Laptop and network shopping list - advice please?

[Richard W]

I'm actually in the same boat as scotth and don't want to hijack his thread. I'm looking at a couple of laptop manufacturers including Sony, HP/Compaq, and Fulitsu-Siemens.

Any opinions on the models from these mfrs (company budget is £2k for 2 laptops, adsl modem/router and a wireless print server) we're after a 'big one' for use as a 'mobile desktop' and a smaller (physically) to use whilst on the road. Both must have wireless capability and if there's a docking station solution that would substitute for the wireless print server....?

I've had a scout round on dabs.com and have an idea on what would fit the budget, I'm just a little hesitant in taking the plunge. There must be some knowledgable folks here who could do me a shopping list!

 

[Sp!ke]

Of the three brands you mention, only one has onsite warranty.... and they dont make particularly good notebooks anymore. Next day onsite warranty is crucial for a business IMO.

If you want a desktop replacement specced laptop, this on its own will be close on the £2k mark alone due to the high spec.

At my workplace we use Dell D600's / D400's, nicely built, reasonably fast, most of the toys (DVD/RW, Bluetooth, WIFI, 512mb, 40Gb HDD) and we get them with 3 years gold support and next day guaranteed onsite warranty and a docking station thrown in for slightly under a grand each. The other good thing is that Dell have guaranteed a minimum of a 3 year run on the D series so support and spares will be a breeze for the life of the laptops. (All 'D' series periferalls are interchangeable).

 

[Richard W]

I've had nightmares with Dell in previous companies and would really avoid them from that, motherboard failures, hard drive failures, screens, etc etc.

When I talk about desktop replacement I just mean big screen and DVD/CD writer (something like this - HP NX7010 )the £2k machines have so much stuff that I wouldn't use.

 

[frog1520]

I bought an Acer Aspire 1710 earlier in the year as a desktop replacement. 17" screen, 120Gb disk, 1Gb RAM - not bad for a laptop. It also uses standard (i.e. cheaper!) desktop parts for disk, memory etc. Overall I've been quite happy with it, but it does weigh a ton, so its not the sort of thing you'd want to cart around on a permanent basis.

Also when it comes to laptops, dont forget Toshiba. Maybe not as sexy as the other brands, but theyve been in the business forever and produce solid kit. I tend to find that the cheaper ones (i.e satellites) are more robust than the fancy ones (tecras etc).

I think theres a million different answers to your questions though - all the ones you've mentioned will do the job!

Good Luck!!

 

[peterchurch]

Hi,
I would not bother with a wirless print server I bought an HP PCS2510 and it has wireless on board. It is also photocopier/fax/scaner so it does the lot! cant remember what it cost but it is a very nice printer. As for wireless Networks, go linksys for all the way. I strongly recomend that you buy the cards (only) from PC world, as they will replace new cards for old over the counter, no questions asked, if they go pop . I have had 5 cards in the last year ( first 3 were dlink the last two are linksys and work like a dream) Laptops I would still go dell even if you think they are bad because at the end of the day your business can't afford you to post a laptop off for anything up to 6 weeks if you have a fault. I think toshiba might have the same sort of warranty but I'm not sure. (I bought a widescreen one for the otherhalf in the summer. They are very nice but a bit pricey for what you want)

good luck

Peter

 

[C240Sport97]

I have this exact same machine. I got it in Feb this year from www.dabs.com, when it was about £30 cheaper than PC World. The wireless software works fine. It even has 8 slots for camera memory cards which can use to download pics to your PC via the wireless network.

Hi,
I would not bother with a wirless print server I bought an HP PCS2510 and it has wireless on board. It is also photocopier/fax/scaner so it does the lot!
good luck

Peter

 

[peterchurch]

You will get pretty much any item you want in a different store cheaper than at PC world. (by the way micro anvika was giving away a free ipod mini with every toshiba p20 laptop !!) As such I only recommend them for Laptop cards because they don't try and fix them when they die in 6 months... This means that when you are working on something that needs to be in yesterday and the card blows you jump in the car and replace the card on the spot... Its the only thing that I have ever found of any use ever....

 

[Richard W]

I intend to buy PCs with built in wireless capability - don't want hassles with cards. Thanks for the comments on Dell/Toshiba. From experience and asking folk at work (large IT department for global company) Toshiba machines have the most downtime of any of the manufacturers currently used, Dell is next, with HP/Compaq machines way ahead.

With 2 machines and a good backup regime, sending one off is not an issue, I'm looking for the best blend of features for the money.

