laptop advice

Oscar1613 · May 8th, 2002, 08:24 PM

hi guys, i've been looking for a laptop i need for school next year... so far i've narrowed it down to the Sager NP5620 (from Powernotebooks.com) and the Compaq Evo N180 (direct from compaq). the Sager has more power (practically a desktop) but its also alittle more expensive... but the compaq is about 3 lbs lighter and has twice the battery life... i've had bad experiences with compaqs before, but they are getting alittle better... and i've heard the business products are alot better than the home products.

which would you guys recommend?

Tekk · May 8th, 2002, 08:29 PM

I personally dont like compaqs and I have heard very good reviews of the powernotebooks.com computers (from people right here at TIMO). I would go for the Sager if I was you. Weight is not a big concern to me. Battery life...hmmmm....well its somewhat important but I would sacrafice battery life for a non-compaq machine. Of course, thats just me

neodave · May 8th, 2002, 08:38 PM

I'm with Tekk. Go with the Sager. Most Compaq notebooks we have at work end up having some sort of hardware problem.

shadows · May 9th, 2002, 08:31 PM

Sager? What about Dell? I just bought an Inspiron 8200...it works wonderfully right now...battery life about 4.5 hours on best cpu usage. Geforce 4 64mb, cdrw/dvd wireless, 3com network, modem, 15.1" screen. 30 gig 256mb ram...total $2500 I'd compare a lot before buy if you want my opinion..but I'd trust Tekk

Oscar1613 · May 9th, 2002, 11:35 PM

dell is not an option... thats way over budget... (i still have to factor in $200 for office xp pro so i dunno if the sager is even gonna be within budget...)

weight and battery life wouldnt be important to me either, but its required for school, so im gonna be lugging it around all day and using it in class, and who knows if i'll get a chance to recharge during the day at all... but that sager is really tempting... i'll have to talk to my dad some more about budget and stuff...

Xeroid · May 9th, 2002, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Oscar1613
... and i've heard the business products are alot better than the home products.

We use Compaqs and Toshibas at work. The Compaqs have been troublesome (being kind here

). The Toshibas have worked out well. I would stay away from the Compaqs. Mine is 2 years old and I've had 2 hardware failures so far. We have 8 compaqs on my workgroup and all of them have been sent back for some type of hardware problem. 4 of the 8 were sent back by my company 1 month after we got them . Also, we are talking 3 different models of Compaqs, so it isn't restricted to just one lemon model.

Mike

Bopper · May 9th, 2002, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Sager Technical Support

For Warranty Service or Technical Support please call SAGER directly @ 1-800-741-2219 or 1-626-964-4849 between 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM Pacific Time Monday through Friday, identify yourself as a PowerNotebooks.com customer, and ask for Jerry who is our personal Technical Support Technician. Or, you can e-mail him at techsupport@sagernotebook.com ATTN: Jerry.

ask for jerry?!?!?! they have one technician!!!?!?!?!

plucky duck · May 10th, 2002, 12:13 AM

I personally have the Dell 8100 myself. With two batteries and speedstep for general work, it can last quite a while. Mine does a little over 4hrs.

I never did worry about the weight. I know I would get used to it after awhile, and I did. 8-9 lbs is really nothing. Especially when all my texts can be ported to pdf format, and I don't have to carry the books. So it does make up for it.

What's your budget, btw?

Does the Sager use the desktop P4?

There are tonnes of 8000 and 8100's on ebay right now. Being so saturated, you're sure to find a decent deal. Perhaps one within your budget.

What is your need/want besides school use?

No comment about Compaqs, as I've no experience with them. Have used Toshibas and IBMs. Both are very sturdy.

Yes, very important, what about customer service? Don't give that one a shut eye, might hit back at you sometime in the future.

Dell has the latest and greatest (of a true laptop), but its cs is somewhat lacking. I didn't have a satisfied cs experience with them at all.

Just my few cents here and there

Plucky

Oscar1613 · May 10th, 2002, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bopper

ask for jerry?!?!?! they have one technician!!!?!?!?!

i think they meant theres a technician at Sager specifically for Powernotebooks.com customers

Quote:

I never did worry about the weight. I know I would get used to it after awhile, and I did. 8-9 lbs is really nothing.

Mead · May 10th, 2002, 04:48 PM

Instead of spending that 200$ on office XP spend it on the laptop and just use Open Office 1.0 instead. Its great, its free, and for me its working better than Office XP.