Thread: Dell or Toshiba?? Which one is the best??

I am looking forward to buy a laptop, I was set to buy Dell, but then I heard that Toshiba is equally good, now I need some help, which one would be the best for me?
I am mostly into gaming, networking, photo/video editing and doing office work, ummm I think I need an all-rounder..
My preferred configuration goes like this,
Processor- 2nd gen Intel core i3, 2.10 ghz
Display- 15.6 inches
Memory- 4GB DDR3 RAM
Hard drive- 500GB
And additional tools should be there, web cam, bluetooth, dvd writer, wifi and etc etc
BUNK...
Dell... or Toshiba..??
And if you can, please mention the reason...
Thanks

I would prefer a Dell. The Dell XPS 15 with i3 second generation processor is good deal. Personally speaking Dell is a more popular brand than Toshiba and thus more trusted.
Dell XPS 15 had better graphics as compared to Toshiba Satellite C655-S5128 and other models. But Toshiba is cheaper than Dell. Go for Dell as I personally use Dell and have no problem with it.

if you are really serious about photo/video editing,close your eyes and go for dell xps 15 WITH 1080p B+RG LED DISPLAY.cost's just 6-7 k more than the standard 720p WLED display but thats what sets apart the pros from the everyday common amateurs.
I own a dell XPS 15 i3,with 1 GB dedicated nvidia graphics card.the onboard JBL speakers are considered the benchmark now.it's even got a sub woofer.
but only downside is battery life,be ready to recharge every 2 hours.but that's what you are expected to pay in exchange for the awesomeness.

I think I got my answer, but XPS 15 would be pretty costly, I dont have such budget, what about Inspiron 15R..?? with 4GB, 320GB, 15.6", i3 2nd gen..??

I am against spending too much money on laptops for the simple reason that you wont use it for more then two and a half to three years at the most because what ever best of the best you buy now will go out of fashion and will have a hard time to keep up with applications of near future. I have learnt this the expensive way and would never make such a mistake ever again.
In my opinion people or shall we say I used to get very excited while buying a new laptop and usually ended up buying the costliest thing on the market only to find out that its obsolete after two years or even less in some cases.. For instance I bought a laptop with 1.5GB ram when people were using desktop computers with 128mb ram and guess what.. a year later markets were flooded with laptops with 1-2gb ram and far better processors and desktops came with 2-3 gb ram and my laptop didint even get any scratches by then but it was a sheer waste of money for me. I have toned down my purchases now and the laptop I use now is not even a laptop its a netbook or notebook whatever you may call it which doesnt have a cd drive. No one plays games on laptops and video/photo editing if you do that sort of stuff for work then get a mac instead of a windows machine and if not then get a simple no bling bling netbook which will be lighter to carry and will cost a lot less then the top of the range machines which will look ancient in two years if not less.
I use my netbook every day and it has a huge battery backup of 8+ hours and if I want to play a resource intensive game I use my desktop which has ample resources Laptops/netbooks are not meant for the heavy duty stuff... Give it a bit of thought and save some money You wont feel bad after two-three years when you switch to a newer one because no one is going to buy your old laptop after two years even if you buy best of the best right now.

Originally Posted by Admin

I am against spending too much money on laptops for the simple reason that you wont use it for more then two and a half to three years at the most because what ever best of the best you buy now will go out of fashion and will have a hard time to keep up with applications of near future. I have learnt this the expensive way and would never make such a mistake ever again.
.

this is perhaps your biggest post this year....

trying to rep..


well for me, laptops are nice. but i feel bad when upgradation comes in mind.. a desktop is far better than lappy because you can purchase a desky at half price of a standard laptop and you can make it better than laptop for some more money.... its a complete entertainment pack...

well laptop is mobile so, its easier.. but i like desktop...

brand doesn't really matters more than the configuration u want to get . . . . . . . . . . . .

Just check at ur area about the brand which provides best service. . . Service quality varies differently at different places as at mine i got bad experiance with dell. . . . . .
If u wish to use it for short period then go with some simple ones. . . . . . .

Originally Posted by Admin

I am against spending too much money on laptops for the simple reason that you wont use it for more then two and a half to three years at the most because what ever best of the best you buy now will go out of fashion and will have a hard time to keep up with applications of near future. I have learnt this the expensive way and would never make such a mistake ever again....
...You wont feel bad after two-three years when you switch to a newer one because no one is going to buy your old laptop after two years even if you buy best of the best right now.

