racyrick Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 I do not now...but many years ago the Toshiba warranty and service was the only valid in most countries. Anyway....if will be used just for Internet browsing, light office works, e-mail and chat, and not for heavy games and music programs, any laptop under 15K will do it very well, and with Windows XP even better. The "restore" fixture in XP save my computers many times from viruses and crashes, and from expensive services. Personally, and from past experiences, I like Acer and Dell, I do not like HP/Compaq and Lenovo. Thank you for your advice. I notice that all computers under 15k have dos as the operating system. Can I even still buy or download windows xp? It seems I can only get Windows 7, Windows 8 or 8.1. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrooklynNY Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Mine is Lenovo Thinkpad Edge, I have it for the second year still runs very quiet. Lenovo business version is better than what I have currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qdinthailand Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 APPLE accept no substitute ! sure they are expensive but once you have owned and used one you will see the value. and please do not start slagging off at them unless you actually own one and are familiar with them . rob Having just tried to install office for my niece with multiple users on a macbook pro you can keep them. The reason everyone is sitting in the apple shop asking for help is that everything is either broken or illogical in operation. You screwed up when you tried installing MICROSOFT Office! What were you thinking? qdinthailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBK Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Apple, but less so for gaming, or so my eldest son says. My MS Office is available across all three user accounts on my three Macs, so not sure why that's not the case for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bino Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 About windows XP- it is history. microsoft will no longer support it after April. My vote is for Asus products. I've used them exclusively for years and always had good performance from them. There are service centers in many areas of Bangkok, but I can not comment about this because Asus has never failed for me to the point of needing service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostmebike Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) Sony Vaio Pro 11 and Pro 13 are as nice as Macbooks, Vaio Pro 11 is just as thin as Mackbook Air, carbon fibre and Al, 800 grams.. If only it didn't come with Win8 preinstalled.. You can install Win7, Sony website even offers drivers, but some functions won't work with 7. And the stupid touch screen! Why would I want to touch the display, when there is full keyboard, and nice large trackpad. Black version of Pro 11 is so nice, I can't think of anything nicer really. Pro series replacesd Vaio Z laptop, 2 years ago Z was Sony flagship notebook, with i7 processor it cost 95.000 baht just 16 month ago, that hurts. But Pro 11 w i5 and 4Gb ram is 35.000 baht, not much for what you get, except the horrible Win8, which never should have been used as notebooks os, tablets and phones only. Guys from Bangkok, have you seen Pro 11 in Pantip, and if so, how much are they asking? I haven't been to Pantip for 3 months, didn't see any Sony Pro laptops then. But maybe there are now? Or other IT malls maybe? Pro 11 with i5, 4gb ram, 128 Gb ssd is 35.900 in Sony Center, there must be other places that sell them? Sent from my C6802 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app I just bought an Samsung Ativ book for 21k. Slim, 8GB Ram, i5 processor, 1TB hard drive and AMD graphics card. (forgot the 15" screen) It's quick and works like a dream. Only problem, I still can't get on with Windows 8! Edited January 21, 2014 by lostmebike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I have always been using IBM/Lenovo laptops. For the last 7 years or so, running linux. Now, for the first time I'm thinking of getting Macbook pro. One of the reason is the price as those are not so expensive anymore, compared to for example Lenovo X1 carbon. As I'm used to the easy life of linux (kubuntu), which means that the applications and the OS upgrades automatically, that was has been one of my concerns if going to the Mac world. Basically is osx easy enough to use, compared to the current linux distros? At least osx seems to have apt-get type of application management with Fink http://www.finkproject.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie61 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I've had good experience with a Dell: best yet for me. Acer was a heap of s..t 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey346 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 APPLE accept no substitute ! sure they are expensive but once you have owned and used one you will see the value. and please do not start slagging off at them unless you actually own one and are familiar with them . rob Having just tried to install office for my niece with multiple users on a macbook pro you can keep them. The reason everyone is sitting in the apple shop asking for help is that everything is either broken or illogical in operation. I have used Apple products for years and never had an issue. Infact I just replaced the battery in my Macbook Pro that is 5 years old. If you had an issue installing Office, it's you not the notebook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey346 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) I have always been using IBM/Lenovo laptops. For the last 7 years or so, running linux. Now, for the first time I'm thinking of getting Macbook pro. One of the reason is the price as those are not so expensive anymore, compared to for example Lenovo X1 carbon. As I'm used to the easy life of linux (kubuntu), which means that the applications and the OS upgrades automatically, that was has been one of my concerns if going to the Mac world. Basically is osx easy enough to use, compared to the current linux distros? At least osx seems to have apt-get type of application management with Fink http://www.finkproject.org/ I am on my 3rd Macbook Pro and never had