Help me buy a laptop

[muchacho]

I need it for web coding and some sound design. I need wireless. I will probably wait until after Christmas.

I'm thinking a small comapany like ABS (http://www.abspc.com) instead of the usual Dell or Gateway.

Thanks to all!

[never cry wolf]

1. I am typing this on a Toshiba Satellite Pro...

I purchased it last April and Consumer's Reports had it as their highest rated. So far I love it.

[Andy_Stephenson]

2. Same one I have and I love mine

plus it it is fairly lightweight.

[trotsky]

5. In all my experience supporting PCs (15+ years),

Toshiba has easily been the most dependable and reliable notebook form factor. I have ancient Toshibas ('98 or older), with every part original, that STILL fire up. I have one that runs DOS/Win95, one that runs Red Hat, and one that runs NT. They're just bulletproof.

IBM Thinkpads are a not too distant 2nd on the reliability scale.

Dell & Gateway: problematic. Cheap parts & they break down. Granted, they have good warranties and replaced the parts, but when the hard drive dies, it's small consolation to get a free replacement when all your data is fried.

[Leftist78]

3. I'm typing this

on a 12 In. PowerBook and I couldn't be happier.

It's great unless you're an anti-Mac snob

[ikojo]

4. I have a 12 inch Mac powerbook and

LOVE IT
LOVE IT
LOVE IT!!!

[muchacho]

12. Mac backer

I actually like Macs but they are still a but too pricey for me.

[travisleit01]

15. Macs RULE!

I love my 17" powerbook. Just purchased an Apple wireless keyboard and couldn't be happier.

[alfredo]

6. for what you are doing the Powerbook would be perfect. Apple is the

name in sound and content creation.

There are a lot of great HTML tools you can use on the Mac, from the Text editors like BBEdit and Mi, to the big commercial names, and the free UNIX development tools like Quanta, Amaya, Zoinks, Nedit, and Bluefish.

The sound apps are well represented, just Ask many of the independent studios and DJ's. Here's a link to a few. http://everythinghurts.typepad.com/usefulmac/audiovideo/index.html

Reason, and other pro level apps, can be found on their sites.

Here's a good alternative to director.
http://www.tribeworks.com/products/

Forgot to add, Bjork composes on a PowerBook, and uses Macs in her performances. Same with Moby.

BTW, to get Quanta to work, you would need to install KDE to get the Libs you'd need.

[frylock]

7. toshiba to be sure..

everything trotsky says is spot on. I've had my 'shiba for 3.5 years without any issues. Easy to upgrade RAM and hard drive as well. I also have 3 Thinkpads, and agree that they are extremely reliable as well.

[alfredo]

10. toshiba is good, but they gave the

Soviets our top secret Submarine propeller technology. Before we could track them because of their propeller noise. The stolen technology enabled them to run as quiet as ours. That put us in danger.

[ajacobson]

8. Laptops are no great shakes

...

ok, I lied, they rule.

:evilgrin:

[saline]

9. mah thinkpad

I'm writing this on my Thinkpad that I got refurbished of ebay for $500. I got it so I could work at school (I commute to college) and I've essentially stopped using my desktop. It's been great, my only complaint has been that the little red nob "drifts" a bunch. That and I should have gotten a floppy drive but thats not Thinkpad specific in any way. I've never used a Toshiba but from what I've read in this forum I'll have to check it out.

[Maddy McCall]

11. Don't go gateway...

I have had mine ($3,000!) for a year and it has had to be serviced THREE TIMES. Besides customer service being a joke, the company with whom Gateway contracts to service pcs literally abused my computer. IT came back from servicing looking like the Samsonite gorilla had had a go at it.

Stay away from Gateway. Trust me.

[The Zanti Regent]

13. Go with Apple, Screw Gateway

My employer (SSA) provided me with a Gateway notebook which repeatedly freezes. It also has problems with pixel distortion. It has been to repair 4 times in the past year and still doesn't work.

Screw 'em. I bought a 12 inch Apple Powerbook out of my own money and it has worked flawlessly.

[billbuckhead]

14. Actually, Apple notebook prices are competitive, marketshare up 2 points.

$1094 for an iMac G4 with a free printer, 384MB RAM and world leading OS X Panther with it's industry leading iLife suite of multimedia software. Last spring, a friend gave me $1000+tax to buy him a notebook and i got him a G3 iMac and he told me last week it's the only computer he has ever liked, everything else seems like a struggle. This guy is quite a novice and hates computers with a passion, but needs them to do things for him, so to me, it's a strong endorsement from a very busy and successful entreprenuer. I have an aquiantance who makes commercials and he uses Macs. Lately, it seems like the only real reason to use Windows is to take advantage of some sort of free/verycheap software or games.