Topic: Need advice on laptops.

[Skywatch]

My refurbished HP Touchsmart 300 is currently working however the last time I did updates when the computer restarted it gave me issues starting up and had to do a hard restart (hold the power button) the guy who refurbished the laptop said the motherboard is about 8-9 years old and might be going out besides a design flaw that results in the corner heating up. Used a laser thermometer to get the temperature and got 124 degrees F. No wonder the hard drives fail prematurely.

So doing some online shopping and looking at several laptops and I see some cheap ones from Gateway and Dell however I've never been too fond of these guys. Everyone says to stay as far away as possible from them. Best Buy had an HP convertible laptop where the screen flips around and becomes a tablet for 350$ and 200 reviews at 4.2 star rating. Not counting a 2 year accident plan which will be an additional 150$

 For interacting with Weather Display software I've found touchscreen capabilities to be a plus. Makes it easier to navigate the program.

So what do y'all recommend?

Will hopefully be buying soon.

[BigOkie]

My refurbished HP Touchsmart 300 is currently working however the last time I did updates when the computer restarted it gave me issues starting up and had to do a hard restart (hold the power button) the guy who refurbished the laptop said the motherboard is about 8-9 years old and might be going out besides a design flaw that results in the corner heating up. Used a laser thermometer to get the temperature and got 124 degrees F. No wonder the hard drives fail prematurely.

So doing some online shopping and looking at several laptops and I see some cheap ones from Gateway and Dell however I've never been too fond of these guys. Everyone says to stay as far away as possible from them. Best Buy had an HP convertible laptop where the screen flips around and becomes a tablet for 350$ and 200 reviews at 4.2 star rating. Not counting a 2 year accident plan which will be an additional 150$

 For interacting with Weather Display software I've found touchscreen capabilities to be a plus. Makes it easier to navigate the program.

So what do y'all recommend?

Will hopefully be buying soon.

We use HP notebooks/laptops at work and my only issue is that after about two years of having mine, occasionally it will throw a BSOD (Win 7 Enterprise) when I do a restart.  Aside from that it's a good laptop.

However, I'm not quite sure why you say people say to stay far away from Dell.  I've heard horror stories about Gateway laptops, but I've owned four different Dell notebook/laptops and none of them had any issues whatsoever.

Dell desktops on the other hand....

[Bushman]

Wanna trade HP horror stories?  Even my friends who work at HP don't use their PCs/laptops.  OTOH I have never had a problem with Dell.  I just bought my daughter an Asus 200 touchscreen.  Very nice (although the first one was DOA - LOL!).  One thing - almost all laptopns come with Win 8 or 8.1. Not sure if that will coexist with your wx sw.

[BigOkie]

I don't like HP or Dell laptops. Acer and Asus is best in the laptop department. When it comes to desktops the best way to go is build your own. 

With Desktops, I've always built mine since 1996 and my first Pentium 75.  However, when you work at place that sources from Dell, you learn to hate their desktops.  Their laptops are good.

And sofar, the HP I have has been rock solid.  First PC I ever had with a SSD in it.  I'm due for a new PC at work as well, and it will be another HP.  Packard Bell had a horrible rep.  Asus is good in parts and in tablets, but I've found (and heard from friends also) that they are HORRIBLE to deal with as far as warranties go.  HP and Dell are a lot easier to deal with.

To each their own.

[Skywatch]

So I'm getting mixed experiences. I'm assuming most people review within 48 hours of a purchase. So there might be some bias.

Any here have had their laptop work non stop for over a year in 24/7 mode? I want a laptop that will give me at least a years worth of usage running 24/7 for my WS.

My price range is 200-500$ I know sometimes the most expensive isn't always best but the more expensive the longer it will take me to save. As of Friday I should have about 250$ saved up.

Thanks to those who responded. I was afraid nobody would reply.

P.s. I had an Acer Aspire several years back and it was in the repair shop every 2 months. I think I'll avoid Acer unless they upped their standards.

[BigOkie]

So I'm getting mixed experiences. I'm assuming most people review within 48 hours of a purchase. So there might be some bias.

Any here have had their laptop work non stop for over a year in 24/7 mode? I want a laptop that will give me at least a years worth of usage running 24/7 for my WS.

My price range is 200-500$ I know sometimes the most expensive isn't always best but the more expensive the longer it will take me to save. As of Friday I should have about 250$ saved up.

Thanks to those who responded. I was afraid nobody would reply.

P.s. I had an Acer Aspire several years back and it was in the repair shop every 2 months. I think I'll avoid Acer unless they upped their standards.

I will be forthright however and tell you my company buys high end equipment because they HATE having electronics be obsolete 3 months after they've deployed to employees. 
The HP I have right now is an I5.  My new one to be issued around Xmas will likely be an I7.  I will tell you this; I rarely turned the I5 off and it's been quite dutiful in the 2+ years I've had it.  Never had that longevity on a Dell, but admittedly I never used one for that long.  I did by my Mother an Inspiron (Dell) in July of 12 (I3) and it's still plugging away.  I'm betting you can't go wrong either way.

