Buying a Laptop - advice

[Sugarcoated]

We want to spend under $1,000 and get the best buy we can. I don't understand much about laptops, just want a good basic one that I can use at the cafe at Barnes & Noble. Also - does anyone know of a good message board about buying laptops?

[LSK]

1. go to IBMs website and look at their refurbished models

Used thinkpads are a great bargain.

[Sugarcoated]

3. My husband wants to go to the mom and pop place and get

a custom made one, I'm not so sure.

[LSK]

4. hell no!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is the worst thing in the world

When a part breaks on those custom oddball brands, good luck finding replacement parts, support, upgrades or anything else.

Buy a Dell, Sony, IBM or some BIG NAME BRAND PLEASE!

You can find a good PIII IBM used for well under $1000, even for $500 on ebay. Parts are plentiful.

[LeftyMom]

2. I just got this one

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7642839&type=product&productCategoryId=cat15200&id=1134697746644

It was on sale for $849 when I got it, though. I love it.

[flvegan]

7. Saved some cash on it, did ya?

Or should I say "cache" and show my pseudo geek humor?

[LeftyMom]

8. I got a good deal

Thanks for helping me with it. :)

[Hand]

5. Check out Toshibas...

I think a lot of places are clearing out last year's models for very nice prices right now. I got a relatively low-end Toshiba last year and it's been great. Totally reliable and nice ergonomics.

One suggestion--get a 15.4" screen size in any case. They're way better than 14" or 15", and I think will soon be the default size. Great for spreadsheets, web browsers, etc.

[Tesha]

6. An Apple iBook, new or even used.

http://www.apple.com/ibook/

Tesha

[bleedingheart]

9. do not get a sony ...my husband had one...

fast but big monitor and keyboard problems.

[Crazy Dave]

10. Almost none of the "Name Brands" manufacture their own laptops

Most come from "Original Design Manufacturers" (ODM) and I believe Taiwan's "Quanta" makes about 80% of all the laptops in the world. Go with price and warranty.
More info at:
http://www.gen-x-pc.com/laptopmanu.htm

[Benfea]

11. Before you buy a laptop with your own money, please read this:

For years I provided support for hundreds of laptop users. I think I've fixed just about every problem that can happen to a laptop including being submerged in BBQ sauce (when the user sent it in, he swore he had no idea what caused it to start malfunctioning).

Anyway, laptops are convenient, but I would never buy one with my own money for my own personal use. The reason is that laptops are a heck of a lot more expensive to repair than desktops. There are any number of things that can go wrong with a laptop that are so expensive to fix that it's literally cheaper to just buy a new one (be very careful with that LCD screen).

The parts in a laptop are generally proprietary to that specific make and model. While the warranty is on, this won't matter very much to you, but later on it makes a big difference. A couple of years after a laptop model is pulled from the shelves, the manufacturer will generally stop making new spare parts (unless the line sold unusually well). From then on, repairs for your laptop get more and more expensive.

Of course, there is every chance that you won't get a single hardware problem with your laptop for the entire time you own it. Cross your fingers.

Since you asked about a sub-$1000 laptop, I'm assuming you may not have enough disposable income to handle some of the things that can go wrong later on. Just thought I'd mention it.

[Crazy Dave]

12. Yep

Proprietary, integrated, micro-components. Unless you have good eyesight and are very good with a soldering iron forget it. Easier and more practical to replace the whole motherboard if available than to fix a bad sound or video card. An older laptop I had one time even had the modem fixed to the motherboard.
I don't know if NEC still has the same great service I got before when the one (same as above) I had needed repairs. It was still under warranty, they sent me a pre-paid FedEx box to send it in for repairs, three days later I had it back and it was virtually a new laptop as they had replaced the monitor, the motherboard and keyboard and upgraded me to an extra 32 megs of RAM (a lot for a Win 95 machine and it doubled what I had) all for free.