Best brand of laptop to look for?

[Spastik_Roach]

I'm looking for a used lap top, i've got about $350 us to spend...

I'm thinking of getting an apple but if not whats the best Windows lap top to get?

I'm not getting a Toshiba Satellite cause I had one once and it was a load of shit...

IBM think pad looks affordable and quality?

[drakkie]

I personally have a FujitsuSiemens Amilo A1655G. It does the job it needs to do (mostly Matlab and 3D-CAD) excellent. It runs very smoothly and the sound quality is pretty good. The light weight and compact size makes it quite easy to carry too.
The motherboard broke though after three weeks because of a manufacturing fault. The service was excellent and it was picked up and delivered back, without loss of data, within three days all within warranty.

I heard a LOT of bad stories of HP laptops so I cant really suggest you those.

[:Exige:]

For your price range, Acer would be a good bet. If you can get what the Amilo like Drakkie said, then that would be more reliable.

[palmedrengen]

I have an 12" Apple PowerBook G4 - and it has served me well and still does, I wouldn't dream of buying a PC after trying a mac - and best of all - you never have to be bothered by windows again. but you won't get much mac for 350, even a used one...

[Spastik_Roach]

I have an 12" Apple PowerBook G4 - and it has served me well and still does, I wouldn't dream of buying a PC after trying a mac - and best of all - you never have to be bothered by windows again. but you won't get much mac for 350, even a used one...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/A...n-86578947.htm This is only 50 dollars NZ over my price range, and would suit my needs fine...prices cheaper in NZ perhaps?

Thanks for the advice guys BTW. I'm thinking IBM Think-pad so far if I don't buy an apple. IBM products look solid enough and specs look ok too.

[Ingolstadt]

I wouldn't recommend Acer thou, they have crappy reliability and the WiFi antenna sucks. My Vaio had served me very well throughout the 2 years ownership and without a slightest hint of performance degrade. Well, you could have bought a top of the range Acer compared to my lowest range of Vaio and have degraded performance for the two years and would still outperform my Vaio... ahaa~

For something personal, I'd recommend Apple.

[taz_rocks_miami]

To me the Apple would be your best choice Spaz, if not, I've had my HP dv2000 dual core laptop for three months now a have nothing to complain about.

[Piacki_117]

I've had a Toshiba M40X Sattelite for one year and and four months and I've never had any problem with it.

[Rockefella]

People who recommend an apple usually suck at computers. </rant>

Get a Dell. It offers the best bang for the buck.

[drakkie]

Get a Dell. It offers the best bang for the buck.

Not always I've never seen another laptop with the specs mine has for the very low price of 550 euro

And it has 1.8 GHz,1024 MB Ram,Ai radeon 200m video card, DVD-writer etcetera etcetera...

[Rockefella]

Not always I've never seen another laptop with the specs mine has for the very low price of 550 euro

Thank you for proving my point.

The motherboard broke though after three weeks because of a manufacturing fault.

You were saying?

[drakkie]

Thank you for proving my point.

You were saying?

Three days and i had it back at no cost,with a free mouse as a compensation. Never heard of that service with Dell.

[Rockefella]

Three days and i had it back at no cost,with a free mouse as a compensation. Never heard of that service with Dell.

Dell doesn't ship laptops with motherboards that break.

[jcp123]

All I can say is, anything but HP. We've never had any of their computers, but that's because their printers are so bad that we don't even want to know what their computers are like...

We have always had IBM's. They're slow to start up because of all the extras IBM put on there, but are strong and run well, and are reliable. There's a reason these are favorites with companies worldwide (although I understand that this was sold to some Chinese company, so the recent ones are probably POS's too.)

I also can say that Dell laptops from ca. 2000-2004 aren't a terribly good choice. In my Dad's time as a quality control director for IBM's (and later Hitatchi's) Hard Drive division, he was getting an alarming hard drive failure rate in the Dells. The reason? Dell placed the hard drive right under the spot where most people rest their wrists. Some put a lot of pressure there, and POOF! there went the drives.

[Rockefella]

Oh, one more important thing to add to this thread..

90% of the time, it's not the computer, it's the user.