Buying A Laptop

[htowner]

I own a Sony Vaio, 2nd year running with absolutely no problems. well, i did have to change the adapter last year. But i use my vaio a lot, so that was no surprise. Sony Vaio is expensive for similar models , but its my personal choice.

I am sure most might go for Deals from their B-Schools. But in case, you want to consider other options...

Suggestions

1. Dell is not a good choice. i am talking relatively here compared to toshiba probably. I have heard many complaints about Dell. Dell desktops are great, but i cant say that about their laptops.

2. Cost should be your priority,but consider reliability too.

3. Toshiba is probably one of the better ones out there. two of my other friends own one and are happy with it. for the design conscious, consider a Sony Vaio.

4. I strongly advise that you check out the quality of customer support before dealing with a company. It is one of Dell's strengths atleast in the US computer market.

5. Get as much RAM as possible. 40 Gigs on your hard drive would be fine. if you need more storage, you can always get a external hard drive.

for more , there is a seperate thread on businessweek dealing with this topic. you might want to read those posts.

regards
htowner

[anujmadan]

hi

plz donot buy ACER, its cheap but not reliable. My very goo friend deals in laptops, he says he sold 1500 laptops of IBM to companies and equal no. of laptops of Toshiba and ACER to other companies ( recently HUTCH has arrived in CHD).
the complaints received on avg. of these btrands is:

IBM: 50/1500 ( replacements)
TOSHIBA: 75/ 1500 ( "" )
ACER: 500/ 1500 ( "" )

so going costwise and reliability/support one in INDIA must go for TOSHIBA

Bye


ANUJ MADAN

[Sameer Gupta]

Good thread to discuss on as ppl have started getting final admits..!!

I am waitlisted in SPJ and final admit in NMIMS. So would have to get a laptop in whichever instt I get to join.

For a little of my intro..!!

I am working as technical specialist in a MNC Computer Call Center.. !!
GUESS Which one..!!

...
...
Yes !!!

DELL

And I have my brother in law as a Sales Manager in HP India.
So as an employee of Dell, I can purchase the laptops under Employee Purchase Plan (EPP). And I can get an HP Laptop as well.

However, I just wanted to know that CAN WE REALLY GET OUR OWN LAPTOP for SPJ or NMIMS.

Or is it compulsory to buy from the instt.. comsidering they are asking for the DD for Laptop cost as well.

Somebody mentioned here that Dell Laptops are not good...!!
Dont consider myself supporting my company, but considering Dell as number 1 in portables in US market, it really speaks something about it.

To clear the picture, Dell has two lines of portable systems.

Inspiron and Latitude...!!

Go to the website and look for Latitude systems. You would love them and they really are wonderful. INspiron are not that good and have problems.

But Latitudes are just wonderful systems. Some of them without any drives are sleek like a notebook. Well that's why they are also called Notebook comps.

I have heard that even HP systems are good. however, cost wise Acer and toshiba have edge over others...

But initially I would like to know for sure, if we can buy our own laptops or not. !!

Sameer Gupta

[Archana]

Thanks Anuj, Sameer and all of u for throwing light on such a tech subject.

I have another question, i hope v can discuss that out as well.
I agree that with such good branded laptops, v wud get the OS registered. But what abt the Office ??

Does that mean that v gotta pay another 30K for MS Office? or is that a part of the quotations taht the instis offer?
If v gotta buy registered sw, will going for offices of Lotus and Staroffice (sun micro) do any good?
I have a reg original Lotus office and the StarOffice is free :P on the net to dw.

But again my point is that,
a) Can v save the docs prepared in the other offices to the MS ppt or MS xls format?
b) Can v open the MS Office files from the internet on our StarOffice / Lotus office?

I need the techies to throw some light on this part.
I dont feel like spending another 30K for Office after purchasing a laptop from Spjain at 65K (sp jain Dubai)

Thanks
Archana

PS: I am gona be using the laptop in Dubai, i understand that Dubai is NOT India and the piracy rules can b strict and i could be a victim of some serious penalty

[SPJAIN_ROHIT]

SPJAIN has put 3 brands on offer

1. Hp-Compaq
2. IBM
3. Toshiba.

There's no doubt that Toshiba offer is the coolest one. Let me tell you brief history.

