Laptops

[Suzanne Reid]

Hey there -- I am in the market for a new laptop -- what are y'all using and how do you like them? any information would help. I have been using a IBM Thinkpad for years and love it but my IT guy said I can get a better bang for my buck...don't know...

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

If you love ThinkPads and love it, then call this guy to get the best bang for your buck.

For ThinkPad lovers (the only laptop I’ve ever had; I’m currently on my 5th), do some price checking and then call this guy to see what he has:

Robert (Bob) C. Bogutsky
5064 Overcrest Drive
Kannapolis, NC 28081 USA
Telephone (Home) 704 785-9276
Primary Email ID: [e-mail]
Facsimile: 704 782-4911
Mobile: [phone]

He's a retired IBMer, who has great (legitimate) sources of new and slightly used ThinkPads, all with Lenovo warranties which can and should be verified with Lenovo prior to buying, which he upgrades and sells a few on eBay but mostly privately since that gives him the ability to work with the potential buyer and suggest units and alternatives. I am using a T61 now that I bought from him. You get a lot more for your money with Bob than anywhere else. Mine came with only 8 months left on the warranty, so I bought a 2-year extended warranty from Lenovo for $129.

You can't go wrong with Bob. He's terrific and so knowledgeable.

I use Catalyst and get excellent audiosynch.

Marge Teilhaber CSR RDR
Fort Lee NJ

(BTW, what did you IT guy recommend?)

[Greta Duckett, CCR, RPR, CRR]

I bought a Thinkpad T61 last fall and I love it. I had to load some drivers for the sound card to work properly, but it wasn't too difficult. It is clunky, though. I bought a Dell Mini 9 inch ($250) last month, and I loooooove it. Tiny, tiny. The sound quality was off, but I had a computer guy tweak it, and now it's great. It is too tiny to type on for editing, but there are three usb ports on it and a monitor thingy. I bought a portable hard drive (doesn't require plugging in; gets its power from the computer) for moving files.

[Jennie Ann]

I just read an interesting article about laptops entitled "The Winners of the 2008 Engadget Awards" on AOL.

From cell phones to desktops, they have a snippet about everything, and they provided some details about them. Here is the entire article: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/30/the-winners-of-the-2008-engadget...|main|dl5|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.engadget.com%2F2009%2F03%2F30%2Fthe-winners-of-the-2008-engadget-awards%2F

Here is the portion of that above-referenced article on mini laptops: http://www.engadget.com/tag/mini9

Hope this helps!

[Suzanne Reid]

Thanks all for your feedback. I went ahead and bought another IBM. Lenovo was having a great online sale. My IT guy didn't recommend one; he just said that I could save some money by going with another company. In the end, it is what I am comfortable with, and I have loved my T60 for four years now :)...Really appreciate everyone's feedback.

Cheers!

[Janiece Young]

Suzanne,

I know you said you already purchased a computer but in case anyone else reads this last month I replaced my Toshiba Techra (five years old) with an HP/Compact. It was TERRIBLE. I have always used the $150 mic. from Martelle/Stenograph and you could not even use that mic. w/ this computer. The audio was soooo bad. I bought three different microphones trying to get that thing to work. I finally returned it. I purchase a Sony Vaio and I have used it on one job. I can use the good quality mic. w/ it. It is a really nice computer. I'm much happier.

The lesson I learned, if they don't work the way you know they should work on day 1, don't fight it, return it and get one that works the way it should. We don't have time to spend on equipment that does not work correctly. It is miserable to listen to background noise mixed in w/ your audio.

I apologize to any HP fans out there but that was my experience.

Janiece

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

No apology ever necessary when bashing an inanimate object!!! You hate HP and you should shout the news so others will learn. If there are HP fans, well, who cares!!?!!

[Jennie Ann]

I once had a Sony Vaio laptop, and it got stolen out of my hotel room when I was visiting in Albany, New York. I was totally upset about it. I had all my data backed up, but like Janiece said, the audio quality was EXCELLENT. Today, I have two Dell laptops, and though I purchased the best sound card available at the time of purchase, the audio quality on that Sony Vaio laptop was super duper. I still miss that laptop, six years later. LOL!

[Jane Panzer]

Janiece -

Can you tell me what model HP you had? I really like the feel of the keys on the HP, but I'm worried about the sound (I do transcription). I notice that some of the HPs say "Premium SRS sound" and some just say "Altec Lansing speakers." I think that some laptops do not have a separate sound card - they have it integrated on the motherboard. I got burned with that on my Dell desktop - it was advertised as having a name-brand sound card but actually had an emulator that made it act (but not sound) like that sound card.

Jane

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

I'd call Bob and see if he can do even better. You can always cancel the order or return. Or learn that you got the best deal!

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

I agree, Jeanease. For me it's ThinkPad. It's the only laptop I've ever had and wouldn't even look at another. It's just a matter of how to get the best deal. Yes, having that delete key in the same place is huge!!

[Linda M. Hoffmann]

Is everyone using Vista now and are there any problems? I'm on CaseCatalyst.

My HP seems to be going, but it has worked well. I had terrible problems using audio with it with a microphone, there was terrible static, but I worked with the internal microphone and it works great. I don't need any microphone and it picks up all the way across the room.