Toshiba or Dell

Hi, I'm thinking about getting my first laptop. It's mainly for school reasons. I'm a college student and was thinking of several options. I want something that I can use for school, watch movies and surfing during long breaks. I've looked at several notebooks, and came down to 2 choices the Dell Inspiron 8600 and the Toshiba Satellite M30. It appeals to me because of the wide screen and the Centrino CPU. I've heard that Centrino has longer battery life and not as hot as the regular P4. I've gone on the Dell website, and tried to customize the Dell 8600, but no matter how much I tried the cost is too much because of the shipping. I can get the Toshiba Sat. M30 at my local computer store for much less without shipping. Also, I've read a few reviews on here about Dell services, and it's not so good[]. If anyone has any opinion on the M30 or experiences with Toshiba service, please post your messages and let me know. PS. feel free in suggesting other notebooks that are better.

 

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you are, but I'm waiting until the new intel chip for laptops (dothan) gets released. pentium m processor prices should be slashed, so you might find a better deal a month or two from now, but i'm not an economist so i really am not too sure.

i'm not really interested in the dell because of problems i've heard about (something about lines on the screen and a screwy touchpad). the toshiba i'm looking at but am not going to buy it (just because i've never seen it in person, and i'm just skeptical of laptops that i haven't seen in person...just me heh).

you can also take a look at the compaq x1000, hp zt3000, or the gateway m505x. these have a somewhat cheaper price, and they are all centrinos like the dell and toshiba. there's another widescreen laptop, the Winbook w160. there's a review linked to another site on here. if you want style, the winbook is as close to the apple as you can get.

 

I am a student like you and have been doing alot of research on the topic of buying a new lapto (my first) and have decided against Dell for the same reasons as you. One place you might want to look is at HP because you don't have to pay shipping on some of there models, the current 10%, and as long as you are not in California or Tennessee (I think) you don't have to pay tax. The tax thing is huge if your speding this much money. I personally am going to get teh HP zd7000 customized. Take a look and the 10% thingy is post on the front page of this website. Good luck.

 

I live in Canada and Canada HP doesn't give u the option to customize your own notebook, I heard bad reviews on Compaq computers. By the way, what is WXGA WVA I know what's is WXGA, but what is WVA??

 

WVA means wide viewing angle. i suppose the screen doesn't appear washed out at >40 degree angle. hmmmm, other than that, i dunno what else to say.

i've heard bad reviews about compaq as well especially for customer service, but HP has a slightly better serviceability rating than compaq, and i'm assuming that if compaq is part of hp now, then its service should improve, but of course, i still dunno.

but yea, for best performance for price, hp with the 10% coupon and free shipping is very enticing.