What Laptop?

[Louise]

I think IBM is the one to go for (possibly the ThinkPad T42 having saved the pennies!) but can anyone recommend a stockists online/in the South East?

[pflynn]

I have a Toshiba Tecra M2 and it's very good laptop. (Although expensive).
I used to have a Dell Latitude laptop, and that was equally a good laptop - although a bit dated now.

It depends on what you want to do. I use mine everyday for work in addition to internet browsing/e-mail. The Toshiba was a good replacement for my old desktop PC.

[Robin427]

You must decide whether you want a "Desktop Replacement" laptop or something you can actually lift and take with you when you travel.

We used to have Compaqs at (where I used to) work but that was a few years ago so probably not relevent. I've got an Evesham (actually a rebadged Asus) which is nice and light, fairly powerful and has a great keyboard. It's only let down by a lousy battery life (but I can plug it in on an aircraft and never travel by train)

Make up a detailed list of what your requirements are and let us know...

[pflynn]

Originally Posted by kevchard

One piece of advice I would give is to steer clear of a celeron processor. If it is battery life you are after then go for a centrino, if it is power then go for a pentium 4/ AMD processor.
Cheers
KEVIN

I would also go for that advice too. I have a Centrino in my Toshiba laptop and it's very good.

The Dell laptop that I mentioned is quite heavy, but the Toshiba laptops tend to be a bit lighter.

[the rock doc]

I had to buy another one in a hurry a few weeks ago and went for the TOSHIBA A80 Equium (Centrino) which only weighs 2.7kg.

I have to lug my laptops to various "pleasure spots" around the globe and always find TOSHIBA's to be the most rugged.

This particular model is only marketed by the "PCWORLD" group and cost £699 which from the spec was good value (the price is the online price but you can order it and pick it up at your local store).


Cheers.

[JonnyT]

not sure which one to buy - just don't buy an 'advent' (was short of money at the time!!!), bits break off and the cd-rom drive broke on mine after very little use.

[AC427]

We use toshiba here at work and they very nice reliable machines.

[RallySnake]

Ken,

I am a computer technician and work on all types of laptops. We are buying lots of IBM T20s, T23s , T40s and lately T42's. They are great computers and the IBM website gives all kinds of support and drivers. I particullarly like the IBM Access Connections program that lets you set up different IP's, proxys and printers for different locations. The reliability issues seem to be improving over the years. The 560 series were the worst. I have had hard drive failures on a couple of T20's. But, thats probably due to rough handling, not the fault of the laptop.

In terms of absolute best reliability, I think the Toshiba is the best. Although one user who was used to an IBM, didn't really like his new Toshiba. These things pound on for years and years without a wimper, though. I am seeing problems with Dells, Compaqs, Apples and HPs. Some of them require really expensive parts, particullarly the Apple.

Paul

[Robin427]

IBM have just sold their PC manufacturing arm to a Chinese manufacturer. All IBMs were made in Singapore or somewhere anyway...

Buy an Amstrad...

[Louise]

I ended up going for an IBM ThinkPad T43 which I got through a local dealer. I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and (so far!) I am very impressed