Notebook Dilemma

[mohgui]

i'm looking to get a notebook but i've got problems coming to grasp the reliability of certain brands.

i'm thinking of Acer but heard that it is not very reliable and problems will occur rather frequently. why Acer? because they have a lot of models to choose from and their price is rather reasonable compared to similar spec machine from other brands.

i've even looked into Dell and currently eyeing the XPS M1530 coz the specs and price suit my budget.

so... is Acer really that bad as what those people at Hardwarezone said it is? is Dell a recommended brand in terms of service and reliability? are there any other brands that you guys swear by?

btw, my budget is around $1500.

 

[Randius]

I own an Acer laptop previously for three years and it did not give me any problems other than the pretty poor build in the trackpad buttons. Before that, I owned a Dell laptop and strangely, it broke down right after my two-year warranty expired... I was told that the laptop had to be sent back to Dell Malaysia for repair as they were unable to do it here. Not sure about now.

 

[JacePhoto]

I used an Acer... and i would never use it in my lifetime again....!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I heard the same abt Dell.

I now use a Panasonic TOughbook which originally sells for SGD 3,000 but now at SGD 1,800. The only problem... it has a shared graphics card. Ok to display files from my Nikon but other more graphics intensive ones... cannot.

The other gd thing abt the Toughbook, is its weight! Its super light! Battery lasts for 8 hrs!

 

[vince123123]

Toshiba is good, I have one laptop that is over 6 years old and is still working

 

[CanonDreamer]

Consider getting HP 6930P or Lenovo ThinkPad T400.. u will not regret..

 

[raptor1988]

Acer :nono: The specs are good for the money that you pay. Bang for buck, but build quality is not there. I'll consider a Dell or Fujitsu for my next laptop. Toshiba is like the BMW of laptops to me.. expensive and quite reliable. :bsmilie:

 

[mohgui]

damn... so it's true that Acer is really that bad. they are like Proton cars... come out with so many variants, cheap but unreliable... :bsmilie:

for my budget, i don't think i can get the same specs as the XPS M1530 from Toshiba or Fujitsu lah. there are also a lot of other brands which i'm looking at... like Asus and HP. but still, can't match the specs of my shortlisted Dell for that price.

haiz... if only notebooks were like the Ford Model-T; one model one colour. life would be much much easier.

 

[eric69]

I don't trust HP, Compaq, Acer & Dell. [but that's my opinion]

I'm currently using a Fujitsu laptop L1010, my previous laptop was a Fujitsu too. My organisation is using Fujitsu as well. I love Fujitsu not only because it is built solely in Japan, but it comes with a 3-years warranity (2nd and 3rd yr is carry-in - parts only).

 

[raptor1988]

once you set a budget, go for the best one you can get with it.. Dell service not bad. The user interface is also idiot proof, very easy to troubleshoot if anything screw up.

 

[yyuting]

Toshiba would be reliable and good.
However, Dell's XPS is also not bad, cos' it comes with a 3 years VIP warranty (and I'm holding a Dell XPS now) and their CS is definitely efficient. They have a specialize department set up just to deal with any problems with regards to the Dell XPS series.

 

[seankyh]

Acer has a bad name its true. I myself have had experience with Acer and will never go back.

Lenovo or HP are good value for money notebooks. But if you are wiling to fork out a little more, consider Macbook Aluminium:devil:

 

[mohgui]

Toshiba would be reliable and good.
However, Dell's XPS is also not bad, cos' it comes with a 3 years VIP warranty (and I'm holding a Dell XPS now) and their CS is definitely efficient. They have a specialize department set up just to deal with any problems with regards to the Dell XPS series.

hah... am now more or less convicted liao.

oh... since Acer is so bad... now i understand why Ferrari F1 team is underperfoming now. must be the Acer notebook they are using... :bsmilie:

 

[mohgui]

Acer has a bad name its true. I myself have had experience with Acer and will never go back.

Lenovo or HP are good value for money notebooks. But if you are wiling to fork out a little more, consider Macbook Aluminium:devil:

heh... wouldn't that be ideal? the only show-stopper is the money...

 

[mohgui]

ok... let's not talk about notebook brands for now.

question is... Intel or AMD?

the other thing... ATi or Nvidia?

 

[raptor1988]

Been a Intel user all my life.. Dunno how AMD processors compare 1 on 1 to intel but i've read that they are more sensitive to heat than the intel ones. the heat protection built into them are not as good as intel.

As for graphic cards, don't think there's any difference. If you're talking 512Mb DDR5 cards, no matter is ATI or Nvdia still have the brute power to do almost anything you throw at it. I'm currently using a MSI Nvdia 9600GT 512Mb DDR 3 card. Couldn't afford a higher spec'd card. :sweatsm:

 

[raptor1988]

Been a Intel user all my life.. Dunno how AMD processors compare 1 on 1 to intel but i've read that they are more sensitive to heat than the intel ones. the heat protection built into them are not as good as intel.

As for graphic cards, don't think there's any difference. If you're talking 512Mb DDR5 cards, no matter is ATI or Nvdia still have the brute power to do almost anything you throw at it. I'm currently using a MSI Nvdia 9600GT 512Mb DDR 3 card. Couldn't afford a higher spec'd card. :sweatsm:

 

[TheChef]

Acer has a bad name its true. I myself have had experience with Acer and will never go back.

Lenovo or HP are good value for money notebooks. But if you are wiling to fork out a little more, consider Macbook Aluminium:devil:

I had an iBook G4. I used it less than 30 times and the hard disk crashed. I checked with a few of my colleagues who bought Mac notebooks and they had experienced hard disk crashing problem too. I went to the Mac Shop at Funan to repair my Mac and guess what, they charged $90 for dianostic alone (excluding spare parts). I asked the guy who was eating chicken rice halfway before he served me whether he can guarantee that he is able to repair my Mac. He said no guarantee. I asked him whether the $90 is refundable if he failed to repair it. He said no. I looked at him and can sense that he is a novice repairman. I walked off. Service and attitude sucks big time. The iBook disappoints me big time on the whole other than the dard disk crashing. Yes, it is literally white... a white elephant. I sold it to a collector rcently. I will never trust a Mac again. :thumbsd:

Now I am using a Compaq laptop. Everything yes everything is much better. Fast and reliable with 4GB RAM and 320GB hard disk. I prefer Windows Vista to Mac OS anyday. :thumbsup:

 

[raptor1988]

Been a Intel user all my life. But i've read that the AMD processors have less heat protection designed into them. May overheat of burn if the fan fails.

Ati or Nvdia not much difference. Taking a 512Mb DDR5 card as an example, the raw computing power is there, so it doesn't matter which brand. It can take nearly everything you throw at it. :sweat:

 

[raptor1988]

deleted. double post.

 

[KNIGHT ONG]

i'm looking to get a notebook but i've got problems coming to grasp the reliability of certain brands.

i'm thinking of Acer but heard that it is not very reliable and problems will occur rather frequently. why Acer? because they have a lot of models to choose from and their price is rather reasonable compared to similar spec machine from other brands.

i've even looked into Dell and currently eyeing the XPS M1530 coz the specs and price suit my budget.

so... is Acer really that bad as what those people at Hardwarezone said it is? is Dell a recommended brand in terms of service and reliability? are there any other brands that you guys swear by?

btw, my budget is around $1500.

For photography use ?

How about MacBook Pro ... ...

YMMV