buying a new laptop...

@jamuls (530)
Philippines
August 25, 2010 5:17am CST
what's the best brand out there? i'm thinking about getting a Toshiba or a Lenovo... there's an Asus that's got a very good hardware but they said it f*cks up easily. same goes for Hp Compaq too. i'm a little tight on cash right now so i would appreciate some advice here, guys. i want to get something that can help me with my work, i'm into editing photos and layouts. some video editing too so i need something strong. and you know some place where i can get it a little cheaper, it would really make my day. (this goes for the Pinoys living in Manila) :)
4 people like this
18 responses
@boymelvs (138)
• Philippines
25 Aug 10
if you are looking for brand name and style not the performance then go for HP. but according to you,you need a computer on your work for editing photo and videos,you must focus on the specification regardless of brand name, the higher the specs the better. personally im using ASUS, so far i don't have any problem with my laptop.i using my laptop in gaming most of the time and video editing.
@jamuls (530)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
the Asus laptops i saw got some very good specs and they're cheaper than most. I've asked around about this and they told me that they are not really that durable, hardware wise. you said you haven't had any problems with it? how old is it? can you help me out?
@boymelvs (138)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
i bought my laptop last year July 2009. here is the specs. intel core 2 duo 2.53ghz,4gb of ram,and 1 gb vram.. 500gb of hard drive. when i bought this the original OS is vista Home premium,but i change it into windows 7 ultimate and of course its working fine and running smoothly. since then so far i dont have any problem even once,all driver are available on their website both 32 and 64 bit so there is no issue of driver incompatibility.
@kyel_11 (1069)
• Philippines
25 Aug 10
I think it's not the brand that matters but the specifications of the laptop. Try to look more on the specifications rather than the brand. The specs will explain to you the behavior of the laptop.
@jamuls (530)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
you're absolutely right. i know what specs i'm getting but i need to know about the laptops durability. i don't care much about the looks. Toshiba's designs are a little old fashioned but it works for me. thanks!
• India
25 Aug 10
Well Toshiba is a very renowned and good brand. If you are ready to pay quite few more dollars then you can go for sony it has a great features and quality. Otherwise most of the laptops are same these days. Lenovo is also good because it started using IBM parts.
@jamuls (530)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
got my eyes on getting a Toshiba. Sony Viao is just way too expensive but they are really nice to look at. lol! thanks!
@enyniya (299)
• Bulgaria
25 Aug 10
If I were you I would save some more money and invest in a good quality notebook. Personally, I use and like Toshiba the Satellite series. They are powerful machines and aren't as expensive as Apple or HP. For Asus: I have used only the small laptops and they feel very unnatural and are not suitable for photoshop or any kind of editting work.
@jamuls (530)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
thanks for this! i'm actually still saving for it (PC). i already have the money to buy my target but i might as well save some more to get a better laptop.
@incus99 (1083)
• Philippines
25 Aug 10
If I were you, I will go for HP comaq , great ergonomics... excellent for pictorial presentation.. excellent screen pixels.. the only down side for the HP compaq is that its only for Microsoft Vista OS.. and its a bit slow on the start and memory hungry..good luck !
@jamuls (530)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
my bro owns 2 HP Compaqs. specs are actually good but... well, the first laptop he bought, after a few months, the hard drive got busted. his second didn't feel like keeping it keypads on. pfft... Compaq used to have durable laptops, the early Presario Series were very good. i don;t know what happened. :(
@jerikjames (1041)
• Philippines
25 Aug 10
It doesn't have to be brand new right? Have you tried checking 'Divisoria' or 'Raon'? They have good deals on laptops and netbooks there. You just have to be careful in choosing and scrutinize if the parts are working fine. I'm currently using an Acer Aspire 3620 and I'm cool with its performance. I've done some photo editing and video editing with my laptop and it's fine. The specifications of my laptop are the following: Processor: Intel Celeron 1.60GHz, RAM: 760 MB RAM, HD: 100Gb OS: Windows XP Try looking for used laptops with this specs (except for the hard drive since I just got them upgraded).
@jamuls (530)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
i'm not too sure about getting a second hand pc. kinda... risky. if i'm going to spend then i might as well spend it on something new. :) thanks for the comment, bro! my old laptop now is Intel Pentium M 1.73Ghz, 2gb RAM, Win XP. my hard drive is just a lousy 80gb. pffft! i'm think about getting a pc higher than this specs.
29 Oct 10
This is probably been bought by now but I still like to respond to past discussions. Don't be fooled by brands, they don't really mean anything as each laptop is very much different. I tend to stick with the same brand, although that's only because for the price I like to pay their easily the best. It's not the brand I buy but the laptop. I would suggest you ask the place in which you plan to buy it. (if you haven't) I don't know what type of laptops are available near you or what the price is.
