laptop purchase

[mrchester]

my daughter is set on buying a laptop, in looking from sony to dell to toshiba, etc,
which one's would be considered to be more reliable, or more prone to problems, should she also get one of these additional coolers, that fit under the computer, are those really any help, should she find one with vista, or would xp be better, its kind of like looking for a car, thank you if you can shed any light on this, also if she gets one from a store like staples or office depot, should she purchase additional warranty, thanks

[hejlik]

I am not sure which ones are the best. I have a dell and I am satisfied.  I think SONY is good, but they are expensive.

From what I have read, those coolers work pretty good.  If she will be using her laptop on her ahh  lap, I think the cooler is a good idea. If nothing else it helps to keep the vents open, although I just use a small board.

Unless there is some program that she uses that absolutely needs XP. I would go with VISTA. I have a friend who's daughter was buying a laptop for collage. She had to stay with XP because of some program she needed to run at school.

When I bought a laptop for my son, I bought the additional warranty because it covered the screen for accidental damage (If he dropped it and broke it, it would replace or fix it)  A laptop for a collage bound child is one of the few times I agree with the additional warranty, assuming it covers accidental damage.

[mcxeb52!]

additional warranty is good.

Something like what the following link shows seems good but I don't know about the budget that you are limited to.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147654


And if you use newegg, they can get you your product in 2 business days and you can also buy extra warranty if you want.

[quaxo]

Personal experience and opinion:

Both of the Toshiba computers I've owned and all the ones I've worked on were great. Durable and long lasting. Never had to fix a hardware problem on any of them.

HP and Acer laptops aren't bad, especially if you're on a budget. You get what you paid for.

Sony laptops are overpriced. Everyone that I've known that bought one had it die within 6 months of their warranty expiring.

I've had an ASUS laptop for a year now, and so far I'm impressed.

IBM laptops were (in my opinion) good until Lenova got a hold of them. Not sure how they are now, I haven't had the chance to work with one.

Keep in mind that's my personal experience and may not reflect what you will experience with any of these products.

[brett74]

I bought a gateway laptop about 2 years ago and I've been very happy with it. Dells are good too. I agree with quaxo sonys are over priced