a better product. I just bought my wife the MacAir. You may want to consider it over the Pro. As for OSX, I find it the most straightforward OS available. Takes a few days to get use to but once you do you're hooked. Edited January 21, 2014 by Jeffrey346 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyFriend You Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 APPLE accept no substitute ! sure they are expensive but once you have owned and used one you will see the value. and please do not start slagging off at them unless you actually own one and are familiar with them . rob Having just tried to install office for my niece with multiple users on a macbook pro you can keep them.The reason everyone is sitting in the apple shop asking for help is that everything is either broken or illogical in operation. Macbook Pros are nice machines. Just install Win7 on it the moment you boot it for 1st time.Sent from my C6802 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app It's not my machine.Finally worked out tonight that each user needs a separate installation of office. <deleted>???? As for iPads without multiple logins, that has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. It's basically compulsory for everyone to have their own tablet to function in apple. Crazy Its obvious from your statement that you are either IT challenged or are ill informed, while its true everyone needs an Apple ID, and an iCloud (or .mac) account you don't have to all own Apple machines - I have a family of Mac's, Windows and Ubuntu equipment, all running independently thru an Apple Airport Extreme........all my Mac products have Windows installed as well, along with MS Office for Mac...........which I will dump after loading iWork 2013, only need Windows to run some older games. I have a first generation MacBook Pro, 7 years old and it still works like a charm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyL Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Nowadays, I would recommend an Asus laptop. Those machines used to be a little bit expensive comparatively with what was on offer by other brands in the past, but it's not the case anymore. I think that Lenovo laptops are great for their price, but they tend to get hotter (when used during a few hours) than comparable Asus models and their battery does not last as long as comparable Asus models.Dell laptops are OK too, but like Lenovo ones, tend to get hot after a few hours of continuous usage. I would avoid Acer and Toshiba (used to be a great brand, but not anymore), HP (at least, their cheapest models) and Sony laptops (very expensive for what it is, and service is crap, at least according to my own experience). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnPark Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Love my Mac Pro. Will definetly buy another when it comes time to upgrade but in 3 years my current i5 machine hasn't slowed down at all. Upgraded the RAM to 8GB Got rid of the CD drive and installed an extra HDD, it's now my perfect machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulDee Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Before shopping or buying anything, I would check Bob Rankin's Web site. His expertise and objective reporting on a bevy of tech devices is priceless, Here's a link to your topic: Most Reliable Laptops The reliability of a laptop should be as high on your shopping list as its processor, RAM, screen size, and other criteria. All the bells whistles in the world aren't worth much when they aren't working. So who makes the most reliable laptops, and what models give the least trouble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank James Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 This topic comes up regularly on TV and it's always fun to see all of the True Believers coming on to share experiences and trade barbs. As you can see, OP, everybody has an opinion. If I recall, the last time this came up (or was it the time before that?) there were quite a few people saying Lenovo was Chinese Commie junk, to be avoided at all costs. This time, Lenovo is getting all good reports. I have one, and it's great, except it was temporarily almost destroyed when an infestation of ANTS occurred. I found a shop in pantip that fixed that and it's better than ever now. Remember, Lenovo bought out and continued the IBM line. That was a lot to live up to, and I think they have. When the Lenovo was in the shop I bought a Samsung Ativ for 21,000 baht, and it is now my main machine.. The only thing it lacks is a DVD drive, but visits to torrent sites more than fill that gap. So, another satisfied user of Samsung Ativ. Several years ago I paid premium money for the then top of line Sony VAIO, and was very disappointed in it. I will never trust Sony again. The old Walkman (cassette & FM Sports model waterproof!) was their crowning achievement. Sad what has happened to a once great brand. Today I played around with the top of the line Macbook Pro at Pantip....86,900 Baht ! It's elegant and truly lovely, but it's almost like changing religions to contemplate joining the Apple World (Forgive Us, Saint Steve for we have SINNED!) Great machine, you can tell that just by handling it, but is it three times better than the top of line Lenovo/HP/Samsung or Dell? It's over three times the price. And all of their software costs more. The Ipad Mini is a lovely device too, but costs more than twice as much as the Nexus 7, and does less. But that's another topic...the world of tablets, where we will all be living, very soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank James Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Sorry, the Macbook Pro was not at Pantip, but at Kad Suan Kaew (the venerable 'Red Fort') , conveniently close to a bank of various ATM machines. Can you get out 90,000 baht at one draw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thailandbeachisland Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 The worst is SONY for sure... Not sure it is the best but we use dozens of cheap ACER and almost never had problems. In my opinion laptops are just disposable items and should be bought cheap as mobile phones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thailandbeachisland Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Nowadays, I would recommend