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Ruth
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 8:15am | IP Logged
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We have 3 computers by the same manufacturer, and this Sunday, the laptop's hard drive crashed. Unfortunately, it was the only one working at the time, since the other two crashed within the past 5 months  BTW, they were all virus protected and firewalled. My husband is very careful with them.
Does anyone have a preference in manufactures? We're definately going to get another laptop, but I'd like to know what has worked for everyone here.
In the meantime, I'll miss you all  I can only get on in the evenings with my dh's laptop he's going to bring home after work. God bless him 
I'd really appreciate some imput. Thanks so much.
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Ruth
mom to 7 miracles
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Mary G
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 8:31am | IP Logged
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Oh Ruth -- I KNOW how that goes. After months of working on my SIL's dial-up, I finally got moved into the house and had a telephone and 3-prong plug put in and when I went to boot the desktop that'd been in storage -- .....................! Yep, NOTHING!
So I went to BestBuy and got a Gateway laptop. This will go with my 17yos to college. It's an ok laptop but I think we'll splurge and get a Toshiba ... my dh has a Toshiba that I got him 8 years ago and it is still going strong! Those things are indestructible!
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Tami
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 12:11pm | IP Logged
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Well, it may cause a stir, but I say go Macintosh.
You avoid all those virus issues that way.........
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God bless,
Tami
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. (Nouwen)
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MarieC
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 2:09pm | IP Logged
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My dh recently surprised me with a laptop  . It's a Compaq and was pretty inexpensive (as inexpensive as expensive items are!) and has been going great....but it's only been a couple of months.
The screen is has far better definition than my husband's much more expensive laptop from work!
We'll miss you!
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Marie
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Kathryn UK
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 4:33pm | IP Logged
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I have had two laptops break while still under warranty during the past year. The first was a Hewlett Packard with a snapped power socket pin which left the machine totally unusable. HP were very unhelpful and we got a refund from the retailer. The second was an Acer on which the casing cracked by the hinge, making it impossible to close the lid or adjust the screen angle. This time round I am trying a Toshiba, which is doing OK so far but has Windows Vista Home Basic which I hate . I am also fed up of having to repeatedly reload everything  .
Around the time the last laptop broke I bought an iMac which I like much better than the Windows machines. It feels more robust, is far less likely to be hit by viruses and I find it generally easier to use. Next time I have to replace the laptop I'm getting another Mac.
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MarilynW
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 4:58pm | IP Logged
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For our desktops I have been very happy with Gateway and Dell.
Praying that you make the right decision.
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Marilyn
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insegnante
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 6:29pm | IP Logged
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We are a Thinkpad family; my husband who is a tech guy is very much for Thinkpads (IBM, or they might be "Lenovo/IBM" or something now, according to DH.)
He does ask why you don't get another hard drive though instead of a new laptop since it would be a lot cheaper. He doesn't think it's necessarily the laptop's fault that the hard drives crash in them, even if the laptops have the same manufacturer. He says the hard drives aren't usually manufactured by the makers of the laptops themselves.
He recommends TigerDirect.com both for hard drive and computer purchases -- new and factory-refurbished with warranties. (And no, he's not affiliated with them, just a satisfied customer )
Theresa
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Philothea
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 8:39pm | IP Logged
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Do not buy an Acer. They run very hot. Mine ran so hot it melted itself from the inside out, creating a fire hazard and destroying the computer. Though this is a well-known issue with Acers, mine was a few months out of its one-year warranty and Acer refused to stand behind their product. It would have cost almost as much to fix it as to replace it, so I am currently without a laptop and VERY angry with Acer.
I liked my IBM Thinkpad. It lasted for years before I finally managed to break the screen section off of the main keyboard (don't ask how). It actually still works if you plug a monitor into its serial port, but I can't find it right now. I'm pretty sure my darling husband threw it away by accident, along with almost all of my son's baby pictures that were stored on its hard drive.
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mrsgranola
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| Posted: April 19 2007 at 12:08am | IP Logged
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I'd say go for the Mac books!
:-)
I don't have one yet but I really, really want one!
JoAnna
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nicole-amdg
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| Posted: April 19 2007 at 4:45am | IP Logged
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I have an iBook and my husband has an iMac. They are both really great. I'm not much on sales pitches for Macs (though goodness knows they're out there) but I thought I'd add my experience for the tally.
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Ruth
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| Posted: April 19 2007 at 9:21am | IP Logged
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insegnante wrote:
He does ask why you don't get another hard drive though instead of a new laptop since it would be a lot cheaper. He doesn't think it's necessarily the laptop's fault that the hard drives crash in them, even if the laptops have the same manufacturer. He says the hard drives aren't usually manufactured by the makers of the laptops themselves.
He recommends TigerDirect.com both for hard drive and computer purchases -- new and factory-refurbished with warranties. (And no, he's not affiliated with them, just a satisfied customer )
Theresa |
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Thanks, Theresa. I'm the one who's pretty fed up with the pcs. He's already had to replace the motherboard on the laptop and the desktop, as well as the hard drive. They are all Dells, BTW. We are leasing the laptop from Dell, so before the lease runs out in June, we have to replace the hard drive
He will get a new hard drive for the two pcs, but we need to get a laptop for our dd17 when she starts taking a few classes at college in the hopefully near future.
TigerDirect sounds great. Thanks for the info on that. He's just tired of rebuilding them. They are all beteween 3-5 years old, so I guess it was about time all 3 would bite the dust
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Ruth
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Ruth
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| Posted: April 19 2007 at 9:23am | IP Logged
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Kathryn UK wrote:
| This time round I am trying a Toshiba... |
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This is what his job gave him, and he seems to like it a lot, although he still really loves Dell. We'll see.
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Ruth
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: April 19 2007 at 11:36am | IP Logged
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Ruth wrote:
They are all beteween 3-5 years old, so I guess it was about time all 3 would bite the dust |
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Ruth, my computer is almost nine years old! Yours are just babies!
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Kathryn UK
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| Posted: April 19 2007 at 2:22pm | IP Logged
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My mother has a Dell desktop and the monitor blew while still under warranty. My neighbour has a Sony Vaio laptop which has lasted 3 years or so despite heavy use. The Vaios cost a bit more than many other makes, but I'm beginning to think they are worth it.
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Ruth
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| Posted: April 19 2007 at 2:43pm | IP Logged
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teachingmyown wrote:
Ruth, my computer is almost nine years old! Yours are just babies! |
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I can't imagine that. I was beginning to think 3 years was the avarage.
Bernie has kindly left his Toshiba laptop at home for us to use. He knew how much I would miss you all.
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Ruth
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Karen T
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| Posted: May 06 2007 at 8:10am | IP Logged
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My dh and I both have Sony Vaio and have had no problems with them. He bought both of them from Sony's website directly and either got discontinued models or refurbished ones, saving a lot of money and still had full warranties.
Before the Sony's I had a Gateway laptop and didn't have problems with it but dh used to work for Gateway when they had local stores, then they closed the stores and laid everyone off with 2 weeks notice so we weren't thrilled with Gateway after that 
btw, the Thinkpads are no longer made by IBM - the entire personal PC (desktop and laptop) division has been sold to a chinese company (Lenovo) and are made either there or in India. My father worked for IBM for 40 years and I think it's a great company but I'm not sure how well Lenovo will keep up with its reputation. IBM has gone back to strictly business apps and servers, etc.
Karen
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Maryan
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| Posted: May 07 2007 at 12:23pm | IP Logged
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Oh Ruth - in the same boat! So reading all the answers...
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Maryan
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Topic: Help! Recommendations for a new Laptop?
