What Notebook/Laptop Brand "Not" to Buy

[Pib]

After 7 years, a laptop is hopelessly outdated.

Also, it doesn't make much sense to repair it, since working units can probably be bought for less than the repair cost. Let's see... 7 year old laptop... about 200 USD assuming it was really high end? Or 50 to 100 if not.

Manarak

Good stuff...thanks for your earlier input...I agree with everything you said except maybe the above part about a 7 year old laptop being hopelessly outdated. Definitely could be the case in many cases, but not in other cases. My repaired Toshiba laptop runs Windows 7 (would even run Win 8), runs my Microsoft Office programs and a slew of other programs just fine/quickly I have on the machine, a good 15.6" display, 500GB hard drive, USB 2.0 ports, LAN port, Recordable Optical DVD, good ATI GPU, 4GB RAM, Wifi, Bluetooth, etc., .all the stuff you see in new computers with the admission that "Sure, new computers will have the lastest spec'ed version of hardware like USB 3.0, Bluetooth 4.0, faster CPU/GPU, faster RAM, etc."

While my laptop is only running a Pentium Core Duo CPU, when I go to the stores and play on the new Intel I7 and I5 CPU powered machines like I've been doing over the last few days I sense very little difference in how fast the software opens/operates although I'm not doing any heavy duty CPU/GPU taskings in playing around with the new computers. While I will agree new machines/CPUs have more CPU and GPU horsepower and benchmarks may make it appear a computer is 10 times faster than a 7 year old model, in the real world that 10 times as fast benchmark does not usually translate to being 10 times faster (or anything close) for day-to-day/common use of a computer like browsing, emailing, word processing, basic speedsheets, just the basic everyday stuff most people do on a computer. Now if you are a gamer or heavy into video file work/conversion, sure the current day CPU/GPUs will play them a lot smoother/faster...but I'm not a gamer. Personally done enough computer/motherboard/CPU/RAM/hard drive/other upgrades/etc., over the years on my personal and work computers to reach that realization.

Agree with you 100% that sometimes it is just not economical to repair an electronic device...depends on the device and the repair cost. But in my case, the Bt3000 ($97) cost to repair my laptop/get it running again and without having to do all of that data transfer/programs reload/getting a new computer back to the way you like it was money well spent....it was such a relief to get the computer repaired.

But that two days without my primary laptop, using my secondary/backup 7 year old Toshiba laptop (a.k.a, my 4 cylinder laptop) which only has a Intel Celeron CPU does run/feel slow with current day software and thinking repair of my primary Toshiba laptop (a.k.a., my 8 cylinder laptop) couldn't be effected re-kindled that urge which has been growing to get a new laptop even before my laptop broke. Do I "need" a new laptop...no; do I "want" a new laptop...yes. A human nature thing.

Also, agree 100% with your other recommendations...big thanks. Cheers,

Pib

[manarak]

After 7 years, a laptop is hopelessly outdated.

Also, it doesn't make much sense to repair it, since working units can probably be bought for less than the repair cost. Let's see... 7 year old laptop... about 200 USD assuming it was really high end? Or 50 to 100 if not.

Manarak

Good stuff...thanks for your earlier input...I agree with everything you said except maybe the above part about a 7 year old laptop being hopelessly outdated. Definitely could be the case in many cases, but not in other cases. My repaired Toshiba laptop runs Windows 7 (would even run Win 8), runs my Microsoft Office programs and a slew of other programs just fine/quickly I have on the machine, a good 15.6" display, 500GB hard drive, USB 2.0 ports, LAN port, Recordable Optical DVD, good ATI GPU, 4GB RAM, Wifi, Bluetooth, etc., .all the stuff you see in new computers with the admission that "Sure, new computers will have the lastest spec'ed version of hardware like USB 3.0, Bluetooth 4.0, faster CPU/GPU, faster RAM, etc."

While my laptop is only running a Pentium Core Duo CPU, when I go to the stores and play on the new Intel I7 and I5 CPU powered machines like I've been doing over the last few days I sense very little difference in how fast the software opens/operates although I'm not doing any heavy duty CPU/GPU taskings in playing around with the new computers. While I will agree new machines/CPUs have more CPU and GPU horsepower and benchmarks may make it appear a computer is 10 times faster than a 7 year old model, in the real world that 10 times as fast benchmark does not usually translate to being 10 times faster (or anything close) for day-to-day/common use of a computer like browsing, emailing, word processing, basic speedsheets, just the basic everyday stuff most people do on a computer. Now if you are a gamer or heavy into video file work/conversion, sure the current day CPU/GPUs will play them a lot smoother/faster...but I'm not a gamer. Personally done enough computer/motherboard/CPU/RAM/hard drive/other upgrades/etc., over the years on my personal and work computers to reach that realization.

