toshiba or dell

[amzz]

toshiba satellite or dell inspiron/xps

any thoughts welcomed

[Sirius]

Toshiba might have a slight edge in the quality of the components...Dell has an edge when it comes to warranty service in T&T. That said they're both good brands. Spec them out first...look at the size, weight, battery life...

[SilverEagle]

While I've had nothing but good experiences with both brands, each company/series has it's share of duds.

With regards to Dell, the Inspirions are generally reliable workhorses. The XPS systems are higher end machines and have really nice cases, but they're more expensive as well.

What will you be using the machine for? Are there specific models you're looking at?

[Sirius]

^^ Just as a note, if you're looking for a real workhorse machine as opposed to something for home or study, perhaps you should check out the Dell Vostro, or budget permitting, Latitude line of laptops. They are business class machines and are constructed a bit tougher than the Inspirons.

[amzz]

sirius, is there any after sales service available here for toshiba?. I did look at the latitude tablet but its waaay over budget and the screen is a bit too small (prefer 15"). I will look at the others and vostro again.

SE, I heaviest program I use could be illustrator. Other than that its d usual office and photo editing applications. Haven't zeroed in on any particular model yet-hoping feedback here will help. I do have a bit of a block agaisnt d inspiron now because my 3 year old 1420 just died. Still haven't figured out why.

My budget is approx. 700-800 without shipping.

[Sirius]

You might be able to get some servicing yes but I am unaware as to who the official authorized dealer might be. Dell has plenty authorized service centres and with the right warranty package you can even get at home/office service for most issues. Perhaps someone else can shed some light on Toshiba's warranty coverage in T&T.

Make sure you take the best warranty your budget will permit. A lot of times any hardware failures will not show up in the first year of system life. I always recommend 3 years (unless of course it's an inexpensive, easily replaced machine).

Some advice on specs: If running Illustrator, particularly the newer versions, make sure you have plenty of RAM. You mentioned you want a 15" screen - good but watch the resolution. 14" and 15" laptops both often come in 1280x800 and 1440x900 resolutions. Remember that a 15" with 1280x800 resolution will give you a bigger picture but no actual benefit in desktop real estate. Will it be running unplugged a lot? That will tell you if you should invest in an extended battery or save some cash with a standard one.

Now given your budget the Inspiron may give you the best blend of features per dollar - just don't rough it up too much. I would certainly recommend taking a look at the Vostro as well though. XPS and Latitude might be stretching your budget.

Have you considered HP? That's a good option too.

[amzz]

thanks sirius,
I will keep the resolution in mind and nothing less than 3G RAM, so Im building here:
15" screen
3G RAM
will add to the specs
briefly looked at hp's laptops, good service here?

[BW]

ddr3 is cheap and plentiful now. you should always check what it costs just buy ram separately (regardless of what it says on the dell or toshiba order page). In many cases you could buy a lower specd machine + buy more ram for less than it would cost to get the higher spec'd or upgraded OEM machine. (the performance would be better too, with a lower processor+more ram in those situations).

fwiw, i've heard inspirons referred to as "a piece of **** thrown together by the criminally complacent," but the Latitude or Precision lines are fine. I have two Toshiba Satellite laptops (<$500US) bought 4 years apart, and both are holding up just fine to regular office duty.

also
http://www.notebookcheck.net/
http://www.notebookreview.com/

[amzz]

problem with the toshiba here is local service

[SilverEagle]

Hmmm...we have a 5 year old Inspiron still chugging along. :/


problem with the toshiba here is local service

Well then Dell may be your best option, they have the best local service available.

At $ 800, you'll be making some compromises.

Having said that, you can get good basic machines that can run what you want within budget.

