Thinking about getting myself a lap top. Leaning toward Dell. Any ideas, dislikes,things to look at Weight , size of screen, etc... I haven't used a lap top very often so any help would be appreciated. Just getting too darn crowded on our computer. the 8 year old is taking over my computer time, probably a good thing though.

according to consumer reports there is not enough data to claim one brand is better than another. 1 1/2 yrs ago, I bought a Toshiba Satellite w/ 15.4" screen, I chose this laptop because I liked the clairity of the screen and a guy at work had one without problems. I've had no issues with it, no Vista horror stories, and recommend it.
My buddy has had an HP for about the same amount of time with no issues.
I say stretch the buck and go for the best deal.

I have a dell latitude d620, built in wifi
with 4 gig of ram and a 350 gig hard drive
no issues for over a year

The only thing I do not like is the thing run hot, almost too hot to touch.

Had a major battery recall a few months ago. On battery I get around 2 1/2 hours on the most economical setting.

it's all about the battery :read:

ditto battery...I have a T61p and regret getting the "fast graphics chip" which sucks royally compared to any desktop graphics card while also s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g craploads of power and giving me only 2.5hrs of battery time :-P
I also regret getting a 15.4" wide laptop...it's just bulkier than I expected, so if I had to do over, I'd get a 14.1" wide laptop...I figured the extra screen resolution would help the godawful vs.net UI which is a screen hog. The size only matters if you travel though. If it's just a desktop alternative, get an inexpensive 17" laptop and be done with it.

Lots of cheapo black friday deals including a laptop for a measly $380 so it's a great time to buy...

Mr P,
I answer this question every day. And you will get the same answer. Buy the cheap one with ton's of memory. In 3 years the value is zero.
Most new computers comes with 2-4 gig of memory.
VB.

P. I said lap top not lap dance.


Thanks guys. Just thinkin at the moment.

What about a MAC, apple. My bro in law who is a computer guy said I should consider an apple. He recently got a lap top by them and he luvs it. God knows why he got another computer as he probably has 10 of the things. I think work gave it top him.

What about a MAC, apple. My bro in law who is a computer guy said I should consider an apple. He recently got a lap top by them and he luvs it. God knows why he got another computer as he probably has 10 of the things. I think work gave it top him.

lookin at some feed back and the battery Life sounds better...

here are some models to check out...
http://wize.com/mac-laptops/t51301-battery-life

Paul, we've had really good luck with HP laptops, check them out. Had some minor issues with Toshibas, especially the batteries. I would go with HP

Macs are expensive but some who solely use all Macs love them so I guess the cost is worth it to them.

I used to have a job supporting dell laptops in a fairly large business environment (over 2000 users). I'm not a fan. Not to say they are all bad, just hit or miss. I was surprised at the number of craptops that came across my desk though. Prior to the dells, we had compaqs and they were definitely made a little better, as far as quality of materials goes. Compaq became HP, so I would look there possibly. I have a ibm/lenovo laptop now through my current job and it seems pretty well made. I'm not doing pc support anymore and the company I work for is much smaller, so I can't comment on overall quality numbers wise. I think any manufacturer has a percentage of equipment that is going to fail unexpectedly and a percentage that will run flawlessly for years. These laptops are all made overseas, and it is difficult to gauge quality from one brand to another. I would stick with a major company that keeps up with driver downloads and a decent support web site. Dell and HP are both in that catagory.