I guess you are right. I had to face the same problem, my budget is around 27K-28K, and I am not surely gong to exceed that amount. I know that laptops are not really for Gaming and editing, but I need a desktop replacement which will never come into my budget, but I am still looking for th best buy.
Well, thanks for the advice, will keep that in mind.

well for me, laptops are nice. but i feel bad when upgradation comes in mind.. a desktop is far better than lappy because you can purchase a desky at half price of a standard laptop and you can make it better than laptop for some more money.... its a complete entertainment pack...

well laptop is mobile so, its easier.. but i like desktop...

I also like desktops, but it is not about liking or disliking. I already have a desktop, and I am really happy with that, unfortunately, I can't carry my desktop all over from asansol to kolkata. I shifted to a PG for my college and so I am looking for the nearest possible desktop replacement around my budget.

Originally Posted by upadhyay.minmay

brand doesn't really matters more than the configuration u want to get . . . . . . . . . . . .

Just check at ur area about the brand which provides best service. . . Service quality varies differently at different places as at mine i got bad experiance with dell. . . . . .
If u wish to use it for short period then go with some simple ones. . . . . . .

Sorry, but at times brand does matter.
Now tell me, I am getting Samsung at 32K, with i5, 500GB HDD, 3GB RAM, 15.6" display and they are giving a Mobile free with it.. WOW!!!! But dell is no doubt more stable than Samsung, no?
Well, you are again right, if Dell is nt providing well service nearby my area, it is not a good idea to purchase it.

Since there are 2 options in the poll, I'll opt for Dell. Toshiba seems better in terms of the hardware technology. However, it is too pricey. If I could get same specs as Dell, the price varied very much! It can difference up to $1,000. So, I rather go for Dell.

On your last post, you are comparing with Samsung. hm.. personal opinion, Samsung is good in household electrical, famous in mobile recently (due to vast publicity) but I never heard of they are ok in laptop. I do not recommend Samsung for laptop.

Brand does matter but it depends our luck when purchase a laptop as well. I have to say this as my friends bought Dell at different time. A's laptop never had issue since the first day he purchased; while B's laptop keep creating problem like HDD failure and screen blur after purchased. This is Dell's QC problem and we cannot do anything. What we can do is file complain and claim a new laptop when laptop breakdown.

Lastly, good luck, all I can say

Yup, I now agree on urs and pinkypainter's opinion about brand dependency under the term and condition - luck. . . .and dude don't write sorry elsewhere in anythread about clashes of opinions cause forum is a place where we get different ideas,opinions and personal experiances. . . . Yaar
One thing more- what is making u to stay only on these two brands? Now if u r thinking about samsung then look at this-acer aspire AS5742 26650 intel core i3 2.53 ghz, 3gb ram, 15.6-in, 500gb hdd(DVD-RW) and Probably samsung is better known for electrical home appliances than acer is known for laptops
And I think this acer comes under ur budget plus u can dedicate 512 mb or 1gb to graphics under ur pocket if u r a mid range gamer and dude do write in the thread the laptop u will buy and good luck

now i m sorry buddy ram for acer is 2gb not 3gb. . . . . .checked on acer website actually i wrote about this acer laptop from chip(magazine aug2011) so instead going for dedicated graphics u should go for ram upgrade . . . .both will exceed ur budget

for similar specifications, now toshiba would cost lesser than dell.

toshiba is also well known for hardware reliability.

dell laptops are well known for their battery issues and normally the battery would not last beyond 16-20 months.

i was fortunate enough to visually compare 3 displays side by side-a RGB LED,B+RG LED and WLED backlit displays.difference is hardly noticeable to an untrained eye,but then i did my comparison under the supervision of a REAL geek with measuring instruments and all.
i was told that display's would get better but not in the near future,availability commercially was too far.and my XPS 15 B+RG display was at-least half a decade proof.
since i watch and "re watch" TV series and movies,720 p when my bandwidth allows,i thought why compromise and i spent 15k more for the particular laptop which instead would have cost just 34-35k same config.
and guess what,even after 9-10 months of my particular model's launch,i have rarely heard of people buying it,and whenever i pass any dell showroom i make sure to ask the shop owners if they have the particular model,they deny which makes me really happy.even in a place such as nehru place,it's not available.so i have no regrets of owning a really pricy "display"laptop.am even planning to upgrade to a SSD when the price comes down a bit.

RBG & B+RG displays are better than WLED display but difference in cost in my opinion is just too much.unless absolutely necessary i would rather spend this extra money to buy a 22" HD IPS monitor from dell.also i think watching anything equal to or more than 720p needs at least 22" screen to appreciate.if you are going to watch at home then mobility is not an issue for a separate large monitor & if you intend to watch on the move then it doesn't matter anyway because of various distractions to have a RGB screen.