Agree with you 100% that sometimes it is just not economical to repair an electronic device...depends on the device and the repair cost. But in my case, the Bt3000 ($97) cost to repair my laptop/get it running again and without having to do all of that data transfer/programs reload/getting a new computer back to the way you like it was money well spent....it was such a relief to get the computer repaired.

But that two days without my primary laptop, using my secondary/backup 7 year old Toshiba laptop (a.k.a, my 4 cylinder laptop) which only has a Intel Celeron CPU does run/feel slow with current day software and thinking repair of my primary Toshiba laptop (a.k.a., my 8 cylinder laptop) couldn't be effected re-kindled that urge which has been growing to get a new laptop even before my laptop broke. Do I "need" a new laptop...no; do I "want" a new laptop...yes. A human nature thing.

Also, agree 100% with your other recommendations...big thanks. Cheers,

Pib

If the laptop fits your needs, then you obviously don't need a more recent model. With your permission, I'd still like to call it "outdated" though

For internet browsing, email and office applications, performance doesn't matter much anyway.

I'm a multimedia user, I do some graphic design, encode video and transfer terabytes of data, and I keep my outlook data on an external RAID 1 device for portability. Newer things such as USB 3 and 64 bit OS with support for more than 3.5 GB of RAM give a great performance boost to what I do. I'd say 64 bit OS is the most important.

Regarding your fixed laptop, there is one thing that worries me a bit: did you ask the techs for the cause of the failure? Why were these components on the mainboard damaged?

If the cause is unknown, the incident is likely to occur again, for example, if the fault that caused the damage is a heat sensor that failed to provide correct temperature readings, and because of that, the fan on top the chipset did not cool it properly. A thorough research for the cause is necessary.

I had that happen with one of my notebooks. Its GPU failed three times in a row, luckily the repair guy honored his word for 30 days warranty on the same repair.

[Pib]

A report I recently read showed HP as the most often repaired computer in first 2 years of life. Number 2 was Acer. The least often repaired were Asus and Toshiba.

Thanks. I'm going to give Asus a serious look over the coming days as in my googling they keep coming up with good ratings along with the a couple thumbs up in this thread already....but in my searching so far it seems most (not all) of them come with the larger keyboard with the off-centered mouse pad and numbers board on the right side. For me, that style of keyboard is fine for a desktop but for some reason I'm not sure I like it for a laptop...I'll find some today and play with the keyboard...maybe it just a matter of getting use to it...hard for people to change sometimes but I do try.

In my googling Acer generally seems to get low ratings, HP seems to be all over the map as to good and bad, and Toshiba seems to generally get good ratings but I'm beginning to feel in my gut they may not be as good as they were in years past plus I haven't really found a Toshiba model "yet" that turns me on...maybe I'll find one over the coming days. In fact, I'm heading out this morning to the Central Mall-Pinklao in Bangkok since its not too far away to look through the various large and small computer stores they have there....plenty of stores with computers to look, touch, smell, etc. Once I find the brand/model I like then it just a matter of then finding the location with the best price/deal/promotion.

Sent from my repaired Toshiba laptop that may be getting suspicious. But maybe my urge for a new computer will subside and my Toshiba will have nothing to worry about.

[Pib]

After 7 years, a laptop is hopelessly outdated.

Also, it doesn't make much sense to repair it, since working units can probably be bought for less than the repair cost. Let's see... 7 year old laptop... about 200 USD assuming it was really high end? Or 50 to 100 if not.

Manarak

Good stuff...thanks for your earlier input...I agree with everything you said except maybe the above part about a 7 year old laptop being hopelessly outdated. Definitely could be the case in many cases, but not in other cases. My repaired Toshiba laptop runs Windows 7 (would even run Win 8), runs my Microsoft Office programs and a slew of other programs just fine/quickly I have on the machine, a good 15.6" display, 500GB hard drive, USB 2.0 ports, LAN port, Recordable Optical DVD, good ATI GPU, 4GB RAM, Wifi, Bluetooth, etc., .all the stuff you see in new computers with the admission that "Sure, new computers will have the lastest spec'ed version of hardware like USB 3.0, Bluetooth 4.0, faster CPU/GPU, faster RAM, etc."

