conn-e-rot Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Looking for a laptop bought my daughter a toshiba 2 years ago and it's great is this one any good?http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+17.3%22+Satellite+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/4790269.p?id=1218527758545&skuId=4790269&st=4790269&cp=1&lp=1&ref=156&loc=06Is toshiba still one of the better low priced laptops? What other brands should I look at? What processors should I look for? I'm way out of touch on the new stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Copeland Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 I bought a Dell refurbished on eBay for 175.00 bucks with shipping.Looks and works like new ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Asus is the brand to buy right now, Dell, HP, Compaq(which is built by HP) all are junk. They are not the companies you knew 10 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVTPilot Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Dell, depending on the model, can be a good find. But their consumer line is substandard compared to their business/professional ones. HP & Compaq are virtually the same things, and not worth the boxes they are shipped in. Of all the side jobs I do in laptop repair, HP/Compaq far and away outpace all others I have worked on. Asus are on the rise for sure, but they had some early issues with cooling. I think they are resolved for the most part, however. Acer are marketed by their price point, and like most things you get what you pay for. Toshibas are not bad, and since you have personal experience with them, I will not inundate you with my opinion of them. Let's just say I like them more than HP but not as much as Dell.I'm not a huge fan of buying laptops from a big box store, but to each their own. I do this kind of thing for a living, so I am a little jaded and my perspective is skewed because I deal directly with manufacturers. The big question is what are you doing with said laptop? Just perusing the web and paying bills online? Do you have some uber hot apps that you run that require a mondo processor to run? Coming from a Windows background, I would suggest an i5 processor and as much RAM as you can afford to buy. Not less than 4 GB, as Win7 like 4 to run smoothly. (You can run it on 2 GB, but meh, I wouldn't.)Again, this is just my opinion, and I am sure other quasi-nerds have valuable $.02. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Versys Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Never had any complaints with my Toshibas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 my dells have all been good running, but physically all fell apart in no time at all....i wont ever own anotherjust replaced my dell studio with a samsung series 7 and this thing is amazing....from when i hit the power button until im fully logged in and booted up is about 30 seconds or less...it weighs almost nothing, 15.6" screen.....best laptop ive ever owned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I have had excellent performance and reliability from the Toshiba's that I've owned. I'm not as thrilled with my wife's low-end model as I am my "next step up" (and a year older) model, so you do get what you pay for, to a point. I bought her's from BestBuy, on a sale, and mine came from toshibadirect.com when they still sould clearance and refurbished models on the site. Now the "deals" are on their ebay store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gump Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Mine will break shortly after I tell you it's good. It's starts with L and ends with a O (knock on wood) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Mine will break shortly after I tell you it's good. It's starts with L and ends with a O (knock on wood)I like Lenovo, granted I have only worked with their professional models but I have never had any issues with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conn-e-rot Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I think I'll be going with this one and upgrading to 8gb of ramhttp://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+17.3%22+Satellite+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/4790269.p?skuId=4790269&productCategoryId=pcmcat247400050000&id=1218527758545 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jst2fst Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I bought my Toshiba L45 back in '07 when I started collage and its still going. I just had to dump my memory and start fresh but still working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 make sure you wants a laptop that large.....i had a 17" dell studio and hated lugging that thing around....heavy, bulky, pain in the ass....theres a noticeable difference between a 15" and a 17"...i would definitely go handle one in the store before buying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conn-e-rot Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 It's for home use not going to be carrying it much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crb Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I have a 5 year old gateway that is still doing well considering its hard life on the truck. I had 4 different dell laptops they were all shit. I've got a friend that swears by Toshiba. I've got an Acer netbook that does well for its purpose which is web browsing and mapping. I have replaced 2 screens on the Acer as it gets abused on the truck. I think my next laptop will be an apple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 my gf has a netbook.....what an awful piece of junk....worst invention ever....rather get a real laptop or even a tablet....her netbook runs slower than my phone! tablets and laptops can do everything better, and cost about the same for low end ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblosser Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 netbook = tablet with real keyboard, sorta. Just about as easy to tote around.Jr.'s netbook runs rings around his iPad and my tablet, and the netbook's 2~ish years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crb Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 my gf has a netbook.....what an awful piece of junk....worst invention ever....rather get a real laptop or even a tablet....her netbook runs slower than my phone! tablets and laptops can do everything better, and cost about the same for low end onesMine rarely gets used, but it was cheap! Carrying $1000 laptop around beating the hell out of it vs beating the hell out $179 netbook just makes sense to be rough on the netbook. Its sad how quickly computes get outdated. I special ordered the gateway 5 years ago and spent nearly $1,000 today $400 laptops are much faster its crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I think I'll be going with this one and upgrading to 8gb of ramhttp://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+17.3%22+Satellite+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/4790269.p?skuId=4790269&productCategoryId=pcmcat247400050000&id=1218527758545Looks like a decent deal.I bought my Toshiba L45 back in '07 when I started collage and its still going. I just had to dump my memory and start fresh but still working.In college since 2007 and can't even spell college? Wow! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohdaho Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I got my fiance an ASUS TimelineX. Extremely lightweight, great battery life, and still going strong after a couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfvb1225 Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Asus is the brand to buy right now, Dell, HP, Compaq(which is built by HP) all are junk. They are not the companies you knew 10 years ago.Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfvb1225 Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I've been in the information technology business for many years and dealt with just about every brand name of laptop computer. As a former toshiba factory warranty technician I can tell you stay far far away from them unless you purchase the extended warranty especially with the big box store models. After you have taken apart a few hundred of them you begin to see what I mean. The quality just isn't there. I've had marginal luck with some models of lenovos but I say the better ones to get are dells your purchase from dell and not the big box stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crb Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 (edited) Well crap my netbook keeps freezing up. I've formatted the HD and did a clean install still freezing up. My guess is the truck has taken another victim. The gateway is barely holding on so I may be in the market for a laptop. Anybody have any deals on an old business model or something decent that will hold up and isn't super slow. I priced apples and they aren't in the budget right now. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2372835&CatId=4936 What It Is And Why You Need It:Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz processor; ensures smooth system performance 2GB of DDR2 memory; delivers fast data throughput 80GB Hard Disk Drive; ample storage space for your files 13" Display; delivers crisp, clear images to yourThoughts on toughbook? Edited June 9, 2012 by crb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaCinci Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 I priced apples and they aren't in the budget right now.Apple WWDC next week and expected to announce new macbooks. That means price drops on existing models. Don't forget to check Apple's refurbed models.I mostly use a PC for a desktop (I have a hackintosh I built) but for laptop, I won't own anything but a Mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crb Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 How well is an apple going to hold up in a semi bouncing up and down? It's not on all the time. Really not that often at all. I wanted an apple for photo and video editing. Everybody says apple is the best for photo and video editing. My desktop is slow as all Hell processing when using photoshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitz Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 I love my MSi I picked up on Newegg.com. Under $1,000, plays BF3 at almost high settings, all the bells and whistles. A little over a year old and not even close to outdated. If you don't want it to get outdated in a few months...do the homework and spend a little more for the right cpu, gpu, and ram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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