an Asus laptop. Those machines used to be a little bit expensive comparatively with what was on offer by other brands in the past, but it's not the case anymore. I think that Lenovo laptops are great for their price, but they tend to get hotter (when used during a few hours) than comparable Asus models and their battery does not last as long as comparable Asus models. Dell laptops are OK too, but like Lenovo ones, tend to get hot after a few hours of continuous usage. I would avoid Acer and Toshiba (used to be a great brand, but not anymore), HP (at least, their cheapest models) and Sony laptops (very expensive for what it is, and service is crap, at least according to my own experience). Whats wrong with Acer ? We never had any problem with dozens of them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey346 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 This topic comes up regularly on TV and it's always fun to see all of the True Believers coming on to share experiences and trade barbs. As you can see, OP, everybody has an opinion. If I recall, the last time this came up (or was it the time before that?) there were quite a few people saying Lenovo was Chinese Commie junk, to be avoided at all costs. This time, Lenovo is getting all good reports. I have one, and it's great, except it was temporarily almost destroyed when an infestation of ANTS occurred. I found a shop in pantip that fixed that and it's better than ever now. Remember, Lenovo bought out and continued the IBM line. That was a lot to live up to, and I think they have. When the Lenovo was in the shop I bought a Samsung Ativ for 21,000 baht, and it is now my main machine.. The only thing it lacks is a DVD drive, but visits to torrent sites more than fill that gap. So, another satisfied user of Samsung Ativ. Several years ago I paid premium money for the then top of line Sony VAIO, and was very disappointed in it. I will never trust Sony again. The old Walkman (cassette & FM Sports model waterproof!) was their crowning achievement. Sad what has happened to a once great brand. Today I played around with the top of the line Macbook Pro at Pantip....86,900 Baht ! It's elegant and truly lovely, but it's almost like changing religions to contemplate joining the Apple World (Forgive Us, Saint Steve for we have SINNED!) Great machine, you can tell that just by handling it, but is it three times better than the top of line Lenovo/HP/Samsung or Dell? It's over three times the price. And all of their software costs more. The Ipad Mini is a lovely device too, but costs more than twice as much as the Nexus 7, and does less. But that's another topic...the world of tablets, where we will all be living, very soon. B86,900 is the top of the line. Look at the specs. Not many notebooks out there that can compete. 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz 16GB 1600MHz memory 512GB PCIe-based flash storage 1 Intel Iris Pro Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 750Mwith 2GB GDDR5 memory Built-in battery (8 hours)2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleday Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Samsung for reliability and amazing customer service - avoid Toshiba that used to be best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyL Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Nowadays, I would recommend an Asus laptop. Those machines used to be a little bit expensive comparatively with what was on offer by other brands in the past, but it's not the case anymore. I think that Lenovo laptops are great for their price, but they tend to get hotter (when used during a few hours) than comparable Asus models and their battery does not last as long as comparable Asus models. Dell laptops are OK too, but like Lenovo ones, tend to get hot after a few hours of continuous usage. I would avoid Acer and Toshiba (used to be a great brand, but not anymore), HP (at least, their cheapest models) and Sony laptops (very expensive for what it is, and service is crap, at least according to my own experience). Whats wrong with Acer ? We never had any problem with dozens of them... Well, YMMV. Their most expensive models seem to be OK, but the less expensive ones (cheap and middle-range models) are not very reliable, at least, that's my experience and what I have noticed in my professional and personal entourage in the past and recent years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cronus Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Just never buy the cheapest model of any brand... Never had any problems with DELL XPS (expensive) and Lenovo Thinkpad T Series (expensive). Had problems all the time with HP Pro Book 6450 (good specs, but cheap...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauleddy Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Once you have a Mac, you never look back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holeyman1 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I always had bad experience with acer laptops. Bought 2 over 3 years. In both cases, motherboard just died after the standard 1 year warranty. Would advise you get a Lenovo/IBM. Haven't tried apple so can't comment Best regards keyboard warrior Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazzasore Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Alienware make the Best Laptops Mine is a Alienware x18 18.4 inch HD Screen Operating System Windows 8.1 64-bit CPU Intel Core i3/i5/i7 4xxx @ 2.70GHz 46 °C with Boost over 3.0 GHz Haswell 22nm Technology RAM 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (11-11-11-28) 16 Gig of but can have up to 32 Gig Motherboard Alienware 01W2J2 (U3E1) Graphics Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1080@60Hz) 3071MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (Dell) 45 °C 3071MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (Dell) 52 °C Two Video Cards 3 Gig of Ram each ForceWare version: 332.21 SLI Disabled Storage 698GB WDC WD7500BPKT- (RAID) 698GB Western Digital WDC WD7500BPKT-75PK4T0 (SATA) 37 °C Lots of Storage Optical Drives HL-DT-ST DVDRWBD CA40N Audio Realtek High Definition Audio Killer WiFi Card Mine Cost about $3000 But different Components can be as much as $7000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j2banker Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 It really