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I'm looking to save up some money and buy a laptop for my SO, and I would like suggestions.

I don't know what brand is good for laptops. A friend told me the Lenovo series from IBM is good, but I don't know if there are any options that might be better. He also suggested buying her a mac but she would be totally unfamiliar with the interface and I have only worked with windows so I wouldn't be as able to troubleshoot any problems as readily if it were a windows machine.

She will be using it for work in her college classes but i'd also like it to be able to play some games, doesn't have to be any where near Crysis levels, but if it could play WoW smoothly at a high fps and not be troubled by it.

Another thing to point out is that while i'm saving up for it, I am on a slight budget and I'm shooting for under $1,000. Also i'd like to know what to stay away from in terms of durability and lasting power since the computer will probably be used for quite a few years.

Thanks in advance for any help ya'll can give me, I'll be happy to provide more info if you need it

Avoid Dell.

Lenovo (which bought IBM's lines) are good.

Be careful when talking about Lenovo laptops: there's the Thinkpad line, which everyone gushes over for its aesthetic and for IBM's support, and the Lenovo line, which is separate from the Thinkpad line.

Be careful when talking about Lenovo laptops: there's the Thinkpad line, which everyone gushes over for its aesthetic

Wait, people like those boxy, black, school-issue electronics crates?

Having used one for a number of years with school, they're pretty durable and the Trackpoint is useful if you don't like the touchpad, but they're goddamn ugly and they do seem like Blue Screen of Death magnets.

In terms of gaming, the T60 I have at the moment can run Source games pretty smoothly albeit not perfectly, while I've seen classmates on Warcraft 3 , WoW, and the like with decent framerate.

In related news, I've heard that Asus makes really good, high quality and dependable laptops. Haven't tried one out though.

MariusRoi wrote:Avoid Dell.

I disagree; it's easy to bash Dell for their failings in various areas, but their Vostro laptop series is very good for the money.

Seggybop wrote:

MariusRoi wrote:Avoid Dell.

I disagree; it's easy to bash Dell for their failings in various areas, but their Vostro laptop series is very good for the money.

Three Years.

Four Motherboard replacements.

Venator wrote:Wait, people like those boxy, black, school-issue electronics crates?

Yes. They are excellent computers. They have a great keyboard, they are extremely durable, ThinkPad support remains excellent - what more can you ask for?

Having used one for a number of years with school, they're pretty durable and the Trackpoint is useful if you don't like the touchpad, but they're goddamn ugly and they do seem like Blue Screen of Death magnets.

If you're getting BSODs repeatedly, it isn't the laptop's fault. As for aesthetics, I personally think the ThinkPad is one of the best looking laptops around, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all.

Seggybop wrote:I disagree; it's easy to bash Dell for their failings in various areas, but their Vostro laptop series is very good for the money.

It still isn't all that well-made, though IIRC a cut above the usual consumer stuff.

Hawkwings wrote:In related news, I've heard that Asus makes really good, high quality and dependable laptops. Haven't tried one out though.

Standard consumer-quality laptops, there.

MariusRoi wrote:Three Years.

Four Motherboard replacements.

Out of some forty Dell laptops I've worked on over the past decade and some, I've only seen one definite motherboard problem. The only manufacturer with similar numbers and no problems was IBM. Sony also does pretty well ('special' people aside "I thought if I pulled hard enough it would just come out.")

The overwhelmingly vast majority of laptop issues I've had to deal with come from hp / compaq machines.