The Official Overclockers.com Notebook Retailer List And Rating System -- Vote Now!!

[SuperFarStucker]

IBM X40: 8.5/10

I can't say I've ever had any problems with it except the backlighting is a little bit messed up on the screen (I got slightly stung by an ebay reseller, I don't attribute this to IBM). It is extremely functional and has no usability issues. Battery life is 5.5 hours. The disk drive failed a few months after I got it and IBM overnighted me a new hard drive and recovery disks (which most OEMs charge for now) *even* though it is a refurbished system and I didn't by it through an authorized reseller (but it still had a warranty on it for 1 yr).

I also tried to get the screen flaw repaired but they said it was damage due to 'negligence'. Even so they did not charge me to look at it or for the same day/overnight shipping both ways. In short the customer service is unbelievable. (I called them when the cs center was closed sans an absolute emergency and I got a call back at 6 am pst, I had the box to send the notebook by the end of the day).

As for the system build itself, it is very solid and well thought out. Truly a portable notebook and very durable. The only downside is the price (new anyways...). Lenovo now owns IBM's personal computer division but the support contracts for older notebooks are still through IBM.

I've made extensive use of other notebook brands I don't think anything really compares to the x series notebooks for their purpose (not even the 'ultraportable' toshiba's). I won't rate any of them though because I haven't owned them recently. My first notebook was a packard bell 386 or 486 (can't remember tbh). It had a black/white monochrome screen. I would give it a 7/10 back then and about a -1 now Might make a good paperweight. Also had a compaq 286 with a blue/olive monochrome screen. Battery lasted about 5 seconds on that mother.I used to dial into a BBS to play a mud on it. Those were the days.

 

[aeiou]

I Love my iBook.....

10/10 for apple

 

[mbentley]

i recently got myself an acer travelmate 2420 and i have to say that i am greatly impressed with this laptop. it has turned out to be great to me. it is silent, has a decent amount of power (celeron m 1.5 ghz) and the battery life is nice... it lasts 2 1/2 hours... can't ask for much more... for a good work laptop. i would rate it 9 out of 10 for acer.

 

[Lionsault_100]

8/10 dell,-- 10/10 toshiba ,-- 9/10 ibm, -- 9/10 sony.-- 8/10 HP/Compaq, --6/10 gateway/emachines


i'll have a write up why tomorrow when i get home

 

[Soichiro]

Gateway: 6/10

Pros: Good battery life, fast (for a system w/ 512MB RAM), nice image quality, Preshott runs cooler than the AXP in my old HP
Cons: Battery charges very slowly, screen brightness sometimes flickers to a slightly darker setting than what it's set at, very heavy, came with a dead wireless card (I only know it exists b/c I looked inside)

 

[SlntAgent]

Alienware M5500 Laptop - 10/10

 

[toddm27]

dell 9 out of 10

 

[dvandervelde]

MSI MS 1012 - 9/10
Compaq R4000 - 9/10

 

[jcw122]

IBM no longer makes laptops, can we put Lenovo up there (which make IBMs Thinkpads now)???

Please

 

[ozzlo]

updated...

ok ok... fine Leveno gets it's own cateogory. but I am still going to keep IBM in it's own cateogoy so that way IBM gets to keep it's best reputation TITLE.

 

[skou]

OK, here are 2 more evaluations;

Dell 5100, I got this unit, with some issues, and was able to repair it and sell it, for a profit. Repairability, 6 out of 10. (It's a lot harder to pull apart, than my IBMs.) Repair manual availability, 10/10. Good service online! Build quality, fair. 7.5/10 Fit N Finish, 8.5/10. Overall, 7.5/10

Sony, GRX560, traded a T23 to a good friend, for this lappy. Wish I had the T23 back! It is a fully complete rig, and I had to do no repairing on it, which it is good, because manuals and stuff are not available. This thing is put together like the space shuttle, no screws are showing, and I'm pretty sure I'll have to pry panels off to open it up. Just wish I knew which panels to pry off! Repairability, 4/10 Manual availability, 0/10 Looks, 8/10 (It looks better than a Thinkpad, it just isn't repair friendly. 15 inch screen is PRETTY! The touchpad, is like most touchpads, worse than the eraser thingie IBM uses. (But, really, you're going to use a mouse, anyway!) Overall, 6.5/10

Oh, both of these rigs have advanced (well compared to an IBM thinkpad) video capability, but I'd never know, since I'm not a gamer.

steve

 

[smekta3]

I guess since the first laptop Lenovo came out was the t43, the scoring system isnt totaly acurate, but that shouldnt be a problem. Ill give a vote for Lenovo,

T60 = 9.5/10 , aside from a steep price for an x1400 equiped notebook, its defently a thinkpad.

 

[Layd Dly]

Gateway - 1/10

Have 4 here at the hosue 4 have broken hinges, one where screen completely broke off, 1 with broken backlight (replaced 3 times prior) 4 with dead batterys with under a year, 2 with bad hard drives. After dealing with the quality and their tech support i would certianly never buy one.

 

[dvandervelde]

I just got an ASUS Z62F. Its easily the fasyestm quietest, best built laptop I have ever owned.

I would rate it a perfect 10, except that the keyboard could be a bit more solid.

My vote for ASUS = 9.5

 

[shellshock]

7/10 for my HP zv5000 w/ the A64m

Overall, its been allright i guess. The only things I have against it is the allfamous bad power jacks. Mine hasent gone out yet, but im sure its bound to sooner or later

It runs at a constant ~60c folding, and thats in a cool room with it sitting on a table and the fan running at full 12v. Now sitting it on your lap, the temp will reach up in the mid 70's, even hotter in a warm car, due to the poorly located itake vents. It dosent crash though!

 

[ozzlo]

updated...

 

[dvandervelde]

HP Pavillion DV1000t = 6/10

Major Cons:
- Runs very hot
- Fan is loud
- Too much bloat ware
- No recovery CD/DVDs

 

[Beakman]

Acer -- 10/10

Acer -- 10/10

(Aspire 5672)

Ubeatable price for it's hardware, overall sturdy design, and great looks.

 

[Soichiro]

Gateway: 6/10

Pros: Good battery life, fast (for a system w/ 512MB RAM), nice image quality, Preshott runs cooler than the AXP in my old HP
Cons: Battery charges very slowly, screen brightness sometimes flickers to a slightly darker setting than what it's set at, very heavy, came with a dead wireless card (I only know it exists b/c I looked inside)

I'd like to change this. I have a different laptop now (also from Gateway, I took the old one back because of the dead wireless card). After about 2 months of ownage, it's breaking. First of all, if I unplug the power supply, then when I plug it back in, it will not charge the battery or run off the power supply until I restart the laptop. Second... I'll let the pics explain it. Pic1
Pic2
That is just from regular usage (opening and closing the lid). I wonder how bad it would look if I was abusing it. Oh, there's a little bit of backlight bleeding, too.

Gateway's new rating: 2.5/10 (Be glad you're getting that much, ********)

 

[sike]

8/10 for Dell

I'd give them 7 but I'll give them a handicap because this is a lightweight laptop. I've learned my lesson with this kind of laptop now.

Cons:
- It's a lightweight laptop, which means I'm embarrassed when people see it. (Not Dell's fault though. Just had to point this out.)
- The speakers don't work unless I have the screen at just the magic angle.
- The screen also likes to turn off when I move its angle around, sometimes the only way to fix this is to sleep it then turn it back on.
- I don't appreciate having to reinstall Windows to get rid of all the crap Dell likes to install. Although many other OEM's probably do this too.

(these problems are of course not from abuse)