Laptop Buying Advice

[aj_techie 2]

Hi I'm interested in buying this laptop. Where can I get the best deal in Mumbai?

[rohan_4ever20 8]

Dhiraj will you please suggest where i can buy this Laptop,Any Online Shopping???? Me from Punjab,Ludhiana and its not available here in ludhiana at tht price...

Regards

Rohan

[dkaile 1,051]

^

I bought it at the local Toshiba Dealer - Foretech Systems in Meerut; see the adv cutting on previous page; list of dealers is listed there or contact Toshiba Helpline no. to find exact dealer in your city -18002008674, 1800118674

Edited October 22, 2010 by dkaile

[aalok 442]

is it possible to use the mentioned laptop Toshiba C650D with Windows XP SP3, as the drivers are not listed & provided by Toshiba..

experts, please throw some light or if there is any workaround for this..

want to go in for this laptop, but also, want to use Genuine Win XP (already have..)

[dkaile 1,051]

^

Ravi had commented that he was already using this laptop with XP with no driver issues...(post #10)

Edited October 23, 2010 by dkaile

[ravi_patent 28]

aalok

also dont forget to install toshiba eco utility (enables power saving ..)

[aalok 442]

thanks a lot dhiraj sir, somehow missed that post...

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Source: Lifehacker

Laptop Reliability Study Highlights The Most Sturdy Laptop Makers

There's nothing worse than buying new gear that malfunctions shortly after you purchase it. If you're in the market for a new laptop, check out warranty-provider SquareTrade's detailed laptop-reliability report to find the most dependable hardware. The warranty company released a research paper late last year analyzing failure rates for over 30,000 laptops covered by their warranties. The report is full of good information worth considering before your next big purchase. The highlights of the study:

• Looking at the first 3 years of ownership, 31% of laptop owners reported a failure to SquareTrade. Two-thirds of this failure (20.4%) came from hardware malfunctions, and one-third (10.6%) was reported as accidental damage.
• Netbooks are projected to have a 20% higher failure rate from hardware malfunctions than more expensive laptop computers.
• ASUS and Toshiba were the most reliable manufacturers, with fewer than 16% having a hardware malfunction over 3 years.

It's interesting to note that, on a whole, netbooks are a lot more failure prone than laptops. It's also perhaps a little surprising that a company like Apple, known for its hardware, still ends up a percentage point or two worse off than companies like ASUS and Toshiba when it comes to laptop malfunction rates.

Link to Download The Research Report http://www.squaretra...bility_1109.pdf

[raccoon 53]

 Saw that report few days ago, but one cannot be too sure about how reliable it is...   

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Come on Dear!! The report is based on analyzing failure rates for over 30,000 laptops prepared by a company which is actually Warranty-Provider on the ground.

If this does not look Reliable to our Skeptical mind, i wonder what will?

I could not have purchased anything in Electronics, Gadgets in all this year's otherwise.

I believe in Dhirajbhai's tech gamble theory along with intelligent research to convert the purchase decision as an informed one.

Edited October 23, 2010 by rajanmehta

[raccoon 53]

 Ok, assuming there were no vested interests in the making of that report, can we be sure that the samples on which the study is based are valid here? I mean they could be from different plants, made for different markets, etc., etc.

I'm NOT saying that the study looks unreliable or otherwise! What I suggested is that either way, we can't be terribly sure

[hiteshkkk1 327]

Hi friends..

I got a second change offer for a Acer laptop on ebay..

Below are the specs.. I need suggestions from gurus abt shud I go for it or not. Plus 2gb ipod shuffle or hitachi 250gb external hdd adds icing on the cake..

Brand New Acer Travelmate 5720 (CORE2DUO/ 2Gb Ram/ 320Gb HARD DISK) with one year International Travellers Warranty.

Other specifications are,

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300

2.2GHz speed

4MB L2 cache

15.4" WXGA Widescreen LCD Display

2GB DDR2 RAM (Expandable upto 4GB)

Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

Crystal Eye Webcam

320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

8X DVD +/- dual layer recorder

53 watt-hour 6-cell battery (Around 3 hours or more battery backup)

802.11 a/b/g WLAN (WiFi)

Bluetooth

1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire port);

4 Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0 ports);

5-in-1 memory card reader;

VGA monitor out port;

S-Video out;

RJ-45 Ethernet LAN;

RJ-11 modem;

PC card slot;

ExpressCard 54mm;

headphone/speaker jack;

microphone;

This item includes,

1 Acer travelmate 5720 with above specifications

1 New Carry case

International Travellers Warranty Kit

User Manual

Driver CD

Operating System Of your choice. (Please mention the operating system you prefer. If you don't mention, Windows XP will be given by default)

[rajanmehta 4,056]

You didn't mention the price you are getting anywhere!!

[me_saket 73]

@hiteshkk

Price please.

[Sadik 0]

Hi Guys,

It's been a long time since I posted anything On Rimweb. I am going to buy a new Laptop so I thought I might as well ask for opinions from Rimweb experts!

So my budget is around 30K and I want a laptop with at least 4 GB RAM! I am open for any brand/model. I was using Dell D630 for the last 3 years and it has been very good work/performance/movies/games wise. I am not really a gamer guy and I use my Laptop for mostly my work (which can include heavy programming, image editing etc.), movies and occasionally playing Thief 3.

So what's a good buy currently at around 30K?

Thanks!

Edited January 14, 2011 by Arun
<< Topic Merged >>

[rajanmehta 4,056]

You can always add more RAM. Sticking to built in 4GB RAM may limit your choice, variety and budget as 4GB is not still main stream and difficult below 30K...

