[thechat] Laptop model comparison & recommendation

[Hugh Blair]

Simply put, I -hated- my Compaq.  The internal modem went partially
dead (would connect at 1200 or less!) and it took forever to get
them to fix it.  The HD died at 31 days.  The screen drivers were
outdated and it took 3 months to find the updated/corrected ones,
all the time various programs were crashing.  The floppy drive died
at about 1 year (on an older model).  The keyboard only lasted 5
months before going flaky.  I could go on and on, and I've made the
mistake of owning 3 - NEVER more.

Service sucks.  Here is the US, only Compaq can service a laptop
while in warrantee, and once that's expired, -only- authorized
sevice centers can work on them.  Yep, Compaq won't work on a
laptop out of warrantee.  And their stated turnaround time while
in warrantee is (at least) 5 working days.  Later, do you want to
trust your laptop to a CompUSA?  They choked when I insisted that
all I wanted to do was buy the part and install it myself!

</rant>

IBM's service is 24hr turnaround.  Now -that's- how to treat a
laptop owner.  My current favorite is a Micron TransPort.  3 year
replace anything - 24hr trans-shipment of the unit or user-swappable
parts.  15" screen - love it.  My only complaint is that I can't
get an internal CD-RW.

I and 2 of my staff have T20s.  We love them.  We've almost totally
religated the Compaqs to the shelf.  Nobody around here likes them.

Good luck, and get a real good, bottom-padded case.  That helps them
live longer than anything else you do.

-Hugh
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> -----Original Message-----
> martin.p.burns at uk.pwcglobal.com
> Subject: [thechat] Laptop model comparison & recommendation
> 
> Hi all
> 
> I've just been booked for a replacement laptop from work (yay!
> no more steam-driven!), and have a choice over replacement:
> * Compaq Armada M300
> * IBM Thinkpad T20
> 
> Does anyone have any experience with either/both of these?
> 
> The Compaq's smaller & lighter, but I'm worried about screen
> readability...
>