On Sun, 4 Nov 2012 10:55:35 -0800 (PST), wrote:

"My customers reaction is often
something like... right, any new laptop except Toshiba"

Actually while you're here, just what kind of laptop would you recommend ? Maybe an Acer or something ?
J

I usually get into trouble making such recommendations. The problem
is that by the time we have a good idea of the long term survivability
of the laptop, it's obsolete and no longer being sold. To recommend a
current model laptop is risky, as it may contain problems which will
not appear for many months or years. For example, I didn't know about
the crappy soldering, exploding batteries, defective video chips, and
early hard disk failures found in many laptops until well after the
warranty periods had expired. Caveat emptor.

So much for the ritual disclaimer. This week, for new machines, I
like Lenovo. Not every model Lenovo, as their bottom of the line
models are marginal junk. The one's costing $500 and up seem decent.
Avoid 1366x768 screens, which don't really have enough dots to be
useful.

Note that you can almost buy two bottom end $350 laptops for the price
of one decent machine. If expendable laptops are your style, I would
recommend buying the cheapest, and just plan on having it blow up just
after the warranty expires.

For older machines running XP, I'm partial to IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads. I
have several customers runing T61p laptops, which are a good
compromise between price, performance, and reliability.

For those with an unlimited budget, I like Panasonic Toughbook
machines. They're built like a tank (magnesium case), and everything
is shock mounted. They weigh a ton, but will survive being dropped on
a hard floor. Performance sucks, but that's because they use older
known components instead of the latest greatest fresh off the
prototype line.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558