Thinking on the hoof - am I silly to dismiss wireless cards? Could I get a better deal by getting a well spec'ed machine and then adding a card?

 

[peterchurch]

In short yes! Wireless is still evolving so its a better bet to get a machine and add a card. That way you will be able to change the card when the next good idea comes along As for IT department down time figures I would add some balance to the figure to incorperate the "F**K it, Its not mine attitude " I just supplied a mate with two sparkly Toshiba widescreen laptops.They are red, shiney and are great laptops within 4 hours of them being on site no less than 3 older laptops owned by other senior managers had been smoked due to "accidents eh hem" involving hot coffee... Oh well, doesn't look like that will get get fixed. we will have to order some new ones said one exec Thats where you're wrong, said my mate, I will just phone the support line, and they will bring the parts in and rebuild it for you in the moring
Not that I can talk. I put my sh1te house brick of an HP through bagage at two major airports 2 twice a week, for 2 months in the vain hope that it would get nicked and replaced... Imagine my wrath when the theiving b@st@rds deamed it not worth nicking and It came through untouched I had to resort to running over it, in front of my boss in the end The wise guy in support just looked at it and said "Thats one of the more imaginative ones I have had this week! Its funny how the release of the 6100 has sparked this wave of laptop assasinations " Pointed to a 3 foot pile of dead omnibooks ... damn tough laptop that .


Best regards,

Peter

 

[Eranu]

I wouldn't discount IBM Thinkpads. I've used them for 7 or so years and they just keep improving. Also ultra reliable in my experience. Don't know how much they cost though as mine have all been bought by work.

 

[peterchurch]

cheaper ones look like a bit like a brick But you can get one for about £600 but the nice slim ones are around £1800

 

[scotth_uk]

We've got 600+ Stinkpads here in our company and the only person who's actually broken one was me. And I'm the only ex IT bloke. Hah!

I'd love another but cannot go past the frilly goodies on others.

 

[craigyb]

Sitting here typing on a Dell D600, company supplied, but very nice, this has everything but the bluetooth. Nice laptop and oh so quiet.

Linksys and Netgear (keep clear) absolute rubbish. Overpriced underperformers.

Go Buffalo if you can, good stuff and tons of options. By the way I've never had to take back any network cards, but the Netgear 54g card broke my PC.

Just my 2 cents.

Craig

 

[scotth_uk]

Hhahaa.. I love these discussions. We've all got opinions and we need to be careful how we present them to others.

We should all try to stop bagging other's gear! Sort of like the car side of this forum, we should all be careful not to upset others.

Craig - I couldn't be more polar opposite to your opinions. Linksys and Netgear have been fantastic for myself and all of my co-workers (all senior certified network engineers including me). I have had both (along with some Cisco gear), and have found that the low cost items do what they say on the tin for great value. Support when needed has been much better then expected, and has usually been blown powerpacks rather than failed or misbehaving equipment.

I used to be a huge Dell advocate when working in the Australian Government (running the pc support organisation for two thousand Dell using users), but in recent years have had most Dell using buddies complain about DOAs, failed screens and the falling quality of their service organisation. I have been into their call centre in Whitefields (Bangalore), India and think that it's not too bad. I think that most people don't like talking to people in other countries over the phone. Doesn't bother me too much.

I have no experience of Buffalo gear, but have heard that it's very good value for money and works well.

 

[peterchurch]

Having pet hates for products in the IT industry is a bad move, because sooner or later the company in question provides a good product, and you have to change your opinion of them, and risk looking dumb in the process. To be honest if you followed a pathalogical hate campaign for every company that stitched you or a customer up in this game we would all be writing this forum in stone on a cave wall somewhere
That said, the only thing that would put me off buffalo would be that when I needed to (and I still do) get an extra access point that I could plug my playstation into. The chap on their support desk told me to throw all my other kit out and rebuy my network in buffalo kit, and that it would not work if I did not. (nice try I suppose) I am a systems integrator & troubleshooter by trade and I don't take kindly to people or companies that tell me that their products won't play kindly with other stuff so it the other guys fault.

Products can and do fail. The issue comes when the support desk is useless and the company is slow to note that an issue is not isolated...

Steer clear of these types of companies and life gets easier

just my 20p's worth

 

[peterchurch]

just been talking to a friend who was installing a wireless network. He has just bought a 3com all the box solution adsl modem router plus a card from expansys for £80 !! not a bad offer I thought ....

 

[peterchurch]

while I am at it. I know you don't like them but I thought it was worth posting anyway

http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=1339&CategoryID=11&SubCategoryID=167

I paid more than this for my 15" version !!!!