So my laptop just died...

[Write-Away]

Yay! An added expense at Christmas time! At least I had everything backed-up. My computer guy is recommending I buy either an Acer Travel Mate or a Lenovo T510. Anyone have experience with either of these brands? I am loyal to Toshiba no more!

[Paul Striver]

ThinkPad keyboards are the best keyboards on the planet, so I'd go with a Lenovo for that reason alone.

[Write-Away]

Interesting. What makes the keyboard so great? Certainly the Thinkpad's look hasn't changed much in a decade. They're obviously not going for stylish. But at this point I'm looking for reliability anyway.

[Richmond Weems]

I've been using Thinkpads for about 15 years now, and, among other things, I love the feel of the keyboard. It just feels solid, most like a typewriter. Then again, I can't stand the nav-pad, and always opt for the Trackpoint. Reliable, too.

HH

(full disclosure: I used to work for IBM and my ex currently works for Lenovo. One of my best friends works in Level 2 so support for me is never an issue.)

[Rathmon]

My writing laptop is an old beat-up Thinkpad- love it! Think it's about 8 yrs old or so now, but it's trusty as heck. Love the keyboard except for the absent Windows key.... It even has an LED light in the lid to light up the keyboard.

Stay away from HP/Compaq at all costs. Asus and Acer has some good stuff out, but I've never owned one. My Toshiba is good, but considering the first one didn't last a week, I'd never buy another.

[BurOak]

Acer= POS.

[Centos]

Originally Posted by Write-Away

Yay! An added expense at Christmas time! At least I had everything backed-up. My computer guy is recommending I buy either an Acer Travel Mate or a Lenovo T510. Anyone have experience with either of these brands? I am loyal to Toshiba no more!

Sorry to hear this about your computer -- but if it's just the hard drive it should be relatively easy to fix. I like Dell laptops -- Latitudes, not Inspirons. I have an older one, a D400 without an internal DVD drive (I've got an external one that plugs into it). It's light, with a small, 12" screen but a full-sized keyboard. At the time I bought it I considered a netbook but didn't like the small keyboard -- I don't (personally) see using an iPad as a typing machine because I need a real keyboard. I don't have to worry about viruses because I run Linux on it. The Windows programs (including MMS) work in a Windows 2000 virtual machine under VirtualBox.

But any rate, look into Dell Latitudes. They're very good laptops in my opinion.

[thatwritergirl]

Originally Posted by Centos

I don't (personally) see using an iPad as a typing machine because I need a real keyboard.

Just to clarify, I need a real keyboard, too. The iPad and the Apple wireless keyboard (it's fullsize, but w/o the number pad) travel in my backpack. That was one of the things that bugged me about several brands of netbooks--the keyboard isn't standard, and I touchtype.

But, again, I think the iPad is great only as secondary; I certainly don't see it replacing a primary computer.