I am considering buying a laptop soon, but the last time I researched laptops was 5 years ago when I bought my last one, and from what I understand the market has changed considerably.

Can people give me their opinions on which are the best/worst around at the moment?

I would be using it for general purpose stuff - movies, music, photos, word, storage, etc. I want it to have a built in webcam and mic if possible for Skype, and a fairly large hdd.

I really don't have a budget in mind at the moment, but the best quality I can get for the cheapest possible obviously - I don't need all the bells and whistles, and I don't need it to be capable of playing games, as I don't. (Although, off-topic, what specs would I need to play Diablo 3 when it comes out?)

My final question would be: Do you think PCs or Macs are better? Or maybe a more appropriate question would be which you think is more appropriate for my needs, and is there anything you can do on one that you can't on the other (other than games on pc)?

i would get HP/Dell

Dell gives you great warranty... and both give you decent laptop for the price..

Dell!
Their XPS series are pretty good value.

Get Asus is pretty good then dell

My final question would be: Do you think PCs or Macs are better? Or maybe a more appropriate question would be which you think is more appropriate for my needs, and is there anything you can do on one that you can't on the other (other than games on pc)?

Mac OS is a lot different to Windows. But then again, for those things you want a laptop for, I would buy a Mac as they're very reliable and those functions (media and photos and whatnot) are actually a lot better on Mac OS than Windows (such as iPhoto, iMovie and iTunes). If you're considering a mac as a possibility, you'd wanna go check them out at an Apple store or Myer etc before you bought one as obviously Macs aren't for everyone.

That being said, I own a Mac with Leopard and wouldn't go back to Windows full-time (I need it dual-booted but rarely).

last edited by 3dee at 12:38:35 12/Dec/08

I have used both macs and pcs, and windows/osx also. I have grown up with pcs, and even after having used macs for several months prefer the pc, even though I do enjoy some aspects of macs.

I think as long as I could boot windows on a mac occasionally I would be ok with a mac laptop, but only if there is a particular reason for getting one, other than asthetics.

I am totally happy with movies/photos etc in pc, but recently people have been giving fairly convincing arguments for macs, and I'm curious to hear other people's opinions.

I bought a mid/low range Asus recently and it's been good.

Two year manufacturer's warranty is a winner.

i didn't go Dell cause I cbf waiting and I'm sick of using Dell stuff (everything at work is Dell). I wanted a different logo dammit.

Oh, to add onto this, I'd love something with a longer battery.

Also, don't need a good warrenty. I never use them.

Dell!
Their XPS series are pretty good value.

Next lappy I'm going to get a notebook. Portability trade-off is immense if you lug that baby around a lot. Plus I noticed you don't want to play games, so the notebook gets another tick. I'm liking the 10.2" and 11.1" format notebooks.

Most notebooks have a built-in webcam these days, that's no sweat.

I'm not a fan of the fingerprint reader, I don't believe it adds anything.

If I had to buy one right now I would go for ASUS X56A-AP003E:

http://www.itsdirect.com.au/com_products.php?view=detail&category_id=32&sub_category=25&Product_ID=3795

Also, don't need a good warrenty. I never use them.

So if something breaks and is in warranty you don't worry about it?

So if something breaks and is in warranty you don't worry about it?

Pretty much so. Yes, I know how much of an idiot this makes me, no need to expound of years of my friends telling me so.

Advice ... get a desktop for games, and a ultraportable for work if you need mobility.

Buying a laptop now for playing a game that isn't even released is asking for tears.

And you don't sound like you are being honest with yourself about what you want to get out of it.

If mobility is what you need. You want small, light, long battery. Storage ? get a usb external and plug it in when you actually need it. movies ? are you talking bluray dvd sd avi, hd avi. Because honestly the rest of your requirements (except gaming) can be done by the sub500 and sub 700 dollar range of ultra portibles.eg. eeepc, dell mini, hp and toshiba have one. You start wanting HD avis or bluray and it will up the weight and the dollars and lower the battery.

At work I handed in my $3500 toshiba that weighed a tonne had 45mins of real battery (it said 2 on the flyer) but a nice big screen with full keyboard and dedicated graphics, for a $400 asus eeepc and am far happier.

Buying a laptop now for playing a game that isn't even released is asking for tears.

I am merely curious about the D3 specs, I would not play it on a notebook - merely wondering if my pc at home would need upgrading. As I stated, it was off-topic.

And you don't sound like you are being honest with yourself about what you want to get out of it.

I am only just beginning to think about getting a laptop, haven't thoroughly thought through want I want from it, and figured people would know which types of laptops were better for certain functions etc.

That being said, I think you're totally right in suggesting that storage can be gained through an external hdd (ahh, if only I hadn't already broken mine..),. As for movies, it honestly doesn't bother me watching them in bad quality. Hell, I can even handle out-of-sync sound, so dodgy picture quality isn't going to bother me too much!

At work I handed in my $3500 toshiba that weighed a tonne had 45mins of real battery (it said 2 on the flyer) but a nice big screen with full keyboard and dedicated graphics, for a $400 asus eeepc and am far happier.

seconded... what model eeePC did you get Obes? the original or one of the newer ones? Are you running Lunix on it or did you downgrade to Windows?

I bought an ultraportable for my brother the other week. Was planning to get an EeePC but I saw a better spec Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for the same price, so we went that instead. Ordered Monday, arrived Wednesday morning - that was quick! Though the laptop wasn't customisable, hence probably was sitting already boxed waiting to be shipped.

For customised orders they can take a while longer. I ordered a Dell M1530 for my parents and after several days they just processed and verified payment, they haven't started building the laptop yet.

