My requirement ... Which laptop is suitable to me?

[zihern]

I'm planning to buy a laptop with these requirements:

Processor: Intel Centrino (1.73GHz onwards)
HDD: 60GB and above
RAM: 512MB and above
OS: Windows XP Home
Display: Preferrable 15 inches and above
Video Card: ATI, no sharing memory, 64MB or 128MB
Bluetooth and Card Reader: Anything can do, either internal or external
Optical Drive: DVD +/-
Normal Usage: Documents, Internet, Multimedia, AutoCAD, not a gamer
BUDGET: RM4500.00
(Better not Dell as it is quite troublesome if the laptop encounters problem. I'm far from Penang.)

Any suggestion?

[coqwert]

do u need manysoftware?
such as flash mx , c++ , adobe?

[wiced]

Does anyone know which brand is the best or recommended for laptop or notebooks with the specific requirements above?

[Maxforce]

Dell will pickup from you directly via messenger if the laptop encounters problem. From your budget, you only have a few brands to play with, namely Dell, Compaq, BenQ, Acer.
But if you could increase your budget by RM1K, then I ll say, Fujitsu. Fujitsu. Fujitsu!!! Yay!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[zihern]

do u need manysoftware?
such as flash mx , c++ , adobe?

Nope. I do not need so much softwares.

[DecentMerson]

are u using it locally? or u will be going abroad?

[whatever]

Toshiba & IBM are good brands. Like the previous poster asked, if you'll be using it abroad, get an extended international warranty, which AFAIK, only IBM & Toshiba offer, I think. Believe me, it'll $ave you a lot$ of trouble....

[zAiTsEv]

Toshiba & IBM are good brands. Like the previous poster asked, if you'll be using it abroad, get an extended international warranty, which AFAIK, only IBM & Toshiba offer, I think. Believe me, it'll $ave you a lot$ of trouble....

Dell offers it too.

[whatever]

Toshiba & IBM are good brands. Like the previous poster asked, if you'll be using it abroad, get an extended international warranty, which AFAIK, only IBM & Toshiba offer, I think. Believe me, it'll $ave you a lot$ of trouble....

Dell offers it too.Really? Extended 3 years international warranty?

[Maxforce]

Most brands now offer international extended warranty anyway. Just make sure you include it in your package. Just add a couple of hundreds.

[zAiTsEv]

Toshiba & IBM are good brands. Like the previous poster asked, if you'll be using it abroad, get an extended international warranty, which AFAIK, only IBM & Toshiba offer, I think. Believe me, it'll $ave you a lot$ of trouble....

Dell offers it too.Really? Extended 3 years international warranty?

Yes. Check out for yourself at Dell's website.

[Zeroth]

dell will come to you if you need servicing, so i don't think its a problem.

dell has extended 3 years international warranty, but it only covers asia pacific region i think. Check it if you decide to buy. However, i remember that you have to add a couple hundred of ringgit for that warranty.

[shhh_87]

i just bought a new laptop from someone who related to dell's company..(still dun receive yet)... im not sure about this laptop to, izit good or not....im goin to use this for my course abroad-architecture, anyone noe bout which laptop is da most suitable for my course, please do inform me....this is da detail bout my laptop;

>dell (new)
>14 inch (anyone noe what inch suitble for architcture course)
>upgrade to 1 Gb (RAM)
>upgrade speed to 2.2
>cost (not more than RM2000) -link
>3 years warranty

please....anyone noe bout this dell's brand do inform me...
-------(",)thank you

[wiced]

I am considering buying a laptop which I am going to bring it to overseas. And owing to budget limit and other factors, I have chosen Acer over other brands. But, I am undecided whether to buy which one of the two Acer models that are TravelMate 3212WXCi and TravelMate 3214WXMi.

TM 3212WXCi
- Intel Pentium M Processor 740
- DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
- Price : RM 3499
- Students rebate RM200

TM 3214WXMi
- Intel Pentium M Processor 760
- DVD Dual Double Layer Drive
- Integrated Bluetooth
- Price : RM 3988 (no rebate)

As you can see, both are having the same specification and almost similar except that TM3214WXMi seems more advanced. Are the DVD dual drive and the Bluetooth thingy really necessary for a student as I will be using my laptop for normal uses?