[SlowModem]

My refurbished HP Touchsmart 300 is currently working however the last time I did updates when the computer restarted it gave me issues starting up and had to do a hard restart (hold the power button) the guy who refurbished the laptop said the motherboard is about 8-9 years old and might be going out besides a design flaw that results in the corner heating up. Used a laser thermometer to get the temperature and got 124 degrees F. No wonder the hard drives fail prematurely.

So doing some online shopping and looking at several laptops and I see some cheap ones from Gateway and Dell however I've never been too fond of these guys. Everyone says to stay as far away as possible from them. Best Buy had an HP convertible laptop where the screen flips around and becomes a tablet for 350$ and 200 reviews at 4.2 star rating. Not counting a 2 year accident plan which will be an additional 150$

 For interacting with Weather Display software I've found touchscreen capabilities to be a plus. Makes it easier to navigate the program.

So what do y'all recommend?

Will hopefully be buying soon.

We use HP notebooks/laptops at work and my only issue is that after about two years of having mine, occasionally it will throw a BSOD (Win 7 Enterprise) when I do a restart.  Aside from that it's a good laptop.

However, I'm not quite sure why you say people say to stay far away from Dell.  I've heard horror stories about Gateway laptops, but I've owned four different Dell notebook/laptops and none of them had any issues whatsoever.

Dell desktops on the other hand....

My Dell laptop was bought 2006 and my Dell desktop was bought 2001 and both are still going strong (although a little weak on RAM).  I'm going to drive them until the wheels fall off.

[Skywatch]

Just saw the previous thread from W3DRM about the failure in the Acer aspire which is exactly what I used to experience. Dell has some cheaper touchscreen laptops. Need to read the reviews.

Will also look at HP.

[Bushman]

My Asus netbook has been on 24/7 for about the last 5 yrs.  I am on a 7 yr old Toshiba right now and it is on 20/7 or so.  No issues whatsoever.

[Dr Obbins]

Any here have had their laptop work non stop for over a year in 24/7 mode? I want a laptop that will give me at least a years worth of usage running 24/7 for my WS.

I am currently running an old (pink) Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop 24/7 with ispy to monitor and upload the IP cams.  Pentium dual core with 4 gb memory running win vista. It was my teenage daughters computer many years back it has been dropped many times, the hinge is busted, and has other various cracks, etc... Even with all that, it has been running 24/7 for well over a year now. I have to reboot once a month or ispy locks up, however I thing the issue is with ispy. Being as I have it and don't have any other use for it, I will run it until it dies. Then next in line, there is this lime green one sitting on the shelf.

[Skywatch]

Good to know. Doing some shopping and reading reviews. Still undecided but I'm closer to a decision.

As life would have it I forgot the gym I go to charges mid month so I'm down 60$. I get paid Friday so I should have it within the next 2-3 weeks.

[dj1111s]

I purchased my Toshiba Satellite laptop 5 years ago and it has worked nonstop since(it's rarely turned off). And it's running Vista very smoothly. Haven't had BSD or any other errors in years.  One of the big selling points was the backlit keyboard. Once you get used to having it you feel blind without it. I even bought a backlit keyboard for my desktop WX computer. At the time Toshiba was getting excellent reviews. If I ever have to replace it I will look at Toshiba's first.

Dan

[PaulMy]

I have also had nearly 6 years of excellent service from my Toshiba Satellite (not my weather computer though) but replaced Vista with Windows 7 about a year ago.  I was so satisfied with it that I purchased another Toshiba Satellite last year for another purpose.
 
Paul 

[Skywatch]

I've been looking at a Toshiba convertible laptop on the Frys website except it's currently unavailable and Frys retails it at 378$ where other retailers sell for 1017$ to me that's a red flag.

I am however looking at a Lenovo N3520 which is well priced and has excellent reviews. Since there's no positive or negative feedback here on Lenovo I'm assuming via reviews it's a great unit.

[Skywatch]

So I'm looking at a Dell convertible laptop at Wal-Mart. I'm a bit reluctant to shop at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is not known for quality products. Has good reviews. About 100$ cheaper than a Lenovo laptop I have been looking at. Only the Lenovo has a solid state drive and the Dell has a regular drive. I've heard solid state drives are the gold standard of hard drives today.

So anyway since I plan to use the laptop as weather only (no web surfing) other than sending data to WU what can I do to make sure I get the most life out of it?

I know proper care is the best way to get most life out of it. My current laptop I don't really interact with it. Most of the time the screen is closed but the laptop still runs.

Of course when I buy a new laptop I'll want to use it.

So apart from updates and McAfee and keeping the thing cool what else to ensure the longevity?

