I'm looking around for a new laptop. What brands do you recommend?

I would prefer a brand that sells laptops with AMD/Athlon, but I'll certainly consider a decent Pentium as well.

One thing to keep in mind: it's probably going to be an all-purpose laptop. I'll be doing a little bit of gaming and a little bit of graphics work on it, but I eventually plan to get both a Mac laptop and a PC desktop later on down the road.

So, what to get? Dell? Compaq? Toshiba? Sony Vaio?

Thanks.

I think all brands about the same but my experience with Dell service was very good.

Please don't buy a Dell. Here's why,

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=TX&last=Dell&first=Michael

_____


Do the right thing. Buy a Mac. Here's why,

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=CA&last=Jobs&first=Steven

Putting Americans out of work results in a 'good experience'?

http://www.tigerdirect.com

and go with the best deal.

How about supporting businesses that support the Dems?


http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=CA&last=Jobs&first=Steven

17" inch screen
Get the docking station with it and you have a (portable) replacement desktop

I've owned 2 Dell laptops (way back to the days of a 386/25MHz), 2 Compaqs, and an IBM Thinkpad. This HP machine is, by far, the best laptop I've ever owned. It really is a desktop replacement.

Nothing beats a powerbook, and they're worth every penny.

and he's a computer geek, and yes they are available with AMD processors. His is basically a desktop replacement and he needed one with enough speed to handle this music software he's been wanting to get.

BTW, E-Machines was acquired by Gateway this year, but they will remain a stand alone brand and Gateway doesn't make AMD laptops.

I already said in my original post that I was planning to get a Mac down the road, but perhaps I should have also specified that I'm on a very tight budget. A Mac is very much in my future, but for now it is too pricey for me to consider it as a short-term option.

I was already leaning towards HP/Compaq and thanks to qwertyMike and Old-and-in-the-way for their input on that particular brand. Anyone else have any comments about HP, positive or negative?

So you're saying that you want to spend more on a computer that's going to give you a less fulfilling computer experience, and get in the way of you doing your work, in order to give money to an adjudicated monopolist that funds such luminaries as Michael "Savage Weiner" and runs on hardware that funds the Bush Family Evil Empire. But at some unspecified later date you desire to decide to save money, consume conscientiously, and invest in a product that supports Democrats.

Having already abandoned the logic of investing in a computer that's going to save you time and money, and your opportunity to use your money to consume with conscience, why bother asking people which flavor of bile-funding, racism-propagating, BFEE-supporting indistinguishable boxes of off-the-shelf components and virus-infested Windows dreck would be best?

Crap is crap, so this question boils down to a choice between runny or chunky.

Good luck, you'll need it.

a couple years ago and it is still going strong

for used machines the rule of thumb is $1 per MgHz in speed

The TigerDirect.com suggestion is good too

you may want to checkout some reviews on different makers, some are more reliable than others