While my laptop is only running a Pentium Core Duo CPU, when I go to the stores and play on the new Intel I7 and I5 CPU powered machines like I've been doing over the last few days I sense very little difference in how fast the software opens/operates although I'm not doing any heavy duty CPU/GPU taskings in playing around with the new computers. While I will agree new machines/CPUs have more CPU and GPU horsepower and benchmarks may make it appear a computer is 10 times faster than a 7 year old model, in the real world that 10 times as fast benchmark does not usually translate to being 10 times faster (or anything close) for day-to-day/common use of a computer like browsing, emailing, word processing, basic speedsheets, just the basic everyday stuff most people do on a computer. Now if you are a gamer or heavy into video file work/conversion, sure the current day CPU/GPUs will play them a lot smoother/faster...but I'm not a gamer. Personally done enough computer/motherboard/CPU/RAM/hard drive/other upgrades/etc., over the years on my personal and work computers to reach that realization.

Agree with you 100% that sometimes it is just not economical to repair an electronic device...depends on the device and the repair cost. But in my case, the Bt3000 ($97) cost to repair my laptop/get it running again and without having to do all of that data transfer/programs reload/getting a new computer back to the way you like it was money well spent....it was such a relief to get the computer repaired.

But that two days without my primary laptop, using my secondary/backup 7 year old Toshiba laptop (a.k.a, my 4 cylinder laptop) which only has a Intel Celeron CPU does run/feel slow with current day software and thinking repair of my primary Toshiba laptop (a.k.a., my 8 cylinder laptop) couldn't be effected re-kindled that urge which has been growing to get a new laptop even before my laptop broke. Do I "need" a new laptop...no; do I "want" a new laptop...yes. A human nature thing.

Also, agree 100% with your other recommendations...big thanks. Cheers,

Pib

If the laptop fits your needs, then you obviously don't need a more recent model. With your permission, I'd still like to call it "outdated" though

For internet browsing, email and office applications, performance doesn't matter much anyway.

I'm a multimedia user, I do some graphic design, encode video and transfer terabytes of data, and I keep my outlook data on an external RAID 1 device for portability. Newer things such as USB 3 and 64 bit OS with support for more than 3.5 GB of RAM give a great performance boost to what I do. I'd say 64 bit OS is the most important.

Regarding your fixed laptop, there is one thing that worries me a bit: did you ask the techs for the cause of the failure? Why were these components on the mainboard damaged?

If the cause is unknown, the incident is likely to occur again, for example, if the fault that caused the damage is a heat sensor that failed to provide correct temperature readings, and because of that, the fan on top the chipset did not cool it properly. A thorough research for the cause is necessary.

I had that happen with one of my notebooks. Its GPU failed three times in a row, luckily the repair guy honored his word for 30 days warranty on the same repair.

Fair enough and I understand. I did ask, but they just said it was chip and didn't provide the old, repair part. Heck, they might not have repaired/replaced chip...it could have been a lessor component like a diode, resistor, capacitor, maybe even some motherboard fusing. From having decades of repairing electronics/avionics equipment while in the military and doing a lot of upgrades/minor repairs on computers over the years, I've personally experienced numerous cases where I've repaired a circuit board/replaced a component, it worked for a while, but within days or a few weeks it broke again due to another core problem; and in other/most cases the repaired item continued to live a long and happy life. Time will tell...and this repair does come with a 90 day warranty. But I have had my laptop opened up before in replacing the keyboard, changing RAM, putting different hard drives in, and ensuring the CPU heatsink/fan was clean. This failure was immediate...occurred when turning the computer off for the night...and would not fire back up even after being turned off all night so it wasn't a part overheating issue....more of the fault indications details in my OP. Cheers.

[h90]

I wouldn't touch Acer or Gateway.

Agree on the Acer

[h90]

After 7 years, a laptop is hopelessly outdated.

Also, it doesn't make much sense to repair it, since working units can probably be bought for less than the repair cost. Let's see... 7 year old laptop... about 200 USD assuming it was really high end? Or 50 to 100 if not.