@derek_a (10874)
26 Aug 10
I have a Sony Vaio and I find it excellent. Yet some people say they get problems with theirs. I think mostly it is the software that's included in a computer that causes more problems. As a desktop, I have a completely unknown make that was built for me. It has good parts inside it and rarely gives trouble (touch wood) because I only had the basic Windows installed, with no extras, and then added my own software as I wanted it. There were no trial software that popped up, like on my Vaio asking me to purchase the upgrades or anything else. All these trials tend to stay on the hard drive and some are very difficult to uninstall and I think it eventually messes up the hardware making it work harder all the time. That's what I have discovered with my machines..._Derek
@tonyllenium (6252)
• Italy
29 Oct 10
so as regards laptop surely you can have a wide range of choice and you can fidn some even on good prices...i consider normally dell,hp,ibm and sony vaio good systems and configuration or features are really ok for all tasets even for multimedia as well!! Surely if youa re searching for an high end pc i think the king from thsi point of view would eb alienware laptop really powerful for games,photos,video editing and everything else because normally you can configure as you wan all components from your pc but it wll result expensive in the end..but features and performances really ok!! Lastly i think if you don't want spend much but have a good laptop evne thoshiba system can be ok because normally prices really worth their systems..
@JOIEMARVIC (2335)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
I suggest you to wait and add more funds for your laptop purchase. There are a lot of laptops available in the market nowadays. And since you said your planning to use it of video wditing purposes, you really need a tough and durable laptop, which is expensive here in our country (Philippines). So it is but best to save more for this purchase. 30-40k is enough to buy you a good sturdy laptop. I suggest you get a Toshiba satellite. It's sturdy. Though it's pricey, it will definitely go a long way.
@dav20b (507)
• United States
26 Aug 10
I have heard that HP computers are good from one tech person said that they have had less problems from hp computers.About the windows os being slow at first you just have to turn off most of the graphic stuff like using plain windows theme with webshots background.
@ashok1 (225)
• India
26 Aug 10
try dell or hp which are good
@yancu18 (17)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
I think Lenovo,Apple or Toshiba are good.
@talkbig (41)
• China
2 Sep 10
I suggest you to buy a Macbook Pro 13 inch. That's perfect. I believe you will love it once you have try it. Now the Macbook Pro 13 inch battery duration can reach 10 hours!!! But if I were you,I will wait for the i5 cpu presented on the 13" macbook pro. The i5 will obviously be more fast,more energy saving. The apple's products are arts.
@cheribam (448)
• United States
26 Aug 10
I love my Sony Vaio, it can catch wifi signal from 3 blocks away. My husband gave it to me as a gift. And It's not that expensive ($700 or about P31,000+) and I can do multi-tasking with it and never crashed, not even once. My husband's laptop is a Toshiba and he's been using it for more than 3 years for work and it's still in good condition. But if you really like the most high-end one, get a 15-inch MacBook Pro which sells for $1,799-$2,199. It's cheaper to buy laptops here in the US but with the shipping and handling fees, they're about the same price if you buy it in Manila. If you have relative(s) here in the US who are coming home to the Philippines soon, you can just send them money and let them buy you a laptop here.
• India
25 Aug 10
what about dell?
@bloggeroo (2167)
• Philippines
26 Aug 10
I've just bought a Lenovo B450 laptop computer and you may want to know that it's difficult finding drivers online for this machine. Worse, if you're using Linux, there's practically no support from Lenovo itself. Anyway, I'm still scouring the internet for drivers to make wireless access work. If I were you, it would be better to check the computer model you like online to see if you can configure it easily. A cheap computer does not necessarily mean it's the best. (Incidentally, I got the Lenovo B450 really cheap at P21,150.) Hmm. Mental note. I should start checking Dell computers. I'd like to buy one next time around.
@kukueye (1759)
• Malaysia
26 Aug 10
Notebook is more for mobility and work. - Invest in good notebook that last your 5-8 years.
Last time when i was shopping around for the notebook always ask yourself for the budget and also what is the main reason for buying the notebook.It is for gaming, for mobility or for doing work in multiple places. If for gaming i will advice better get a decent PC not notebook.Notebook are not suitable for gaming long hours and also the graphic card is not upgradeable, meanwhile if for mobility then invest in something light not those heavy toshiba monster. If for office work then get a standard notebook with standard specifcication will be sufficient.Nowsday notebook comes with pre install window which is good. Brand like Toshiba,Acer and HP Pressario series has good recovery method just in case need to reformat because of virus and such. If budget is tight can go for the AMD processor which is few hundred cheaper than the Intel microssor.Beside that, always go for notebook with full connectivity like WIFI,Bluetooth,LAN and other stand connectivity because your need it for work sooner or later. Always also negiotate and bargain for nice bag or pack bag for the notebook. Made sure your notebook battery in genuine with warranty and charger too.Try getting latest notebook with latest ddr which is upgradeable in the future too.Happy shopping.