<p>We just went through the research and purchase of a new laptop to replace college son’s old laptop. Everybody here seems to like Lenovo. I’m sure they’re tough laptops but in my opinion, they are ugly, heavy for their size, and seem to be sold with the bear minimum which would entail expensive upgrades when configuring. Yea, I know thinkpad lovers are going to say, “Just buy the extra RAM and stuff and upgrade on your own.” Well, many of us don’t want to upgrade on our own. </p>
<p>We looked at Sony’s. They looked to be very well made but we didn’t know anyone who had any personal experience with them. We looked at HP’s and Toshiba’s. We felt that the build quality seemed a bit better in the Toshiba’s and they did have some great configurations and prices. The HP’s were nice but son didn’t like the touchpad–seemed sticky and small. After a lot of researching, he picked the Dell Studio 15 (15.6 inch screen–he likes the bigger screen because it shows the entire document that you’re working on and he watches movies on it). He configured it with a fast processor (P8600), Radeon video card, backlit keyboard and complete care coverage. He’s had it for about a month and loves it. It’s fast, smooth running, and runs cool. It also came with all of the discs. His college computer care center will fix Dell’s and deal directly with Dell regarding warranties and stuff. In the end, this was a good choice for him. </p>
<p>Go with the HP if it fits your budget. I would recommend not getting the big battery. At the very least, make sure you actually see and lift the laptop with the 12 cell battery attached before committing to it. It makes the laptop stick up in the back and adds quite a bit of weight. Son’s Dell Studio came with the bigger 9 cell battery and he hated it. There were little sharp “feet” on the bottom of the battery that dig into your lap. It was bulky and very heavy. He ended up ordering a 6 cell battery to replace it with. The 6 cell is flush with the machine and it has plenty of battery life for his needs. If he thinks that he’s going to need more than 4 hours of battery life, then he’ll plug it in. Not a big deal. </p>
<p>If you’re used to HP, then go ahead and get another. There are no guarantees with electronics whether you spend $1800 or $600. Some work out, some don’t. There are lemons with all brands. Good luck with whatever laptop you buy.</p>
<p>I’ve been looking at Dells but when I went to Best Buy, multiple sales associates told me to stay away from the Dells because they are not as good as quality anymore. That is unless I get the XPS or the high end models. I thought I liked the Studio 15 too, but after reading some customer reviews on Bestbuy.com, they seem so inconsistent. But I guess I may look at them again since my school has the care center for them too</p>
<p>The first edition of the Studio (15.4 inch display) has some issues. The newer 2nd Generation Studio (15.6 inch display) addressed those issues (heating, trouble with touch sensitive media buttons) as well as improved the display. We bought it through the Dell website.</p>
<p>Sometimes you have to go with what feels right and fits in your budget. Try the keyboard, try the touchpad, and lift the unit to feel the weight. Son is very happy with his Dell Studio 15 (1555)–2nd generation. I can only comment on his experience with the machine (he’s had it for a month). His previous laptop was an old Dell Inspiron that he got during his senior year in high school. He is now a senior in college and that old Dell Inspiron still works but its components were very outdated–single core processor…</p>
<p>Keep the operating system updated, run scans regularly, and don’t drop it. Honestly, in the end, it’s just a machine and you have to hope for the best. If you like the HP, then give it a try. It should be fine. If your parents have an American Express credit card, have them use that to pay for it because American Express extends the basic warranty for an extra year. American Express also has a 90 day return policy (as opposed to the standard 14 day return policy in many of the stores).</p>
<p>I’m sorry that you opt not to buy a Thinkpad for your son based on its looks. Sure it may be a bit bulky, but that’s what makes it tough. As for it’s color, I think a solid black color gives it a very professional approach. Lenovo isn’t as expensive as you think, they ALWAYS have discounts and sales. I bought a T400 2 months ago for around $700 at these specs:</p>
<p>Vista Home
2 GB DDR3 (Added 2 more myself to make it 4)
160GB, 5400 RPM
6-Cell
1280x800 LED
Shared/Integrated Graphics</p>
<p>The way Thinkpads are built, makes it VERY EASY to replace the keyboard, memory, or harddrive, ensuring that the warranty won’t be voided. It should take 15 minutes tops if you’ve never replaced memory before</p>
<p>No problems with it yet. The only thing I regret is that I should’ve ordered for a WXGA+ resolution instead of the regular WXGA.</p>
<p>Dell Studios are nice, but it’s kinda big for a college laptop and looks like it’s made of cheap plastic. The build quality is no where near Lenovo’s, but it’s a great laptop. More expensive than Thinkpads though.</p>
