<p>not really....though typing with typewriters is fun....maybe for fun but not for important stuff......why does anybody need a typewriter unless its a financial issue</p>
<p>I'm going to say a dell because they're reliable, have decent tech support, nice-looking, and cheap.
Oh and they're one of the few brands that are offering the Core Duo chips (which in a few years will be the standard) ...</p>
<p>Sony has one of the best tech support.......sony has tech support for EVERY SINGE PRODUCT......i mean it has like 50 different computer models...then you have dvd player, tvs, audio sytems, playstation 2.....and tons of more.....sony owns like almost all the entertainment sytems</p>
<p>My parents said it was too expensive though. Go figure. lol</p>
<p>thats sucks for you little boy....im getting mine in august.,.....and guess what i might just get that one</p>
<p>i luv my IBM thinkpad</p>
<p>i have the new little one</p>
<p>it is so lightweight and i have had absolutely no problems with it</p>
<p>i have accidently dropped it several times very hard and the screen has yet to crack or anything at all</p>
<p>it is really fast and is wonderful</p>
<p>everyone should get one</p>
<p>I'm still considering what to get (Dell's got a good warranty program for college, Sonys are just pretty, and IBM/Lenovo's are great, but expensive), but I just thought I'd note that I was at best buy today and Sony's definitely offering the Core Duo processor on a $1,500 laptop...wireless card built in, dual-layer DVD/RW, 100 gig hard drive, 1024mb ram, if i recall...</p>
<p>I want an apple laptop. Don't know if I want the Macbook or PowerBook</p>
<p>Alienware. :cool:</p>
<p>I'm getting a macbook pro (a mac). I highly reccomend anything apple. They rarely crash, come installed with awesome software, etc, etc. But if you're a PC type of person, I hate Dell, but that's personal. I like the IBM's though. They're solid. GET AN APPLE though.</p>
<p>well..see...alienware boy, i think he mentioned "affordable", and as amazing as alienware is, cheap it is not. Macbook Pro...i love mac, i have a mac, but macbook is always dangerous right now, because first of all, it's a new computer completely, so glitches might be there up the yin yang, and also, since it's a whole new type of chip, not all the software has been written for it, so it might still be an inconvenience. macs also do not come very cheap above the iBook level, so beware there.</p>
<p>hey y'all - don't know if you've looked at the parent's forum at all (i ran across this thread searching for the one in there about laptops), but if you're getting a laptop to take off to school, you really should check to see what brands your school prefers. my university, for example, trains all of us student techies (haha, yes, I work in tech support) on windows XP and OS X, so we can deal with almost any software problems, but we're only authorized to do hardware work on Dells and Macs. We have to ship everything else off, which takes a while - so check out what's available in terms of on-campus service before you decide.</p>
<p>that being said:
Dell - great warranty support (at least if you have dell-certified techies on campus :D) & pretty solid machines
IBM - absolutely amazingly solid machines, but expensive & sorta ugly
HP - pretty good, but the Dells are better, mostly b/c warranty support & some build-quality issues
Sony - hardware is sort of flimsy. great while they work, but if they stop working they break almost as soon as you try to take them apart to fix them :/
Macs - pretty! great software, generally pretty good hardware, but AppleCare can be a pain in the butt sometimes, so take it at your own risk.</p>
<p>erm, yeah, dunno if that helps at all... oh well.</p>
<p>you don't need a new computer. if you can't get your wireless set up on the pc you have, what makes you think it will be different on another computer? either call tech support for your router/card or hire some kid to get your wireless network up and running (and if you do, watch and learn, you need to know the basics).</p>
<p>athena_wiles...your breakdown of the companies was, to my knowledge, absolutely brilliant...so just carbon-copy everything said there to me :-D</p>
<p>hypergreenbean:
[quote]
I wonder why "labtop" is such a common misspelling. I mean I hear everyone type/write it that way all the time.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My theory is that many scientists/other-people-in-labs were among the first adopters of laptops, so they were mistakingly called "labtops"?</p>
<p>I would say go with IBM's. Sure, they are a few months behind technology wise, and they are expensive, but you have to understand that these things are built to last, and they are meant for anywhere from developers to buisness executives. They will not crash, and they won't break if you drop them. And they don't look ugly... they look sleek as hell. IBM's and Macs, go to any academic conference, and all the profs have these. </p>
<p>"Go w/ linux on a laptop"</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but this is the most retarded piece of advise I have heard all day(and I get a lot of crap all day). 3rd Party Laptop driver support is so pathetic its not even funny. And yes, I have both SuSE and Fedora on my T43 Thinkpad, along with Windows XP.</p>