[ltp] considering t43p... is the.. low-end HP/Compaq OK

[Paul Hornshaw]

We've had quite a few Toshiba Satellite, Compaq (as was), Acers, Dell 505s
and so on.  The build quality of the Toshes and Compaqs was dire, they
frequently fall to bits, literally, I'm not kidding. On at least three
occasions Toshes have been taken apart by the techs only to find the
rattling inside was caused by screws rolling around inside the chasis! 
The Acrer suffered from a screen bur-in, if the lid was closed whilst the
laptop was still running, we found that an image of the keys was ghosted
on to the screen after a couple fo months.

The Dell 505 is reasonable though I find the keyboard to be horrible after
a Thinkpad; which is why I take my R40e with me every day to work. I've
just given my Dell 505, virtually unused by me, to a junior member of my
dept's staff. She's thrilled as she had a very bad tempered Tosh.  I used
to have a Tosh Sat Pro 460 and it was a lovely machie; it's still going
strong 7 years on, controlling a telescope on Saddleworth moor (not a very
nice place for electronic equipment). Such a sad reflcction on how the
build quality of Toshiba kit has fallen over the years.

I think that for the sake of a hundred or so UKP that purchasing them is a
big mistake.  AVOID.  On a positive note though, we purchased 50 or so
Samsungs and I was surprised at how well they've been put together and the
staff like using them very much.


> While we are at it:
> Has anyone on the list had any experience with those extreme low end
> Hp, Compaq, Toshibia, Etc boxes that are often sold as those door-buster
> specials
> for under $400 after rebate?

>


-- 
Regards,

Paul