For example, Dell has an Inspiron 17R:

Screen Size: 17"
CPU: Intel i5 460M
Hard Drive: 500GB
Memory: 4GB
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD5470
Warranty: 1 Year

$ 749.00 (exc. Shipping)


Lenovo has a Thinkpad U460:

Screen Size: 14"
CPU: i5 480M
Hard Drive: 500GB
Memory: 4GB
Video Card: Nvidia Geforce 305M
Warranty: 1 Year

$ 649.00 with free shipping to a U.S. address


In addition to what has been mentioned so far, I'd like to suggest that you wait if you can, until April or May when Intel (re-)releases its new generation of Sandy Bridge i-series processors, which:

1. Run upwards of 20% faster in some applications.

2. Run cooler.

3. Consumes less power extending battery life.

Also, for applications like Illustrator look for the most powerful graphics adapter you can get within budget. From what I've read, some people are having problems using all the features of CS5 and the low-end (integrated) graphics adapters. At best, they run a bit choppy.

[BW]

how does that service warranty work SE. If you buy a computer from BestBuy or Amazon, will any T&T place be obligated to support it? or is it just applicable for the locally-bought Dell machines?

[SilverEagle]

how does that service warranty work SE. If you buy a computer from BestBuy or Amazon, will any T&T place be obligated to support it? or is it just applicable for the locally-bought Dell machines?

I'm not sure what's the arrangement with 3rd party resellers like Amazon.

But if you purchase directly from Dell's website, just send/call tech support with your issue. If they can't solve it, they'll contact a local agent and get them to send a tech to sort you out.

And, if the tech can't sort you out, they'll send you a new machine.

[Solachica]

If your bought your machine in USA wount your warranty be for the USA region?

Had issue with sony and they said once the machine was carried outta the USA the warranty was void.

[amzz]

dell honours warranty out of US
u can buy direct from dell.com/tt
thats how I bought d inspiron


If your bought your machine in USA wount your warranty be for the USA region?

Had issue with sony and they said once the machine was carried outta the USA the warranty was void.

[Sirius]

If you buy from the USA you'll have to do a transfer procedure to register the machine in T&T. Just buy the machine off the Dell T&T website. Now I have seen Inspirons work well and fall apart. A good warranty is a must with those. The hinges are traditional weak spots in that line as well so be gentle with it.

Re: HP I've never had to deal with the servicing of one but I know that we have local dealers - Illuminat is one.

Now that SE has mentioned Lenovo, they're good machines too. Now I have had to warranty a ThinkPad T42 in the 3rd (and final) year of its warranty life for a dead motherboard - it was purchased and warrantied via Memory Bank. The service was done locally but I had a bit of a wait before it was finished - close to 2 weeks. It might have been that the board for a 3 year old machine wasn't in the country but that's what I went through.

[mammadon]

Depends on your need OP. Any computer should be sourced on needs/requirements.

[amzz]

I will see how long I can hold out for the new processor as SE mentioned and my budget would probably look better too at that time. But the search is ongoing....dont know how well my netbook will serve me.

[Caribunta]

neither.......nor!!!!

[indie]

Sony Vaio :D

[draja]

HP

[amzz]

HP

what are you experiences with dell?

[amzz]

Sony Vaio :D

local support?
wait.. i dont want to be thinking bout d forum vaio everytime I turn on my laptop

[indie]

^ lol not too sure about the local support Amzz... if i find out anything i will let u know! But Sony Vaios are really gd laptops...

[deathwinger]

toshiba satellite or dell inspiron/xps

any thoughts welcomed

Go with the dell XPS. Extremely good build quality and local support.

You don't want to be shipping your laptop off every second something is wrong and also you don't want to be coming on a forum every second for help either.

I've gotten many businesses Dells and they have no issues with it.

[amzz]

thanks DW
how rugged isthe xps in comparison to the latitude?
I think d inspiron broke cause I roughed it up too much.

[Sirius]

Latitude is by far the more rugged machine. If you're looking for a tough business notebook that's the way to go. The XPS is however tougher than the Inspiron - and more performance oriented. More performance oriented than Latitude as well - but not as tough.