Best Brand For Laptops?

[koob]

Hi all.

I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is regarded as
king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good. Probably prefer windows OS.
Something fast for 150mb Tiff image processing, with good reliability and
battery life. Is it worthwhile to order from overseas? Any equivalent budget
outlets in Australia, that compare to DCC for example?

Thanks,

Kb

[Not for Publication]

Just be aware that for some time now, virtually all the notebook makers have
used ordinary, everyday desktop CPUs in their cheaper offerings. If you
decide to buy a Sub $2k notebook it is certain to contain a power hungry,
hot running, desktop CPU. Battery life on one of these suckers will be very
short compared to a 'real' notebook CPU and the heat it generates might
buckle the plastic case (true!)

Centrino CPUs are the only true power saving CPU for notebooks. The 'M'
series CPUs used in the model range between $2k and $3k have an operating
environmental requirement below that which most of Australia north of Sydney
experienced during an average summer. The things will just shut down or at
best, run at 25% output. So I won't make a recommendation as to the brand to
buy but I will suggest you only conside Centrino chipped notebooks and
expect to pay for the quality too!

Douglas


"koob" <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote in message
news:koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...
>
> Hi all.
>
> I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is
> regarded as
> king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good. Probably prefer windows OS.
> Something fast for 150mb Tiff image processing, with good reliability
> and
> battery life. Is it worthwhile to order from overseas? Any equivalent
> budget
> outlets in Australia, that compare to DCC for example?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kb
>
>
> --
> koob
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> koob's Profile: http://forums.eyo.com.au/member.php?userid=6342
> View this thread: http://forums.eyo.com.au/showthread.php?t=50280
>

[DJ!]

On Sun, 30 May 2004 13:10:32 +1000, koob
<koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote:

>
>Hi all.
>
>I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is
>regarded as
>king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good.

Toshiba or IBM are the market leaders.


>Probably prefer windows OS. Something fast for 150mb Tiff image processing,
>with good reliability and battery life.

My mobile photo editing platform is an IBM R40 2722GDM (Pentium M
1.5GHz/15"/512MB/60GB/802.11B/DVD-CDRW). Not a complete desktop
replacement, but a comfortable balance (for me) between grunt, battery
life and portability.

Cheers... Derek (DJ)
derek@ausmicro.com derek@clubduh.com

--
Quote of the moment
Broder's Law
Anybody that wants the presidency so much that he'll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office.

[[BnH]]

150 megs TIFF file?

What camera are you using ?
You might want to use Dual processor CPU with 4 GB of RAM I think.

=bob=

"koob" <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote in message
news:koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...
>
> Hi all.
>
> I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is
> regarded as
> king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good. Probably prefer windows OS.
> Something fast for 150mb Tiff image processing, with good reliability
> and
> battery life. Is it worthwhile to order from overseas? Any equivalent
> budget
> outlets in Australia, that compare to DCC for example?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kb
>
>
> --
> koob
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> koob's Profile: http://forums.eyo.com.au/member.php?userid=6342
> View this thread: http://forums.eyo.com.au/showthread.php?t=50280
>


---
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[Obake]

In article <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au>, koob <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote:
>
>Hi all.
>
>I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is
>regarded as
>king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good. Probably prefer windows OS.
>Something fast for 150mb Tiff image processing

i would never make a total switch, but i've always thought apple made good
laptops. for what I use them for a 12" iBook is perfect. they're light and
small which is the best part.

not sure if i'd want to convert tiff files with my 600MHz G3, but the new 1GHz
G4's look good, and the price is fairly good too.

With OSX its so easy to connect to a windows network and there are OSX
versions of most software needed for photog's.

[PeteZ]

Kb,

I got a Compaq Presario 2500 a while back thats turned out to be just the
tool for my purposes

I use it 1/2 for desktop work and the other 1/2 for travelling purposes
where I use the firewire connection on to ofload my camera pics.

Not a huge spec but it suited me (all for $2.1K)

15.1" TFT, 2.6 Ghz CPU, 30GB HDD, and 768 Mb RAM

- peteZ

"koob" <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote in message
news:koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...
>
> Hi all.
>
> I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is
> regarded as
> king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good. Probably prefer windows OS.
> Something fast for 150mb Tiff image processing, with good reliability
> and
> battery life. Is it worthwhile to order from overseas? Any equivalent
> budget
> outlets in Australia, that compare to DCC for example?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kb
>
>
> --
> koob
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> koob's Profile: http://forums.eyo.com.au/member.php?userid=6342
> View this thread: http://forums.eyo.com.au/showthread.php?t=50280
>

[Camera]

I used a Toshiba for nearly four years now. It was good. It was my second
laptop. Remember to spend as much money as you can when buying laptop. It
will be very expensive to upgrade it later. This was my error for my first
one. If you buy an expensive one and upgrade it now, it will at least last
for a few years. If not, you expect to last for one to two years only.