@ thread starter

which one you bought?

^^Doshiba.....

Originally Posted by upadhyay.minmay

@ thread starter

which one you bought?

I went with Dell

Just my personal opinion, Dell's hands! I have a couple of years, my father, brothers and sons have Dell. Literally, although the warranty period is closed, they buy each year Dell tone up, into your computer and repair about 290, or $ 39 per year to any problems. Well worth it.

I need a 15.6" laptop for my daughter.
I already dropped the idea of Dual core/C2D 15"6 laptops (2 Gb Ram + 320 Gb Hd ) running T4500/6100 etc selling between 18.5 k to 22k.
AMD quadcore/2/3 GB ram+320/500 Gb/15.6" + 512mb VGa card is old but can be considered.
I hear Toshiba's quality is poor nowadays. Lot of recent complaints in the blogsphere.I know it is a hit and miss. people are saying bad things even about Sony Vaio!
Dell Inspiron 15.6 /3Gb ram/320 Gb HD Core I3 costs atleast Rs 36-38k and core I5 around,cost 42-44K.
Since Dell gives 6 months instalment on city bank credit card with out interest ,I thought I will buy from them.But now dropped the idea. cash deal around 30K for core I5 (with out OS)- that is the target.
HP has one core I5 ( but older chip not 2100) model with DOS selling around 31K. otherwise Core I3 models around 28-31K.
Samsung has Core I3 Laptop around 24-25k (DoS).

Any suggestion for a value for money Core I3/Core I5 with out OS. (below 30K if possible)Considering MSI and Asus /Acer also.

Currently I have Acer Travelmate 5320 -3-4 years old running ok.( battery dead,Hong kong -model so not able to get new battery from Acer service centre here )

Laptops NEW, HCL ME XITE L 1014 B
2nd generation Intel® Core™ i5 2410M (2.3GHz,3M), Free DOS, 3 GB DDR3 RAM, 500 GB Hard Disk Drive (5400 RPM)
MRP Rs. 34,840.00 Online Price Rs. 31,500.00

not very good looking but definitely VFM.

HCL not a good ASS (after service)reputation
Better brands with same or better config at lower prices available.

1.MSI CR Series CR620-I5: Intel Core i5,3 GB DDR3 RAM,15.6 Inch Screen
Windows 7 Home Basic,320 GB Hard disk Rs 29,299

2.Toshiba Satellite C Series C640-X4012 :Intel 2nd Generation Core i5,
4 GB DDR3 RAM, 14 Inch Screen,No OS,500 GB HD -Rs28990 .

same satellite 640-x1012 model -15" ,NO -OS- Rs 31,990 (today newspaper advt with 5.1 multimedia speaker system free)

3.LENOVO: Ideapad Z570-Rs 32990 simialr config .(today newspaper)

4.HP Pavilion G6 Series G6-1000TU-Intel Core i5,3 GB DDR3 RAM, 15.6 Inch Screen,Windows 7 Home Basic,500 GB -Rs. 31749

5.HP Compaq 42 Series CQ42-462TU :Intel Core i5,3 GB DDR3 RAM ,14.0 Inch Screen,Free DOS,320 GB -Rs. 26949

6.Samsung RV518-A03-Intel 2nd Generation Core i5,4 GB DDR3 RAM 15.6 Inch Screen,Free DDS,500 Gb-Rs. 31494

Dell is expensive -Core I5 not less than 36-38K.
We have Core I5 with OS around 30K from 3-4 brands.
Compaq is cheap ( If we look seriously can find reasonable brand (Acer,MSI also ok) 15" ,3or 4 GB ram+ 320/500 Gb HD below 25K with out OS!!

i was at first going to suggest lenovo ideapad z570 based on today's times of india ad but then it sounded too good to be true.i searched for the economic times review article mentioned in ad as well as their site.this model has core i3 for 32990 & just like dell core i5 is only present in models above 35-36k.
ET Review: Lenovo IdeaPad Z570 - Economic Times

For hardware, the Z570 features a second-generation Intel core i3 processor (2.1Ghz), 3GB DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT520M graphics with 1GB memory, 640GB hard drive and Windows 7 Home Basic.

i am not aware of HCL quality as i have a dell laptop & some of my friends too & till now i am satisfied with their quality as well as support.

i don't trust compaq(not HP) much though especially when it comes to their screen quality as well as reliability.