Manarak

Good stuff...thanks for your earlier input...I agree with everything you said except maybe the above part about a 7 year old laptop being hopelessly outdated. Definitely could be the case in many cases, but not in other cases. My repaired Toshiba laptop runs Windows 7 (would even run Win 8), runs my Microsoft Office programs and a slew of other programs just fine/quickly I have on the machine, a good 15.6" display, 500GB hard drive, USB 2.0 ports, LAN port, Recordable Optical DVD, good ATI GPU, 4GB RAM, Wifi, Bluetooth, etc., .all the stuff you see in new computers with the admission that "Sure, new computers will have the lastest spec'ed version of hardware like USB 3.0, Bluetooth 4.0, faster CPU/GPU, faster RAM, etc."

While my laptop is only running a Pentium Core Duo CPU, when I go to the stores and play on the new Intel I7 and I5 CPU powered machines like I've been doing over the last few days I sense very little difference in how fast the software opens/operates although I'm not doing any heavy duty CPU/GPU taskings in playing around with the new computers. While I will agree new machines/CPUs have more CPU and GPU horsepower and benchmarks may make it appear a computer is 10 times faster than a 7 year old model, in the real world that 10 times as fast benchmark does not usually translate to being 10 times faster (or anything close) for day-to-day/common use of a computer like browsing, emailing, word processing, basic speedsheets, just the basic everyday stuff most people do on a computer. Now if you are a gamer or heavy into video file work/conversion, sure the current day CPU/GPUs will play them a lot smoother/faster...but I'm not a gamer. Personally done enough computer/motherboard/CPU/RAM/hard drive/other upgrades/etc., over the years on my personal and work computers to reach that realization.

Agree with you 100% that sometimes it is just not economical to repair an electronic device...depends on the device and the repair cost. But in my case, the Bt3000 ($97) cost to repair my laptop/get it running again and without having to do all of that data transfer/programs reload/getting a new computer back to the way you like it was money well spent....it was such a relief to get the computer repaired.

But that two days without my primary laptop, using my secondary/backup 7 year old Toshiba laptop (a.k.a, my 4 cylinder laptop) which only has a Intel Celeron CPU does run/feel slow with current day software and thinking repair of my primary Toshiba laptop (a.k.a., my 8 cylinder laptop) couldn't be effected re-kindled that urge which has been growing to get a new laptop even before my laptop broke. Do I "need" a new laptop...no; do I "want" a new laptop...yes. A human nature thing.

Also, agree 100% with your other recommendations...big thanks. Cheers,

Pib

If the laptop fits your needs, then you obviously don't need a more recent model. With your permission, I'd still like to call it "outdated" though

For internet browsing, email and office applications, performance doesn't matter much anyway.

I'm a multimedia user, I do some graphic design, encode video and transfer terabytes of data, and I keep my outlook data on an external RAID 1 device for portability. Newer things such as USB 3 and 64 bit OS with support for more than 3.5 GB of RAM give a great performance boost to what I do. I'd say 64 bit OS is the most important.

Regarding your fixed laptop, there is one thing that worries me a bit: did you ask the techs for the cause of the failure? Why were these components on the mainboard damaged?

If the cause is unknown, the incident is likely to occur again, for example, if the fault that caused the damage is a heat sensor that failed to provide correct temperature readings, and because of that, the fan on top the chipset did not cool it properly. A thorough research for the cause is necessary.

I had that happen with one of my notebooks. Its GPU failed three times in a row, luckily the repair guy honored his word for 30 days warranty on the same repair.

Fair enough and I understand. I did ask, but they just said it was chip and didn't provide the old, repair part. Heck, they might not have repaired/replaced chip...it could have been a lessor component like a diode, resistor, capacitor, maybe even some motherboard fusing. From having decades of repairing electronics/avionics equipment while in the military and doing a lot of upgrades/minor repairs on computers over the years, I've personally experienced numerous cases where I've repaired a circuit board/replaced a component, it worked for a while, but within days or a few weeks it broke again due to another core problem; and in other/most cases the repaired item continued to live a long and happy life. Time will tell...and this repair does come with a 90 day warranty. But I have had my laptop opened up before in replacing the keyboard, changing RAM, putting different hard drives in, and ensuring the CPU heatsink/fan was clean. This failure was immediate...occurred when turning the computer off for the night...and would not fire back up even after being turned off all night so it wasn't a part overheating issue....more of the fault indications details in my OP. Cheers.

usually it is some capacitors, they cost single digit Thai Bahts.