[Zeroth]

Don't get ACER, it's not good.

[wiced]

Don't get ACER, it's not good.

Have you been using Acer all this while and did you have any bad experience with it? Well, I can only afford Acer and Dell while other brands might burn a hole in the pocket :( .. Personally, I don't feel that Dell is better among the two, so, i settle for Acer.. Any suggestions which brand that is both affordable and good in quality? I might consider buying those between RM4000 - RM5000 if it is good...

[zihern]

I'm not sure whether it's true or just a rumour. But many say that Acer is not advisable to be bought as it gets "out of service" faster. However, we can't deny that Acer is the best among the cheaper. The another brand, Dell, is quite confusing as the conditions of on-site warranty is not stated clearly.

[aquila]

If you can afford it, get a Mac. You won't get viruses and annoying pop ups like a Window user will (at least not as frequently). Movie resolution better. Mac is definitely the laptop for you if you're artistic.

Don't get Acer. We got an Acer a couple years ago and it spent half of the year in the repair shop. A generic computer is way better than Acer. My friend got an Acer laptop and had to send it back a couple of times. Dell would be the better choice if you are looking for a budget computer.

With Mac's new IBook, I think Mac laptops are quite affordable nowadays as well. I bought my IBook online for US$1300 with a 3 year warranty.

[Zeroth]

Nearly all my friends with Acer laptops complained about their laptops. A common problem with their laptops are the cd-roms. Next problem would be heating problems.

Although it is cheap, on the long run, it'll cost you more than other more reliable laptops. So u shd decide on this factors as well.

[Gabriel]

haha, try IBM instead. with 4000 plus you can get a good one. But if you need to install lot's of programs, dun buy R50E(which i'm having now), as it might leg at times with too much programs in it.but i guess that's what a RM3500 IBM can give me...hehe :lol:

[youngyew]

I'm not sure whether it's true or just a rumour. But many say that Acer is not advisable to be bought as it gets "out of service" faster. However, we can't deny that Acer is the best among the cheaper. The another brand, Dell, is quite confusing as the conditions of on-site warranty is not stated clearly.
One of my friends' ACER laptop got burnt (literally) when one day the laptop switched off on its own and exuded some burnt rubber smell. The laptop needed to be replaced as it couldn't be switched on at all.

Generally there are indeed many negative remarks about ACER laptops. However, in my personal experience ACER didn't cause me much problem. I have been using ACER Travelmate 290 for about 2 years, and there have been zero problem. It's quite fast and stable, and I needed no reformat to reboost the performance yet. (I will reformat it quite soon though, just a routine maintenance)

[Zeroth]

i just got my dell laptop serviced. ON-site means they fix it in your home.

[iQing]

Don't get ACER, it's not good.

I am using an ACER

don't get fujitsu Siemens,
it is not good :P

[Zeroth]

fujitsu and siemens tgt d?

[gohweihan]

The issue with Acer isn't that it's a terrible brand (or else it would be out of business). It's just that there is a higher failure rate compared to other brands. This is offset by the cheaper price of the laptop (perhaps due to lower research and development cost). I've seen both good Acer laptops (those working like a charm), and bad Acer laptops (those which crashed due to hardware failure).

For Acer, I've heard of ineffective processor placements within some Acer models, and motherboard and product design flaws which leads to overheating, as well as one person telling me that Acer uses passive heat dissipation (although I've not been able to open up any Acer laptops to verify any of that). I've also heard of one case whereby there exist a problem of electricity leak from the laptop (which perhaps may just be a random case, but it does go to statistics to say that perhaps Acer does indeed lower their development cost to enable their products to be so cheap).

But one thing with Acer is that some models utilize first-party wireless cards. The mini-PCI wireless cards used in some Acer laptops are developed in-house, and thus is not used widely. While this is not a problem for most people, and it doesn't concern those who doesn't use wireless at all, it is when you think about development, because with the limited exposure of the first-party components to the public, little feedback is recieved and thus driver development (or product development) is slow. Simply put it, software and hardware flaws are less likely to be discovered as compared to manufacturers who use cards based on the Intel or Atheros chipset. However, if the Acer laptop is using the complete Centrino set of technologies, then this doesn't apply.

