Toshiba or HP laptop?

I know there is a lot to consider, but just give me your basic reactions please. The HP is cheaper but has a smaller hard drive and less memory. $70 difference. I have all HP products at home and SO has an HP laptop also. I'm not going to be using it for much more than surfing and music, maybe some word projects and paperwork.
Opinions?

I loved IBM until they sold out.

Toshiba has always been a good brand.

HP... too many political reasons why I wouldn't.

Dell... cheaply built trash,

Here is the comparison chart:
http://www.me.mtu.edu/~jdbilyeu/laptops.htm

I am trying to decide between the Circuit City deal and the Wal Mart deal (xnay on the political thing about Walmart there; this would be the only time I would go).

there are good deals out there? must go check. thanks!

Normally I'd tell people to avoid Celeron processors (I typically prefer AMD), it's a stripped down and locked out verison of their Pentium-4. But the L25-S1193 at Circuit City also has RAM size, CD-RW support, a faster RPM speed in its hard drive, and other sundry bits in its favor.

You can always return it and get another model if you're not satisfied.

Even I would try it.

And I would have nixed the walmart politics for once as well. I think all that doesn't matter anymore...

IBM used to be my go-to laptop, but no more. Also, not that you were asking, but the few Sony Vaios I've dealt with have been pieces of junk -- two of the screens were discolored within a year. And Gateways seem a little "tinny". By that I mean cheap. ;)

My first laptop was a Toshiba. It was good. :)

I mean, they suck so hard that they make other sucky support departments look good by comparison.

and have for six+ years. They make great laptops.

I love mine - wouldn't have anything else.

My husband got one with a huge hard drive, 1 GB memory expandable to 2, wireless, DVD writer, all the good stuff for $1100 about 6 months ago (and then we got a $50 rebate). Great machine.

We also have a Toshiba laptop in the house that belongs to the union. It's also a good machine but cost $1700, has only 512MB memory and a smaller (but still big) hard drive, DVD player/CD writer, wireless, etc.


Edited to add that the Compaq, like the Toshiba, has an AMD chip.

couple of years before giving them a shot.

We used to buy tons of HP stuff here at work...desktops, laptops, servers, the works, but they've been pulled completely off our approved vendors list now. Their quality has gone downhill so badly that our internal support costs went up by half and we pretty much had to ban their equipment from the facility. Between the abysmal reliability of their hardware and the even poorer quality of their support, we just weren't seeing any benefit to staying with their products. We're now an all Dell facility.

Given the choice between the two, I'd say go with the Toshiba. I don't know if the Toshiba is actually any good, but I DO know that the HP is complete and utter CRAP.

I've worked for both of them doing repairs & stuff
Toshiba toshiba toshiba

Hasn't given me a single problem yet (knock wood).

I have an hp desktop that I have been unhappy with since almost day one. My office just (this past year) dumped IBM as a vendor and went exclusively with hp/compaq. most of the hp laptops have been pretty crappy/cheap until the latest model (nx6220?). Of course I love the thinkpads anyway so I'm prejudiced.

there was a huge recall on the hp laptops recently due to the batteries failing/overheating/melting, and support is horrible, both at the corporate and home level.


I have never owned a toshiba laptop, but I have purchased many, many, toshiba consumer electronics components of theirs and loved them all (vcr's, cameras, dvd players, tv's) never had a problem or a complaint.

After about a year, the battery started to drain occasionally when it was on AC power. It has been doing that more and more frequently. I have to pop the battery out for a sec to get it to start recharging. Other than that, I haven't had any trouble.

Now I just have to convince hubby......he is an HP devotee. Ah, well...