New Laptop advice

[Draftnik]

Do any techies have a recommendation for a home laptop computer? I thought Dell would not have the best prices but after checking EBay, Froogle, etc they seem to be the best. All I need it for is surfing the web, a bit of word processing, and using an occasional spreadsheet, so the Inspiron 500m looks like the best deal to me. Does anybody else know of something better for low end home use?

[Pitts]

I own three Dells at home (2 are notebooks)...nothing else. Unless, of course, you count my 1995 Macintosh running system 7.5!

Love the Dells...recommend them to everyone.

[ExPatriatePen]

Won't say anything bad about Dells because I don't use them.

I use an IBM t43 at work and while it's rugged enough to stand up to the punishment, I hate it.

I use an HP that I bought at Christmas at home. Nicest machine I ever owned. The sound system (Speakers) leaves a bit to be desired if your used to a better desktop sound system, but the display is cyrstal clear and sharp, it's fast, and it's sharp looking too with all the features I find important in a laptop. Not only that but I was able to find it for < $800. Nice.

[dboss]

I have an IBM T40 Thinkpad at work/home and I absolutely love it. I am supposed to get a new one in July and when I do I don't think I will want anything other than an IBM, although I hope their quality doesn't drop since Lenovo acquired their rights. The thing that I like the most is that I have had only one problem with it in three years. That problem was insignificant in that the video card died and had to be replaced. You could also check the consumer reports website for ratings etc. Oh yeah, and be sure to check the brand repair history there as well.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home.htm

[Diddy]

I purchase all kinds of laptops at my work, mainly IBM's and lately Dells. Out of all the IBM's (40 or so) we have had no issues, mainly purchasing the T series and a few G's.

As for Dell, it's 2 fold. The Inspirions simply suck. We purchased 5 of them and 4 of them had issues. 2 had network card issues, the other had screen issues with it not displaying a screen, and the other just had random problems. We purchased 2 beefed up M series and they are performing wonderfully. So as for Dell just don't buy an Inspirion. Spend a few extra bucks and get an M series...

[freq019]

I have a dell and an IBM, I run them both non stop and my dell shows the blue screen of death BSoD at least once a week sometimes as high as 3 times, and its always at night while I'm not using it. My IBM nothing. I'd get an ibm or an HP, hell if you're just using it to surf the net I'd get the cheapest thing I could, but if want to keep it for a while and give it a work out I'd get an ibm or lonova or whatever they are called now.