depends what you are looking for in terms of size, weight, durability, functionality. We used to have Acer, HP, Medion, Toshiba, Apple and Lenovo at work. From these I found that for a Windows or Ubuntu machine Acer worked best for us. However none of those comes close to my current Apple MacBook Air which I bought July 2013. We had also bought one for my wife in 2011. They are durable, lightweight and just work. Not a single failed OS update as with Toshiba and HP. If your budget is low I would consider an Acer, Asus and also take a look at the new Chromebooks from Acer and HP. The HP seems very interesting as it's charger is a micro usb port same as many smartphones. So you can bring one charger on travels and potentially charge smartphone, tablet and chromebook (if you lug them all ;-) Whatever you chose, first install Dropbox.com on your current machine. Move all data folders to Dropbox and whatever machine you will use in the future or wherever you are you got access to all your files without hassle (available on smartphones too). If you are a light user of any office suite, consider Google Docs. I use it for all my personal spreadsheets, letters and CVs. No need to buy/install any office suite. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racyrick Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 It really depends what you are looking for in terms of size, weight, durability, functionality. We used to have Acer, HP, Medion, Toshiba, Apple and Lenovo at work. From these I found that for a Windows or Ubuntu machine Acer worked best for us. However none of those comes close to my current Apple MacBook Air which I bought July 2013. We had also bought one for my wife in 2011. They are durable, lightweight and just work. Not a single failed OS update as with Toshiba and HP. If your budget is low I would consider an Acer, Asus and also take a look at the new Chromebooks from Acer and HP. The HP seems very interesting as it's charger is a micro usb port same as many smartphones. So you can bring one charger on travels and potentially charge smartphone, tablet and chromebook (if you lug them all ;-) Whatever you chose, first install Dropbox.com on your current machine. Move all data folders to Dropbox and whatever machine you will use in the future or wherever you are you got access to all your files without hassle (available on smartphones too). If you are a light user of any office suite, consider Google Docs. I use it for all my personal spreadsheets, letters and CVs. No need to buy/install any office suite. James I would really like to thank everybody for the opinions and advice. Since I don't have a big budget at this time, I will probably buy a midrange Asus or Lenovo. Since most of these come with DOS, should I install Linux or Windows? I have read various opinions on this and I know this will probably spark a big debate, but remember, this computer will mostly be used for light gaming for my 8 year old son, surfing internet, emails and very light office applications. Thanks again for your help. If I had a little more computer knowledge, I would not have to open this forum. Feel like a dinosaur in the 21st century Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 I am on my 3rd Macbook Pro and never had a better product. I just bought my wife the MacAir. You may want to consider it over the Pro. As for OSX, I find it the most straightforward OS available. Takes a few days to get use to but once you do you're hooked. That's one dilemma - Macbook Pro or Air? Both 13" models are in the same cost range of 40-45.000B. The weight difference is about 250 grams, which does not really matter. What matter is the build quality. I treat my laptops as work horses. Mistreat, drop them to the backpack without extra protection etc. Soon the laptop looks rugged, but if the build quality is good, it does not affect to the functionalities. Macbook pro feeled a bit more sturdy compared to the Air. Is it so? The other issue is the screen resolution. While Macbook air offers 1440x900px, which might just be enough, I'd still like a bit better resolution 1600x1200 or so. I'm not sure though as my current work laptop has far less pixels. Macbook Pro display resolution is 2550xsomething, which should be more than enough. One option I considered was to install Linux on Macbook and get the advantage of the both worlds. Great hardware and great OS. Then again for example Kubuntu can not handle power saving tricks as well as osx can, and the battery life would be shorter. There is also some software, which I would like to use, which are avaiable for osx and not for linux. Therefore osx with Fink would be an optimal solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyL Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 I would really like to thank everybody for the opinions and advice. Since I don't have a big budget at this time, I will probably buy a midrange Asus or Lenovo. Since most of these come with DOS, should I install Linux or Windows? I have read various opinions on this and I know this will probably spark a big debate, but remember, this computer will mostly be used for light gaming for my 8 year old son, surfing internet, emails and very light office applications. Thanks again for your help. If I had a little more computer knowledge, I would not have to open this forum. Feel like a dinosaur in the 21st century You will have much less issues with a Windows operating system if you intend to use this laptop computer for gaming. Most games are developped for this operating system and moreover, several gaming devices don't come with drivers for other operating systems. I would install Windows 7 (or have it installed) if I were you, but some models (such as this one, for instance: http://thesystem.co.th/products/preview.php?code=A0054530) come with an official version of Windows 8 already (or better 8.1, if already available) installed. You might consider keeping it then if you are not sure that you will get easily a "genuine" Windows 7 installation instead, or if the laptop comes with a touchscreen (then, a Windows 8 or 8.1 operating system makes sense). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazzasore Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Try here http://alienware.com/?dgc=SM&cid=59747&lid=1511112 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now