Wow when and where did I say that it wasn’t a common problem?
Maybe be so but what are the chances Janus will spend $1200+ on a business level laptop? Probable rather slim. Brand discussions aside it is best to offer advice tailored to the application. He will probably buy one of the main stream HP media laptops. I believe this is a mistake. All he has to do is google HP laptop problem and he will see a mountain of posts/threads/and issues.
Just pointing out what should be looked into before making a decision.
^ you make a good point. im trying to minimize the prospect of experiencing a ‘common problem’ which each company experiences.
take for instance the Dell Studio XPS 13. GORGEOUS computer with power to spare, but i have read SEVERAL reviews noting the GPU overheating and crashing the computer. it makes me want to stear clear. i mean eventually im going to have to pull the trigger on a brand and cross my fingers…
HP did recently release an extended life battery also that is supposed to outlast the life of the laptop. It seems like you are going to be looking for something with a good graphics card. Maybe want to look at some of the gaming ASUS laptops.
FYI: The HP issues I am aware of is that many media laptops cam with a faulty BIOS which caused the machines to overheat. It had nothing to do with user care. The symptoms were the wireless adapter would disappear and reappear , next the display would go blank and finally then North Bridge chipset fries and the machine is useless.
Honestly what you buy is up to you and I am not interested in arguing personal bias. (like so many on here love to do). I would hope you take the time to research so you can save yourself the needless aggravation that so many are subjected to.
For the money and the use, Janus’ best option in my opinion is a Macbook. Great piece of hardware, the OS is very simple to use, and if you don’t like it you can simply install Vista or XP instead. Do it. CamaroJoe has em for less than 1k add in the 3 year protection plan and you are still under 1200… do it.
If you care about screen quality the only reason why I would never get a macbook is the screen is poor. Everything else is great, but the screen… ugh.
Dell dosent exactly have the highest quality construction on the laptops, but they dont suck as bad as most. Lenovo makes nice units, but they are generally very overpriced for the specs and lack of any real character. Theyre black plastic boxes that feel somewhat cheap and often poorly constructed.
The only choices I see are a 15" MBP previous gen, theyre about $1400 new if you look around. Or, any lenovo/dell that you can afford. Dont look at the CPU specs that much. But it is very important to have lots of ram if possible. Its cheap enough that you should have 4gb. But getting 4GB preinstalled can be very expensive…
depending on the specs and price (supposing this XPS deal of the day thing is worthwhile), i may pick up a Dell XPS m1330 or m1550. blah, this is hard work! haha
Lenovo sucks since they switched from IBM. Their service is terrible, response time is terrible, and their prices suck. Their ThinkPad series are still good quality, but are ridiculously priced. Their Lenovo line is crap.
Dell, all depends on which series you get. They have some nice XPS and Studio series. Support is still the best out of all the manufacturers.
Apple. It’s Apple. Like it or hate it. I posted some deals in the for sale section at my work.
Sony support has been getting shitty lately.
HP has been improving. More options, decent pricing, and better support.
Camarojoe-
maybe you have had experience with the gpu overheating issue in the xps and studio xps series? is it really that prevalent?
You’re not going to experience GPU overheating unless you’re putting WoW on your laptop or some shit.
lol jack, take it easy… it’s just a laptop thread 
I really don’t agree about Lenovo, I think they are still superior in terms of hardware quality compared to other brands. Both dell and lenovos warranty support is offshore, but the onsite techs are going to be exactly the same people. You pay on average about 10-15% more for it, but they are built very well. The ideapads are VERY NICE machines, and if I could have gotten a 13-15" screen with better than WXGA resolution I would have got one over the dell studio 15.
For dell, they are cheaper, like i said. They have a good warranty system though, no doubt. The studio series is a nice in between, it’s not quite an XPS, but its certainly not an inspiron (i.e. crap). The XPS m1330 and 1530 are nice, but they are dated. Lower FSB, lesser GPU. I’d get one of the studio 15’s or one of the studio XPS’s if I were getting a dell.
I think that is the older xps’s (m1330, m1530), stick to the newer ones and you should be ok.
dude you know how i get down…
i sit at my comp on sat nights playing WoW while dressed as a level 43 wizard.
thats why i didnt make it to the steer to visit as often as i said i would :mamoru:
yeah the studio xps line is gorgeous. Im starting to look at the referb xps line… there are some VERY nicely equiped m1330’s for like 700. tack on the 3yr coverage and im in my range right there.
not to berate everyone with questions, but i know a dedicated GPU is nice. if i do no gaming (seriously, not even solitare), would i notice a difference? i love watching DVDs and internet tv (ie hulu), but would integrated graphics be just fine? (w 4g ram i dont think i would ever even touch virtual ram)
I fully disagree about lenovo. I have had several of them here at work and they ALWAYS run like a top.
I beat the piss out of mine too. It runs all day with constant usage, then goes in my backpack and gets beat up on the way home.
support probably does suck, but you won’t need it.
On my dell with integrated graphics, i did notice slowdowns when playing 1080p content plugged in to my HDTV. Other than that it was only a gaming issue.
However, you’re big on the THIS MUST LAST ME 4 YEARS thing. today’s integrated graphics will likely be useless 4 years from now
integrated graphics would probably be just fine. There are only a few situations where I would recommend a dedicated GPU:
1 - A lot of video editting/design work
2 - Gaming
3 - Multiple monitor support
also its typically only $50-$75 to add a dedicated GPU anyways.
i still would try and get a studio XPS over the previous gen XPS line, it’s all older technology…
well the ‘lasting 4 years thing’… i mean income will be nil while in school. im about to dig a very deep financial hole for myself -all told, probably somewhere between 160 and 200k, so i just want to minimize collateral damage ya know? longevity is sort of a plus. warranty more so. im absolutly sure im overthinking it, but to me, a 1000-1200 purchase is huge, esp on top of my moving costs, ect.
holy fucking christ, if you’re planning to dig a 160-200k hole just buy yourself a loaded macbook pro and be done with it. 
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9172879&type=product&id=1218044029788
the asus machines are very clean… no extra crap