which laptop company is best

Yeah I've seen a pic somewhere of one of them that took a bullet, supposedly from a sniper rifle (although the hole suggests it was of a far lower caliber) and saved some soldier's life in Afghanistan. It was on The Enquirer, if I remember correctly.

Also the Dell ATG is very similar to the Twinhead durabook as well as the Panasonic Toughbook, there mainly made for the business user/ frequent traveler, incase they drop the notebook its more less still in good workly condition and you most likely wont loose any data since they have anti-shock HHDs, also if you get water on the keyboard the system still should work. But normal laptops made by Dell lately have gotten more durable thats to there Road-Ready design. Which makes it better for traveling, making a sturdier laptop. Also it has shock absorbing material surronding the HHD to pervent data loss.

you know windows vista is it better than windows xp professional or not?

I don't want to make the mistake of getting a laptop with vista if vista's no good because then i'll have to install windows xp and sometimes windows doesn't work when you install it.it could wreck your laptop up.

There is nothing wrong with Vista. Some here will disagree, but so far I really like it. I have had a few issues with software incompatibilities, but nothing really that bad. If you do buy a laptop running Vista. I would highly recommend getting at least 1 preferably 2 gigs of memory though! If you buy one of the cheaper models that Best Buys is selling with 512mb ram, I think you will be somewhat dissaponted! Don't get home basic edition either!

Yes they are, and my personal choice.

They might be a little more expensive, but you get what you pay for, and the build quality is simple superb.

They are not multimedia centric, through - they will play games just fine and have DVD-RW, etc - but if you are looking for a machine that will plug into all sorts of other multimedia equipment quickly and easily then there are other options.

www.notebookreview.com is a good site to get reviews of laptops and get a good idea about what you are buying.

I always look for upgrade potential in the RAM and HDD - the two parts of a laptop that one can pretty much most times upgrade - so that I can get a good 160GB drive and at least 2GB of RAM in there. These upgrades aren't hard, and I've often found its best to go for a cheaper machine that doesn't have the big RAM and disk and then upgrade it, so long as the CPU and graphics were up to spec.

Also, are you going to be lugging this laptop around? If so, how big is it? How much does it weight? Have you thought about a bag for it? How long does the battery last, etc, etc...

Its a different mindset than shopping (or building) a desktop or server PC, but its basically the same kind of idea.

Dell! why would you want to buy a laptop from a company who cant even give you a decent warranty in the price, in my opinion you should buy a laptop that alreday has a 2 or 3 year warranty as standard it doesnt cost any more then most laptops and is less problems then a dell.

i use an ASUS A6 Series and have sold around about 80 of them and touchwood only 1 ever had a problem and that was a customer spilt coffee in the keyboard and they still replaced the keyboard free of charge.

I'm into laptops now much more than fixed equipment. I always look for upgrade potential, preferring to go for a cheaper machine that can have the RAM and HDD upgraded, as opposed to something too flash or too expensive.

My own personal choice is a Thinkpad, they have superior build quality, compatibility and are highly portable. However, one may have many, differing requirements in a laptop, so I suggest checking out not just build quality but battery life, weight, size, screen quality, etc.

www.notebookreview.com is a good site.

Some of my fav laptops:


Anthing Alienware.


The mighty Thinkpad.


Some of Samsung's designs are totally funky!


Or something a bit more experimental?

Phant, what is that in your last picture? I am into gadget a lot! lol.... I have a few PDA's laying about the house. And was curious about that thing you got there!

Well, its not mine.. but that's an OQO. Its somewhere between a PDA and a laptop, but its closer to a laptop.

http://www.laptopmag.com/Review/OQO-model-02.htm

1.5 GHz VIA C7M ULV

Operating Systems
Windows Vista Capable
Windows XP Professional
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

Chipset VIA VX700

30 GB / 60 GB hard drive 4200 rpm

Memory 1 GB DDR2, 533 MHz

Display Size 5-inches

Resolution

800 x 480

Zoom: 1000 x 600, 1200 x 720

Wireless & Networking

EV-DO Integrated

802.11 abg WiFi

Bluetooth Technology with EDR

Integrated antennas

Ports

Audio: 3.5mm line out/line in

Video out: HDMI port

1 USB 2.0

Battery Lithium-ion polymer 3 hours

Size 5.6-inches x 3.3-inches x 1.0-inch

Weight Under 1.0 pound

Warranty 1 year

Oh, and out of all of those, I actually ONLY recommend you buy the Thinkpad, but the rest are quite fun.

sheeeeit......I looked at the price! Nevermind, don't think I will be picking one of those up!! lol...

