Best Laptop/Notebook for £1,500

Check if the the Thinkpad as a 'Windows' key. my work Thinkpad doesn't and is a pants machine. The home Dell Latitude is lovely, with inbuilt Wi-Fi, DVD / CD rewriter and good screen.

DS
OTT - Graham Norton

*** All the views expressed within this e-mail are the sole responsibility of DS, and as such are subject to change ***

You know I don't think I've ever actually pressed the Windows key on any computer, ever. I mean what does it do?

FWIW I've had several ThinkPads and they have all been fantastic. A great range, well made, great display and keyboards -- the only problem is they are not the cheapest.

Also worth looking at are the Toshibas. The Satallite's are the "lifestyley" ones like the R51, the Tecras are the more corporatey ones like IBM's T41/42.

Based on our current work PCs I'd stay clear of Dell. All our Dell laptops and desktops are falling to bits after we switched from IBM to save money.

Matthew

The R51, T41, T42, X40 have 2 advantages over competing models:

1) Rapid Restore Ultra allows access to your data even when WXP doesn't boot;
2) the hard drive is protected against shock.

The T4* and X4* also have a very interesting security chip...I think the R51 does, too, but I'm not sure.

I REALLY like Rapid Restore Ultra. I'd go for the IBM.

And if you buy Dell, be prepared to waste hours on the phone with them.

Phil

FWIW, my experience of being a Dell Inspiron owner is that their after sales service sucks. My fathers Thinkpad is a much more robust machine.

I bought a Sony Vaio GRT 815m and have been very pleased with it. They have the best screens of any notebook (I think they're called Onyx black) and the screen is frankly better than my Dell 21 inch trinitron for colour saturation and clarity.

Another alternative if you want something particularly funky is www.alienware.co.uk - the big advantage these have is that they have upgradeable graphics cards which is almost unique in laptops and will future proof the machine more than most. They also look pretty darned sexy although are a little more expensive than most.

Regards,

Jonathan

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Originally posted by Matthew Robinson:
Based on our current work PCs I'd stay clear of Dell. All our Dell laptops and desktops are falling to bits after we switched from IBM to save money.

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I've had completely the opposite experience. We used to use IBM Thinkpads but they were absolutely shite (the only worse laptops I've used have been Apple ones) and since we switched to Dell we've had very few problems.

Dunno about the R51 but the new t40/41 started to be rolled out at work at the end of last year after using Dell since before I arrived. An IT guy remarked, over a drink, that he couldn't recall ever having so many drinks invites. I got a T41 and I have to say that it's so solid you can lift it open by a corner and no gaps, creaks or flexing.We previously had Inspirons and they were brick like on the desk and then like a very heavy wet newspaper when you tried to lift it, even with both hands! Thye were highly specced but dogged by reliabilty problems. The IBM keyboard is the best in the business, the red pointer I now use by default and a navpad that works and like the surrounding buttons is totally configurable; all of our machines have a buton configured as the Windows start button, which I never use. In 8 months or so I've had not one crash, freeze or glitch and anyone I talk to has been equally happy. The thinklight, hard disk protection and built in wifi is the icing on the cake. I think the p in the 51p means you get a better card for advanced graphics. Have to confess that I've never used Apples ofr any length of time so can't comment and they are damned sexy but otherwise based on my recent experience I'd say no-brainer the IBM.

I have used an IBM thinkpad T23 at work for the past couple of years and I think it is excellent, it gets a fair bit of hammer, is hauled all around to country. I have used (and occationally still have to use) Toshibas and Compaqs and the IBM is far superior built quality. I still get 90 - 120 minutes from my original battery.

I have to admit to a certain bias (I work for IBM), but my wife has a Dell Laptop and the quality is very poor, all of the lettering has worn of the keyboard and the (single) USB port broke.

"Try Windows button + M"

I have a little button on my quick launch bar that does that.

Matthew

Methods of working differ.

I use thw Windows key all the time - Windows + E = Explorer window, + F = find, + R = Run shut down etc

I come from the days of original IBM PC and Tandy TRS-80s, pre-mouse, so am happy to use keyboard shortcuts a lot.

