MDurham

From reading the boards I see there are a lot of computer experts on the list. I'm looking to purchase a on the road, small, and lite laptop computer. Would use for internet, email, run small programs, etc. Is ebay a good route? What brand? etc.
Thanks Mark

CN

Toshiba is the ONLY notebook computer to buy. I own a computer company that does only corporate networking and Toshiba provides the best combination of Value, compatibility, performance & quality. I have seen it all and wouldn't buy or recommend anything else. FORGET DELL, they are total crap!!! Did I say that Dell sucks?
Just buy a Toshiba and the world will be a fine place. IBM are ok but a bit fragile. Compaq is ok but support sucks. Sony is good equipment but support sucks. Forget NEC. Don't buy Dell. Toshiba is best. Model 3000 is a bit flimsy. Try to find a 4600 series. Can't tell you anything about getting computers from ebay.

Hope this helps

Don't ever buy DELL

MDurham

Thanks CN. I was leaning toward Toshiba. Do not want to spend a lot. I do like that Dell dude in those commercials but sounds like not the place to buy.

Mark

cale

Toshibas are good, but I am an IBM fan. If you want something light I would definitly recomend the IBM 560, 570, and X series. I have a 570 and its great, definitly not fragile. Toshiba and IBM are both good brands, and I would agree with CN on staying away from Dell, but in the end I tend to like the IBMs more than the Toshibas.

Ski

I too have heard good things on Toshiba. But I must speak up for IBM thinkpads. I have put two of them through projects both onshore at shipyards and offshore finishing projects and they performed flawlessly.

MDurham

Would ebay be a safe place to buy one?

*eurospeed951*

Toshiba is great, but when I bought my laptop I could not aford one, so I got a Compaq 1700. I have used it for two years now and I am still happy with it.

Tabor

I was issued a Toshiba and a Dell by one of my previous employers. I prefer Dell to Toshiba. This may have been because they gave me the base model Toshiba, and the mid model Dell (I don't know).

I prefer IBM and Sony to Toshiba or Dell.

Perry 951

I have had a Dell Latatude CPI-r 400 for the last 2 years. I have dropped it down the stairs, had it slide off the seat into the passenger footwell during hard breaking, ran all the OS's out there (now on XP PRO), and never once had a problem. H have had ThinkPads, Compaq's, but this is the best one so far. Slap in 512meg, a decent Hard drive, and it is just perfect. No need for a Gigahertz processor, or a $2500 price tag. You can get one for about $600 used. Well worth it.

Operator

IBM laptops are probably the best, but also the most expensive, sounds like you just want something cheap that will do simple internet things and the like...

Dell has some great deals nowadays.. would be hard to pass up some of those <$1000 laptops they have. Toshiba is nice but only if you can find one cheaper than a Dell, otherwise just buy what's in your budget. Good Luck!

Dan87951

Here at school I'm in charge of a computer lab and we have run every brand of computer I can think of and so far the Dell's have been the most rock solid PC we have ever worked with. We are now testing there notebook series and they have also proven to be valuable, and very reliable, compared to the other Toshiba, Sony's, Compaq, and HP's we were running before them. The most rock solid PC that I have ever used. I would purchase a Dell if I was the one purchasing a notebook!

Thaddeus

I wouldn't buy a laptop from ebay. You need to be able to fire it up and see if the screen is OK, etc. etc. Those pixels go to hell and it's the most expensive part of the box to replace.

No brand recommendation. I don't like any of them much. If you don't need the portability, get a desktop. Lots more performance for the money, parts are more interchangeable. I've owned a Toshiba that was OK, I'm using a Thinkpad for work and it's OK, but as I said, I don't like laptops.

Thaddeus

MDurham

Thanks for all the advise guys. I do not like laptops either but I have to be mobile. I'll check them all out.

booster

I have three laptops, a Dell, a WinBook and a Acer, of the three the Dell is brand new and the fastest but I personally like the WinBook the best.

Russ

John Welch

Mark,

>>Would use for internet, email, run small programs<<

It doesn't sound like you really need too much processing power. I just picked up a Compaq Presario 1200 for my girlfriend for $849 minus $50 mail-in rebate. At that price, I figured you can't go wrong. My HP notebook just died after 8 months of heavy use, and now I'm basically screwed, because I can't get the data off of the hard drive since it won't boot, and the hard drive is not upgradeable or removeable, so if I send it in to get fixed, I might lose all of my data.