I'm looking for some advice from any computer savvy posters here (Bejezus maybe) who know anything about Fujitsu notebooks. I just want to know what you think of their quality/differences compared to IBM Thinkpads or Dell Laptops. Also, I'm not really sure which Intel processor to get or how much RAM (I usually run about 5 applications at a time w/ a cable modem). Thanks, any help would be appreciated..
You can put Dell out of the picture right now, it purely sucks. I would recommend ThinkPad, it's the most reliable notebook I've ever seen (And I have seen a lots of notebooks from working for a computer retail company for years). If you travels alot, and need internet connection on the road, you should get the new Centrino processor. Else, the plain Pentium would work fine with you. 256 mb RAM should be enough for 5 apps at a time.
Ive had my Fujitsu for a year and so far it has been a great choice, for the price and specs, it battles against the Sony, and i ended up choosing it because the computer was more economic with its space, keys and screen. i got the 1.4 ghz with centrino and the only problem i have had so far is the screen's lights will go out (the problem is solved if i just open and close the screen). IBM's are great machines, although pricey. Dell's are trash, they have been costcutting, which reflects in their lap top quality. I highly recommend the Fujitsu, but regardless, do your research.
Thinkpads are supposed to be some of the best and most expensive laptops out there. I don't know where Z3 gets his info on Dell's cause I've had nothing but good experiences with them. I wouldn't get a laptop with less than 256 megs of RAM. Go for P4 technology or the new Centrino chips also stay away from Celeron processors for a laptop, especially if you doing any kind of power computing. Good luck. For some user opinions on some machines try http://www.epinions.com or do a search on CNET in the shopping section of their site.
The major issue is their customer service, our clients have to call us everytime they had a problem with their Dell laptop because they claim the Dell customer service people do not speak English or have no knowledge about computer whatsoever. And most of their new Inspiron series do not have a good battery life, and have serious heat problem.
Thanks fellas....I was already gonna get this P4 chip, but maybe I'll look into this Centrino chip now.....from my understanding though, it only helps w/ battery life correct? or is there some other benefit to the Centrino? I was gonna choose b/t the 512MB RAM and the 1024 (I have only 128MB on my current laptop and it crashes all the time ) I guess the only other feature to decide on is whether to get this DVD-RW or not....not to sound too blind and lost here, but I can really copy DVD movies w/ this thing??
you also get wireless of course, saves you that 50 bucks from buying your own card, which you may already have. personally, my centrino works better in picking up wireless networks than other wireless cards that i've used.
The major differences with the P4 Centrino/M is better power management and lower heat. The laptops that use it are typically more compact. (not sure why exactly) With the DVD burner you can burn movies. However if you have a desktop PC it would be much cheaper to get one for it (about $70)
get the DVD-RW... you can burn CD's and DVD's... I have a DVD-RW and I use it to store data, 4.7GB's of DATA, on one disk!!! word up! but yeah, if you have a home PC, you can get one for that for a lot less and if you have to, you can network the laptop with the home pc and transfer your files to burn.
I hear ya there, Z3. The customer service issue can be annoying. Fortunately I've never had to use their phone support and their home support is awesome for replacing parts, etc... I have a Latitude and I get decent batt life out of it.
Thanks for all the advice everyone......Just to add, I actually currently have a Dell Inspiron and was only considering the Fujitsu and IBM b/c of a bad experience I had w/ Dell Cussdumber Service a couple years ago...man, those guys had me calling 8 different numbers and getting transferred back and forth just to get a simple problem resolved!
I should have posted this in my earlier reply but overlooked it. Have you see the Fujitsu models at a store? I was at Frys last week and the displays on them blew away the other brands. The color contrast and brightness was amazing for a notebook. I have no idea about their reliablity though....