In year 2002 SPJIMR offered only Toshiba
In year 2003 SPJIMR offered both Toshiba and IBM
This year they are offering 3 brands. So Toshiba is well tested by guys at SP. now one of my friends at SP told that TOSHIBA is not very sturdy, it has battery problems. He told due to excess usage even IBM batteries gets worn out; however the incidence is higher in Toshiba.

Hence Toshiba ruled out for me. IBM ruled out since Compaq offers IEEE port, PCMCIA port which i am assuming missing in IBM (since they haven't specified). Also Compaq has JBL speakers.JBL is leader in sound technology. Further Compaq has 5 hrs battery backup.

The only thing i am missing out is DVD, which i would get upgraded after some time. DVD is not so popular in India, it's required if you travel abroad. In India you can do without DVD.

regards
rohit

[topgun]

=============================
But again my point is that,
a) Can v save the docs prepared in the other offices to the MS ppt or MS xls format?
b) Can v open the MS Office files from the internet on our StarOffice / Lotus office?
==============================
Yes, you can save/open docs made in star office in MS office and vice versa.

[abhishekd]

Hey Sameer,

U mentioned something abt employee discounts offered in Dell. How much of a discount do Dell employees get?

Also I'm interested in buying the Dell Inspirion 600m with a 1.6 Ghz centrino, 60 GB HDD, DVD + CDRW Combo, 512 MB Ram, 64 MB ATI RADEON 9000 AGP 4x graphics card. I've got a quote of Rs. 85745 from Dell for the same. (Win XP Home edition OS)

The reason I'm interested in the Dell 600m is because:
1) Its a Centrino based laptop => Its doesn't heat up too much.
2) Its light (2.3 Kgs)
3) It has alot of connectivity options: Wireless LAN, IEEE port, Serial / Parallel Port, USB, Swappable media bay, IrDA port etc. etc.

Also do you know if I can upgrade WinXP Home to WinXP pro form a pirated CD?

Abhishek

[anujmadan]

Hi Sameer

Can u check the cost of the following Config
Processor : Centrino or Pentium 4

Operating System : Microsoft windows XP Professional

Memory : 512 MB

Hard Disk : 80 GB

Optical Drive : DVD-CD RW Combo Drive

Graphics : 32 mb Video Ram

Screen Size : 38.1 cms XGA TFT

Wireless Card : 802.11g compliant (please note 802.11 a and b
would not suffice)

in DELL or HP if i have to buy.
this would be so kind of u.


bye

ANUJ

[abishekkalro]

hey guys... a quikc suggestion... if u cud get down laptops from the US... nthing like it... u can get amazing configs between 1000-1250$US eyes closed... the same wud cost you atleast 25% more elsewhere... dubai is the next cheapest place after US and then u could get on down from china....
all this would work only if you have ppl coming from there... or else.. i dont think u guys should at 8-10k ... pick a laptop that would have good resale value or would serve you on a long run... my personal advice... pick a worldwide known brand Pentium Centrino 1.5 atleast, 30-40gb hdd, IEEE port, CD writer (trust me, will be real handy), Decent 14-15" XVGA screen, 10/100 Lan ... alll these are the basic requirements anywhere you use ur laptop... i did a bit of research n found laptops in US wth this config and a few more goodies at around 1000$ and i am looking for someone to handcarry it for me... no customs na ...

unfortunately... i hvent got anywhere.. but i need a laptop coz i am a comp freak...and esp at the deal has tempted me...

cheers
abishek

[MavericK]

Originally Posted by abhishekd

Also I'm interested in buying the Dell Inspirion 600m with a 1.6 Ghz centrino, 60 GB HDD, DVD + CDRW Combo, 512 MB Ram, 64 MB ATI RADEON 9000 AGP 4x graphics card. I've got a quote of Rs. 85745 from Dell for the same. (Win XP Home edition OS)

you really want an ATI Radeon for B-School life ?
btw any idea abt the Sony Viao systems ??
Guess you shd go for a laptop with Linux package to save 5k bucks there
<hail piracy>