I am going to use the laptop for a daily use,not really every day but about 5 times a week.
I'm not going to take the laptop around with me unless i have to.

What are the main activities? If its just office stuff, you might as well just go for the cheapest one you can find.

Budget is always the issue with a good laptop. A quality used laptop is better than a new cheap one.
It is wise to get a model that is made in huge numbers, so there will parts availability for a long time. Parts become the greatest difficulty on cheap computers. When you are considering a new laptop, search eBay for parts on the company's other models. Search the manufacturer web site or other sites that sell parts or do repairs to see what prices and availability. Does the company sell parts for its laptop after the warranty expires? Most do not.
Some thoughts that come from our experience repairing laptops and portables since the old "Suitcase Compaq in 1988" and 2000 units since then:
A low priced laptop will fail more frequently and will be more expensive to repair.
Reliability is more important that fast performance.
The screen will fail, sooner or later, and likely sooner, in a low priced laptop
A used Thinkpad is better than most new ones from other sources.
No laptop company makes a good laptop for gaming that will last a long time. Yet. Gaming nearly always shortens the life of a laptop. If you need a gaming laptop, be sure it has plenty of cooling fans (at least 3) and large air channels to move cool air in and hot air out.
127 laptop companies have gone belly-up.
Seven companies make most of the laptops sold in the world. HP, Compaq, Toshiba, Winbook, Gateway, eMachines, and all no-name laptops are all made by the same companies.
Expensive laptops have better parts and better cooling
The least expensive laptops of any manufacturer are compromised in
Some laptops are nearly always good if you buy: IBM/Lenovo, full featured HP, full featured Gateway, most Dell Latitudes, full featured Dell Inspirons, full featured Toshiba's.
Low priced laptops have cheap parts... cheaper plastic, poor screens, bad backlights, unreliable inverters, inadequate cooling, poor heat sinks, inadequate cooling air channels, poor protection from impact or vibration, awful keyboards that wear out early or keys that break, poor on-board mouse or touch screen, weak RJ-45 sockes, weak modem sockets, optical drives that fail early, cheap third-tier memory, some have poor hard drives such as Tri-gem, although not many have bad hard drives, bad power switches that fail early and often, poor components for handling internet and wireless.
For long-term reliability and less-expensive repair, avoid no-name machines. Avoid Acer, Sony Vaio, Toshiba, eMachines, Compaq, low-priced Dells, store brands, low-priced Gateways, low priced Lenovo, Winbook, any super thin laptop, Alienware, Winbook, any laptop that has only one cooling fan, any laptop limited to a one-year warranty that does not sell a warranty extension.
People who take care of their laptops and keep the air channels clean of hair and dust have good luck. People who don't take care of their laptops have bad luck.
Buy the ones that Navy Seals or the US Foreign service buy.
Impact while carrying laptops is the number two failure cause, next to poorly made screens and optical drives. Be sure you have a very well padded carrying case of some kind. Vibration is probably next.
A good cleaning with Dust Off or other difluoroethane gas canned air every four months is a smart move. A disassembly and cleaning every year is also smart. Replace the cpu fan every 18 to 24 months.
If you buy a low priced, cheap-processor laptop, you are almost guaranteed early failure of optical drive, screen, and heat-related problems on other components.
Small laptops fail more frequently than large ones of the same brand.
Everybody knows somebody who has had great luck with a bad brand or a bad model. Just remember, you make your own luck by selecting well.
If your data is valuable, get a valuable computer.

I bought a cheap Acer once. It performed well, but the build quality was terrible. It actually creaked under its own weight. Felt like it was going to fall apart in my hands if I turned it over. On the underside, important circuit board was practically exposed.

Now, comparing that to my current Thinkpad is like night and day. The Thinkpad is a brick - a tank. Man, there's like videos on youtube of people running over Thinkpads in their car, pouring water on them, etc, and they still work!!!! Thinkpads are built to take a kicking. If you are moving around, using your computer all over the place, then you definately want a Thinkpad.

