New Laptop For Work

[tutsiwarrior]

I'm gettin' ready to go off onna new job and I need a laptop to do MS Office related duties...I'll be in Vietnam and will need maintenance available...

what can youse suggest?...probably with Win7 and MS Office and a photo/imaging capacity...buy in BKK or in VN?

I'm takin' my ASUS netbook for my own stuff...I'll need a cheap workhorse for the job that can easily handle .pdf files for engineering drawings as well as the usual correspondence and spreadsheets...no internet, downloads, etc..

normally employers provide this stuff but on this one I'm expected to provide the equipment and then be reimbursed...just wanna cheap, reliable machine with available maintenance when needed...

thanx in advance...

[roadrunerboi]

Whether in Hanoi or HCM... you will have tons of electronics shops to choose from.

Why buy from Thailand? Some of the Thai shops have no global warranty too.

[tutsiwarrior]

so, is it true to say that the purchase of the laptop would be better in VN rather than BKK?

loads of electronics shops in Hanoi?

[Hern]

Get a Sony whatever is in your price range.

[innerspace]

Get a Sony whatever is in your price range.

I would recommend against that.

I agree that generally sony laptops are good but they are not suited to this climate (strange seeing as they are made not too far away).

Over my many years in Thailand I am yet to meet someone that has has a sony here long term without major issues.

Keyboards rotting is one of the most common problems which around 50% of sony vaio owners I know have suffered from.

One friend has just gone through his 2nd motherboard in 3 months due to an overheating power supply. The guys in the shop knew the problem without even opening it, it was such a common issue for that model.

Sony Vaio + Thailands temperature/humidity = Nightmare!

[tutsiwarrior]

a Sony? nah...there's gotta be a cheaper solution than that...the machine will just be used for MS Office and to view .pdf files...I'm mostly concerned about maintenance and durability...I'm only gonna use it fer work...

I was thinking about an Acer cause they're cheap but there have been a lot of negative comments about them on here...then I was thinkin' about a Dell but don't know about service in VN. I've had an HP and a Toshiba and don't like them but that was a few years ago.

well...?

[Digitalbanana]

Why would you want to take a netbook if you are going to have a laptop? Surely one is enough. If you are buying in Thailand expect the choices to be restricted to local market prices, selection and a Thai keyboard. I've have had no problems with HP's and Compaq on sale here. Would rather have a top end Dell out of Singapore tho I think.

[tutsiwarrior]

Why would you want to take a netbook if you are going to have a laptop? Surely one is enough. If you are buying in Thailand expect the choices to be restricted to local market prices, selection and a Thai keyboard. I've have had no problems with HP's and Compaq on sale here. Would rather have a top end Dell out of Singapore tho I think.

I like to keep personal stuff and business stuff on separate machines. Sometimes a work machine has to be handled by others and pirated software and other junk then comes into play.

yeah...I'm wonderin' about the selection of products in VN as I want get a local warranty. Not worried too much about a top end machine as it only has to handle MS Office and .pdf files. Just wonderin' about others' experiences in this regard; something cheap and dedicated to work...local to VN...

[Digitalbanana]

I have to get a new laptop later this yr as well, looking for a large screen 16-18inches. Will not buy online as I've done that before and been disappointed with the feel and build strength of what arrives by courier when I got a Dell - but that was a few yrs back. Will likely be a hands on purchase from a Bangkok IT mall, most likely HP again, unless Acer or Toshiba can tempt me otherwise. Then get the VAT refund flying out.

[lopburi3]

I don't believe you will find better service than Acer in the Asia region and they are cheap and cool running. I bought an Aspire 4736Z about a year ago and it has run 24 hours a day without issues. I did expand to 2GB of ram for about 1,000 baht as don't like to wait for memory (mine is going fast). They now sell for about 16K plus operating system

[tutsiwarrior]

I don't believe you will find better service than Acer in the Asia region and they are cheap and cool running. I bought an Aspire 4736Z about a year ago and it has run 24 hours a day without issues. I did expand to 2GB of ram for about 1,000 baht as don't like to wait for memory (mine is going fast). They now sell for about 16K plus operating system

yeah, lop...I might investigate Acer as a 'low end' product for 'industrial' purposes...they do seem to have the best service available...also might be able to purchase a 3 year extended warranty?

I'll haveta check out the service provision when I get to Hanoi...many years ago we had Acer laptops in Jakarta but they were badly designed then; there was no alignment notch in the rim of the plug in port for the mouse and the pins would get badly mangled and ruining the unit...

VN is even worse than Thailand for fake software...I wonder if I should take my own genuine copy of Windows and MS Office?

[BugJackBaron]

I will buy a ThinkPad for the simple reason that a laptop is not a toy and these babys last.

They are several series to choose from and you can get a powerhouse for less than 700 bucks.

IT world has a good selection. As a bonus they are linux friendly.

HP is a solid alternative