polley 916 Report post Posted April 13, 2011 it has some memory, some ram This is a good deal, not alot of computers come with that these days. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
w_elliot 7 Report post Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) This is a good deal, not alot of computers come with that these days. is it ever.... get one while you still can!! seriously though, it seems to be a good, cheap, do-most-not-too-demanding-things computer. Edited April 13, 2011 by w_elliot Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted April 13, 2011 Cheers Martyyn. Found a WDTV box floating around in the "family pool" of discarded electronics. I'm going to have a play with it and see how I go. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deeveus 81 Report post Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) I'm not too sure how people get this amazing vision that Apple is more reliable as HDD, RAM & panels are the biggest failure items in any machine and they are all the same brands used both in PC and Mac. My 3 biggest brands: Asus Toshiba HP Cheap HP's are crap, Elitebook HP's IMO are the best, if you are going cheap, then I'd suggest Toshiba, and then Asus. If you find something PM me and I will see if I can price it for you. Also, where possible stay away from any machine that comes with an AMD CPU & chipset. IMO stay away from : Acer NEC/Packard Bell Sony - although some of them do look cool Edited April 13, 2011 by The Diesel Guy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twisted 45 Report post Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) I Just use the PS3 and a 2 TB NAS hooked up to the network. All my media is stored on the NAS which streams to the PS3. Only downside is if i want to play either .mkv or H.264 files I have to plug the laptop in to teh TV as the NAS/PS3 combo wont play them. Otherwise it works a treat and is good for 80% of media taht I have. Asus Toshiba HP Do HP's still have that overheating issue? I have a DV6850 which is going to need replacing soon, best laptop i've ever owned apart from its tendency to want to burn a hole through whatever its sitting on. Edited April 13, 2011 by -Alias- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted April 13, 2011 I have to disagree with the above Clinton. According to two computer repairers I've spoken to recently (not retailers, so they have no vested interest), the brands they have the least problems with, that fail the least often, and they see they least for repairs are: Hi-end Acers. Hi-end Toshiba. All of the Sony VAIO range. Low-end Acer and Toshiba are apparently as crap as the rest. HP is apparently a bit of a nightmare too. They both recommended Sony as being the most reliable machines they come across. So this flys in the face of what you say. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huff3r 347 Report post Posted April 13, 2011 I have to disagree with the above Clinton. According to two computer repairers I've spoken to recently (not retailers, so they have no vested interest), the brands they have the least problems with, that fail the least often, and they see they least for repairs are: Hi-end Acers. Hi-end Toshiba. All of the Sony VAIO range. Low-end Acer and Toshiba are apparently as crap as the rest. HP is apparently a bit of a nightmare too. They both recommended Sony as being the most reliable machines they come across. So this flys in the face of what you say. I can understand that. For the longest time HP have had hard-drive and motherboard issues, especially in their high end laptops... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
simke 0 Report post Posted April 13, 2011 They both recommended Sony as being the most reliable machines they come across. So this flys in the face of what you say. Agree. When time comes to replace windows laptop I'll be getting vaio again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tristan 338 Report post Posted April 13, 2011 MacBook Pro. With Airtunes you can play your music etc. wirelessly around your house. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deeveus 81 Report post Posted April 14, 2011 (edited) I have to disagree with the above Clinton. According to two computer repairers I've spoken to recently (not retailers, so they have no vested interest), the brands they have the least problems with, that fail the least often, and they see they least for repairs are: Hi-end Acers. Hi-end Toshiba. All of the Sony VAIO range. Low-end Acer and Toshiba are apparently as crap as the rest. HP is apparently a bit of a nightmare too. They both recommended Sony as being the most reliable machines they come across. So this flys in the face of what you say. This may be the case but if you go on a per basis i.e there's far more HP around than Sony (well down here anyway) Sony are very hard to get parts for also. I'm coming from a repair basis also. We used to do all repairs for Noel Leeming & Bond & Bond Dunedin/Oamaru up until 2 years ago. So we got to see what was reliable & what wasn't YES they sell more HP/Compaq more than Sony but if you talk to outfits like Dove or The Laptop Company they would all agree on my list that I made just going on failure rates. We do retail but mainly repairs & warranty manufacturers work. The Laptop company would have to be the biggest independent NZ owned laptop specialist in the South Island for laptop sales. They don't sell Sony, they are HP, Toshi and IBM Lenovo. No other brand really does CHEAP CHEAP laptops so my advice on cheap laptops would have to stick with out of Acer and Compaq, Toshiba would still be my choice - this is for the $600-$800 range. I'm not saying I'm 100% correct on any of this but I'm just going on my experience Sorry if this has made no sense, I'm high on oil based paint fumes! Edited April 14, 2011 by The Diesel Guy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
