[Facedown98]

Hello all

I will probably be purchasing a laptop in the next few days hopefully, and I'm torn between two laptops... Here are the specs...

Toshiba M115-S3094
Intel Core Due Processor T2050
14.1" Trubright Widescreen
512 MB DDr Memory
80GB Hard Disk
CD-RW/DVD-RW Combo
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Vista Capable

OR...

Gateway MX6426
AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology ML-40
15.4" Ultrabright Widescreen
1 GB DDR2 RAM
80GB Hard Disk
CD-RW/DVD-RW Combo
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Windows Vista Premium Ready

Now...

The only differences I see are processors, memory and screen size...

Would you suggest the Gateway or the Toshiba? I'm torn... The Gateway offers more for the money, but I don't want it to break within a year either... I'll just have to keep buying the extended warranty... All input is appreciated! Thanks

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Someone I know actually said Gateways arent all that great. I actually owned a few gateways..He said Toshiba is the best... so I would go for the Toshiba....

[ultimateslacker2]

Someone I know actually said Gateways arent all that great. I actually owned a few gateways..He said Toshiba is the best... so I would go for the Toshiba....

[Facedown98]

hhhhhhmmmm... Well, I like Gateway's support... What makes your friend say no Gateway? Bad experience? How so? I just want this thing to last... My senior year starts in August of 2007, and then college right after that... I just want to get a head start on things... The important thing is that it lasts me through college... So I guess that no matter what (Toshiba or Gateway), I'll be buying the extended warranty every year... Becuase this thing is going to be almost $800 bucks, which I've been saving for some time lol (trying to get a job now) so it's very important that this lasts... I looked on Consumer Reports, as they rate manufacturers, but it put Toshiba and Gateway both in the same category, so it doesn't say if one is better than the other... Of course, gateway's support was rated better, and I have experience with it... I just want to know what everyone else thinks I should do...

[ultimateslacker2]

Well I actually had bad experience with their desktops in the 90's. they probably cleaned up their attitude with their products. I mean it does got better specs.

Lets see what others think on this.

The gateway is looking pretty nifty though... It should last ... but it depends on what you wanna do with it also.

[Facedown98]

Wow, sorry I left that out... It will be used for internet access, word processing, powerpoint presentations, very basic gaming (older games), maybe a few videos, but only for burning, I'll edit from my desktop. I'll use it for music on the go as well, but I don't expect much, so no problem. I just want it to last me through college. I'll be using it for internet and taking notes the most. I'm not looking for power, just reliability... Please, give your opinions everyone!

[ultimateslacker2]

Ok looking at the Gateway more closely, it has more features for what you want to do so I would go with the gateway..

[Mr.Chow]

One reason why i hate buysing already built computers is that the builder (Gateway, HP, Dell, etc..) likes to round numbers alot. So before buying a computer i have actully just real quick runned dxdiag. That gives me some close specs on what is really in the computer itself.

My friend had a gateway. It ran ok, nothing special. But on the front panel it said it had 512mb ram. I ran dxdiag, it really only had 411, in my opinion ... THATS ALOT ! System builders will always find a way to rip you off in some part so that they can make a buck off you. The best thing to do is lok for reviews and look closely at the system you are buying.


P.S.- I know my example was a Tower but only giving credit to the company and what they did to that.

[Susan9700]

I'm not a genious when it comes to computers, however, I own a Gateway and will never ever purchase another in this lifetime. May be best for your pocket, but you'll end up paying in the long run.

While under warranty, my computer crashed. You have to bring it to them, as they didn't trust that I could follow simple commands over the phone. They kept it for over a week, charged me $60 to "recovery my data from the hard drive". Huge pain in the you know what to be running back and forth with the machine, get it home...NOTHING that was of any importance to me was on the $60 disk, some cursors, an icon or 1000, the Q for Quiken, etc. if you get my drift. All they did was wipe out everything, reinstall windows and sent me home thinking I was some idiot woman who knew nothing.

Going back with it and entering there shop area and doing what I know what they did, as they sat there and watched me, a manager finally admitted the 'kid' who worked on my computer was fired, didn't know where he went, apologized for the lost data and gave me back my $60. Never again. I can reformat a computer, I can find jpgs or bmps, it's not that difficult...but all these stupid little pieces of programs is what I got back...and an wiped computer. To this day, I am hunting down the CEO of Gateway to give him a piece of my mind.

Wish you luck.

[Facedown98]

How long ago did all this happen? I had bad Gateway experiences too, but that machine I have is working it's way towards 10 years old...

[evilwizard]

I'm not that up on Gateway Laptops.. I did once own a Gateway desktop computer and it taught me that home built rigs are far better than store bought.

I do know that Toshiba laptops are very good. My boss own one and he has had it for two years now with no problems at all. I compare against all the laptops that customers have brought in for repair and if I were to go out today and purchase a laptop it would be a Toshiba..

Edited by evilwizard, 21 December 2006 - 08:29 AM.

[ScHwErV]

Dell

Youll just be disappointed with the others.

[Facedown98]

Really? I actually had a bad experience with Dell laptops... I'm not big on their support either... hhhmmmm... I'll have to think on this... You have a Dell Latitude?

[ScHwErV]

I have 60 dell latitudes.

Previously I had 75 Toshiba laptops, out of those, at least 50 had warranty work done on them. I am not a big supporter of Toshiba.

I like to go by the old - Buy a good machine and support isnt an issue.

[Facedown98]

Well, now we have another question... There's an Acer laptop in the store that looks exactly like the gateway laptop mentioned above, and at a cheaper price. Should I trust Acer or is it crud?

[ultimateslacker2]

Actually, my sister bought a laptop ACER for school.. I picked it out because we were looking for quanity, not quality.... but I will let you know if any bugs are reported.. so far so good.

my other sister owns a Dell latitude... it just needed a little tweaking and it runs great.