Posted on 03/03/2013 5:17:13 PM PST by Lexinom
Looking to spend $400-$700 for a decent notebook to be used primarily for software development and graphics. Need some speed and horsepower, and durability. These things typically last me about five years, and this one here (a Sony Vaio) is nearing the end of the line.
Brands you'd recommend? Lenovo is highly regarded but very, very Chinese. I'd like to stay away from that. And I hate Apple with a passion.
This will be running Linux.
I also have an ASUS (a - sooos). I bought a laptop 3 years ago and bought my spousal unit one last year. Great warranty too.
The only “problem” I’ve had is with the out of the box adobe and java software loaded in the WIN7 image. If you are going with Linux, you may avoid that.
>> I use Dell but I would never recommend them.
I use Dell but would recommend them. Nearly all the support cases I had over the last 10 years were handled quickly and without resistance.
I had an Everex laptop made in Fremont California by Filipina -American assembly workers in 1998. But the company was Chinese owned by a brother and sister who fought all the time and stole all the salespeoples` accounts for themselves so they wouldn`t have to pay any commissions.
My Toshiba is made in China
It will be an interesting challenge to find one that isn’t for that price range.
I think possibly Alienware and Puget but they are way above that price.
Hats off to you for taking the time to locate and buy one NOT made in China. As an added bonus your purchase will probably be less likely to have a back door built into it. We all need to stop feeding the monster and buy things made here or at least in friendly countries.
Ditto, I had a HP tablet that almost made it a year. It is not even good for boat anchor as my boat sank with all my guns aboard.
IMHO, the Lenovo Think Pad is the best notebook out there, bar none. Yes, it’s made in China, but so what? You won’t find a better one and their support is US based.
I wouldn't touch an HP, Toshiba, Dell...those things are overpriced or just carp. Asus is a really good company and generally make superior product for any price point. If you are buying a desktop, buy Asus motherboard.
Asus laptops are good for the price point but are not the easiest things to repair if you have problems.
Almost all the laptops/brands are coming off the exact same lines, with the same components. One day the line will build Dell, the next, someone else. It really comes down to the motherboard and its design and how much the brand is willing to pay to put it together.
We have been buying Acer laptops for at least 10 years. Not sure how many that is but enough to say with all those purchased we have had hardware problems with less than 1% of them (2 out of hundreds and hundreds...one Acer even covered out of warranty...we had to go through their wholesale channel to get to their service people). Acer's have been rock solid for us.
Acers also have very little bloatware (like HP, Compaq, Dell, Toshiba...) so your computer won't have a bunch of carp running in the background.
Get a third generation Core i3 processor (can't remember the product numbers) for general. For graphics, get a Core i5. If you need heavy duty processing, Core i7 (I think this will be out of your price range). Going up in the processor capability chews battery life.
Stick with an Intel Core series processor and avoid AMDs. AMDs are cheaper for a reason. The processor chip or motherboard (or both) burn up a lot...for every brand.
If you need graphics, look for something with a separate video/graphics card and at least 4GB of RAM on the motherboard.
Get something that has USB 3 built into it.
If you can still find one with Windows 7, get it. Avoid Win8. I am still not that thrilled with Windows 64 bit architecture, yet. Their are still some hardware glitches and some internet stuff may or may not work with 64 bit. We generally reload Windows in 32 bit (keycodes work for both 32 and 64 bit versions). For almost all users, their is very little gained by the 64 bit, other than more than 3GB of RAM.
Isn't that an odd coincidence........I mean, exactly the same thing happened to....well.....
The Lenovo E430 ThinkPad barely edges out the ASUS S405CA-RH51. Same price. The ASUS comes with a built-in 24GB solid-state drive (great for compiling code), but the Lenovo is 2.6Ghz processing speed vs 1.7GHz. Both have 1600Mhz FSB.
Still, I'd be a hypocrite if I chose Lenovo for a small performance edge and ignored this:
Acers also have very little bloatware (unlike HP, Compaq, Dell, Toshiba...) so your computer won't have a bunch of carp running in the background.
Linux: The Ultimate Windows Service Pack
None
I understand that you hate Apple, but they are looking to move some manufacturing back to the US.
So you have to ask yourself, what’s more important.
HP has slipped in recent years though, in general, I'd agree with you. Had a Pavilion until 2008. In 2007 the power jack wriggled a fracture into the main board. I squeezed another year of life out of it by soldering the power wires directly to the motherboard (and re-soldering periodically).
Sony, to their credit, does not mount the power jack directly to the motherboard, though the jacks still suck. Power jack failure is what's plaguing this Vaio I'm using now. Oh, and there's the fact the left touchpad button no longer works (no dragging capability).
I used to use an Acer breadboard when I was in college studying electronics. The “little bloatware” sure is appealing, but I think I’ll be putting Ubuntu on whatever I get, overwriting whatever’s there.
Your point is well-taken, however.
You can probably go on Ebay and find an old IBM or HP with an 80286 CPU. Those weren’t made in China.
Taiwan is not China - at least not the China I’m hoping to minimize in my purchase.
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