"Not for Publication" <wilder_4_awhile@yahoo.com.au> ¦b¶l¥ó
news:2ht3a8Fge07kU1@uni-berlin.de ¤¤¼¶¼g...
> Just be aware that for some time now, virtually all the notebook makers
have
> used ordinary, everyday desktop CPUs in their cheaper offerings. If you
> decide to buy a Sub $2k notebook it is certain to contain a power hungry,
> hot running, desktop CPU. Battery life on one of these suckers will be
very
> short compared to a 'real' notebook CPU and the heat it generates might
> buckle the plastic case (true!)
>
> Centrino CPUs are the only true power saving CPU for notebooks. The 'M'
> series CPUs used in the model range between $2k and $3k have an operating
> environmental requirement below that which most of Australia north of
Sydney
> experienced during an average summer. The things will just shut down or at
> best, run at 25% output. So I won't make a recommendation as to the brand
to
> buy but I will suggest you only conside Centrino chipped notebooks and
> expect to pay for the quality too!
>
> Douglas
>
>
> "koob" <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote in message
> news:koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...
> >
> > Hi all.
> >
> > I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is
> > regarded as
> > king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good. Probably prefer windows OS.
> > Something fast for 150mb Tiff image processing, with good reliability
> > and
> > battery life. Is it worthwhile to order from overseas? Any equivalent
> > budget
> > outlets in Australia, that compare to DCC for example?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Kb
> >
> >
> > --
> > koob
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > koob's Profile: http://forums.eyo.com.au/member.php?userid=6342
> > View this thread: http://forums.eyo.com.au/showthread.php?t=50280
> >
>
>

[Scott Hillard]

"koob" <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote in message
news:koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...


From my extensive experience of having destroyed many laptops over the
years.....

Sony, Toshiba. In that order.

Everything else has failed to cut the mustard (Dell, IBM, Compaq, you name
it....).

Get a Centrino with decent battery life (4 hours plus), you'll regret it
otherwise. Also a decent-sized screen. The current Toshiba widescreen
models come with a pissweak battery, but for about $250 you can get a 7 hour
battery put in them - money well spent.


I have no personal experience of their use, but based on specs alone if I
was buying a laptop tomorrow it would be one of the new LG models.
Exceptional battery life, and reportedly very few faults. Very, VERY light,
thin, and loaded up on specs (1.6 Centrino, up to 2 Gig RAM, DVD burner,
etc).

I've found that the Sony models stand up best to a really harsh life, but
I'm not sure how well specced their current range is. Like everything with
"Sony" writted on it, you will pay a ridiculous premium for the lable, but
it's well worth it when buying their laptops.

[koob]

150 megs TIFF file?

What camera are you using ?
You might want to use Dual processor CPU with 4 GB of RAM I think.

=bob=

They're drum scans from 617. My current desktop computer can't handle
them, so the laptop would serve several purposes. As much as I hate making
digital from film and claim to be a purist, if the money's there...

kb

[koob]

In article <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au>, koob <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote:
>
>Hi all.
>
>I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is
>regarded as
>king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good. Probably prefer windows OS.
>Something fast for 150mb Tiff image processing

i would never make a total switch, but i've always thought apple made good
laptops. for what I use them for a 12" iBook is perfect. they're light and
small which is the best part.

not sure if i'd want to convert tiff files with my 600MHz G3, but the new 1GHz
G4's look good, and the price is fairly good too.

With OSX its so easy to connect to a windows network and there are OSX
versions of most software needed for photog's.

I have a mate with a G4 who's actually loooking to sell. I dropped some of my
files onto this computer and it didn't really have the juice. This makes me
wonder whether an equivalent Pentium at 1.5ghz will give me what I want
either. I was looking at a Satellite P20 based on a video editing magazine's
review, but like somebody already mentioned, the battery life is cactus and
they're hardly small and mobile laptops.

kb

[Lionel]

Kibo informs me that koob <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> stated
that:

>Hi all.
>
>I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is
>regarded as
>king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good.

They are.