I have a Thinkpad T42 and a Thinkpad R51e. The battery, hard drive, keyboard are interchangeable between them. You can pick up a single core Thinkpad for quite little, like the 14" Thinkpad T43. If its not for games, but for work, you will find the Thinkpad has it won. Also, my Thinkpad can play some games not too bad, maybe have to turn the resolution down. Gaming is not my key focus these days, and I have a dedicated multimedia machine. But for email, coding, surfing, cracking, etc I'll take a Thinkpad any day.

I most definitely agree on that point, the ASUS A6 Series (A6R, A6R-P, etc.)
were an extremely good Laptop, reasonably priced without being cheap, everything built in, Bluetooth, Wireless, Webcam & Mic. Depending on the exact Model usually a Gig of DDR2 RAM, if not, extremely easy to upgrade, and ASUS have Local Service Centre's everywhere.
They usually come with a Bag and Laptop Mouse.

I sold heaps of them, and not a single customer complaint.

Pity they are no longer available, unless there is still old stock being sold at some places. I could sell at least 10 more if I could still get my hands on them, including one for myself.

Still, ASUS,
The Thinkpad's are good too, though I'd personally still prefer ASUS.

Any other Asus models you recommend?

The ASUS M9V is a particularly good Model with a Variety of features. There are some good Notebooks in the A3 Series aswell eg. A3Ac. The new U5A offers High Speed Bluetooth and excellent colour.
Keep in mind nearly all new Laptop's come with Windows Vista (like it or not), these three have Windows Vista Business, whereas the A6R's and the like came with either Windows XP Home or Professional.
You might even still be able to get an A6R or A6R-P in your area of the world.

All-in-all it comes down to your personal needs in a Notebook Computer.
Check-out this site http://usa.asus.com/search.aspx?searchitem=1&searchkey=Notebooks and you will see that the Range is enormous for purpose specific Notebooks. Whether for the traveller, a multimedia station, graphic artist, gaming, etc.
As other people have said in this thread, it's all about doing your homework so that you pick the laptop that is right for you.

Cheers,

Dean.

Also if it is for a business notebook, I love the S6 Series of Laptops with Wireless-N.

Wow a lot of you are really into this....

I've own:

CTX (maker of monitors go into laptops in 90s and failed)
Toshiba both S-Pro and Tecra Series (both has hold up and still work)
DELL (I've repaired them but found them to be just junk after the 3rd year)
HP/COMPAQ (newer ones with AMD X64 or Mobile are very good)
SONY (like most of their stuff just have to cross your fingers and hope)
GATEWAY (okay)
SABER (okay)
Pansonic (okay)
ACER (okay)
Clone names (just of to know what you're getting into)

Dang, never knew CTX made laptops! Learn something new everyday!

I forgot about the CTX. One of the few "noname" laptops we can recommend... CTX makes a lot of good low-priced stuff.
Who makes Saber. We have not seen any of those in our shop.
What do you mean by "okay".
Toshiba: good unit but repairs take a very long time under warranty, and parts are impossible to get since Toshiba farmed out its repair support.
Sony: Just the worst laptops for reliability that we know, and sadly among the most expensive... parts not available after warranty expires. Poor to very poor cooling, bad screens, bad inverters.
Acer is a good manufacturer, and makes laptops for other companies. There are just be problems getting replacmengt parts.
HP and Compaq are just way too different to lump together. The cheap Compaqs are failure prone but at least parts are available. The upper half of the HP line are superb computers for laptops, with lots of cooling fans and rugged builds. Compaq upper half are getting better.
Panasonic laptops vary so much from model to model that I assume they are not making their own.
Dell is a mystery: We have a LOT of them and use them as loaners while working on their owner's original Dell. Most Latitudes are pretty good. Most of their Inspirons in the top half of their marketing range are excellent. Any Dell in the bottom half of their price range are likely to be junk... and are one of the reasons why Dell is restructuring now. Dell does not make their own laptops... But Dell's are better than Sony, Compaq, and eMachines by a long shot.
Toshiba: I love em. Have several Tecra's and Satellites we use as loaners and renters. But their parts and repair system has fallen apart in the US.
Gateway makes some of the best laptops for the money. Their inexpensive laptops are much better than Dell, HP, and Compaq. Their expensive ones are superb.
None of these match IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad T-series.
My bias is a big one, because we only see failed laptops that have come into our shops for repairs over the past 16 years.
All of these are better than no-name or store brands, however.