Robs rant and rave thread against anything that isn't a TB

[Rob]

So I am starting this thread because I am thoroughly annoyed at EVERY laptop on the face of the planet after work today… I’ll start off with a few reasons why if your laptop ISN’T a Toughbook it is a PILE OF CRAP!!!

Apple: Anyone that has taken an Apple G4 or G3 iBook apart or even a Macbook or Macbook Pro will agree with me on this one. These effing laptops are held together with TIN FOIL AND YELLOW TAPE! Good lord, if you ever have to change a hard drive or a screen on an older iBook G4, RUN LIKE HELL UNTIL YOU CAN’T RUN ANY FURTHER! I can’t believe that these laptops are built like this! NOT user friendly at ALL. On top of the fact that they use stupid torx bit screws and are to damn fragile! GAH!

Acer: Acer, Acer, Acer, oh where do I start with you???? To this day I have YET to see an Acer come to the shop with a completely in tact keyboard. The keyboards on these laptops are so damn awful that I have replaced at least 100 of them in the last 3 years… Acers also have TERRIBLE TERRIBLE power socket problems just like Toshibas do (I’ll go there in a minute). 95% of the motherboard problems with Acers are bad power sockets!

Toshiba: I don’t have as many gripes about Toshiba other than they don’t last more than a mere 4 years. They have LOTS of power socket problems as well on particular models (A75-XXXX). All in all the battery life on NEW Toshibas are NEVER good, just about an hour and a half.

Gateway/eMachines: in regards to their desktops, I KNOW KNOW KNOW that if a machine comes into my shop and it’s NOT turning on then for SURE SURE SURE it will be a bad motherboard and bad power supply!! NO QUESTIONS ASKED. To this date I have lost count on how many mobo/psu changes I have done over the last 6 years but I would say that it is realistically about 150+ machine!

Dell: Dell has it’s ups and downs. The Dell Inspiron 1000/1100/2200/6000/6400 laptops are PILES OF CRAP. I find that if you spend $1000+ on a nicer LATITUDE or VOSTRO laptop they are MUCH MUCH better! None-the-less I’ve seen a LOT of bad motherboards and broken power sockets on Dells too.

Sony: Sony, ahhh, Sony….. Sonys are good machines for the most part but are a PAIN IN THE ASS to fix (almost as bad as Apple). They seem to be made to last longer than most other laptops, which might be why they cost so much more?!?!?!? As far as the power socket issues… I’ve seen LOTS of broken power sockets on Sony’s HOWEVER, these are VERY easy to fix as they are a pigtail! THANK YOU SONY FOR THAT

IBM: IBM T40/41/42//42p/43/43p/T60’s – VERY WELL MADE LAPTOPS! I would probably be using one of these if I didn’t have a Toughbook. The T series also has pigtails for the power sockets just like the Sonys do. On top of the fact that they are pigtails, the STILL don’t break very often! The R Series and the A series – Piles of CRAP, Very poorly made and they seem to fall apart after about 3 years. As far as the new Lenovo 3000’s are concerned, I’ve only seen and used about 10 of them and they seem to be VERY poorly made as well.

HP: I save the best for last: DV2000, DV6000, DV9000… In particular the DV6000 series. I don’t care what you have in your DV6000, if you have one it is a pile of CRAP. To this date in the last 4 years I have replaced 312 BAD motherboards on this particular model! I can’t believe that a class action lawsuit hasn’t been started on this!!! I GENUINLY FEEL TERRIBLE for any poor fool that has purchased any of these HP laptops. Not only are they prone to having bad motherboards, but IF, AND THAT IS A BIG IF you manage to not have the motherboard go out on one of these machines, then count on the wireless slot going bad at the minimum! Also, don’t get me going on the crappy batteries on these guys.

Some of you may be asking yourselves, Rob, why are you ranting and raving about all these laptops on the Toughbook forums??!?!? And I will answer with this: I have NEVER EVER seen any issues like ANY of the aforementioned machines with a Toughbook! Thank you Panasonic for making such a RELIABLE laptop! I would also like to state that I have been working at the same computer company (Proton Computers Inc) for the last 6 years and I have fixed 10’s OF THOUSANDS of computers in the last 6 years. NO I AM NOT EXATURATING! THIS IS WHAT I DO FOR A LIVING. All of what I just posted about is 100% truth and NONE of it is made up or exaggerated IN THE LEAST BIT!