So far, people here have suggested various brands. Having worked with almost all these brands, here's my two cents on them.

I've talked about Acer a while ago, so let's stop at that.

I'm using NEC, and I would say it's quite alright for a laptop, especially considering that they use components which I can easily find drivers for. It's support isn't first class judging from the website contents (drivers, etc.), but it doesn't quite matter to me. If support is your priority, then I would say try and avoid this brand.

Fujitsu is a good brand, having seen it in action and looked at a few models before. It has service centers all over Malaysia, but I've not seen any Fujitsu laptops being sent for servicing due to hardware failure as of yet even with the large number of Fujitsu owners in NTU.

Compaq and HP are from the same parent company, and their support website is quite alright, although I've also not dealt with the hardware servicing side. Hardware wise, I heard they use standard components which are easy to find drivers for.

IBM is out of the business. Any reference to IBM here is actually to Lenovo, the largest computer company in China. Lenovo bought over IBM's laptop manufacturing assets and the Thinkpad brand. As of now, any new Thinkpad isn't supported by IBM, but by Lenovo, and I'm not sure of the level of support by that company. Thinkpad designs are industrial (that's the best way I can put it), but performance wise it's like any other laptops.

Toshiba is said by many to be reliable. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to say of this brand, since it's a little overpriced here in Singapore.

I've not dealt with Dell as well, so no comments.

And there are those lesser known brands like Asus, MSI and Samsung. Sony is out of the picture unless you can afford their Vaio laptops (of which their high price is partially due to first-party LCD screens).

To categorize by price, Compaq, HP and Acer may be the cheapest of the lot. All other brands are slightly more expensive.

When you want to look for laptops, the most important thing is support, followed by the detailed specification of the internal components (of which the more common the components, the better and easier to find third-party support). For me, it's not enough to just know that a laptop uses Centrino technology, because almost 90% of the laptops use them. The difference is in the other components (i.e. PCMCIA, bluetooth, wireless adapters), which more often than not are the ones giving problems (judging from the laptops which I troubleshoot). And it doesn't help when drivers from the laptop manufacturer (for proprietary hardware) are incompatible with the system, of which then it will be a hell lot of time to get things repaired due to the inavailability of drivers or replacement components. The easier it is to find drivers and support for the hardware inside the laptop, the more likely it is that your laptop could be repaired by the tech geek within your vicinity.

[gohweihan]

And I'm not sure if this may help, but it's a bunch of price guides for laptop resellers in Lowyat Plaza.

http://www.hardwarezone.com.my/priceguide/

[youngyew]

This is certainly not related to the thread, but welcome back to ReCom, Wei Han! Your presence was missed since June.

[Thirdshifter]

Just as a side note... Acer has won the best laptop manufacturer of the year.

Also Acer has been number one in laptops for over 5 years.

Acer sponsors the Ferrari F1.

There's no reason for not buying acer and from my point of view Acer gives you more bangs for your bucks.

However the Acers sold in Malaysia and singapore are most probably the low-end (cheaper) since the disturbutors have taken the higher end Acers and rebrand it to F-tec for the Malaysian and maybe singapore market to reduce the price.

[Penny]

IBM is out of the business. Any reference to IBM here is actually to Lenovo, the largest computer company in China. Lenovo bought over IBM's laptop manufacturing assets and the Thinkpad brand. As of now, any new Thinkpad isn't supported by IBM, but by Lenovo, and I'm not sure of the level of support by that company. Thinkpad designs are industrial (that's the best way I can put it), but performance wise it's like any other laptops.

Anyone knows about Thinkpad's performance specifically?
I thought of getting one.
Also, can anyone tell how's HP/Compaq's performance like?

[Zeroth]

I don't know much about the IBM, but i have a friend that is chanting IBM to everyone he sees.. Apparently, the thinkpad is like a tank, it can survive a fall in the staircase, can't verify that though.. lol! The harddisk is also protected by some safe guard system that automatically detects falls. So if you're a rough user, maybe you might want to consider it.

I think Toshiba is a good brand. The sound system of a toshiba laptop is reputed to be one of the best.

For Dell, I think its support system is pretty decent, especially for driver support and technical support. They have a website dedicated for support that provides driver updates for everything in the computer.