Agin, to add to the debate, I found Dell after sales the best I have seen in any IT company - My wife broke her diskette drive by putting in a disk with a dodgy shutter and it got stuck. I phoned Dell and a new drive was waiting for me at work the next morning, no issues at all.

On the other hand my Its Being Mended (IBM) Thinkpad bends and creaks, won't shut down properly, does randon reset, .

BUT

Harvey how to you get a key on a Thinkpad to be the Windows key?

and

Can anyone one else with diametrically opposed opinions chime in with some more views?

DS

OTT - Yokota - Wait for a day

*** All the views expressed within this e-mail are the sole responsibility of DS, and as such are subject to change ***

PC Magazine runs an annual service and reliability poll among readers, found here. As one would expect Dell led the "Percent Needing Repairs" category:

"Dell's business market woes are worse in our notebook survey, but here the problem is quality. Among work notebook users, Dell's "overall rating" score is worse than average, as is its reliability score. According to readers, a whopping quarter of Dell's business notebooks needed repairs, by far the worst rate among work notebook vendors (the next worst is HP's 22 percent)."

My current Dell Latitude is easily the worst I've owned (6 total) in terms of quality and support- in 3 years it's needed a new HDD, 3 new tab/click things used in concert with the touchpad, a new keyboard, a new motherboard, and customer care fought me in each instance. Now its frail build can't withstand normal lifting pressure when I want to move it, causing internal stuff to twist and contort and in the end- freeze. Worst of all, I've found through work and home use that Dell makes an okay notebook if you plan to use it as a desktop, but they don't take the abuses of travel like an IBM or even a Toshiba.

I've used a T22 for more than 3 years without a single problem. Tomorrow I pick up a T41 which will hopefully be as good.

Nick

quote:

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As one would expect Dell led the "Percent Needing Repairs" category

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Ouch. OTOH, the IBMs look the worst in the "notebooks less than one year old" category.

I'm on my fourth Dell; this one's a Inspiron 5150. I've never had a problem, but I don't fully trust them either and always buy the extended warranty.

The thing with Dell is that you do get a lot of power for your money, especially if you watch for the best online deals and do simple things like install your own RAM. In my case, 3 ghz pentium, one gig ram, fast video (for a laptop), extended warranty, etc. came in at under $1300. So even if it breaks in the next three years I won't be crying too hard.

Dave I don't know how they did the windows key thing as they all arrived on our desks preconfigured. I'll ask one of our tech guys and let you know.

quote:

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Originally posted by ejl:
..... but I don't fully trust them either and always buy the extended warranty.

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That's the bit that really pisses me off about Dell. If you don't buy the extended warranty they wash their hands of any responsability for the quality of the product.IMHO, extended warranties are, in general, a profit boosting con that should be outlawed.

Their response when tackled about the fitness for purpose of their product is simply this, "We're Dell, if you don't like it take us to court."

I for one, will never buy Dell again in any capacity.

Dave the Windows key thingy is:
ThinkPad Keyboard Customization Utility at http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/AIBM-INDEX.html#kcu

There si also some remapping software that the tech guy I spoke to used to use on a t23 - he says a web search will throw it up.

Hope that's of some help.

Harvey,

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to find out the link.

My life at work will be that little bit better each day now.

DS

ITC - Meat Beat Manifesto - 99%

*** All the views expressed within this e-mail are the sole responsibility of DS, and as such are subject to charging ***

Who needs a Windows key? It's only Control-Escape...

Cheers,
Simon

for what its worth we have just had our dells replaced with T41's at work.. The T41 feels like its built like a brick sh1thouse in comparison! For home use i have a G4 powerbook though which is superb for graphics and photos..
Mac's arent for everyone, but if youve not looked at one for a while you might just be suprised at how damn good they are now..

Today I ordered an IBM Thinkpad R51

Thanks for all the comments and advice.

On balance the IBM seemed to be more reliable statistically, and more robust, so thats what I ordered today, an R51. Should arrive Tuesday with a couple of 'extras' including a case, memory key and a Kingston 'T'-bar.

Only time will tell whether this was a good move....

Cheers

Don