid, even with a year of commuting with me and regularly being in the cage on the back of my motorbike. It's only broken down once, when the fan died in it.. one warranty fix later and it's still going. So.. I gotta recommend a Toshiba Tecra on that basis. Not sure what the cheap Satelites are like though.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

funny... i am pretty much exactly opposite of you. i have had my dell inspiron laptop for about 2 years, and have had pretty much zero problems with it. there is a small crack on the front left corner that annoys me when i type and it can get warm if air circulation to the bottom is suboptimal, but it has been hard to fault with what it endures.

when i first had it, i would take it to and form the ship almost daily. for the last year and a half i have taken it to school daily, and do most of my school work/notes on it. i have also taken it with me when i travel, and again, have never had a problem. and at home i keep it on the couch arm next to me, and use it frequently throughout the evenings. i have a desktop that i have turned on once in the last 6 months, and can't see myself using a desktop other than an HTPC in the foreseeable future.

Pretty much ditto to this story.

I ended up buying a similar spec'ed Laptop to Sauc3 (XPS M1530) for Uni and the graphics on it were pretty good (renderings didn't take an age, which is really all you can hope for), it does get a little warm but I paid for a large battery which acts as a lever to get the laptop off the desk. On top of that the screen was unbeatable for the price and the only real problem I've had with it is that the left mouse button is losing it's springyness, but thats more to do with me abusing it like a red headed stepchild.

I wouldn't really consider a desktop PC simply because I enjoy using my Laptop when I'm lying on a couch, but I CBF'ed having three computers (I have a netbook which I suppose is meant to be used on the couch...) When it comes to replacing my current laptop it'll either be an XPS16 or a MBP I think.

Desktops are great for me if I had a workstation set up, but I'm a creative type

[Matra et Alpine]

We're so close to having the ideal.
Some have tried it but not got the price point right.
Volume will come with the iPad competition

Wireless, rechargable, HD screen of at least 14" and touch for keyboard etc.
Sit on couch with it for browsing, googling etc.
Kids with their own doing same in same room or theirs.
All the real work getting done on family media/game machine in gamesroom 20Mb+ internet, 10TB storage
So when I need to do video edit, photoshop or real gaming then sit down at 3D big screen with real graphics card, keyboard, mouse and oodles of processing.
Your own "in home" cloud computing

Trying to get all of that in a laptop is twice the price ( of ALL the bits ) humungous, heavy and battery life of about an hour

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Indeed - But in the end those sorts of computers are just big remote controls, aren't they?

not that centralised content is a bad thing - Wifi saved my household a world of hurt when it came to our internet connection) But I quite enjoy my physical keyboard and high res screen (1680X1050 isn't so bad for a 15.4 inch screen.)

Where an iPad or equivalent will succeed or fail will be it's ability to access and create content - rather than just be a passive consumer; IE, a big remote control

[Matra et Alpine]

nah I mean one with a decent enough but low pwer computer like Atom or A4.
So display good enough to SHOW HD content.

"remote control" has been around for decades.
No, I mean proper cloud computing at your finger tips - whilst seated in a big couch with a beer by your side. SO rugged AND beerproof are added as requirements

Think this guys display part - http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...?tag=mncol;txt - a year on in development and newer chipsets/screen

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Thats pretty impressive, actually.

And full of potential.

Anyway, back to the point of this thread, I suppose -

$45 from the Mossimo outlet store. Go figure.