Question from a non-LJ friend

[tzikeh]

My friend E needs help from The Hive Mind:

I'm trying to gear up so that I can do digital mapping work (for my job & as a freelancer) at home, so I am on the hunt for a laptop. I have to get a PC in this case since 2 of the programs I need for this work (ArcView and MS Access) are PC specific. I've been reading specs and product reviews, and Consumer Reports for days now and my head is spinning.

In a perfect world I'd buy a MacBook Pro but then I'd also have to buy Windows on top of the considerable cost of that computer plus the very expensive ArcView and the cost of MS Access. Buying a PC to run those two programs is, alas, more cost effective.

So far I've been looking most closely at various versions of Gateway, Sony and HP, but have never actually used any of those. Would it be possible to tap your flist for any thumbs up/thumbs down opinions to help me sort through the PC possibilities? I'm just looking for some basic recommendations.

Please drop any suggestions in comments, and I'll pass them along!

Comments

[reginagiraffe]

My impression of Gateway is that they're not very durable. I'd avoid them.

[zephiey.livejournal.com]

HP would be your best bet. They are durable, cost-effective and have great customer service. Stay away from Gateway and Sony is on the high end.

[nestra.livejournal.com]

Toshiba = thumbs up, except (IME) for battery life.

[danceswithwords.livejournal.com]

I'm on my second Sony Vaio and think very highly of their hardware. However, they are on the high end, and tend to come loaded with a bunch of crap that most people don't want (media programs, trial programs, etc.) and that I uninstalled right away. Battery life is not super either. But the Vaios were my only machines for a while, and my current one is still my main at-home machine (I have an Asus eee for travel/commute); the screen is great, the keyboard is comfortable, and it's powerful enough to do pretty much anything I want, while still being a laptop.

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

My former workplace would only buy Lenovo Thinkpads (formerly IBM Thinkpads), unless someone refused to use the stick mouse. They needed laptops that would last 3 years as a primary computer and which could then be recycled into secondary computers for other people, and Thinkpads were the only machines they could count on to do that at a high level of reliability.

[lydiabell.livejournal.com]

I mostly have worked on Dell laptops, so I can't comment on the brands she's asking about, but I can anti-vouch for Gateway's support.

[feochadn.livejournal.com]

Gateway sucks. HP -- tiny bit better. Sony is great, but expensive. I'd suggest looking into ASUS, they are very reasonably priced and we are having great luck with them (two co-workers have them and we use a couple here at work).

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

I have a Dell that I bought about 2 years ago to run a few Windows specific programs at work. It has given me trouble free performance. I bought it based on reccomendations from both CR and Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

Gateway's build quality lately is crap.

And my Dad had a miserable time with HP when he bought a computer from them back in June -- he didn't get the monitor for it until July. The Consumerist also has a few articles about problems with HP's techsupport and build quality.

[grace-om.livejournal.com]

My workplace has a contract with Dell, so I've had Dell laptops from them. I have to say they've been incredibly robust and trouble-free machines. I'm on my second now, which I've had for 2-3 years now, and it still seems to be going strong. We replaced the older one because it was heavy and lacked the specs to run everything they wanted me to have, not because it died.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Sony or Dell. Run away from Gateway and HP. Run FAST and far.

Dell seems to have the best values now — more bang for buck.