New Laptop: HP, Dell, Gateway?

In a few months I'll be going off to College and I need to buy a new laptop. I've done some research on my own and I've narrowed my choices down to the HP zd8000, the Dell Inspiron 9300, and the Gateway M680X...but now I'm stuck and don't know which to get...

Any thoughts/comments/advice/help/etc. is greatly appreciated...

 

I know. They are all excellent laptops in terms of my needs, but it seems that there is no one company out there that offers good tech support. Having just gone through a very traumatizing experience with my HP iPAQ, this is a concern for me...so for the time being I think I'm looking for the best possible laptop...and then the best possible tech support.

So far, I think what's a concern to me is the fact that it seems that for the price, you get a lot more from Gateway...but I've never bought a computer from them and I'm not sure how reliable they are. This is an advantage for the Dell...it's a name that my father is well aware of and I think he feels safer with it. HP...I've had a horrible time with my PDA, but I'm really falling for the P4 (instead of PM)....

I guess I'm sort of stuck and I'm wondering what kind of experiences people on this board have had...

 

I have a Dell laptop, I hope the tech support side of dell burns in hell. http://forums.majorgeeks.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

 

I have a Dell 600m and am very pleased. I just ordered and received a Dell 9300 for a friend, and am extremely envious-- it's one heck of a machine. My only experiences with Gateway and HP laptops are these: a Gateway with a low-end Celeron M, compared to the Dells I am familiar with, just seems cheaply made. The HP notebook I am familiar with is solid, but way too heavy for its class, and, at just two years old, has a cooling problem that causes constant lock-ups. I'd vote for the Dell. Ditto on the Toshiba comment above, but only if you have the extra money to blow.

 

Thanks for the input so far...I'm ruling out the Gateway I think. I think right now I'm going for either the HP or the Dell...it seems the Dell is pretty good but I guess I'm sort of attracted by the extra P4 Muscle of the HP.

Weight is not really an issue for me, though heat definetly is. I guess my question is for multimedia (DVD's, photo editing) and gaming, which of the two is better? For travel (I know both are desktop replacements, but still)?

 

Love my old Gateway Solo 9300 because I can have 2 physical hard drives, and a CD/DVD, installed at the same time. Don't know about recent models, by any manufacturer, though. Bazza

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I'm looking at the Dell 600m when I buy, but we just got a bunch of Gateway 680somethings at work. The Gateways look nice (the widescreen didn't seem necessisary [sp?, wow that was bad], but I wouldn't be using it for DVD watching too often), but haven't got the modular bay I'm looking for...

Oh the P4 would probably generate more heat and eat more battery than a Pentium M, unless Intel's worked that out in the newer chips.

 

I thought widescreen was the bees knees for watching DVD's. Or is the screen not to good in the graphics display. My 'ol Solo 9300 has a 15" display, great when it was released in 1999 and still good today.

I heard from a computer shop owner friend of mine that a lot of the laptop manufacturers have gone back from releasing P4 models, back to Pentium M's, because of the heat problems associated with laptop/P4's. He is a Toshiba dealer, has been for many many years. Bazza

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As a personal preference, I only use Toshiba laptops. I have 2 atm and I have had no problems with either of them. Yes the P4 in my P25 will fry an egg, but as a desktop replacement, I have not found anything (for the money) that beats it.

I also am satisfied with the tech service Toshiba provides. It is very important being in the military, Toshiba has a worldwide service and repair policy.

Brian

 

I figure the widescreen WOULD be good for watching DVDs, but some people have to get work done at the office... All I've been doing on these laptops is setting it up for our network and getting users logged in the first time.

I prefer watching DVDs on my home TVs or a 21" flat screen we "acquired" at the office

 

Have you checked out ACER?? They got some pretty good deals running right now...and I have talked to a couple of people that have dealt with their customer support and they say it was pretty good!!

Roger

 

If I get my job in Africa, I'm going to be watching a lot of my DVD's, probably on my laptop, in my donga. Bazza

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