[Bushman]

If all it is going to do is upload wx info, don't do the updates and don't install antivirus.  Seriously.

[SlowModem]

If all it is going to do is upload wx info, don't do the updates and don't install antivirus.  Seriously.

Get a refurbished XP laptop and there won't be any more updates.    (all my computers are XP)

[Skywatch]

Thanks guys. I'm not sure about the XP. I want to get a brand new laptop because I've experienced other problems with refurbished items.

On my HP I have updates turned off. No anti virus. Problem is the laptop overheats due to a problematic video board. Heating is suspected of the failure of previous hard drives. Used an infrared thermometer and the laptop is generating 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Also the touch screen is one of those pressure sensitive screens. Can be a pain to interact with.

Has Windows 8. I being I use Weather Display the OS version becomes irrelevant. If the laptop comes with Windows 8 I won't worry about it.

I like to consider the laptop as another weather console which is another reason I like the convertible touch laptops.

[Skywatch]

Well tomorrow I'm laptop shopping. Figure electronic stores are trying to get rid of their old inventory to make way for Black Friday and Christmas items. Things are on sale. After researching brand vs brand learned that laptop brands are like political candidates in that everyone has positive and negative and nobody agrees on anything.

In all the searches I'm getting mixed commentary saying brand X is the best and others say it's the worst as with brand Y and Z if you get my drift. Dell and Lenovo have good reviews. Friends of mine use Dell. I'm finding the Inspiron 11 convertible for around 399$. 460$ after tax and a accident protection plan.

[SlowModem]

Here's something that most people may know already know, but I didn't find out about it today.  They're already ending support for Windows 7:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2462643/what-happens-when-microsoft-ends-windows-7-mainstream-support-next-year.html

I only have one laptop with 7 on it and I rarely use it because I hate Windows 7.  All my other laptops (and desktops) are running XP.

Just something that might come up in your pursuit for a laptop.

[Bunty]

Well tomorrow I'm laptop shopping. Figure electronic stores are trying to get rid of their old inventory to make way for Black Friday and Christmas items. Things are on sale. After researching brand vs brand learned that laptop brands are like political candidates in that everyone has positive and negative and nobody agrees on anything.

In all the searches I'm getting mixed commentary saying brand X is the best and others say it's the worst as with brand Y and Z if you get my drift. Dell and Lenovo have good reviews. Friends of mine use Dell. I'm finding the Inspiron 11 convertible for around 399$. 460$ after tax and a accident protection plan.

Overstock.com has refurbished HP and Dell laptops.

[pfletch101]

Here's something that most people may know already know, but I didn't find out about it today.  They're already ending support for Windows 7:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2462643/what-happens-when-microsoft-ends-windows-7-mainstream-support-next-year.html

I wouldn't worry too much about mainstream support running out for Windows 7. Updates and bug fixes continue through the end of extended support (which is what just ran out for XP). The even better news is that the current open beta of Windows 10 (they skipped 9), which I have installed on its own partition to try out, shows a fair bit of evidence of a lot of lessons having been learnt from the disaster that was Windows 8.x. I personally prefer Windows 7 to XP, though the latter was a very good OS, and I wouldn't touch any flavor of Windows 8 with a barge pole for serious work, but on the basis of my current impression of the new OS I will probably go to Windows 10 fairly soon after RTM.

[nincehelser]

The whole Windows numbering situation is just plain goofy.

Are things really that screwed up that they can't tell the difference between "Windows 95" and "Windows 9", or are they just trying to create confusion with Apple's OS X (which many pronounce "OS Ten")?

[pfletch101]

I have seen a lot of theories about why Windows 8.1 is being followed by Windows 10, but nothing definitive. Your OS X theory is about as good as many others.

[Skywatch]

Thanks guys. My older computer had Windows 7. My current laptop has Windows 8. I'm somewhat more fond of Windows 7. It's easier to use and navigate. Windows 8 is fun to use but I feel Microsoft is trying to hard to be like Android and Apple.

Well tomorrow I'm laptop shopping. Figure electronic stores are trying to get rid of their old inventory to make way for Black Friday and Christmas items. Things are on sale. After researching brand vs brand learned that laptop brands are like political candidates in that everyone has positive and negative and nobody agrees on anything.

In all the searches I'm getting mixed commentary saying brand X is the best and others say it's the worst as with brand Y and Z if you get my drift. Dell and Lenovo have good reviews. Friends of mine use Dell. I'm finding the Inspiron 11 convertible for around 399$. 460$ after tax and a accident protection plan.

Overstock.com has refurbished HP and Dell laptops.

In the past I've done refurbished electronics. From now on if I can help it I'll buy brand new. With refurbished electronics it's usually easily apparent why the previous owner returned it. At least in my experience refurbished items are troublesome.

I'd rather buy brand new something that has good reviews, and good support.