Let's talk straight about desktops and laptops

I'm excluding Apple just for the purpose of this discussion.

Is there really much difference in brands of desktops and laptops?

I mean, when you really get down to it, aren't manufacturers using the same parts, many times?

I never truly have a good answer if someone asks me what to buy. Seems like every computer manufacturer out there has someone(s) who is dissatisfied with the product.

So, who truly is the leader in computers? I understand there are home builds, but I'm not talking about that right now. You know, quality parts, quality build kind of stuff.

With the way everything is outsourced these days.....

Manufacturers are different. In all honesty, the same parts are used, but its what they are used with that changes things.

For instance, on any PC set up, regardless of laptop/desktop situation, certain hardware does not always "agree" with other hardware. So if you run the cheap hardware across the board, you MAY run into compatibility issues. Some call it "optimization" but its really just one piece not completely communicating with another.

Couple that with the amount of junk the companies like HP, Dell, etc put on the PC before it ships, and you can see your differences. HP put a ton of crap on my old PC and before I installed my own crap, I had to go through and basically reformat and wipe everything clean, just to have a nice, fresh, clean install of Windows. Dell does the same, but they aren't as bad. Fewer programs in general.

Yes there absolutely is.

I would never buy a gateway computer.

However I've had good experiences with dells.

Sony is overpriced for what you're getting.

As with anything you need to research what you are purchasing. But in researching you will learn the difference between what's good and what's bad.

There's a company in China that produces ~80% of all the computer parts and components in the world, which it will then ship to other countries/companies. If I find the link again I'll post it up

It all depends what you use the computer/laptop for tbh. Desktops are more powerful than laptops and so people who are into gaming are inclined to use them (Alienware by dell seem to be the most powerful, and unfortunately the most expensive.) £1399 for the basic model, going up to £2199 for the high end one

Alienware Aurora


For people who are into music production/graphics etc., again a powerful system is needed. It is the individuals choice really as to what they prefer; they might like the quiet of a studio and opt for a desktop. Or they might find that their surroundings influence them and would make more use of a laptop. I do fine with my HP laptop for recording and such.

The one I use


For people who are just interested in surfing the net or just listening to music they would probably benefit from using a netbook; Acer and Asus seem to be a high contenders in this market

Netbooks

reply to post by grey580


I used to have a gatway laptop, it was absolutely terrible

Whatever you use, make sure you get a Solid State Disk put in. They give a step change in performance.
Interestingly it can be quite difficult to find a laptops at the cheaper end with SSDs, they seem to put them only in the higher end ones. For general use they give the system much more of a boost than getting the fastest processor available. I bought 2 cheap laptops (£500), installed 3rd party SSDs (£180) and they are a joy to use. You can get external caddies to convert the HDDs removed from laptop into USB hard disks for about a fiver.

Sony might have a bigger price tag, but one time when I was working on one, I got support on a machine that was really out of date. Dell won't even speak to you in such an instance, they want money.

I guess people assume I know what to buy, but I really haven't seen enough computers (and I've seen a lot) to really make a judgement. I've seen blown caps on Dell, HP, and E-machines.

But, my business just isn't as busy as it should be, so it's hard to make a judgement on what to recommend. I feel I would need to see many more machines before I could make a judgement. Or, have a good source of information on the manufacturers. I've heard some people blame the fact that their computer has viruses is because of the manufacturer. The manufacturer really doesn't have that much to do with something like that, unless the antivirus program that came with it is complete garbage. My point being, some consumers don't understand computers that well, so a review from them wouldn't be of much use.

If you had to put a company out in front of the of the rest what would it be? And why?

Thank you folks. I think a custom build would be a sure way of making sure the components are top notch.

Troy

reply to post by RicketyCricket

Manufacturers are different. In all honesty, the same parts are used, but its what they are used with that changes things.

Right, and electrical frequencies are changed in some, as is memory ports. Dell Computers are Dell specific, need a part for one of these, especially the new models, you have to get it from Dell. I have had a great many of their little notebooks come in my shop of late, and I just send them away. If you erase the HD on a Dell and reinstall Windows XP, and you don't use the Dell Restore CD, provided you got one, you cannot install the drivers. I have one restore CD that works with a Dell, and that installs a memory heavy version of Vista

E-Machines use an AMD Board, and Nvidia chipset and South Bridge, a superior setup for a production model, use the same RAM memory as a Compaq, which are mostly Intel CPU/chipset boards. Acers are pretty generic.
All newer production PCs are specific in some way or other.

For my book, I like a home built PC, like the one I have. Custom case with neon lights and digital temp gauge in front of a clear side, black case. 400 Watt X-Power power supply, Azus prototype board with dual layer (2 CPUs in 1) AMD 3 140 processor and full Nvidia chipset, Nvidia
GeForce 7025 Video, Realtek ALC662 5.1 Channel Surround Sound Audio, and 260 Gb Seagate Barracuda HD, running Fedora 14 KDE with effects activated. Runs fast, stable, loads pages before you can blink.
I can build this unit, tower only, and without the neon and temp gauge for around $300. I cannot buy that quality and speed for that anywhere.

As alluded to by another poster.Most laptops (over 70% at the last count) are actually manufactured by ODM's (Original design manufacturers) in China, the brands then choose which models they want to sell and label them up.

Quanta Computer in Tiawan makes over 30% of them alone linky

So no there isn't that much difference

reply to post by rlro2009

SSD technology is not yet at a point where the premium price is worth the performance boost.

If you have a decent cache and RPM you'll barely notice a difference for most tasks.

Wow, you can't get the drivers? Or, they simply will not install?

Originally posted by autowrench
reply to post by RicketyCricket

 

Manufacturers are different. In all honesty, the same parts are used, but its what they are used with that changes things.

Right, and electrical frequencies are changed in some, as is memory ports. Dell Computers are Dell specific, need a part for one of these, especially the new models, you have to get it from Dell. I have had a great many of their little notebooks come in my shop of late, and I just send them away. If you erase the HD on a Dell and reinstall Windows XP, and you don't use the Dell Restore CD, provided you got one, you cannot install the drivers. I have one restore CD that works with a Dell, and that installs a memory heavy version of Vista

How does the power adapter plug into the unit, and is there any strain relief?

That is the most annoying part of any laptop I've ever purchased....The plug hangs on so tight that it damages the internal portion of the connections.