Scratch N100 off the list

ok, so after many Toshiba Satellites and HP Pavillions, I have decided to boycott them both. Although I had NUMEROUS problems with each, let's just say it came down to this...the Satellites had dead optical drives right out of the box, and the Pavilions had dead HD's right out of the box. Brutal.

So tonight I picked up a Lenovo 3000 N100 thinking it will be QUALITY and better than the crap i've had before. Now, I know, it's not a thinkpad and probably worth what I paid $1000 cdn (but $100 rebate too).

After using it for 10 mins here are my observations. I had pretty high hopes as I even liked the box, packaging, etc...looked "quality"...may sound dumb, but I liked how everything was put together. The unit itself screamed quality when I first laid eyes on it...very sturdy/solid build quality forsure. Very nice size and light for its size. I love the keyboard...best i've used forsure. The laptop also is nice and quiet...no annoying fan noise at all, AND it runs sooooo cool...no burning my lap like with Toshiba!

So for build quality...it's the best i've ever used.

Now for the bummer. The screen...it's grainy...the nicest i've seen are HP's and Toshibas (good grief)...the best screen i've seen is an SEC (samsung) HP dv5000...i've seen the LPL (LG) and it's nice, but not as bright as the SEC. This N100 has the LPL, and for some reason it's grainy.

The major thing for me though is the extra high native resolution of this thing. It's just way to high for me...everything looks way too small and strains my eyes (which are 20/20). I like 1280X800 better even though I lose real estate. Now, this is amazing....not only do I have a dead pixel out of box (which NEVER happened with any of the HP's and Toshita's that i've owned...probably more than a dozen), but there are tonnes of blue pixels dancing around! This occurs around text, or on solid colour...really weird phenomena.

So for the reasons of too high resolution, dead pixel, and dancing blue pixels, this laptop is going back. I wish I could afford a thinkpad! So now i'm pretty much out of laptop options...I guess if you want something decent, you gotta pay some good coin.

thanks for listening.

 

not true... look into asus s96j or z96j, w7j...

 

I can't find Asus anywhere here in Ontario, Canada...must be in specialty computer stores.

 

grab a cheap acer, for what you pay they are amazing, i bought mine for 1000 1.3 years ago, after owning a Toshiba A70 D11, it's still a joy to use it...

(it still works... lol)

 

Interesting. I am considering (simply due to no other choice). It seems like everywhere is out of stock for everything recently.

I've stayed away from acer mainly because of people saying it's the bottom of the barrel. I have had a couple of them and one was perfect, whereas the other had paint come off the track pad buttons as well as a buzzing coming from the fan (not normal fan noise) that change with brightness of the display.

 

High resolution: If you are not comfortable with the WSXGA resolution, why not go with WXGA instead?
Dead pixel and blue tint: You can always return it if you think there is something wrong with it!

So why cross such a nice machine off the list for something you can get over with? Simple return it and order another one!

 

Yeah, I didn't know it was WSXGA so that's my fault.

It's now 2 dead pixels and text is "vibrating" with blue pixels around it. I guess if I could find a WXGA i'd give it another try, but all I can find is the WSXGA.

It's a shame...other than the screen, very good build construction.

 

Of all those you mentioned I like the HP the best despite the bad hard drive. I find WSXGA+ on a 15.4" notebook to be ideal, but everyone is different.

 

Where in Ontario do you live? If you live in the Toronto area, there are several small shops (mostly Chinese) that carry Asus.

 

You know, I liked the HP too, but there are alot of flakey HD's in them, and then the keyboard issue (which I think I only had with one of them). I guess i'll just go to costco and pick something up since a 6 month "window" sure beats 14 days.

Yeah, the WSXGA is pretty small for me...i guess i'm just not used to it, but this is also my desktop replacement so that's probably why.

 

just outside toronto. i looked at pc4canada but they are still pretty pricey. i guess you do get what you pay for though.

 

costco might solve your problems. i know you boycotted HP, but the business class notebooks are a lot better...and I'm finding their service to be better too.

 

how can i get their business class, and how much more are they? do they strictly have to be ordered from their website?