Last shop changed a 5 pcs for me and wanted 50 or 100 Baht (can't recall) in total.....

the job was done in 5 min together wie purchasing new capacitors, desoldering the old one and putting in the new one. (that guy had a lot experience)

[Pib]

Yeap, you are pretty much dependent on the honesty of the shop unless you can watch them the whole time they are troubleshooting and repairing your device (be it a computer, TV, stereo, or whatever)...and of course have the electronic knowledge to help ensure they are not blowing smoke up your dress.

[infinity11]

After 7 years, a laptop is hopelessly outdated.

Also, it doesn't make much sense to repair it, since working units can probably be bought for less than the repair cost. Let's see... 7 year old laptop... about 200 USD assuming it was really high end? Or 50 to 100 if not.

About what laptops to buy - I would advise against all brands which use proprietary technology in their laptops, such as:

- GPUs with special serial number causing the GPU to not be recognized by drivers other than the laptop manufacturer's

- software bound to hardware, i.e. windows will refuse to run after a harddisk replacement

- etc.

as a rule, any proprietary technology will lead to headaches

I had both of the above happen to me with a very high end Sony Vaio (Bluray writer, dual RAID 1 harddisks, 1920x1200 screen, etc.), in addition of being forced to use the very expensive Sony repair service (which in the end I didn't).

So I learned my lesson.

My strategy now is:

- if buying a laptop for basic needs, I go for a cheapo machine with extra RAM that will be discardable without second thoughts after 4-5 years of use.

- if buying a high end laptop, I will now avoid all the major brands unless one can convince me that it is using "open technology". I will rather go for a laptop from Origin:

http://www.originpc.com/

another thing I will do when buying a high end laptop is always get RAID 1 mirrored harddisks, because harddisks are a laptop's weakest point and the data is the most precious on it.

Thanks for all of that.

Sounds like you know a lot.

Now about this:

About what laptops to buy - I would advise against all brands which use proprietary technology in their laptops, such as:

- GPUs with special serial number causing the GPU to not be recognized by drivers other than the laptop manufacturer's

- software bound to hardware, i.e. windows will refuse to run after a harddisk replacement

- etc.

as a rule, any proprietary technology will lead to headaches

How does one know?

What brands do and do not?

Can you make this easier for less advanced techies?

thanks

[manarak]

After 7 years, a laptop is hopelessly outdated.

Also, it doesn't make much sense to repair it, since working units can probably be bought for less than the repair cost. Let's see... 7 year old laptop... about 200 USD assuming it was really high end? Or 50 to 100 if not.

About what laptops to buy - I would advise against all brands which use proprietary technology in their laptops, such as:

- GPUs with special serial number causing the GPU to not be recognized by drivers other than the laptop manufacturer's

- software bound to hardware, i.e. windows will refuse to run after a harddisk replacement

- etc.

as a rule, any proprietary technology will lead to headaches

I had both of the above happen to me with a very high end Sony Vaio (Bluray writer, dual RAID 1 harddisks, 1920x1200 screen, etc.), in addition of being forced to use the very expensive Sony repair service (which in the end I didn't).

So I learned my lesson.

My strategy now is:

- if buying a laptop for basic needs, I go for a cheapo machine with extra RAM that will be discardable without second thoughts after 4-5 years of use.

- if buying a high end laptop, I will now avoid all the major brands unless one can convince me that it is using "open technology". I will rather go for a laptop from Origin:

http://www.originpc.com/

another thing I will do when buying a high end laptop is always get RAID 1 mirrored harddisks, because harddisks are a laptop's weakest point and the data is the most precious on it.

Thanks for all of that.

Sounds like you know a lot.

Now about this:

About what laptops to buy - I would advise against all brands which use proprietary technology in their laptops, such as:

- GPUs with special serial number causing the GPU to not be recognized by drivers other than the laptop manufacturer's

- software bound to hardware, i.e. windows will refuse to run after a harddisk replacement

- etc.

as a rule, any proprietary technology will lead to headaches

How does one know?

What brands do and do not?

Can you make this easier for less advanced techies?

thanks

well, as I wrote, I avoid all larger brands if I buy a serious laptop, because it's not easy to tell which ones are using open technology.

