Hi all,

I'm looking into getting a PC laptop for work, and I'm hoping for some advice on which brand to buy.

I'm a web designer so I know my way around a computer pretty well, but I haven't picked out my own machine in years and am overwhelmed with the options.

I have a pretty good idea what type of machine I want - something fast and wireless with a decent screen size and a tolerable battery life. It's gotta be powerful enough to handle graphics programs without a lot of lag time. Right now I think I'm leaning towards a ThinkPad or Vaio, but even then I'm not sure which model - I don't want my boss to fall over when he sees the pricetag, but I don't want something that's going to be outdated in a month.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated! I would like to stick with PC (even though Macs are beautiful creatures - why can't any pc manufacturer make something purdy like the i-book?) because over 94% of our users view our sites on a PC and I will be using the laptop for testing purposes as well.

~gg

Toshiba.
They are not too expensive, they are definitely the cheapest with the best options available. They are sturdy and lighter than a lot of other similar products. Toshiba was reccomended to me over and over again when I was looking for a laptop last October. I bought one and I am TOTALLY satisfied with it. I love it!

Dells are good..just do not get a deskstar or "deathstar" as people in the computer industry love to call them, hard drive. Hitatchi bought IBM, and made those things. They are known for dying after you have owned the thing for like, three months. Which is a horribly short amount of time for a hard drive to last.
My parents have to get a whole new hard drive, and my poor dad lost all his tax stuff, checkbook database that was his pride and joy, and anything else that was on there, all because they got a deathstar hard drive. =[
My Dell is spectacular..I've not had any major problems in the whole 2 yrs I have owned the thing. So just be careful with them, and try to see if you can find out what brand hard drive they'll use.

Nearly the whole family's got Dells. We like 'em lots ... few problems and if you do have one, the service is great. Sis has an IBM that she's had for 3 years which has never given her problems.

Jess

IBM, definitely, if you're looking for a workhorse of a machine.

The R line of ThinkPads runs fairly inexpensively (around $1000), and it's what I've purchased for all of our salespeople at the company I work for. They are very easily upgraded, and I (lone IT gal) seldom have do anything to them other than routine maintenance (Windows updates, etc). Really solid laptops.

since you mentioned vaio, i have to chime in and say that i love my vaio. i know a few other people with them too & they've all been great. pretty much everything i've heard/read about vaios has been great - sony seems to be on the top of laptop technology.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to say thanks for your suggestions - I am going to start comparison shopping and read some reviews online. I hadn't even though about Toshiba's models but they seem to get good reviews.

I think the Vaio is sexy - the design side of me leans toward nice, sleek, stylish design but I am trying to ignore the design issue and go for function over form. Very hard to do!

Edited to add - Yeah, the Thinkpad is looking like a very solid buy. Glad to hear they are reliable.

We got a Toshiba laptop in September and love it! Don't have any experience with other brands though.