As with cameras, the best brand for you depends on your priorities.
I've been out of the technical side of the laptop industry for a few
years now, but the following rough guide may still be useful for you:

Reliability: Toshiba or IBM are your best bet. Both companies have
really good warranty service, & design for reliability.
For performance: Toshiba, HP or Sony (Vaio).
For compatibility: Toshiba, IBM or a generic machine.
For price: Generic, IBM or HP.

Buy any accessories (especially RAM & hard disk) with the machine, as
they'll cost a fortune later, plus they can be impossible to obtain when
the model is a year or two old. Do your pricing comparisons based on the
full configuration - including accessories - rather than on the bare
system prices in the ads.

--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

[Lionel]

Kibo informs me that "Scott Hillard" <shillard@_nospam_ozemail.com.au>
stated that:

>"koob" <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote in message
>From my extensive experience of having destroyed many laptops over the
>years.....
>
>Sony, Toshiba. In that order.

I like Sonys a lot for their performance & looks, but I've had several
Sony Vaios & had lots of compatibility problems (ie; weird chipsets with
poor driver support, poor compatibility with any OS other the version of
Windows they come with), & found them to be very fragile, compared to
Toshibas & IBMs.

--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

[Alex A.]

to the best of my recollection i didn't think there were any dual processor
mobile notebooks or desktop replacements available at the moment (someone
can correct me on this). i think there may be a 64 bit amd processor laptop
already out. if you're doing a lot of processing, a p4 will get you the
best results but you sacrifice battery life and hence lose that in mobility,
unless you can connect it to a socket where ever you may be. centrino cpu
notebooks will give you the best balance of processing and mobility and
battery life. you should probably stick to these two main chips unless you
research more on the 64bit cpu. from last i heard, the windows environment
is still working in maximising itself to this architecture. i think adobe
photoshop has already catered for 64 bit computing but don't quote me on
that :)

brands that i've heard to be good are toshiba, sony, ibm, hp/compaq and acer
to a degree (and of course there's apple, but since you're looking for a
windows environment, i'll let that one go).



"[BnH]" <b18ATiinetDOTnetDOTaus> wrote in message
news:40b9767f$0$8114$5a62ac22@freenews.iinet.net.a u...
> 150 megs TIFF file?
>
> What camera are you using ?
> You might want to use Dual processor CPU with 4 GB of RAM I think.
>
> =bob=
>
> "koob" <koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote in message
> news:koob.171u2y@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...
> >
> > Hi all.
> >
> > I'm looking at purchasing a laptop new. Not sure which brand is
> > regarded as
> > king - I thought Toshiba was pretty good. Probably prefer windows OS.
> > Something fast for 150mb Tiff image processing, with good reliability
> > and
> > battery life. Is it worthwhile to order from overseas? Any equivalent
> > budget
> > outlets in Australia, that compare to DCC for example?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Kb
> >
> >
> > --
> > koob
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > koob's Profile: http://forums.eyo.com.au/member.php?userid=6342
> > View this thread: http://forums.eyo.com.au/showthread.php?t=50280
> >
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.692 / Virus Database: 453 - Release Date: 28/05/2004
>
>

[Lionel]

Kibo informs me that koob <koob.1727ia@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> stated
that:

>150 megs TIFF file?
>
>What camera are you using ?
>You might want to use Dual processor CPU with 4 GB of RAM I think.
>
>=bob=
>
>They're drum scans from 617. My current desktop computer can't handle
>them, so the laptop would serve several purposes. As much as I hate
>making
>digital from film and claim to be a purist, if the money's there...

Processing drum scans on a laptop is a really bad idea. A desktop will
give you typically more than double the performance of a laptop of the
same price, plus you can't put anywhere near as much RAM or hard disk in
a laptop as you can in a desktop. A laptop LCD panel is also very badly
suited to doing color correction & other 'darkroom' work, compared to
even an average CRT on a desktop machine.
For a photographer, a laptop is mostly useful for storing image files
from your camera, keeping track of shoot paperwork & demoing/previewing
images for clients. Save the heavy duty stuff for a good desktop machine
- trying to do stuff like that on a laptop will be unbelievably painful.

--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

[koob]

koob <koob.1727ia@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> stated
that:

>150 megs TIFF file?
>
>What camera are you using ?
>You might want to use Dual processor CPU with 4 GB of RAM I think.
>
>=bob=
>
>They're drum scans from 617. My current desktop computer can't handle
>them, so the laptop would serve several purposes. As much as I hate
>making
>digital from film and claim to be a purist, if the money's there...