For Starters, Go through following...They meet your requirement except 4GB RAM..

AMD

Toshiba Satellite C650d-M5010 Laptop http://www.rimweb.in...post__p__204597

Toshiba Satellite L640-M4310 http://www.rimweb.in...post__p__206020

Lenovo 59055151 Rs 32,500 http://www.futurebazaar.com/Product/Lenovo+59055151+Laptop/2449478

INTEL

Toshiba Satellite L640-I4010 Rs 29,490 https://www.toshiba-...ite-L640-1.html

Toshiba Satellite L650-I5310 Rs 34,500 (4GB RAM) https://www.toshiba-...llite-L650.html

Edited January 14, 2011 by rajanmehta

[Sadik 0]

Hello Rajan bhai

Thanks a lot for your post. The links you gave were very helpful. I have spent the last two hours surfing the various laptop brand sites and I must say I am sold on Toshiba. At the moment I am leaning towards Model No.: L640-M4010. It seems to have everything including HDMI port. My only concern is sound quality which may not be great. Also I have never used AMD based machines before. Also I was hoping for DVD RW support which doesn't seem to be there in most models. What do you think the price point of this Model will be, and is there any comparable model.

Thanks

Edited January 14, 2011 by Sadik

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Nothing to worry about AMD. I know many people have not used it before because of Intel Hype..But there is a good first time for everything..

AMD gives best Price-Performance Ratio, More features and Value For Money...For Intel You generally Pay More for the same or less features due to Brand Value perception..

You can see the proof for yourself between the Intel Model you are liking and AMD model i am suggesting...

Go through this thread itself from beginning and read review of Toshiba AMD Laptop..Sound Quality point is also answered...

I would go for Toshiba Satellite L640-M4310 at Rs 30,990 (Price will be even less now) compared to L640-M4010 for following additional features..

-3GB RAM

-ATI 512MB Dedicated Graphic Card

-Windows 7 Home Premium Preinstalled

And all models have DVD Multi Drive. They may not write in the spec but usually all recent optical drives has DVD Re Writable Support.

[kshah 452]

AMD processors are excellent. I have been using AMD till date. My current laptop is intel core 2 though.

I prefer amd processors over intel but availability of good laptop in india with amd processor is problem.

[Genius 817]

AMD had initial problems like heating so it didn't clicked 5-6 years back but today they really outperform intel in cost/performance.

Intel has better marketing so it sells more, i feel Margin is also more in it so dealers recommend it.

[Sadik 0]

Nothing to worry about AMD. I know many people have not used it before because of Intel Hype..But there is a good first time for everything..

AMD gives best Price-Performance Ratio, More features and Value For Money...For Intel You generally Pay More for the same or less features due to Brand Value perception..

You can see the proof for yourself between the Intel Model you are liking and AMD model i am suggesting...

Go through this thread itself from beginning and read review of Toshiba AMD Laptop..Sound Quality point is also answered...

I would go for Toshiba Satellite L640-M4310 at30,990 (Price will be even less now) compared to L640-M4010 for following additional features..

-3GB RAM

-ATI 512MB Dedicated Graphic Card

-Windows 7 Home Premium Preinstalled

And all models have DVD Multi Drive. They may not write in the spec but usually all recent optical drives has DVD Re Writable Support.

Thanks, Reading around, I am convinced that I will go with AMD since overall people seem to be pleased with it's price and performance.

I have now shortlisted to L640-M4310/L640-X4310 versus L640-M4010

The only differences that i can see as per this link are

L640-M4310 has Windows 7 pre-installed while L640-M4010 is NON-OS. Else the hardware is absolutely same as per the Toshiba website. Even L640-M4010 has 3 GB RAM and ATI 512 MB Graphics Card. NON OS may be a good thing as the price would be lower. I can always install my Windows XP copy on it or go with Ubuntu.

L640-X4310 has 3MB L2 Cache and Windows 7 versus L640-M4010 having 1 MB L2 Cache and NO OS. I am not sure how much performance impact the extra 2 MB of L2 cache will bring. What's your opinion?

I am planning to visit a few Toshiba stores today (I am in Kolkata) and will report back the prices I find. Will buy today or Monday.

[csmart 472]

the major difference is CPU in both case. one is Intel and other is AMD. AMD is also good. but if the price difference is not substantial and fits your budget then go with intel. reason L2 cache is more and power is also more (2.6 Ghz vs 2.1) and added benefit is you get official OS..

however this site states difference is not much.. so you can go for AMD..

Edited January 15, 2011 by csmart

[Sadik 0]

Ya, the cpu is obviously the difference, the site you linked to says that intel has L3 cache of 3 GB wheareas L2 cache of 512 MB and 64 KB L1. And AMD has 128 KB L1, 1GB L2 and no L3.

I will see the difference in their prices. I honestly don't know how much difference, if any, the cpu caches make.

[digitalnirvana 646]

The CPU stores pending processes in the cache so that it can retrieve and execute those instructions faster. Cache memory speed > RAM speed > swap memory (on HDD) speed.

Unless you are using something resource intensive, a lower cache will not impact much.

[digitalnirvana 646]

I am looking for a second laptop to keep at home as the desktop is acting up. It will be used sparely and by parents for light browsing so no need of snazzy specifications, mobility is not a big requisite however am looking for a laptop as it occupies less space.

My budget is around 10-11K, the lesser the better to be honest, and in this budget I can find only netbooks which I do not want due to smaller display. Please can someone recommend any medium featured laptop around/near this price. Thanks.