my_e36 43 Report post Posted April 14, 2011 Well, Windows is Windows and we all know how they are like. Hardware-wise I would recommend high-end Acer, IBM T-series. Both servered me well in the past. I haven't use Toshiba and HP myself but friends' experience wasn't the best with those brands. And my wife's Sony VAIO had serviced twice in the last year, once for the in-built webcam and the other time for failed hard drive. MacBook Pro is also good, there's a DLNA server that you can run to stream almost any media into a PS3. It's aluminum casing gets toasty warm quite quickly though, it's not really a "lap"top. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
antil33t 90 Report post Posted April 14, 2011 I find that with all brands of all computer gear. (and everything else inbetween) there are many different express opinions. I currently have a 3+ year old Toshiba Tecra M5, everything is orignal, except the powerpack which went bang. All low-end laptops are equally crap Argument vs Sony, I personally find them to be well made, just servicing and parts is not there, Dell are like that too, high end dells seem allright build wise, but try buying parts for them. Would think brands less of an issue nowdays, it's more what goes into it.. Look up reviews and stuff, wouldn't take anyones word of what you like and dislike, If you've had a Sony Vaio that's worked well for you, and you liked it.. why not look at another one? As for Hi-End acers... try fixing an 8920G. cunting thing. Well made though, made not to be pulled apart again. Ramble ramble ramble. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deeveus 81 Report post Posted April 14, 2011 I find that with all brands of all computer gear. (and everything else inbetween) there are many different express opinions. I currently have a 3+ year old Toshiba Tecra M5, everything is orignal, except the powerpack which went bang. All low-end laptops are equally crap Argument vs Sony, I personally find them to be well made, just servicing and parts is not there, Dell are like that too, high end dells seem allright build wise, but try buying parts for them. Would think brands less of an issue nowdays, it's more what goes into it.. Look up reviews and stuff, wouldn't take anyones word of what you like and dislike, If you've had a Sony Vaio that's worked well for you, and you liked it.. why not look at another one? As for Hi-End acers... try fixing an 8920G. cunting thing. Well made though, made not to be pulled apart again. Ramble ramble ramble. You seem to be getting wiser in your old age. Probably a fair comment I'd have to say. I guess it's like certain cars, people have a good run out of them. My post was just made up not of what I've had (had very few laptops) but what I've had to repair all the time at work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted April 14, 2011 No other brand really does CHEAP CHEAP laptops so my advice on cheap laptops would have to stick with out of Acer and Compaq, Toshiba would still be my choice - this is for the $600-$800 range. I'm not saying I'm 100% correct on any of this but I'm just going on my experience Sorry if this has made no sense, I'm high on oil based paint fumes! My budget is around $2k for a notebook, so I'm not looking at CHEAP CHEAP. As for the rest of what you say - fair enough. Have been suggested a VAIO VPC-CCA15FG which is basically the same as the VAIO I had, but 6 or so months newer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deeveus 81 Report post Posted April 14, 2011 (edited) My budget is around $2k for a notebook, so I'm not looking at CHEAP CHEAP Good man. There's a select few out there that expect their $600 dollar laptops to last 37 years and to have comparable performance to any NASA based computer designed to run SkyNet AND have the build qualities of a Panasonic Toughbook! That model you've quoted doesn't appear to exist??? Edited April 14, 2011 by The Diesel Guy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted April 14, 2011 Oops, an extra C in there. This 'un Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deeveus 81 Report post Posted April 14, 2011 Hey Graham, you'd be looking at $1595 + freight from me on that bad boy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
my_e36 43 Report post Posted April 17, 2011 I am also looking at this series for my wife, but the 15" model has full HD screen but same retail price from Sony Style stores. Maybe something to think about? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted April 18, 2011 Yeah I looked at the 15" aswell as it had the added bonus of a full number keypad. Great for spreadsheeting, but its larger and almost half a kg heavier. Update: I've got my WDTV hooked up. It does the job - just. certainly wouldn't rave about it. Remote is too small and feels light and cheap. Not enough playback functions - continuous play for example, or graphical search. In fact there is no search whatsoever, and limited ways to display files (Alphabetical, By Date, or in Folders) Menus are OK to navigate, but so far I'm yet to find a media player that has really good menus. Windows media Centre, Xbox 360, PS3, XMB all fairly crap. Other issue is with not having a HD TV. I can only get stereo audio out of the composite leads. On the PS3 for example, I use an HDMI cable for digital audio to my receiver, and the composite video lead to the TV. On the WDTV if it detects an HDMI cable, it switches off the output to the composite jacks. So I'm going to have to go and buy an optical cable to see if that will work. (as both the WDTV and my receiver have optical input/outputs). I still haven't bought a notebook as my brother has an iPad 2 on order and I want to have a go on that first. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 2377 Report post Posted June 6, 2011 (edited) Saw those coloured viaos yesterday. Made me want to vomit. Im +1 on buying an Apple. I has Alu MacBook, and 27" iMac, never going back to windows again. Also in saying that, DO NOT get an iPad and expect to use it as your daily/only machine. Its NOT a computer, and never was designed to be. Edited June 6, 2011 by KwS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