Before that I ordered a 14.1" Dell laptop last year and it took 2 weeks to arrive. Only downsides were rubbish LCD and audio crackling, though I'd like to imagine these have been fixed over the last year.

So yeah, I'd recommend Dell for their decent customisability, frequent special offers and pretty good warranty. Just make sure you read up on threads about the model you wish to buy, on say notebookreview.com , just to make sure you know if there are any known flaws.

last edited by parabol at 14:50:09 12/Dec/08

Parabol, how's the SSD work for you? You carry a USB portable or something as well?

macbook or macbook pro would be my next choice
I only got my macbook earlier this year but I f***ing love the thing.

I'm a unix admin but I've always just run windows for client desktops, linux desktops were never far enough along to be seamless imo

going to osx was awesome, s*** just works and it didn't take me long to learn all the new key mappings
I leave the laptop on for weeks at a time

Parabol, how's the SSD work for you? You carry a USB portable

Well my brother agreed to get that laptop on the understanding that he wouldn't be doing anything heavy on it (gaming, etc obviously!) or using it as a desktop replacement. Just browsing, word-processing, some music, some movies, etc at different parts of the house or when out. So he didn't really need massive amounts of storage.

I think if he wanted to carry some heavy data around (say while travelling, etc), a large USB stick or a $100-150 2.5" USB drive would probably do the trick - but it hasn't come to that yet.

last edited by parabol at 15:20:38 12/Dec/08

Personally, if I had no real budget, and I wanted a quality laptop... I would buy a Sony, or perhaps a Toshiba.

Sony make the best quality laptops I've ever seen... They are more expensive compared to Dell, HP, Asus etc. but their usability, features and build quality are far better.

If I was concerned about price, I would also look at Dell, HP and Asus.

ultraportables are the best, cause they encourage you to actually use them as you should a laptop - ie. wherever you want!

And they're usable on say planes, buses etc. rather than a big chunky thing you can't balance or fit anywhere, and even if you do, it runs out of batteries in under an hour..

If your willing to spend 1800 and have a friend who is a student then I would recommend a macbook based on what you stated in your needs. The build quality and reliability of the new macbooks is unsurpassed with the unibody, and OS-X is by far the best OS there is currently available.

I personally wouldn't go for an eeePC. The keyboard suck much over the Acer and Dell alternatives. I couldn't type less than 3 keys at a time on those eeePC keyboards :S

going to osx was awesome, s*** just works

Same. I went from a Vista, 3Ghz Duo, 8800GTS 4gb ram beast to a tiny 2ghz mac mini with 2gb ram and leopard and haven't looked back. Chucked vista on to use DVD Decrypter and thats about it.

If you're not a Mac hater and consider it as one avenue then definitely check them out at Myer or whatever.

We just got a new Toshiba laptop here at work, is it Tecra? (or mayby that's the old one, been using a few differnet ones in the past few days).

But anyway, although it doesn't look 'stylish', it is quite boxy and plain in appearance, it appears to be of good quality and very well built. The keyboard also has a nice feel to it.

As I said I dunno what model it is but I suspect it is one of the more pricey units.

Battery life? I dunno, it's always plugged in.

I get around 2 to 2.5 hours on my Asus doing basic stuff. It is still fairly new so expect that to slowly get worse.

The problems with Macs are is that they start at $1,500. My Asus was $799 and it does all I need so the extra cash is hard to part with.

last edited by mission at 15:57:53 12/Dec/08

seconded... what model eeePC did you get Obes? the original or one of the newer ones? Are you running Lunix on it or did you downgrade to Windows?

Windows (linux was tempting but I am still unconvinced to its desktop potential, great server)

one of the intel atoms (901 I think?)

The keyboard suck much over the Acer and Dell alternatives. I couldn't type less than 3 keys at a time on those eeePC keyboards :S

what's the Dell alternative these days? had a quick look but couldn't see it. I remeember that had a ultraportable coming out - is it available yet?

Windows (linux was tempting but I am still unconvinced to its desktop potential, great server)

yeh fair enough. I think I'll go linux (assuming i do buy one) cuz i want to send the message that it's worth OEMs offering it - plus 95% of what i'd use it for would be web-based and the other 4% would be done in RD to a windows box.

I couldn't type less than 3 keys at a time on those eeePC keyboards

All I can suggest is, stop trying to type with your forehead. They are small. But quite usable (ie. I got over it much faster then a "natural" keyboard layout).

what's the Dell alternative these days? had a quick look but couldn't see it. I remeember that had a ultraportable coming out - is it available yet?

Dell Mini 9 i believe they're called.

what's the Dell alternative these days? had a quick look but couldn't see it. I remeember that had a ultraportable coming out - is it available yet?

Inspiron Minis?

Thanks for the ideas! I'm thinking I might go with a Dell insprion mini 12, or eeepc 1000h

listen to obes

dont listen to obes

i got a hp dv5 1009 tx a couple weeks ago
same specs as the mac book pro 2.5 ghz version
but with blueray and tv tuner

also less than half the price of the mac book pro

i played cod 4 , tf2 and wow they all run well
cod 4 u gotta turn settings down a little
also it heats up a bit when playing for a while


if moneys not a problem the mac books very nice and osx is awesome

last edited by MaD_CoW at 18:02:24 14/Dec/08

Don't buy it while you are overseas - regardless of whether or not you care about warranty, you'll be entering a world of pain if you buy a laptop overseas and then come back to Oz.

The whole point is so I can use it overseas - I won't need it when I'm back in Aus!

Then you have way too much money :O