Best Notebook??

[mushroom]

I am going to buy a notebook soon and I just need a very simple one.
I would like to be able to use Word, surf the web, chat and watch a DVD once in a while. Fancy features would be wasted on me...

Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[ninypants5]

I have a Dell Inspiron 5100 ..It's the only computer I have and it's great. I think it was like $1200 or something, I don't really know cuz it was a present from my parents (yes, I know I'm spoiled :p) Anyhoo, it's great for doing all the things you described, that's basically what I use mine for. I didn't get the DVD palyer, but I wish I did :( The only other thing I didn't like about it is I wished it had another USB port. In the beginning I found it hard to get used to the touchpad instead of a mouse...but I like it now :) And Dell has great support available. I haven't really had any problems...

Well, that's my advertisement for Dell! Hope it helped :)

[NDvegan85]

I have a Dell Insipiron 1100. I'm computer illiterate, but I can still use it!

[sandiemac]

this is how old i am:

i thought you were talking about PAPER.....computers never even dawned on me....

[rabid_child]

I think Dell can GO TO HELL!!!

Grr grrr grrrrrrr

Not for quality of products, mind you. I bought a dell in december to replace my gateway cause it was getting old and dell gave me a better price on what I wanted. I will NEVER EVER EVER buy a Dell again. I realized after I had placed my order that the package needed to be SIGNED for so I changed the shipping address to my office, and called up to make sure that would work. They told me yes, it would ship to my office, no problem. Well, I'm tracking the damn thing and it says it will be shipped out to... MY HOME! I called up, said DON'T ship it there, they said too late. Didn't apologize for the inconvenience or anything. Then my mouse broke shortly after getting the damn thing, and it was under warrantee so I called up for a new one, and they treated me like an idiot, and in the end, sent me the wrong mouse. So I called again, and the guy I spoke to was downright nasty to me, and said it was my fault (hey buddy, you have the system specs in your records of my account right there, you should know what to send) and finally agreed to send me the RIGHT mouse and that I don't have to send back the old one. Which was fine, cause neither mouse came with return labels or anything. Said I didn't have to send back the broken one either cause it cost them more to process than make. Okay, fine. Then I get a customer service call at work for Dell checking on their customer service people, so I was honest with them and told them that they were not pleasant to work with, screwed stuff up, etc... and the guy CHECKING on customer service got pissy with me!! So a bit of time later I get a bill from Dell telling me if I didn't return the mice (one of which was no longer in existance) then I'd have to pay whatever bill. I called, got another idiot who was VERY VERY nasty to me about the whole thing, eventually said he'd just remove the charges. It was fine for about 4 months, but now I'm getting bills again. :wall:

I had my Gateway for about 4 yrs, 3 of which were under warrantee, they replaced things correctly without question or bill, I always dealt with pleasant helpful people and they always did stuff right.

dude, dell can bite me.

[Cissy]

r_c - Dell's been pissing me off too. You have *no* idea how many times I've had to have my PC fixed. My sound card's been broken, my hard drive died, once I was stuck in 640x480 and 16 colors for a week, my mouse didn't recognize itself, and lots of other crap. Next time I get a computer, my brother's going to build it.

[Robert]

In terms of Notebook computers, without question... Toshiba Satellite would be my first choice. There's a reason they are consistently rated very highly... they offer great service and great quality.

Second choice would probably be a Sony VAIO.

Third, and perhaps this is all you need Mushroom.. is a simple Apple iBook. They work well from what i understand and Mac is, of course, a very easy to use machine.

Regarding Dell, I have *never* had a good product from Dell. Never. I have purchased two systems from them. Both were nothing but problems, resulting in downtime, loss of productivity and worse, having to sit on hold on their farce of a customer service line. Both systems encountered hard drive failures, one had a motherboard crack that caused a short and blew a bus, one had a monitor die (list goes on and on). Terrible product quality.

[Ntelligentidiot]

Hah! I thought you were talking about notebookes for paper too!:D I can't help you with laptop computers as I don't own one.

[Rie]

I just bought a HP 2400, and it works great. $1000 after rebates. :up:

[mushroom]

My husband agrees with everything that you wrote, Robert...except the part about Dell. We have had good experiences with Dell. (The only problems have been when our sons have added things to our computer.)

Husband says that he doesn't trust HP.

Thanks for all the opinions! Good to know. :)

[oneness]

My dell has been wonderful.. (almost 2 yrs old) when lightening came in on my cable line dell sent a tech to my house to fix it free of charge :D

[mushroom]

"Anyone have any experience with this company?" Husband wants to know...

http://www.abspc.com/app/familynote.asp

Thanks :)

[dotnetdiva]

We've bought all our desktops and laptops from Dell in the past 3 years. We've never had a problem and we'll continue to order from them.

[Tofu]

I have had 3 Dells and have loved them until recently. They peaved me off big time with their customer service since it has moved their support to India. First off the people picking up the phones cannot master the English language well and if you asked them anything out of the ordinary then forget about it. The story is too long but I will never buy Dell again. I actually have my eye on an alienware next. :smitten:

[CaptainSwab]

Rie, I think I have the same computer as you. :) I just bought mine a few weeks ago and love it. Its was $1000 after rebates, bought it from best buy.

[Joyful-Eyes]

I have a really ancient toshiba one, and it still runs, so that says something for toshibas, I think...I know nothing about computers tho, don't even know the specifications of mine, all I know is it is basic, not even a modem on it...