<p>Again with HP, I would never buy an HP laptop based on all the mixed customer reviews I’ve read online. Their desktops are a different story though.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry that you opt not to buy a Thinkpad for your son based on its looks”. </p>
<p>Oh please. I’m not about to bash your thinkpad because you chose a thinkpad for whatever reason. Do you honestly think he chose a Studio solely based on looks? It fit his needs and his price range and he had much success with his previous Dell. </p>
<p>He didn’t want a Thinkpad because he didn’t want a Thinkpad. I have an MacBook and he didn’t want a MacBook. I’m happy that you are happy with your Thinkpad. I’m sure they’re good computers. Other people are happy with their Toshiba, HP, Dell, Asus, Apple, etc. It really doesn’t matter. It’s not like anyone should have an emotional attachment to their laptop. It’s a machine. If it works and doesn’t give a person a hard time, then it’s a good choice for the person.</p>
<p>Does anyone have experience with portability of different size laptops? I think I’ve narrowed my choices to 3: a 14 in Asus weighing 4.7lbs, a 15.5 sony weighing 6 lbs and a 16 in toshiba weighing 7.2 lbs. Any advice would be great from past experience</p>
<p>Edit: I should add that the Asus and Toshiba are $649 and the Sony is $799 but has a blue ray player</p>
<p>HP may have one the best designs out there, but they make THE worst batteries in the world. I have an HP dv6000t (my parents bought for me for HS … it was on sale for like $499, which was a steal 3 years ago … actually it was some crazy Black Friday sale) … </p>
<p>Originally, when they were new, the batteries lasted for 3 hours easily. After a year the battery life took a hit and the life was cut in half, but now after 3 years of using it, it only lasts 20 minutes (seriously I tested it once, but now I’m completely on AC power all the time) and I ran battery testing program on it and it says the battery is 86% dead now. Don’t take me wrong … I love my HP computer … it’s just I can’t stand the batteries. They’re completely useless.</p>
<p>I also know people with HP computers who have this problem. It’s worse than any other laptops from other companies … and batteries are very important in college.</p>
Well, you’re in luck! If you go to [Lenovo</a> - Contractor Purchase Program](<a href=“http://lenovo.com/cpp]Lenovo”>http://lenovo.com/cpp) and use the passcode familyandfriends, you’ll get access to discounts including the T400 with a base price of $637 and the T500 with a base price of $662. The R series is a little more bulky but much cheaper. Also, if you go [url="<a href="TechnologyGuide - TechTarget]here[/url</a>] you can find some other coupon codes (most notably “USPNOTEBOOKS” for the T400/T500) that you might be able to stack with the passcode.</p>
<p>
Is there any rational reason for this? I upgraded the RAM in my ThinkPad and it took approximately 10 minutes and the removal of 4 screws. Lenovo provides very straightforward guides for adding/replacing parts in their laptops.</p>
<p>
I’m not sure how you got the idea that ThinkPads are heavy. Business laptops are intended to be highly portable. If you look at either the T series or X series, you’ll find that the weight is very reasonable.</p>
<p>Wow…I’m surprised at how many people aren’t HP fans. I love HPs. And the battery life is part of why I switched to wanting the one I provided the link to. Oh, and it’s not heavy at all…only 5.1 lbs.</p>
<p>I bought dv3t yesterday. I had to choose between dv3t/dv4t and t400 but ended up choosing the hp laptop because I was getting better specs for less money. And i just don’t like the style of t400… seems so old. I know dv3t won’t be better than t400… and probably not even close but hopefully i made the right decision.</p>
<p>I didn’t say that I hate HP. I love HP. In fact, earlier today, I was thinking about buying an HP netbook to complement my Mac (which also hasn’t been ordered yet). I just didn’t order it because it doesn’t seem practical if the Mac isn’t even that heavy.</p>
<p>As for batteries, most laptops will degrade with time, including Lenovo’s, as most computer companies choose to cut corners by giving you a lithium ion battery. Apple tends to not have this issue because they give you something called a lithium polymer battery, which is designed so that it is capable of maintaining the same charge capacity for a longer period of time. It’s simply a more advanced and newer form of battery technology.</p>
<p>every laptop i’ve ever dealt with had terrible batteries. i had a vaio that i’ve had to buy a new battery for at least twice and its only about 3 years old.</p>
<p>^Yes it’s very true. With Vista, the more memory the better. If you’re looking to save money, sometimes it’ll be cheaper for you to order memory from on-line rather than directly from the computer manufacturer when you configure.</p>
<p>Most people will recommend 3 GB if not 4 GB. Personally, I have 2 GB on my system right now (3 years old with upgraded memory) and I had to downgrade to XP because Vista was too slow running with that kind of memory.</p>
<p>It’d be much cheaper than buying the memory right away with the laptop…but how would I know if that would work on a T500? Does it work on ANY ThinkPad?</p>