HP laptop buying recommendations please

Hi all,

I need to purchase a laptop, preferably a HP, that will be used to
travel with. I will use it to edit photos from my digital cameras,
view movies (divx and DVD, maybe HD or Blue Ray) and maybe the odd
game or two (although not really a must).

I currently have a Dell 9100 that is running WINXP Pro but is a bear
to lug around so I would prefer a lighter laptop. I guess I will end
up with Vista although it really isn't a priority for me.

So to sum it up, I need a powerfully, light and multifunctional
laptop. Your recommendations will be greatly appreciated....
TIA,
Bobsen

Look closely at the Dell and Lenovo lightweights. Lenovo has the X series. I
use an older X30 that weighs 3 lbs... Ben Myers

On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:07:55 GMT, Bobsen <> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I need to purchase a laptop, preferably a HP, that will be used to
>travel with. I will use it to edit photos from my digital cameras,
>view movies (divx and DVD, maybe HD or Blue Ray) and maybe the odd
>game or two (although not really a must).
>
>I currently have a Dell 9100 that is running WINXP Pro but is a bear
>to lug around so I would prefer a lighter laptop. I guess I will end
>up with Vista although it really isn't a priority for me.
>
>So to sum it up, I need a powerfully, light and multifunctional
>laptop. Your recommendations will be greatly appreciated....
>TIA,
>Bobsen

Bobsen <> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I need to purchase a laptop, preferably a HP, that will be used to
> travel with. I will use it to edit photos from my digital cameras,
> view movies (divx and DVD, maybe HD or Blue Ray) and maybe the odd
> game or two (although not really a must).
>
> I currently have a Dell 9100 that is running WINXP Pro but is a bear
> to lug around so I would prefer a lighter laptop. I guess I will end
> up with Vista although it really isn't a priority for me.
>
> So to sum it up, I need a powerfully, light and multifunctional
> laptop. Your recommendations will be greatly appreciated....
> TIA,
> Bobsen

Get a laptop with a standard 3 year warranty. Laptops are extremely
expensive to fix otherwise, and if you travel, you probably are really
going to use the thing, and parts will break.

The X-series thinkpads were mentioned. They're small but don't have an
internal optical drive.

Thanks for the input. Is there any brands you would recommend or not
recommend?
TIA;
Bobsen
On Sat, 2 Feb 2008 18:43:52 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
<> wrote:

>Bobsen <> wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I need to purchase a laptop, preferably a HP, that will be used to
>> travel with. I will use it to edit photos from my digital cameras,
>> view movies (divx and DVD, maybe HD or Blue Ray) and maybe the odd
>> game or two (although not really a must).
>>
>> I currently have a Dell 9100 that is running WINXP Pro but is a bear
>> to lug around so I would prefer a lighter laptop. I guess I will end
>> up with Vista although it really isn't a priority for me.
>>
>> So to sum it up, I need a powerfully, light and multifunctional
>> laptop. Your recommendations will be greatly appreciated....
>> TIA,
>> Bobsen
>
>Get a laptop with a standard 3 year warranty. Laptops are extremely
>expensive to fix otherwise, and if you travel, you probably are really
>going to use the thing, and parts will break.
>
>The X-series thinkpads were mentioned. They're small but don't have an
>internal optical drive.

Sorry, meant to say any other brands than those mentioned?
TIA,
Bobsen

Do NOT get a Toshiba, Sony, Fujitsu or Panasonic. I have nothing against
Japanese companies in general, but spare parts availability is generally awful.
So is tech support. So are the web sites. Ditto for service manuals.

Likewise, Avoid Winbook, Acer or any other that is not a name brand. I guess
that gets us right back to Dell, Lenovo and HPaq, with a certain qualification
on the latter. The HPaq (HP- or Compaq-branded) stuff in the mass market
channel is meant to fleece ignorant buyers who don't know anything about
computers and end up getting stuck with a poorly designed, poorly manufactured
computer made of sub-standard materials. The Compaq Evo notebooks are noticably
more sturdy... Ben Myers

On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:47:56 GMT, Bobsen <> wrote:

>Sorry, meant to say any other brands than those mentioned?
>TIA,
>Bobsen

Ben Myers <> wrote:
> Do NOT get a Toshiba, Sony, Fujitsu or Panasonic. I have nothing against
> Japanese companies in general, but spare parts availability is generally awful.
> So is tech support. So are the web sites. Ditto for service manuals.

I'm going to have to agree on this one. While getting a toshiba serviced
isn't hard, you'll find they suffer from stupid design problems and will
keep dying over and over again.