any special reason to go for i5 because lenovo z570 in my opinion is a better deal even with i3 because it has nvidia gt520m graphics card which is rare for laptops at this price.a graphics card plays a much better role especially if you are concerned about picture quality on a big HD screen.though here in india most people don't pay much attention to PQ but abroad you won't believe what ppl do to get that perfect quality.right now madvr renderer is considered as the undisputable leader of renderers when it comes to PQ & it is because unlike other renderers it uses graphics card shaders(just like pc games)to render video.i have personally tested it by playing a SD(lower than 720p HD)h264 mkv clip on my laptop connected to 32" LCD TV using both madvr & EVR(windows vista/7 default renderer)& madvr PQ easily surpasses that of EVR.

whitestar
Thanks for a through review and ET link.
You are right it is better to have Core I3 with higher RAM and a good graphics card instead of higher clock speed chip.
I am already dropping Samsung ,HP.
IBm +Acer Iam familar with.
I did a thorough comparison of Lenovo Z series models and also
Acer Aspire Timeline 5830TG Core I3 (2330M instead of 2310M) with Nvidia GT 540M instead of 520M ( @Rs 36241 but hard disk is a bit less ).
This specs notebook looking like a full fledged desk top equivalent.
Thanks
Lenovo IdeaPad Z Series Z570-(59-304497) vs Lenovo IdeaPad Z Series Z570-(59-302682) vs Lenovo Ideapad Z Series Z570 (59-069601) vs Acer Aspire Timeline 5830TG( Ci3): Compare Computers: Flipkart.com

HP Pavilion dv4-3000 Entertainment Notebook PC series Home & Home Office

at Rs.36657 it has AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1GB DDR5.only other laptop from HP which has a more powerful AMD Radeon HD 6770M 2GB GDDR5 is dv6-6121TX which costs Rs.54250.6750M is ranked at no.79 while GT540M is ranked at no.98 in laptop graphics card ranking.also GT540M is DDR3 which is slower than DDR5.
Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

also in my opinion the screen of HP laptops are better than many other brands & acer is especially notorious for their poor screen quality like below avg contrast & poor viewing angles.another point to consider is that hp dv4-3015TX has 2 USB 3.0 ports which offer you at least twice the transfer speeds compared to normal usb 2.0 ports.now-a-days you can get a usb 3.0 portable hard disk for just 300-400 more than the normal usb 2.0 portable hard disk so you can transfer data much more faster.also AMD cards usually run cooler than nvidia cards which is a plus in our country.

whitestar
Thanks for bringing HP DV4 3000 series in to comparison.

HP-DV4-3015x (@Rs 37,671)is indeed fitted with superior AMD Radeon HD 6750M ,1GB-DDR5 compared to Lenevo Z series Z570. ( Nvidia GT520M-1GB-DDR3)
I have only one problem ,it is 14" screen.
Even DV4-3016 (Core I5) also 14" screen.
Only the DV6 model you mentioned has Core I7,15.6" screen + 2 GB DDR5 -HD6770M radeon card costing around Rs 54K.
My main use is running Chart based Trading platform with up to 10 charts open (second 22" LCD monitor in VGA while at home).
So screen Real estate is quite a serious criteria.

If I rule out HP DV4-3015x because of screen size,I have couple of choices.

1.I can buy Lenevo Generic (same I3+ 3 Gb ram+750GB HD+ 1Gb DDR3-Nvidia GT520M but with NO OS @Rs 33,485 (I prefer my Win 7 ultimate)
or
2.the one you earlier suggested @ 37,805 ( core i3,3Gb RAM,with win 7 Home basic +640Gb hard disk+1Gb GT520M)

I want to your opinion on this monster :

Samsung RC Series Laptop (NP-RC520-S08IN) @ Rs 39,250 (can get Rs 1000 dicount easily)
Core I5+ 6GB ram+750GB Hard disk (@5400)+ Win 7 Home Premium+15.6"+NVIDA Geforce GT520M (NVIDIA Optimus supported)
Graphics Memory 1 GB DDR3+ only 4xUSB 2.0 (no 3.0) + free WD Elements SE Portable 500GB (2.5 Inch / USB 2.0) WDBABV5000ABK
Thanks
Lenovo IdeaPad Z Series Z570-(59-304232) vs Lenovo Ideapad Z Series Z570 (59-069601) vs HP Pavilion DV4 Series DV4-3015TX vs Acer Aspire Timeline 5830TG( Ci3): Compare Computers: Flipkart.com

if you can get this Samsung laptop for the price you mentioned along with a free WD elements 500GB then i think this is the best option for you.you will get 15" screen i5 along with a decent graphics card which should be enough for all your needs.