patrick.net

Here is what I'm talking about: THE BEST CAR is the 'chevy spark'??? HAHAHA, Its the modern pinto. Probably get more chicks riding the bus.

http://autos.jdpower.com/ratings/quality/cars.htm

I have no idea, but keep us posted.

The only truth I know at this point? Don't buy Lenovo ever again: http://www.geek.com/apps/lenovo-caught-using-rootkit-like-technique-to-reload-bloatware-on-clean-windows-installs-1630930/

It seems even clean Windows re-installations now get unwanted bloatware, thanks to Lenovo sneakiness.

They were using vanilla Windows media, yet somehow Lenovo software was sneaking back on to their systems after the installation had completed — and with no active connection to the Internet.
How is that possible? Because Lenovo was utilizing a rootkit-like mechanism to put it back. First Superfish, now this. It hasn’t been a great PR year for Lenovo.
What Lenovo is using isn’t actually a rootkit. It’s a Windows feature called the Platform Binary Table (WPBT). Through it, manufacturers are able to load trusted software that’s required by a system to run properly. That software is stored on a physical medium inside the machine — say, in a hidden partition on an SSD or HDD — and Windows is instructed to install it automatically.
Only one piece of software can be pushed this way. Lenovo opted to deliver an executable that would nag users about installing the other bloatware they were missing. Clever. Also very irritating.

If you go with windows, beware of an HD screen if you like to plug into multiple monitors at home. Regardless of brand, this is likely to present some issues.

I'd focus less on brand, and more on technologies that are good for what you are doing, i.e. hard drive versus solid state, fast processor versus power efficient, etc.

That said, my recent experience with Dell pretty much sucked. I've liked them in the past, even though their tech support was bad. This time, they shipped a bad computer, shipped it back to Dell, and they shipped it back broken. It took about a month after receiving the first laptop to get a working machine.

Thanks,
I would like SSD hard drive and the ability to plugin to a dual monitor setup at home - I guess I need a docking bay for that?

Of course all these brands buy the same cheap parts from china, but there is a big difference in quality.
I subcribed to consumerreports.org and the recommend Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, and HP in that order for 'value'.

Currentlly I have a cheapo HP from costco and the platter style hard drive is going bad and its slow as hell for certain programming tasks escpecially running linux inside a VM running win 8 (impossible to develop its that slow).

They have USB (SS USB) docking ports now. This allows you to quickly add multiple monitors, mouse, internet, etc., but it doesn't provide power. You have to plug in with your power cord as well. I bought one of these, and was happy enough with it, but there is a big problem with scaling when you have a 4K laptop screen and an HD monitor. Bottom line, it's wasn't worth using the monitors. That's what meant in the previous post. Another issue is that my port replicator had 2 hdmi outputs. One of my HD monitors had a VGA and the other a DVI. You can get adapters for hdmi to DVI, but not to VGA, so be mindful of that.

As far as touchscreens go, I do find it useful, although, I thought it was a gimmick before trying it.

If I had to do it over, I'd consider the extra cash (or lower specs) of a lattitude from Dell, running 7.

PockyClipsNow says

Is there anywhere nowadays to find non paid, non shill, non company sponsored reviews of products?

Just buy an Apple. No thinking, analyzing or price hunting required.

If I could run win 7 and install MS visual studio and sql server on a mac reliably - I would buy a mac.
I'm not sure dual booting a mac with 'boot camp' or whatever will work ok to be a DOT NET developer. I mean , dot net is buggy enough already....

I think the problem with rating and reviewing laptops in 2015 is it's all subjective.
Probably within the price range and class there is very little difference in speed, performance or value.
Some are uglier and some are prettier, but none of them are going to be worth a hill of beans in 4 years.
There's not really that much difference between them and it really comes down to brand bias.
The more you spend the better class of laptop you'll get and the more features or premium features you'll get.
But as much as it pains me to admit this. The apple notebooks seem more durable and best quality build these days.

That being said I thought I was a Samsung man, but the hybrid hard drives that came in the ATIV 8 Series and CRONOS 7 that they refuse to take credit for the dismal failure they've been. Freeze at 100% utilization due to Superfetch seeking the hybrid flash drive on the Toshiba SSHD. Microsoft blames Samsung, Samsung blames Toshiba, Toshiba blames MS. Otherwise it's a fantastic computer, it just freezes up like a Walmart special. So far on Windows 10 I've been able to disable it. In Windows 8 no matter what it would re-enable its self every time. But I would never recommend a Samsung laptop again, they try to build good quality devices. But when they don't they refuse to take ownership of the crappy design.

Mr Happygoluckofus says

That being said I thought I was a Samsung man, but the hybrid hard drives that came in the ATIV 8 Series and CRONOS 7 that they refuse to take credit for the dismal failure they've been. Freeze at 100% utilization due to Superfetch seeking the hybrid flash drive on the Toshiba SSHD. Microsoft blames Samsung, Samsung blames Toshiba, Toshiba blames MS. Otherwise it's a fantastic computer, it just freezes up like a Walmart special. So far on Windows 10 I've been able to disable it. In Windows 8 no matter what it would re-enable its self every time. But I would never recommend a Samsung laptop again, they try to build good quality devices. But when they don't they refuse to take ownership of the crappy design.

Interesting. I would put the blame squarely on Microshit. When have they ever made a good product that actually worked? If it wasn't for their ability to monopolize the market they would have been out of business a long time ago.

It was Microsoft, I finally downloaded Windows 10 and upgraded. Which btw when I first booted my wireless card was disabled and could not be turned on, and the notebook was in airplane mode(first of all it's a laptop and not a phone). Finally after some researching it tuned out that my Sonicwall VPN drivers were the culprit. SO I reverted back to Winduh 8, uninstalled Sonicwall then reinstalled Windows 10, and it came up fine. Also when created the vpn connection in Windows 10, it took me straight to the appstore to download the Sonicwall drivers compatible with Windows 10, now all works fine for now.
But this time I'm very pleased to announce that I am able to disable "Superfetch" compelety, and it hasn't reenabled it's self yet. But I'm still waiting for Windows update to come along and make the computer unable to disable it like they did with Windows 8. Early on I Googled about the Superfetch on Windows 8 slowing down my pc, and found that Superfetch was the issue. I disabled the service, set the failed action to do nothing and edited the registry, and it worked fine. Then a month later or so I got a Windows update that would'nt allow it to be disabled. Let's just hope that branch of NSA at Microsoft is no longer in operation and they don't have the need to lock up your comuter disk seek while they send metadata of every action you take on your computer to the Barak Obama NSA domestic spy center.

Here's to wishful thinking,