Maybe the best way is to ask a repair shop which brands are easily fixable with standard parts and drivers.

But also, there is no way I would buy a serious laptop without mirrored harddisks, so that already rules out many models, better to go straight for an origin laptop.

[nicolas18]

I worked for four years in the customer service dept of a major Belgian electronics retailer, and the brands I would never buy based on what I saw there were Toshiba and HP. On the other hand, Samsung, Sony, Apple and Acer are quite reliable.

[Andre0720]

1- Dell, Asus, Toshiba,

2- Acer (Should give you your money's worth)

3- Oh, I was forgetting HP (for an obvious reason)

[sms747]

Acer are quite reliable.

No they are not, not unless they ship machines to the EU that are built differently and that have better quality control. Utter rubbish imo and I worked with Pc's Macs and all sorts of laptops for nearly 20 years. How I fell for buying an Acer I'll never know, but never again that's for sure.

Edited October 29, 2013 by sms747

[rotary]

Anything but HP.

[Ulic]

I have never had any problem with my Acer. Paid 900 USD for a Sony that lasted 6 months.

[Pib]

Found some reliability stats on laptop failures from Square Trade Protection Plans....go to this Link to read the info and download the short 9 page PDF Report. Asus and Toshiba came out on top for reliability...Acer, Gateway, and HP came out on the bottom. Below are a few extracts from the report. Be sure to download the report from above link...some good info I think.

********************

SquareTrade Research:
Nearly 1 in 3 Laptops fail over 3 years

An analysis of reported laptop failures from malfunctions and accidental damage.

Synopsis:
SquareTrade analyzed failure rates for over 30,000 new laptop computers covered by SquareTrade Laptop Warranty plans and found that one-third of all laptops will fail within 3 years. SquareTrade also found that netbooks are 20% more unreliable than other laptops, and that Asus and Toshiba are the most reliable laptop brands.

[DGIE]

sirchai said:

Posted Yesterday, 17:35

Keep your hands off Acer, the cheapest crap money can buy. Toshiba or Dell seems to be the better choice

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May i know why? I am using Acer but I accept I have no knowledge which is better.

[bangkokstick]

Just follow the money. The cheaper budget models of Acer, HP, Lenova and Toshiba are all going to fail faster than a better built model. Some of these companies also make high end models as well. Compaq stopped making computers back in 2010 - they are all branded under the HP budget models now.

Acer for 10 years, never any problem/ you listen to websites and media bullshxt too much.

I got 2 expensive Sony that almost burnt.

[bangkokstick]

I have never had any problem with my Acer. Paid 900 USD for a Sony that lasted 6 months.

Exactly !!

We are using 10 Acer and just change them every 4 or 5 years to get new technology but they still work and we give them to poor families !

[Pib]

Just as FYI, in a post I made earlier today I said I was going to go look for laptops...well, I did, and ended up spending about an hour at the Power Buy Store at the Cental Plaza Mall-Pinklao as they have a wide selection of laptops and have many on display to play with. I concentrated on Asus and Toshiba since I've been leaning heavily that way for days now and Power Buy had a good selection of Asus and Toshiba models on display...probably had around 10 models of each manufacturer's on display to play with.

Anyway, I left the store with a favorite Asus and favorite Toshiba in mind...by favorite I mean a computer that fits "my computer needs and wants...I'm sure everyone else would leave with a different favorite as everybody wants and likes different things." The Asus model (K46CBWX001H) was an Intel I7 CPU powered machine for Bt22,990 with 2 year Global Warranty....and the Toshiba model (M840-1035XG) was an Intel I7 CPU powered machine for Bt26,990 with a 3 year Thailand only warranty...that's OK as I live Thailand. Both come with Win8 and are 14" displays. I kept running back and forth between the two opening up Win8 and doing a variety of similar things on the computers to get a feel of which one was fastest, had the best display, etc.

The Toshiba had the best display and was faster....Asus had a good display and fast but the Toshiba just bettered it. Since both were very similar/identically configured RAM and hard drive-wise...and both had I7 CPUs but slighyt different versions (the Toshiba had an I7-3632QM and the Asus an I7-3537U)...I think this Link which compares the two CPU I7 variants explains the reason the Toshiba was faster--that is, the I7 CPU variant used in the Toshiba just has more horsepower, benchmarks-wise, in comparison the I7 CPU variant used in the Asus. I like both, but liked the Toshiba the most since its display was clearer/brighter (I did adjust brightness on both machines for best display) and was a little faster. Just FYI as my laptop hunt continues.

