So DH The Enabler has been telling me I should buy a laptop.
I usually don't pay that much attention when you guys talk about your laptop woes because I wasn't planning to buy one. So, if you wouldn't mind recapping them for me that would be great! I know there have been lots of keyboard issues, and some other things that needed to be fixed by the warranty. I know Jen is ready to pull her hair out. Please tell me the manufacturers of these lovely machines, tell me what sort of extended service plan you have, where you bought it, etc. We looked at Bast Buy today and I decided the dang things are too expensive! By the time you add all the crap to make it work even the CHEAP one was going to cost over $900!
Thanks!
I have had/used laptops from a variety of manufacturers and every single one has had some sort of issue. I have personally owned a Gateway, Averatec, and Sony. My brother has owned two Dell Laptops. My Dad has had a Sony and Toshiba. I have used an HP, Compaq and IBM that was my friends/ for work. Every single one of them has needed something replaced. I think with having everything more compact, plus they are moved and when used they are taking a beating. On my personal systems I have had to replace basically every single part and component from the Keyboard, to screen, to power supply, to hard drive to cd-rom to 3.5 disk drive to fan, touchpad, etc. Some of these were more then once. They were covered under warranty though, but in some cases I went through the ringer.
That being said customer service wise I will rate my experience.
Gateway- never again will I buy a Gateway. It did not work properly from the time I received it new, the G key and the 3.5 " floppy drive did not work. Over the period of the 3 year warranty it had around 20 service tickets for a variety of parts, had been repaired in shop and sent away many times, some parts were replaced 3 times and the computer should have been considered a lemon, but since it was repaired in store and sent away the records were not kept up to date and the papers they gave me were not always accurate about what they told me they did. I went all the way to corporate and got no where.
Averatec- Never dealt with their customer service as I had it like 2 months and returned it back to Sam's club. Was having power supply issues and screen issues. Sam's Club took it back without a problem
Sony- This is my current laptop a Sony Vista. Besides hating Vista and the fact it crashes all the time and I can not replace it with XP as I can not find the drivers. The issue I had was with the Power Cord and they would not replace it as the reason it does not work is because the outside casing got broken to the wires and so sometimes it shorts out. They say that I broke the cord. It is the thinnest power cord I have ever seen for a laptop. I bought an after market power plug and knock on wood have had no other issues.
Toshiba- I used this laptop for a few years but it was not solely mine. It had the screen replaced, the hard drive replaced, and some other issues. Toshiba customer service was OK, but it could be better.
Dell- The first one had hard drive issues and the button that turns the screen off when closed broke. Customer service was OK. Dell Laptop number 2 my brother went through the rig a maroo to purchase it but he got a great deal. So far no problems but only owned for about two months.
HP- Had some hard drive issues and screen problems. My friend got great customer service as her Mom worked for HP.
IMO, everyone's experience with the same companies varies very much. I think you have to be happy with your purchase. I would go to the store and see how you like the keyboard and touchpad set up. As they vary greatly between models within the same company. Some credit cards automatically extend the warranties of purchases like computers. Depending on the cost you may want to purchase an extended warranty.
I use my laptops hard, they are constantly being taken with me from place to place. They do not sit on a desk and look pretty. They get used daily and transported almost daily. I have owned a laptop since 2000 and had used some before that time. I do not know how I would live without one.
Not sure what you need them to set up. It is not like a desktop where you have wires to connect. You just pull it out of the box plug the cord in, maybe have to put the battery in and turn it on. As for Anti-virus software, I use a free spy-ware and anti- virus program, I can not think of what it is right now.
She was only 47 years old
).
What that means is that I will have to take what I can get tomorrow and then start calling back on a daily basis closer to our travel dates.
Hope you get water back soon!
