Laptop opinion?

[Boomyal]

Mrs B wants a new laptop. She wants to stick with Windows 7 and she does not want a touch screen. I had just bought her a Dell from Costco. It was a Dell from Hell. It kept dropping the wireless router signal and Dell said it was a software issue and the 90 day warranty had passed. I agreed to pay for service but they could not even download their diagnostic program so I got the service amount refunded and took it back to Costco after 90 days plus 4. They took it back without a hesitation.

So now she has a sour taste for Dell. In addition to this experience, her two previous Dells would wear the letters of the commonly used keys. Heck, I am using a $10.00 no name PC keyboard for over a decade and none of the key letters are worn.

Anyway, I was seeking opinions on this laptop.

HP ENVY 15t Laptop | Intel Core i7 | Backlit Keyboard | 2GB Graphics | Windows 7 Professional

 

[GA_Boater]

Dell KB letters wearing off - Oh yeah. Twice so for the Admirals Dell laptop. Fortunately both covered, but the second time I had to do the surgery myself. The ENVY specs don't look bad.

 

[MikDee]

I have a fairly new HP, with windows 7. That would be perfect, I like the backlit keyboard, esp. if typing in the shadows, but it has no CD/DVD drive? That's a deal breaker for me

 

[MTboatguy]

It took about 3 months for Dell coming out to the house replacing wireless cards to get it right, but now it has been working non-stop for 3 years now, so I would not write Dell off at this point.

 

[Boomyal]

.......but it has no CD/DVD drive? That's a deal breaker for me.....

Thanks for pointing that out, MD. I guess I shouldn't assume?

Here is another HP choice from Costco. It's only an I5 and doesn't have the backlit keyboard but it is non touch screen and Win 7.

http://www.costco.com/.product.1001...geHorizontalTop|PersonalizedClickCPInCategory

 

[MikDee]

Thanks for pointing that out, MD. I guess I shouldn't assume?

Here is another HP choice from Costco. It's only an I5 and doesn't have the backlit keyboard but it is non touch screen and Win 7.

http://www.costco.com/.product.1001...geHorizontalTop|PersonalizedClickCPInCategory

That looks like mine, and has the same full features,,, infact maybe a few more, and I really do like mine. I bought it about 6mos ago at a steal for about $600. The Altac Lansing stereo speakers are better, with a bit more volume then any other laptop, except Dell. The only thing I don't like is because it's all black, or dark gray, in the shadows, or in the dark, you really need a clip on light. It would be better if the laptop was all cream colored like my last Dell, that my ex-wife took.

 

[bruceb58]

I have a MacBook Air with no CD/DVD drive. I have a USB one if I need it. I have needed it exactly twice in nearly 2 years.

I love having a back lit keyboard on a laptop.

 

[southkogs]

Boom - do y'all use the DVD drive enough to worry about it? My Mac has a DVD drive, and I do use it, but to be honest if it didn't have one right now I don't think it would be all that big of an adjustment.

I'd make suggestions for ya' but I've become kinda' a Mac snob. Dad has an HP machine that seems to work pretty well. I've got another friend who's running a couple of Lenovo's that he seems to like too. Most of our boxes at the office are Dells.

 

[dolluper]

Years ago I warned you about Dell's not even good for boat anchors,I was fixing computers so kids could go on the internet for free,Hp my opinion is.... have problems =HP get it ....Toshiba or Accer..are usually cheaper with intel inside have less problems

 

[Boomyal]

Years ago I warned you about Dell's not even good for boat anchors,I was fixing computers so kids could go on the internet for free,Hp my opinion is.... have problems =HP get it ....Toshiba or Accer..are usually cheaper with intel inside have less problems

Well dolluper, I wished that you had chimed in earlier. In the end, we ordered an HP with an I5 processor and Windows 7. The next morning after my wife ordered it on Costco.com, it was no longer available. The Dell that we had gotten was a better deal as it had Win7 Professional and was only $579 + headaches. But I did get real tired of the characters wearing off the keys. No excuse for that as evidenced by my $10 generic PC keyboard that I have been using for years with no noticable wear on the characters.

