New desktop and laptop ideas help!

[fuzzer]

My choice at the moment would be :

Laptop : Lenovo ThinkPad X100e 2876 - Athlon Neo MV-40 /... - NTT27UK at Insight UK

Desktop : HP Compaq Elite 8000 - SFF - 1 x P E5300 / 2.6 G... - WB661ET#ABU at Insight UK

Monitor : HP LE2201w - LCD display - TFT - 22" - widescree... - NK571AT#ABU at Insight UK


All business grade kit , should see you for at least the 3 year warranty. HP are brilliant at getting spare parts to you next day and Lenovo make the best laptops still.

Buy a lenovo Laptop

HP Business Desktop , something in the elite 8000 range and HP Business Monitor.

You won't go far wrong , hp next day parts delivery from holland is brilliant

 

[dinoy]

i run an IT company sony is by far the best from service point of view and worth the premium but if u can haggle yourself 3 year onsite warranty with any laptop u buy take it as that is worth more than the laptop.

also u can buy from john lewis the offer 3 or 5 year guarantee on laptops they sell not bad as they treat them same as TVs which gr8 selling point for them

 

[Shude]

My choice at the moment would be :

Laptop : Lenovo ThinkPad X100e 2876 - Athlon Neo MV-40 /... - NTT27UK at Insight UK

Desktop : HP Compaq Elite 8000 - SFF - 1 x P E5300 / 2.6 G... - WB661ET#ABU at Insight UK

Monitor : HP LE2201w - LCD display - TFT - 22" - widescree... - NK571AT#ABU at Insight UK


All business grade kit , should see you for at least the 3 year warranty. HP are brilliant at getting spare parts to you next day and Lenovo make the best laptops still.

Buy a lenovo Laptop

HP Business Desktop , something in the elite 8000 range and HP Business Monitor.

You won't go far wrong , hp next day parts delivery from holland is brilliant

Where I work is 100% IBM/Lenovo kit. The only complaints from users are that they look "boring" (satin black never goes out of fashion!) and that they're slow (they're great out of the box then we fill them up with corporate anti-virus packages and SAP client etc ).

After three years of being dropped, having coffee poured through them and being literally beaten up by salemen for 18 hours per day the T43 and T60 models being swapped for the latest T400 still look great and work perfectly.

 

[Dryce]

i run an IT company sony is by far the best from service point of view

LOL.

'by far the best'

ROFL

Let us say that experience may vary.

 

[fuzzer]

i run an IT company sony is by far the best from service point of view and worth the premium but if u can haggle yourself 3 year onsite warranty with any laptop u buy take it as that is worth more than the laptop.

Sony are nice things to look at in a domestic environment , but using them commercially isnt the best idea as they are for domestic use and would keel over and die if they had to put up with commercial abuse like a lenovo could. If their customer services for Vaio is still based in belgium then good luck

also u can buy from john lewis the offer 3 or 5 year guarantee on laptops they sell not bad as they treat them same as TVs which gr8 selling point for them

Again , this doesnt apply to a commercially used product. They also only sell consumer IT equiptment.

 

[timskemp]

Bear in mind that most manufacturers have two lines, home and business, and the support is very different as is the quality between the two lines.

I've been a Toshiba notebook user and reseller for years, yet many people have "nothing but trouble" - my recommendations are always in the Tecra range which are business oriented, nothing special but very robust and reliable, and just as important easily serviced with plenty of parts supply.

As for desktops, I've switched away from Dell to HP, not for any reason other than I get faster delivery and better support from HP, there's nothing wrong with Dell desktops.

I also come across a lot of Lenovo and Fujitsu business grade kit, none of which seems to be any less worth than HP / Dell.

So, bottom line, I'd be looking at Tosh laptop and whatever desktop suits you - though I'm unsure of the serviceability of the all-in-ones if in extended use, after all if a monitor fails or is damaged on your traditional PC you're only 60 quid and your nearest computer store away from a replacement.

There are a number of PCs that can be mounted on the back of the monitor or monitor stand - would they be worth investigating?

 

[HughJarse]

LOL.

'by far the best'

ROFL

Let us say that experience may vary.

The only machines Ive ever had die ( I mean completely dead ) were Vaios...looked lovely, but what a pile of pants.

 

[timskemp]

The only machines Ive ever had die ( I mean completely dead ) were Vaios...looked lovely, but what a pile of pants.

And yet, despite my protestations, one of my clients will not buy anything else, and has never had one fail.

I think you'll find it's the cheap, low end stuff that's just contract manufactured junk with "sony" stuck on the lid.

 

[fuzzer]

And yet, despite my protestations, one of my clients will not buy anything else, and has never had one fail.

I think you'll find it's the cheap, low end stuff that's just contract manufactured junk with "sony" stuck on the lid.

You might be right with that , i went through about 4 of them and finally ended up with a £1700 16" screened monster back in 2001. Still going strong

 

[Ade B]

My Vaio is excellent - best screen I've seen, stable and nicely put together.

Sony customer service is the best I've ever received - the bloke on the phone who rang me when he said he would every time and had an Irish accent so I'm guessing they're not based in Belgium.

Spare part was provided free, not under warranty as Mrs B broke it...

They get short shrift on here... I think they're pricey but so far excellent.

I'd buy another tomorrow if I needed one.


Ade

 

[lil.smartie]

I always say Japanese built Vaio's are good, Chinese aren't!

My laptop is 3yrs old, was an 'open box' bargain from pc world business, travels in my backpack when we are away, has had small child sticky fingers/bumps etc and is still going strong! My husband bought the newer version 18mths ago again no probs!

Kate

 

[Dryce]

Sony customer service is the best I've ever received - the bloke on the phone who rang me when he said he would every time and had an Irish accent so I'm guessing they're not based in Belgium.

Haven't used them recently.

The experience that led to us not using them recently involved Belgium, Ireland, and France - and their UK HQ. *Every step* and I mean *every step* of the process failed including dealing with their UK HQ.

 

[fuzzer]

Spare part was provided free, not under warranty as Mrs B broke it...

They get short shrift on here... I think they're pricey but so far excellent.

I'd buy another tomorrow if I needed one.


Ade

I was charged £5 for a replacement plastic extendable foot for my vaio laptop and then charged £38 for the delivery from belgium and that was during the first 6 months of the warranty period.

 

[HughJarse]

Off the top of my head, Levono are the second best seller in the world now.

 

[greggster]

Thank you all for your help, really good.

I did the deal today - Dell Vostro desktop all in one, Vostro 15" basic laptop and Vostro V13 lightweight high spec laptop - all for £75/mth lease over 2 years incl next day hardware repairs and 24 hour software support. Got them down from £100/mth - my negotiating skills are on fire a the moment for some reason, going to try to convince the wife to let me buy a new SL tomorrow as i must be "in the zone"!!