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

~Rob~

I think that the only "NEED" for power comes from gamers... Seriously if I wanted a "Gaming laptop" I wouldn't bat an eye at buying a top of the line DELL with a video card.

The needs that I express here in this thread are for the HARD WORKING class of people that just need a laptop to WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK and maybe WORK some more...

People that don't want to deal with a cracked screen
Deal with a ripped out power socket
Deal with fried CPU's and overheating
Deal with being scared to touch the damn thing without breaking it
Deal with throwing on the conveyor belt at the airport for them to scan it
Deal with stuffing your laptop into a bag every time you need to get in and out of a taxi cab
Deal with having to plug in a USB light to see the keyboard at night
Deal with having to plug the laptop in after a measly 3 hours
Deal with messing around with a Sprint/Verizon/ATT card
Deal with a glare from the sunlight shining through the window on the screen
Deal with protecting it with your life if it rains a little bit
Deal with kids banging on it
Deal with having to carry around a huge cumbersome bag EVERYWHERE YOU GO

Do I make myself clear why I started this thread?!?!?!?!?

[ToughNut]

if your laptop ISN’T a Toughbook it is a PILE OF CRAP!!!

Vented enuff? You missed out Fujitsu!! How about Apple Durabook??

Ron in SG
*poking at Rob to see if there's any more steam...*

[Silver Trooper]

HI! My name is Rob ...who the F#$@ are you? What the F&^%do you want? and why the F*&^ are you using that F(**ing laptop? If you're not using a Toughbook

PS. Strong letter to follow.....

[ToughNut]

HAHAHAHA!!!! Seems like both Robs have lots of hot air! So what have you against non TBs??
*quick!! here's ya chance to start fuming!!*

[Rob]

HI! My name is Rob ...who the F#$@ are you? What the F&^%do you want? and why the F*&^ are you using that F(**ing laptop? If you're not using a Toughbook

PS. Strong letter to follow.....

[nine]

anybody watch Stormchasers on Discovery?

There was a scene this season where they are running down a dirt road at speed and hit some railroad tracks. The guy in the back goes -S**T- as his laptop crashes from hitting the bump. First though in my mind is "shoulda got a toughbook!"

nine

[Azrial]

Good post and after a brief stint as part owner of a computer shop, I concur!

Before the Toughbook, my two favorite machines were for serviceability were the IBM and the Toshiba, thought it is annoying the way Toshiba makes the Satellite a corporate level machine one year and a consumer level machine the next model change.

I am only interested in corporate level machines! Consumer level machines will in general sacrifice everything for the all mighty price point! The old rule of thumb I gave folks was, does it have a docking station port. If not it was likely to be Wal-Mart crap under a major brand name. Today, it is not so easy.

I also must say that even if Lenova is not building them as well, they are doing a better job of supporting them, so far, then IBM did at the end.

[Silver Trooper]

HI! My name is Rob ...who the F#$@ are you? What the F&^%do you want? and why the F*&^ are you using that F(**ing laptop? If you're not using a Toughbook

PS. Strong letter to follow.....

Glad to see he has finally calmed down....

[RDKyle]

I owned a DV6000 motherboard died in 7 months of light usage, I was not aware the problem was so wide spread. I'll never own a HP again regardless but aggravating to learn they still pushed them onto unaware consumers.

[kode-niner]

I'm often "the computer guy" in a room full of people. When I have a job to do, there is always someone in this room that will come up to me and unload his or her personal computer problems on me even though I am on the clock and we are in a corp, gov or mil setting. I get it. You need people like me at work and at home. Except this isn't home. I don't care about your gaming PC, your kid's infected laptop or your inability to browse your favourite cookie recipe sites. I know a few people in I.T. that identify with what I'm typing now, but are mostly socially inept and do their best to brush off people who approach them. Well, I'm not in I.T. and I'm not a douchebag so I put on a smile and listen, try to offer a few nuggets of technical wisdom all the while trying to get actual work done.


QUITE OFTEN there will be a conversation that starts with "What laptop should I buy?". Since I always have a Toughbook at arms length during this point of the conversation, I cheekily say:
-"Just get one of these"
-"What, this thing? I don't need a military computer. That's overkill!"
My usual response now is:
-"EVERYTHING IS OVERKILL, until it breaks. Then it's just a badly designed heap of scrap that breaks easily."