Buying laptop: which brand?

[S.O.I]

let the people decide

will mostly be used for media (music & video creation, like cubase, FL etc), hacking/programming and, oh yeah; gaming.

[Black_Flag]

Wouldnt go by brand tbh, just get one with a sizeable memory and hard drive, thats not too expensive, Advent are usually quite cheap.

[Jeoh]

What do you want to do with the laptop?

[N3p7uN3]

What in the world is a HP Compac...?

I would prefer a HP. And never go with Dell, they build their computers sloppily and use cutthroat techniques to cut down the price.

[S.O.I]

What do you want to do with the laptop?

see edit in bold.

[N3p7uN3]

If you want to do gaming on a laptop, you'll be spending a lot of money. Not to mention it will be fat as hell and, depending on what kind of power you put into it, might have overheating issues.

Personally, I would never recommend any hardcore gaming on a laptop, because the cooling systems just aren't as effective as desktop computers.

[S.O.I]

Personally, I would never recommend any hardcore gaming on a laptop, because the cooling systems just aren't as effective as desktop computers.

its not gaming that is my specialty, but it would be nice to be able to play some of em, yes.

[S.O.I]

And never go with Dell, they build their computers sloppily and use cutthroat techniques to cut down the price.

got it. but is dell the worst one or just as bad as the others?

[Bright Banana Beard]

Sony and Asus are two good brands.

[frozencompass]

Where are the People's Soviet Laptops?

Okay, seriously, I voted for Sony. Acer laptops tend to be full of bloatware, so I'd strongly suggest you avoid them. I believe, getting an Apple laptop would only be good if you intended to use Mac OS, which I think wouldn't fit your use. Fujitsu-Siemens has let me down repeatedly (and actually all the people that I know personally). I had a great experience with an IBM laptop, but that was many many years ago, so I have no idea if I would suggest it now. I tend to think of Sony as more reliable.

[Jeoh]

I don't think you really want to do editing and gaming on a laptop. Anyway, I use a HP Compaq 6910p myself, which runs most games fine.

[Dóchas]

i have a dell which works pretty good

[teenagebricks]

I like Sony because I've never had any problems with anything I've ever bought of theirs, but the reliability of a Sony product usually comes with a hefty price tag. Asus and Dell are quite good because some of their computers come with Linux installed which may or may not be your thing, I'm guessing not though since you are going to be using software like Cubase. I'd go with Sony if you can afford it, if not, Dell seems to be very popular, so they must be doing something right.

[Cooler Reds Will Prevail]

I have an Apple which I absolutely love. The problem that you will come across is that the software is sometimes limited, so you couldn't use FruityLoops (I'm assuming that's what you meant by FL), though Garageband is what I use and it works really well for music creation and podcasting, though not as well for mixing and DJ type stuff. But anyway I don't think you'll find a brand with more built in useful software, I don't have to run anti-virus, and OSX is faster and more user-friendly than Vista. I personally think it's worth the investment, and if you want to upgrade the RAM or hard drive to bring it up to par with a comparably priced PC, it's very cheap and easy to do.

[S.O.I]

FruityLoops (I'm assuming that's what you meant by FL)

yes

[Dr Mindbender]

Desktops > laptops.

You can't upgrade a laptop.

[NecroCommie]

If your lap does not have a top included I'd say you have a problem.

[mykittyhasaboner]

Alienware. (http://www.alienware.com/)

[S.O.I]

Alienware. (http://www.alienware.com/)

yeah ive thought about it, but its shit expensive and doesnt last very long

and it glows in the dark.

[Cooler Reds Will Prevail]

Desktops > laptops.

You can't upgrade a laptop.

Au contraire... There are certain things you can't upgrade, but I put 2GB of RAM in my Mac laptop up from 512MB and also upgraded my hard drive twice from a 60GB - 160GB - 320GB. All very simple and surprisingly inexpensive.

But you're right, desktops are much easier to upgrade... They're just a little tricky to take places with you.

[bellyscratch]

do not buy anything from Acer... theyre just cheap and badly made