Processing drum scans on a laptop is a really bad idea. A desktop will
give you typically more than double the performance of a laptop of the
same price, plus you can't put anywhere near as much RAM or hard disk in
a laptop as you can in a desktop. A laptop LCD panel is also very badly
suited to doing color correction & other 'darkroom' work, compared to
even an average CRT on a desktop machine.
For a photographer, a laptop is mostly useful for storing image files
from your camera, keeping track of shoot paperwork & demoing/previewing
images for clients. Save the heavy duty stuff for a good desktop machine
- trying to do stuff like that on a laptop will be unbelievably painful.

--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

I was looking at the laptop as an 'all in one' device - for processing the big
TIFF files, downloading digital images in the field, as an away from home
business tool, internet access, for client viewing of images, etc etc. From
what you're saying, would I be better off buying a new desktop computer
with the power to multitask and crunch these big files, as well as an average
laptop for the field? Is it worthwhile looking at laptops second hand
or 'reconditioned'? Has anyone bought from overseas? Any recommendations
for stores with good service/advice in Brissie?

Thanks for the input,

KB

[Lionel]

Kibo informs me that koob <koob.173cpm@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> stated
that:

>I was looking at the laptop as an 'all in one' device - for processing
>the big
>TIFF files, downloading digital images in the field, as an away from
>home
>business tool, internet access, for client viewing of images, etc etc.
>From
>what you're saying, would I be better off buying a new desktop
>computer
>with the power to multitask and crunch these big files, as well as an
>average
>laptop for the field?

Yes, that's what I'd do if I were in your shoes.

> Is it worthwhile looking at laptops second hand
>or 'reconditioned'?

Maybe. Go with one of the big name brands (Toshiba or IBM) & make sure
you get a decent *written* warranty from the seller.

> Has anyone bought from overseas?

Laptop prices in Oz are actually pretty competitive, I don't think that
buying one from OS would save you enough money to be worth the hassle.

>Thanks for the input,

No worries. I hate to see people wasting their money. ;)

--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

[X-Ray-au]

On 30-May-2004, Lionel <nop@alt.net> wrote:

> I like Sonys a lot for their performance & looks, but I've had several
> Sony Vaios & had lots of compatibility problems (ie; weird chipsets with
> poor driver support, poor compatibility with any OS other the version of
> Windows they come with), & found them to be very fragile, compared to
> Toshibas & IBMs.

Anyone heard of Twinheads Laptops http://www.twinhead.com
Brother got one and what I can see is good
Its semi Ruggered and can be dropped and can poor liquid
over it without damage

[Edge]

There really is no "best" laptop. But I do love reading the opinions as
expressed :o)

I have a Compaq Evo ... IMO it's the best laptop i've
seen/evaluated/purchased (and i've seen/evaluated purchased thousands)

I had a Compaq Presario ... didnt' like it, to plasticy, not very durable

I had an IBM ... I thought it was crap crap crap

I looked at Toshis ... ok for home, not really up to the long haul

I looked at Acer ... liked them, seen them in action ... was concerned
about their warranty/support but they do come at a nice price.

I think that before buying a laptop you should look at the specs you need
and then find the laptops that fulfill that criteria. Then look at the
laptops in the shops, test them out ... go to the manufacturer and see if
they'll let you spend time with one... then look at their warranty, and
beware those with overseas call centres ... (DELL) and the level of service
you are given. DELL appear to spend an inordinate amount of time twisting,
ducking and weaving out of their warranty committments and as such, they
could present the best laptop in the world and i'd not buy it.

But remember, like all other posts in this thread, this is merely an opinion
based on personal experiences/observations

[tmilkins]

I work in an environment where we have over 150 laptops of different types as well as many more brought here every day. I personally own a Toshiba with a 15.4' screen, centrino, massive RAM ......

The best performers here are the Toshibas, HP and Compaq.

[koob]

I work in an environment where we have over 150 laptops of different types as well as many more brought here every day. I personally own a Toshiba with a 15.4' screen, centrino, massive RAM ......

The best performers here are the Toshibas, HP and Compaq.

Thanks for all the input and advice. That's what these forums/newsgroups
are all about. I was just talking with a mate who has his own IT business. He
sells these laptops, and was saying that he can have one custom built. This,
to me, sounds like the ideal scenario. I tell him what I want, he delivers. Has
anyone else done this? He was also saying that Fujitsu - along with Toshiba -
are a worthwhile company to look at. Anyone had experience with Fujitsu?

Thanks,
Kb.