[Ueriah]

Have you considered a Tablet PC with a remote keyboard?

I’m in the market for a new “productivity” device, and I am currently looking at the iPad 2 with the remote bluetooth KB. Easy to use, light, portable.

[HOYA97]

Once you figure out what you want, you should build your own. I built my own after a little help and I have never looked back. It is also a lot cheaper than anything off the shelf. I recommend tigerdirect.com.

Good lUck!!

[Truth29]

Off topic reply, but you had the screen and motherboard replaced at least three times and you considered it a good machine (even with good service). You have a very high tolerance for problems. I am typing this with a very old Dell D410 that is all original and would also recommend Dells, but that is because it has never failed.

[ShadowAce]

The Dell D830 is a nice machine.

I'm currently using a MSI GT680r:

• 8G RAM
• 2 500G HDD in a RAID configuration
• nVidia 460M graphics
• Intel Core i7 CPU
• Less than $1900

has performed flawlessly for me now since April.

[Lady Lucky]

FWIW, I’ve never had anything but Hewlitt-Packard computers since 1998, and never had to replace anything. I’m told a new battery for the bios would be helpful in my old xp, but other than that, never had a problem and never needed a tinker for anything. Got a 1998 model with Windows 98 that is still running just fine. HP laptop with Windows 7 is an excellent thing too. Good on ya, HP.

[Johnny B.]

Stay away from "consumer" laptops; get a business-class machine. You'll generally get a better quality machine with less junk installed on it.

I have always been happy with Thinkpads. I've heard lots of horror stories about Sony's support.

[ShadowAce]

[USNBandit]

I understand your problem with switching to Mac for compatibility reasons. I waited until I retired from the Navy Reserves to switch to Mac and I am really happy. I don't know how the MS Office for Mac works so I won't comment on it.

I have a Dell latitude E6410 sitting on my desk and it seems pretty stable in Window 7. It belongs to work and I use it primarily to program radios for law enforcement work. Unfortunately, that requires using XP virtual machine because the Motorola software isn't compatible with 7. If I learned anything about PC based laptops it is that even 7 likes a lot of RAM. Don't save money there. My work Dell has 4 GB of RAM. My previous personally owned PC laptop had two GB of RAM, sucked with Vista (think 6 lb. netbook) and was okay with 7.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I think you should get Windows 7 Pro and not Home.

I just bought this HP laptop

HP ProBook 4525s $409.99

And added 4GB RAM for $22.29

G.SKILL 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3

There is an empty slot for the RAM. It is very easy to do yourself.

Then you call HP and they will send you Windows 7 Pro 32- and 64-bit disks. Install the 64-bit version, and you have a heck of a laptop for under $450.

HP only sends you the disks for the Pro laptops. If you buy anything else they won't send them.

I am very satisfied with mine after six months. I am a developer and have SQL Server 2008 installed on it and it runs great.

[SueRae]

ping for later reading. both of my other laptops recently died (Dell small notebook andthe Inspiron)

[Melas]

If video performance is important to you, don’t overlook Dell’s Alienware line. I have the MX18, and it rocks.

[wildbill]

I have had great history with my 3 year old Toshiba laptop wioth a 15.6 “ screen.

They are on sale regularly at the Toshiba online site and recently were advertised as low as $299 with 3 gigs of Ram. 4gigs a little more.

[napscoordinator]

I have a MacBook Pro and very happy with it. I would recommend it 100 percent.

[CodeToad]

I’d nix the Vostro line. Kinda cheapo.

Also, ‘Dell Outlet’ is an awesome way to save up to half the cost on a new laptop. Look for ‘Outlet’ on the Dell.Com web page. They are as good as new but WAY cheaper and also immediately available.

[UB355]

My experience has been with Dell laptops. I’ve purchased the lower end units. 1000 and 1525. The 1000 is an XP which is stable as a rock. I had to rebuild the disk once after a funky power surge and outage in our neighborhood. I still use it daily, it’s almost seven years old. At some point I maxed out the memory.

The 1525 is three years old. I did lose a disk on it after a year and one half, cost me $65.00 to replace it. I bought it with Vista and have upgraded to Windows 7. It works fine. Only adults in the home so it escaped kid abuse.

[Rational Thought]

My honest opinion....I've owned probably 15 laptops from 7 different manufacturers. Yet, the one I've held onto the longest and continue to use even though its 6 years old is my Lenovo ThinkPad. Without a doubt, it's the best constructed laptop I've ever had.

In terms of chipsets and/or cpu’s, I would tend to stay with Intel Core2Duo or newer. Even though Core2Duo is a dated platform, it is plenty fast for everything you would be doing and typically would save you significant $$$ over newer technology, if price is a big factor.

[Kimmers]

My son has obtained a high security clearance through the military. During the course of his training he checked with us to make sure we did not have Lenovo....not sure why but I guess that would be one to stay away from...

I have had a Macbook for 4 years and love it....I have never had a single problem with it.....

[Varsity Flight]

BUT.....what about my old software????

Will I have to buy brand new software because the new OS won’t support it? The new software priced at the cost of a new computer itself?

And this includes my older printer???

[SVTCobra03]

Dell XPS 17 FTW.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/xps-laptops?c=us&cs=19&l=en

[aimhigh]

I finally moved from Dell to ASUS and am satisfied with the laptop and service. If you really want fast, get one with an SSD (solid state hard drive).