Edited October 29, 2013 by Pib

[mtimmu]

After decades in the PC/Microsft world, I moved to all Apple a couple of years ago and have never looked back. So my less than impartial answer concerning what laptop not to buy would be a PC/Microsoft based machine.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

for me, poor man´s apple, i recommend linux ubuntu.

breathed alive from windows to linux this old compac.

not bad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

[Aforek]

How do you manage to have problems with computers ? you throw them against a wall ? ; for 17 years now, I worked and played ( very , very much ) with 3 desktop ( Compaq, Acer and now HP ) and an Acer notebook now, and never , never got problems . The ones I changed were not powerful enough for the new OS, not because they were out of order. Maybe I have a green thumb for computers.

[gmmarvin]

I am glad some of you had good luck with your Toshiba laptops. My first one crashed in a year and a half it had Starter 7 O.S. My second one was Windows 8 and crashed in eight months a Satellite 850. Still under warranty but I would have to take it to Bangkok for service. I had the Windows O.S. replaced in Chiang Mai with Licensed Windows 8 Manufactured in Thailand. Their Quality Control leaves a lot to be desired. The grammar icons are out of order. " is @ and there are more. Thank you all for the advice on a new laptop brand. Got the laptop out of the shop yesterday and am having fits with the new operating system.

[manzan]

for me I would say don't buy HP. I think higher end Toshiba and Asus are the cream of the crop for Windows

[RedQualia]

I loved Compaq. In fact, my wife still uses an ancient, never failed Compaq notebook. But that was before they were acquired by HP. HP makes some really crap products. And just because you pay lots of bucks to get a "really good" notebook, doesn't mean squat. The really expensive HP notebook I had, with the wide screen and dual hard drives, crapped out motherboard wise. A cheap fix was said to last for 3-4 months only. Replacing the motherboard was 30,000 Baht. Needless to say, I didn't do either. Junked the machine.

Have always had good luck with Lenovo, and indeed, the company I last worked for in the states had hundreds of them. Good, fast, not so expensive. The last one I bought was 10,000 Baht at Big-C. Works just fine, even if it isn't terribly fast (I'm sure that if I'd wanted to pay more, I could have gotten a faster Lenovo... They used to make all the IBM Thinkpads).

Two cents...

One cent more: probably good idea to get that new notebook since your old one failed. My luck in such matters is that if I do buy a new notebook, the old one will go right on running just fine. And if I don't buy a new one, the repaired motherboard would crap out in a serious way within another month.

A final cent: unencrypt all those encrypted files on the drive now, before the machine fails. Pretty difficult to copy them to a new machine after the OS has crapped out. Unless you save the encryption key.

Enough...

Edited October 29, 2013 by RedQualia

[RedQualia]

sirchai said:

Posted Yesterday, 17:35

Keep your hands off Acer, the cheapest crap money can buy. Toshiba or Dell seems to be the better choice

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May i know why? I am using Acer but I accept I have no knowledge which is better.

Gonna disagree with sirchai somewhat. I mean, I've been inside a few Dell machines. It's difficult to find cheaper crap than what you'll find inside those.

Edited October 29, 2013 by RedQualia

[pacovl46]

As someone else said before, buy a macbook pro and have them install windows 7 on it. You can seamlessly switch between the 2 systems and macs are great.

[manarak]

aren't macs for people who double click stuff on the internet?

[tboxcar]

I'm pretty happy with Asus, on my second one now, first one lasted 3 years, and 'one large bintang beer' did the mother board in, otherwise great and good value.

[tinom]

Acer, Futjitsu Siemens, Toshiba, I would stay away.

HP as well for the worst after sale service.

Then Dell seems to have well improved their ASS, but I believe Asus is a good value for your money and I have been amazed by their excellwnt After Sale in BKK.

Buy cheap and hope it lasts or by a bit bellow the highest end to insure getting quality.

[Slip]

Really? This sounds like an overpriced shit deal to me. Just like the iphone I wasted money on a few years ago as it goes. Never again.

As someone else said before, buy a macbook pro and have them install windows 7 on it. You can seamlessly switch between the 2 systems and macs are great.

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