> Likewise, Avoid Winbook, Acer or any other that is not a name brand. I guess
> that gets us right back to Dell, Lenovo and HPaq, with a certain qualification
> on the latter. The HPaq (HP- or Compaq-branded) stuff in the mass market
> channel is meant to fleece ignorant buyers who don't know anything about
> computers and end up getting stuck with a poorly designed, poorly manufactured
> computer made of sub-standard materials. The Compaq Evo notebooks are noticably
> more sturdy... Ben Myers

Acer stuff is OK. Again though, unless it has a standard 3 year warranty
from the manufacturer, good luck with repairs.

> On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:47:56 GMT, Bobsen <> wrote:
>
>>Sorry, meant to say any other brands than those mentioned?

Until recently, I've been a ThinkPad fan, using them since 1993 or so.
Never get the cheapest R series and you'll usually be ok. They are the
best designed and built machines out there, but read my next part.

However, I suspect the level of service, even in the US has dropped
already since the lenovo takeover.

For me, my next laptop will probably be a toughbook from panasonic. I like
the idea of a laptop that doesn't need a large stupid case at which point
it ends up being huge anyways.

There's pretty much three levels of what's sold as a laptop. There's the
desktop crammed into something smaller aka overheating garbage from
toshiba, cheapy "consumer" laptops, you'll see these in ads, and then the
business class machines, like the thinkpad T and X series. Both HP and
Dell have these levels of machines. If you see it sold as a business
machine, it's more likely to have the 3 year warranty as well as being
made to last at least that long. On these machines you'll worry less about
the hinges working loose, printing on the keys wearing off, keys falling
off and just nonsense like that.

Parts are easy to find for these three brands as well. You can always
order a spare power adapter for thinkpad from anywhere. This isn't true if
you have a fujitsu or an emachines.

Thanks for the good advice. I believe I will go with another Dell,
although I don't have any real experience other than buy the 9100 from
them

At the time I purchased it I was assured that there would be a power
adapter to run it (the laptop) from a car's cigarette lighter; this
was false as the power requirements required were far in excess of
those in a normal 12 volt system. So that left a 'bad' taste as far as
Dell was concerned but overall the delivery and performance of the
machine was very satisfactory.

Any recommendations as far as Dell is concerned?

TIA,
Bobsen

Dell has messed us all up with its renaming of product lines. Before they did
so, I would have simply recommended a Latitude. Now I am not clear whether
Vostro or Inspiron is supposed to be the business-class laptop. For sure, the
Precision laptops are not. They are monster desktop replacements that make
life tolerable for gamers. And now Dell is competing with Apple offering
different colored skins on their laptops. Whoopee!

Consider a Lenovo T-series (solid titanium frame) or X-series (really
lightweight), too... Ben Myers

On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:56:19 GMT, Bobsen <> wrote:

>Thanks for the good advice. I believe I will go with another Dell,
>although I don't have any real experience other than buy the 9100 from
>them
>
>At the time I purchased it I was assured that there would be a power
>adapter to run it (the laptop) from a car's cigarette lighter; this
>was false as the power requirements required were far in excess of
>those in a normal 12 volt system. So that left a 'bad' taste as far as
>Dell was concerned but overall the delivery and performance of the
>machine was very satisfactory.
>
>Any recommendations as far as Dell is concerned?
>
>TIA,
>Bobsen

Again, thanks for the help....
Regards,
Bobsen


On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 11:32:30 -0500, Ben Myers
<> wrote:

>Dell has messed us all up with its renaming of product lines. Before they did
>so, I would have simply recommended a Latitude. Now I am not clear whether
>Vostro or Inspiron is supposed to be the business-class laptop. For sure, the
>Precision laptops are not. They are monster desktop replacements that make
>life tolerable for gamers. And now Dell is competing with Apple offering
>different colored skins on their laptops. Whoopee!
>
>Consider a Lenovo T-series (solid titanium frame) or X-series (really
>lightweight), too... Ben Myers
>
>On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:56:19 GMT, Bobsen <> wrote:
>
>>Thanks for the good advice. I believe I will go with another Dell,
>>although I don't have any real experience other than buy the 9100 from
>>them
>>
>>At the time I purchased it I was assured that there would be a power
>>adapter to run it (the laptop) from a car's cigarette lighter; this
>>was false as the power requirements required were far in excess of
>>those in a normal 12 volt system. So that left a 'bad' taste as far as
>>Dell was concerned but overall the delivery and performance of the
>>machine was very satisfactory.
>>
>>Any recommendations as far as Dell is concerned?
>>
>>TIA,
>>Bobsen