[gohweihan]

Just as a side note... Acer has won the best laptop manufacturer of the year.

Also Acer has been number one in laptops for over 5 years.

I would like the source of this. Need it to check on how they got that award, and for what region.

The thing is, it's logical to say that with higher sales comes higher failure rates (number wise). But I don't think most of the failures which I've seen before in Acer laptops are caused by normal user-made field failures (I just know one when I see one). They are very random field failures. Perhaps it's just the OEM manufacturer for the Asia Pacific side.

As for Thinkpad, there's no more IBM, so the support is dubious at the moment (for me at least), unless someone who has dealt with Lenovo can enlighten me. The good thing is that Thinkpad laptops are still manufactured using former IBM technologies and manufacturing capabilities (it's just like they change the parent company without affecting the end product). Also it seems that here in NTU, they are having trouble meeting demand figures. And in their marketing, there's no mention of Lenovo, and it's marketed as just that - Thinkpad.

The thing is, I really emphasise on widespread driver support because you'll never know when you really need it. I could relate one personal experience here, when my wireless card driver provided by NEC doesn't work well with Windows XP SP 2. Basically the manufacturer drivers locks the system for a long time before timeout. However, since I know my wireless card is widely used (or at least the chipset is, since it's Atheros and used by D-Link), newer drivers can be found easily which can replace the one given by the manufacturer and solve the problem.

And if someone is a rough user, I would recommend Panasonic Toughbook (if you still could find it), since it is certified military-grade capable. Thinkpad uses inertial detectors which detects sudden jerks and pauses the hard drive. Not sure if any other manufacturer uses it.

But to note, I've seen a Fujitsu (my senior's) laptop fall flat on the ground with the LCD hitting the ground face first, and it works like nothing had happened right after that (although I don't recommend anyone to try it out deliberately).

[iQing]

I am using a acer laptop now
I have bought a Fujitsu Siemens laptop in Germany and it has given me a lot of problems.

acer products r not bad
I am satisfied with my ACER pen drive.

[masdie]

What about lesser known brands? How about some M'sian brands here huh?

[Penny]

Which is better between Pentium M and AMD Turion?

It seems Pentium has a bit longer battery life,
while AMD has a better performance.

Is that so?

[kakumei]

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=34121
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=24051

Hope this will help you. I'm going to buy ACER TravelMate 4182LCi soon.

Can I not buy the original WindowXP cd that comes along with the notebook? Coz, I have already 2 of those cds at home...

And I want to change its specifications a bit. Fell like changing the DVD/CD-RW to DVD/CD+RW...[/url]

[gohweihan]

What about lesser known brands? How about some M'sian brands here huh?

Ergonomics is a problem with some of them. I've repaired a Hyundai, and I think they really have a problem with the design of the laptop.

[gohweihan]

Which is better between Pentium M and AMD Turion?

It seems Pentium has a bit longer battery life,
while AMD has a better performance.

Is that so?

For the moment, it does seem that Pentium M has longer battery life. If that is your primary concern, then currently Pentium M (and the Centrino platform) is your choice. Turion is actually designed as a platform to compete with Intel's Centrino Mobile Technology.

The prime consideration between Pentium M laptops and Turion based laptops revolves around 64-bit computing, since the Turion system consists of a 64-bit processor while Pentium M isn't. Based on trends and developer adoption of the 64-bit platform, we would probably see full-fledge adoption only when Windows Vista is released.

As of now, performance of a Turion in a 32-bit environment against the Pentium M would probably be like comparing the AMD Athlon64 against the Pentium 4 (32-bit). Only when you have a 64-bit environment (like Windows XP 64-bit), and optimized 64-bit drivers and software will you be able to see the true performance of the Turion platform. But as of now, these things are hard to come by.

If you want my take on this, I would say go for AMD's solution. It's future proof anyway, unless like I said earlier, battery life is your primary concern.

You could read an article here for a detailed description on both processors.

http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=17&page=1

Feel free to ask for clarification if you're not clear about the terms used there.

[gohweihan]

I am using a acer laptop now
I have bought a Fujitsu Siemens laptop in Germany and it has given me a lot of problems.

acer products r not bad
I am satisfied with my ACER pen drive.

Different regions have different models with different OEM manufacturers. Perhaps that's the case in Europe.