On the other hand, I do have a couple of year old Toshiba with Win 7 professional but an AMD chip. It was only $300 but has held up real well. I bought two of those for friends, just as Win 7 was disappearing. Theirs work well too.

 

[bruceb58]

Almost all the laptops that my company buys are Dells and Macs.

 

[MTboatguy]

In my home/office, we have a Dell, a HP, and 2 Acers Laptops, one a Mini and none of them have worn off keys, the screen just went out on 15 inch Acer, the Dell after a few fixes has worked flawlessly for 3 years now and the HP with Win 8 on it has not given me any problems at all, personally, I could care less if a letter wears off, I have been touch typing by feel since I was in the 5th grade, so it is second nature to me, but will also note, I have had desktop as well as newer USB keyboards lose their writing, which is only due to poor screen printing, in the older keys, they were actually molded into the key and not just printed on the key.

 

[dolluper]

Sorry Boom not around much real busy back hoeing at the farm,clearing and putting a road into the back 50 where all the sand is

 

[oldjeep]

My .02 - buy a decent laptop direct from Dell, not the consumer grade stuff they sell at Costco. Dell Latitude series (I run a Precision, but that is a bit much for your standard home user)

 

[MTboatguy]

My .02 - buy a decent laptop direct from Dell, not the consumer grade stuff they sell at Costco. Dell Latitude series (I run a Precision, but that is a bit much for your standard home user)

I agree 102%, if you are going to buy Dell, then get it from them and not a secondary retailer, the service is much better and their field techs are much better than the normal retail person at the stores.

 

[aspeck]

I ran Dells from Dell and liked them okay. Got a Toshiba Satellite M645 a few years ago and really like it. It has been working great for me with no problems and now I am spoiled with the backlit keys, can never go without them again. The battery if finally starting to wear down, and the onboard mouse doesn't function, so now I always have to use a USB -- have a wireless on that works great. I am guessing it is about 4 or 5 years old now. Probably time for an upgrade, but I hate having to install all the programs again. Some I am not sure I could find the CD's for. And I don't really want to go to Windows 8. So I will stick with what I got.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Baaaaah...... We went from XP to Win8. No big deal. I don't understand the negative hype of 8. Just a learning curve..... We have a HP Pavilion and like it. Bought one for the daughter, she heads off to college this fall....:faint2:out:

 

[bassman284]

Baaaaah...... We went from XP to Win8. No big deal. I don't understand the negative hype of 8. Just a learning curve..... We have a HP Pavilion and like it. Bought one for the daughter, she heads off to college this fall....:faint2:out:

Yeah, you obviously don't play solitaire. I haven't done Win 8 yet (and pray I never will) but my 5 year old laptop has Win 7 and the solitaire game absolutely sucks. They should take the programmer out and shoot him to put him out of his obvious misery. I assume Win 8 has the same one because, Hey! who cares?

I'm typing this on a 12 year old Dell Dimension that I will keep nursing along as long as I can just for the solitaire. Yeah, it's old and slow, but it gets the job done. And other than a fried hard drive at about the 3 year point, it's been problem free. Learning to use Win 7 wasn't particularly difficult as long as I accepted the fact that it wasnot going to work the way I wanted it to. I find it somewhat counter intuitive in a lot of ways but then, I'm old. I expect different things out of a computer than more modern folks, I guess.

 

[MTboatguy]

I play solitaire on my windows 8.1 laptop with no problems at all, in fact, once I figured out the app for a normal start menu, I can't even tell the difference over windows 7, really once you install Classic Start Menu, you can't tell the difference between 7, XP or 8 and last I heard, they are going to be bringing back the start menu that we are all so used to.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Yeah, you obviously don't play solitaire. I haven't done Win 8 yet (and pray I never will) but my 5 year old laptop has Win 7 and the solitaire game absolutely sucks. They should take the programmer out and shoot him to put him out of his obvious misery. I assume Win 8 has the same one because, Hey! who cares?

That would be correct. I spend too much time on the forum instead, just ask my wife.......