I Need Help Choosing A Laptop, Please Help?
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:22 pmMy family came into a small amount of money recently and I've been given the chance to buy a laptop. (My first, probably my last.)
I have a choice between these two laptops:
HP dv6609wm
1.8 GHZ AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-55 processor
1 GB of Dual Channel DDR2 RAM
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M
15.4" WXGA High Definition 720p native display
160 GB HDD
5-in-1 Media Reader
S-Video/TV out
8x dual layer, dual format CD/DVD-RW
Notebook expansion port
Expresscard/54 slot
6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
HP Quick Play with remote control
Windows Vista Home Premium.
$598.00
I like it because of my personal experience with HP products. My Girlfriend and my Grandfather both have HP/Compaq products and they haven't failed them yet. (The battery on the HP laptop died, but they did replace it quickly, without any cost to us.) Not to mention, a guy did the footwork and found all compatible XP drivers for downgrade. (Which is a plus in my book.)
However, I've been reading that the dv6000/9000 series laptops have been having hardware problems (and some of it stems from Vista, which was proven.) Granted, this was last year in the spring, and we're almost a year past that. By now, I'm sure they've corrected at least some, if not all of the problems?
And the second laptop is:
Toshiba Satellite A215-S5808
1.8 GHZ AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-55 processor
2 GB of Dual Channel DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon X1200
15.4" WXGA TruBrite High Definition 720p native display
120 GB HDD
5-in-1 Media Reader
S-Video/TV out
8x dual layer dual format CD/DVD-RW
Expresscard/54 slot
6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
Windows Vista Home Premium.
I like that it comes with 2 Gigs of RAM, not to mention Toshiba makes really nice DVD players and TV sets, known for quality.
I don't like that it doesn't come with a remote (but that'll be rectified, I'll explain that in a moment.) and no Quick Play feature.
However, the dial up modems (software based, and tied into other components, and is integrated on the motherboard) are known to be faulty, and a friend of mine got his fried. He had to ship it back to Toshiba (they paid for express!) and got it back, but they had to replace the entire motherboard. Not to mention, a review of the A215 series said that the LCD cover is flimsy and when you apply pressure to open or close the unit, it does apply pressure to the back of the LCD screen which *could* (emphasis on could, not guaranteed though) lead to wear later on down the road. Not to mention, Toshibas are next to impossible to downgrade to XP because the drivers are either non existant, or extremely difficult to find. (I will give Vista a chance, but I like the idea of an escape from Hell that XP offers.)
I wanted to use it as a TV/DVR as well so I bought the HP rebranded Hauppauge HVR-1500 Expresscard/54 Tuner. (This is where the remote comes in, and would work with the Toshiba even though it's an HP branded set.)
I've no plans on gaming, and I'm not into ultra portability, and plus the price range is right where I can be (can't really go any further) so only these two are what I'm looking for.
I don't like (and will not buy) Acer, Dell, eMachines, Everex, Gateway. (IBM and Lenovo aren't even being considered by me at this time, or any other to be honest.)
So...can anyone give me some help here?
HP or Toshiba? I need to know which one's worthier of my investment, especially since this will be in for the long haul.
I'm leaning towards HP, but if Toshiba is the better of the two, I'll put my bias aside.
Thanks in advance!
I have a choice between these two laptops:
HP dv6609wm
1.8 GHZ AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-55 processor
1 GB of Dual Channel DDR2 RAM
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M
15.4" WXGA High Definition 720p native display
160 GB HDD
5-in-1 Media Reader
S-Video/TV out
8x dual layer, dual format CD/DVD-RW
Notebook expansion port
Expresscard/54 slot
6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
HP Quick Play with remote control
Windows Vista Home Premium.
$598.00
I like it because of my personal experience with HP products. My Girlfriend and my Grandfather both have HP/Compaq products and they haven't failed them yet. (The battery on the HP laptop died, but they did replace it quickly, without any cost to us.) Not to mention, a guy did the footwork and found all compatible XP drivers for downgrade. (Which is a plus in my book.)
However, I've been reading that the dv6000/9000 series laptops have been having hardware problems (and some of it stems from Vista, which was proven.) Granted, this was last year in the spring, and we're almost a year past that. By now, I'm sure they've corrected at least some, if not all of the problems?
And the second laptop is:
Toshiba Satellite A215-S5808
1.8 GHZ AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-55 processor
2 GB of Dual Channel DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon X1200
15.4" WXGA TruBrite High Definition 720p native display
120 GB HDD
5-in-1 Media Reader
S-Video/TV out
8x dual layer dual format CD/DVD-RW
Expresscard/54 slot
6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
Windows Vista Home Premium.
I like that it comes with 2 Gigs of RAM, not to mention Toshiba makes really nice DVD players and TV sets, known for quality.
I don't like that it doesn't come with a remote (but that'll be rectified, I'll explain that in a moment.) and no Quick Play feature.
However, the dial up modems (software based, and tied into other components, and is integrated on the motherboard) are known to be faulty, and a friend of mine got his fried. He had to ship it back to Toshiba (they paid for express!) and got it back, but they had to replace the entire motherboard. Not to mention, a review of the A215 series said that the LCD cover is flimsy and when you apply pressure to open or close the unit, it does apply pressure to the back of the LCD screen which *could* (emphasis on could, not guaranteed though) lead to wear later on down the road. Not to mention, Toshibas are next to impossible to downgrade to XP because the drivers are either non existant, or extremely difficult to find. (I will give Vista a chance, but I like the idea of an escape from Hell that XP offers.)
I wanted to use it as a TV/DVR as well so I bought the HP rebranded Hauppauge HVR-1500 Expresscard/54 Tuner. (This is where the remote comes in, and would work with the Toshiba even though it's an HP branded set.)
I've no plans on gaming, and I'm not into ultra portability, and plus the price range is right where I can be (can't really go any further) so only these two are what I'm looking for.
I don't like (and will not buy) Acer, Dell, eMachines, Everex, Gateway. (IBM and Lenovo aren't even being considered by me at this time, or any other to be honest.)
So...can anyone give me some help here?
HP or Toshiba? I need to know which one's worthier of my investment, especially since this will be in for the long haul.
I'm leaning towards HP, but if Toshiba is the better of the two, I'll put my bias aside.
Thanks in advance!