Which laptop should I get between these two (Toshiba and Lenovo)?

I am looking for the best laptop with a 12.1 " screen in the $1,500 range. I

believe Costco has the best deals on laptops even if they don't have the best

selection. I am wondering which laptop would be better at handling PS CS2

between this <a

href="http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11193003&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&N=4017753&Mo=10&pos=7&No=2&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=29722&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&ec=&topnav">Toshiba</a>

 

and this <a

href="http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11188580&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&N=4017751&Mo=10&pos=5&No=2&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=56110&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&ec=&topnav">Lenovo</a>

Well, do you go with the company that sold quiet propeller secrets to the Russians

( Toshiba ), or to the big Chinese company ( Lenovo )? ..........

 

There's really not much difference in brand. Your primary concern should be how much

memory you can cram into the laptop. Best to run at least 1 gig of memory when running

CS2. If you've got $1500 to spend though ( if we're not factoring the cost of Photoshop ),

take a look at the Apple Ibook instead. 13" screen, 1GB memory, screaming fast Intel Core

2 chip, and stable OSX. it's about $1300. I know, sounds like an ad, but I am a MAC fan.

 

If PC's are your need, though, I might go with the Toshiba. Had one for many years, no

problems with it, other than the usual Windows bull---t. ( which is also why I suggest the

Ibook ).

The amount of memory you can load into it is one concern. The screen quality is another. If you're going to work off a laptop, I would suggest one with a larger screen as well. Your eyes will get pretty tired, pretty quickly squinting at a 12" screen. I'd also suggest investing in a hardware calibration system like the Spyder2Pro if you don't have one already. It'll make calibrating the screen easier. I'd also suggest going with a regular screen rather than one with the extra brightness features. The extra brightness and contrast is done with a very highly reflective coating on the screen that can make viewing the screen more difficult in some lighting conditions. You don't really need to spend $1500 to get a good laptop either.

 

Make sure whatever graphics card comes with the machine allows full adjustment of all the important controls (brightness, contrast & gamma). If it doesn't find out if there is a download from teh manufacturer to enable those controls or a third party driver.

 

As to Toshiba vs. Lenovo, I've had two Toshiba laptops and will not buy another one. I've had significant problems on both with the DC pin connector breaking off the motherboard. This causes serious overheating problems and, of course, significant time in the shop where you can't work on it. This is a known issue with Toshiba laptops. A colleague of mine has a Lenovo and has not had any problem like this with his.

For the best out of the box for PS CS2, it would have to be the Toshiba as it comes with 2gb of ram and a 160 gb of hard drive. The size of the hard drive will not likely effect the performance of Photoshop but the extra size of the ram would likely help quite a bit.

 

The computers are nearly identical, with the Toshiba, you will lose build quality and reliability like the previous posters stated. But since this is Costco and they extend warranty to two years I'll risk it and go with the Toshiba.

Avoid Toshiba at all costs. They are comfortable delivering bad technology. They used to be a reputable company, but are no longer.

 

Take no risks. If I were you, I'd go with Compaq. I don't think there's any argument for Lenovo.

 

Costco doesn't have the best deals, with the possible exception of toilet paper etc.

 

Check Office Depot, Staples etc.

I have not used the new small Lenovo laptops, and especially not consumer models, but I've used several small and big IBM Thinkpads, like tha T4x-series. It's the best laptops I have ever used (and I have used a lot...).

 

Follow the advice to get 2GB.

Robert, if you want to stomp around in anger, at least learn who you're supposed to be angry with.

 

Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, of Norway, is a military contractor, making missiles, battlefield communications systems and generators, and (surprise, surprise) sonar and acoustic sub locating systems. They were the ones who designed propellers to outwit their own sub detectors and sold this tech (along with the nine axis Toshiba milling machines that they bought to build the propellers) to the Soviets.

 

In other words, Toshiba sold equipment to US and West European allies, who then betrayed us and passed it on to the Soviets. So, why isn't the Kongsberg GRUPE spoken with the same kind of feeling with which we'd say "Benedict Arnold" or "Osama Bin Laden"?

 

But US politicians can't make a big show of rallying against a Norwegian corporation that no one has ever heard of. So, they made a stink about "big bad Toshiba" (like the 9 congressmen who got their picture in the papers smashing a Toshiba portable stereo on the steps of the White House) while quietly awarding Toshiba even bigger contracts for having the courtesy to go along with the bad publicity and not explain the role of Kongsberg GRUPE to the world.

 

Japan is "almost an enemy", but also popular and well known. People we love to hate, declaring trade wars at the same time we're teaching American auto executives the "Taguchi method" and "quality circles", building sushi bars, singing Karaoke, and feeding our kids "Robotech", "Gundam", "Sailor Moon", "Card Captors" and "Pokemon" cartoons. (I grew up on "Kimba", "Astro Boy", "Ultra Man", and "Godzilla" movies.

 

What would politicians rallying about Norway even have done, burnt lutefisk on Capitol Hill? You just can't get political momentum from a protest against Norwegians. Norway supposedly has the highest standard of living of the entire world (UN Human Development Index). That's why we have a "war on drugs", not a "war on butterflies".

Robert, my apologies, that was supposed to have been addressed to Matt McCarthy, not to you.

 

If I'm going to start a post with "at least learn who you're supposed to be angry with", I should be more careful to make sure that I know who I'm supposed to be dressing down.

Joseph,

 

So should I go with the Toshiba or the Lenovo?

For the price range you are looking for you may also want to check out Wal-Mart online. They have some excellent deals that you don't see in their stores.

 

The biggest problem I have with Toshiba is that the CPU chips, if the unit is used on a daily basis (several hours a day) they tend to start shutting down after about 10 to 12 months.

 

Personally.... I would go with a Dell or IBM.

 

I'm currently using their MX2010 Media Center laptop. It has a 20 inch WSXGA monitor, raid drives, Duo Core processor, and wireless keyboard (that can be detached) and mouse.

If it were me I'd insist on XP (which is bulletproof IMO) rather than Vista...

 

Vista has trouble with several popular photo printers. I've heard nothing about scanner problems with it but I'd expect more grief with them scanners than with printers. I've also read this week that some Vista machines don't recognize some types of external drives.

You need to give us more info than just brands. If all specs are equal, I'd go for Lenovo. Even with identical components, benchmark tests always show Toshiba lagging a little bit in terms of speed. Nobody really knows why. Then again it's highly unlikely that you'll be using your machine at benchmarking conditions.

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