Travel Technology - Need recomendations for a laptop (running Windows XP)

I am interested in a fairly lightweight, very quiet and reliable laptop with a 15 or 17 inch screen. The fan in my old Sony Vaio made a very annoying whistling noise, so I would appreciate a quiet model. I've heard from one friend that HPs often break down after the warranty runs out. She recommended Dell. I know a lot of you use your laptops a lot so I thought you would be able to steer me in the right direction. Thanks (Mahalo) for your help in advance.

IBM for worry free computing.

Welcome to FT!

I would recommend Dell too; the company makes great product!

I have never been a fan of Dell. One I had a few years ago went through multiple mother boards. Also had quality issues with the display interface cable - had to push the cable down to get the image back. A severe design flaw (IMO) caused the keyboard to push on the LCD, leaving a ghost image of the keyboard after only a few months.

The one I have now is better, but still shows the keyboard imprint on the screen.

These were both work computers. My personal laptop is a Toshiba I have been very happy with. It would be too heavy for travel though.

I'm very happy with my (heavily customised) Pavilion dv4000, but I admit it's not out of warranty yet.

Stay away from the "home series" like the presario or pavilions.

I would say an IBM Thinkpad T-series would be your best bet.

Moved from a Compaq to IBM T43. The IBM feels burst-proof and would be happy to recommend it to anyone. Our (mid-size) corporate has moved from HP/Compaq to IBM after a disastrous foray into Dell (5 Latitude notebooks, all required attention of some sort) 18 months ago.

Moved from a Compaq to IBM T43. The IBM feels burst-proof and would be happy to recommend it to anyone. Our (mid-size) corporate has moved from HP/Compaq to IBM after a disastrous foray into Dell (5 Latitude notebooks, all required attention of some sort) 18 months ago.

Thank you and everyone else for taking the time to advise me. So far no one has had anything negative to say about an IBM. While some have liked their Dell or HP, I have heard some reliability issues with both of these. When you say the IBM feels "burst-proof", does that mean "unbreakable"? By the way, we were in Brisbane earlier this year and were impressed with it and all of Australia.

Also, I'd love to hear from some other users. Do other people feel IBM is the most trouble free? I had heard that IBMs are now being built in China and may not be so reliable anymore. Any comments? Also, I haven't heard from any Vaio users....

I had heard that IBMs are now being built in China and may not be so reliable anymore. Any comments? Also, I haven't heard from any Vaio users....

First on the matter of IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads being of inferior quality since they are "made in China" is utter bullcrap.

That is American union paranoia permeating - in fact I have more problems with "Made in the USA" stuff of all types.

IBM's have been made and-or assembled in China, in part or in whole, all along.

The fact that Lenovo is a Chinese company based in China is merely capitalism in action - which apparently American labor unions just don't like it when it's somebody else getting a piece of the action.

By converse, Vaio's are "made in Japan," and are utter crap - I do not know of one Vaio user/owner whose machine did not break at one point of the other.

I have the Thinkpad t42p and it is GREAT!

I have Owned the consumer "i-series", the R31, the R40 and an R51/R52 before as well as an x40/x41.

The T-series blows away the rest.

You could get one of the new Macs that run both OSX and Windows XP. Then you have Windows for whatever program that only runs on windows and a real opporating system. :D

I too love the Lenovo ex-IBM T42/43 series, but for my own personal travel I take an el-cheapo Compaq V2000 series machine. Last week Office Depot was advertising a real low end one (Sempron 3100 / 256 Mb / 40 Gb / CDRW/DVD R) for about $300 after rebate. It's pretty light, around 5 lbs., not really solidly made but if it breaks or get stolen c'est la vie.

I have had several ThinkPads and all have been great - durable, long lasting, etc.

I have just gotten a Vaio (because my tolerance for schlepping is way, way down), but don't have any miles on it yet.

Have a T41 and T42, love 'em both...after I replaced the HDD's and added RAM. The Hitachi "DeathStar" drives they shipped with kept conking out on me...so I bought WD 7200 RPM drives and they're both trouble free now :) YMMV