Jason Spatafore wrote: > While the Lenovo is cheaper, I would advise against any IBM style laptop > based on the x6x model. We have had several issues with these at work > with failing hard drives and wireless connections just dropping out. > (Lenovo took over the IBM desktop and laptop lines a couple years ago). > Last Tuesday I talked to a guy whose company bought him a Lenovo, but insisted that he hated them. Didn't think of asking him why, because at the time I had Mac on the brain. He seemed like a pretty smart guy, which gave me pause despite the great deal - though one of the online reviews insisted they were sturdy. BTW, I came to the same conclusion about those cheap Acer notebooks; we have several at work and I've encountered mysterious power problems with them, so I didn't even consider an Acer. > As for the MAC...same hardware for 2x the money? Not worth it unless you > think pretty is the most important aspect. > Yeah, I don't know either. If not for these fire sales a lot of the PC companies are having, there'd be about a $500-600 premium on the Mac, more like 30-40% more. Still, it's a lot of money. > With all that said, I would go with the Dell myself. You should also > look into HP and Toshiba though just to be sure. My Daughter's HP is > still running after 3 years...and she used it so much that the letters > on the keyboard have disappeared on some keys. But the keyboard still > works. Weird eh? > Most of the Dells we have at work seem to be pretty good. The Toshiba looks a little better to me, spec-wise, but haven't used a Toshiba notebook in ages. > > On Sun, 2008-04-20 at 13:05 -0700, Vaughn Treude wrote: >> Hello everybody! >> >> I'm planning to buy a new notebook, as my Vaio is now 8 years old, and >> shows signs of getting ready to give up the ghost. (Specifically, the >> LCD backlight occasionally doesn't come on.) So I've been doing some >> serious online shopping and I'm trying to make a final decision. This >> being a computer-savvy group, I thought I'd ask for some feedback. >> >> The goal: >> As high-performance as possible for $2000 or less. In particular, I want >> to be able to boot as fast as possible. (I will of course install Linux >> and tweak it to start only the most essential services.) >> I plan to make it dual-boot, because it would be useful to have Windoze >> available so I can run Visual Studio. I detest Vista, so this means the >> notebook should have XP as an available option. (If it's super-cheap, it >> _might_ be worth buying an XP CD and blasting away Vista, but I'd like >> to avoid this if possible.) >> >> The minimum parameters: >> 15" wide screen WXGA+ >> 2.4 GHz CPU >> 2 GB RAM >> 100 GB drive @ 7200 RPM >> Read/write DVD. >> Wireless "n" version support >> Bluetooth support >> 2 USB ports, preferably 3. >> >> The finalists: >> Dell Inspiron 1520 - with all the options I want it's around $1500. (But >> one of the reviewers claimed its physical construction was flimsy.) >> Toshiba Tecra A9 - also around $1500 with options. >> Lenovo ThinkPad R61 - the fully-loaded version is on sale for around $1200. >> Mac Book Pro - the 2.4GHz 15" version, with the high-speed drive option, >> is $2100, a bit out of my range. I _could_ set it up triple-boot with XP >> (and Linux, of course) which would bring it up to $2200. But I've always >> admired the Mac's design, the fact that OS X is based on Unix, and the >> Mac's excellent video-editing software. (I've been unhappy with the >> hassle of setting up this kind of stuff on Linux.) So I'm still >> considering it, but don't know if it would be worthwhile. >> >> At the moment I'm leaning toward the Lenovo. As far as I can tell, its >> primary drawbacks are relatively short battery life, and the fact that >> it is (IMHO) one butt-ugly machine. The battery isn't that big of a >> problem, as I have two externals I bought for my ailing Sony, and I can >> live with ugly. >> >> Any comments or relevant experiences any of you could share? >> Thanks, >> Vaughn >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > > --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss