the wife gave me permission to buy a laptop for my birthday.

the main use for it will be the adobe suite and making tunes.
but im kinda stumped on which company to purchase from.

I'd buy in this order (from the options you gave)

1. Mac
2. Dell
3. Toshiba

I'd stay away from HP and Sony.

Any reason(s) why IBM/Lenovo is not an option?

V.

Cause Lenovo is horrible?

Come on Logan! You know the answer to this easy question, my friend! From one designer to another ----------------> Mac all the way. (And after you buy it, let me borrow it sometimes! jk)

I bought an HP in January and it served me well. I sold it and ordered a Dell though because you can go up to 4GB of RAM. The HP only alllowed 2.

Am I the only one facinated by the advancements in computer technology in the last 13 years or so?

Yes

yes it is neat.

I have a thinkpad at work that I like *alot*, while others who have or had the same model(honey) hated it. Lots of people here at work have Dells and they work well.

But If I was to get something for home it more depends on what down to the wire you plan on doing with it. Honestly, set your budget, and build a machine based on that information from every major vendor out there. Frankly, once you unload most of the bloatware that comes with most laptops, you'd be surprised how much they all act bascily the same. After awhile you'll realized that it all comes down to NAME.

Keep your options open.. Lots of people make laptops that are pretty kick ass.. Check this site for more details.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory ... -Notebooks

Some of them are pretty damn sick for the price. I really like the AMD Turon 64 X2 machines.. some are Stupid fast awesome video under 750$.

comical.. 13 years ago i was running my own BBS w/ Renegade as my bbs software of choice with my own little private warez section that was 40 megs in size.

where else can i scope lappys online besides frys.com and newegg.com

i will second that.

however, getting a mac needs to be thought out. you really run into problems getting certain programs on mac.

just something to think about.

i can't complain about my toshiba at all.

im not gonna get a mac, they are too expensive.

i think im gonna go with a toshiba.
i never really liked dell (besides their customer service blows).

You can run Windows on Macs.


Loki,

Mac laptops aren't any more expensive than similarly speced PC alternatives.

I bought an HP laptop back in February and I've been extremely happy with it. I dunno if I'd recommend them to anyone else, but from my experience I've had no problems.

In my experience, an (singular) HP can be decent and reliable, but as a brand, I would steer clear.

my budget is $1300, thats why im not gonna get a macbook

You missed a good deal w/ Dell. My laptop came out to $1304.00 initially, but I found a coupon on http://www.xpbargains.com for $325 off and got for under 1K.

Wow wish I knew about this sooner. I just bought a Dell Desktop. They didn't have any coupons for my computer though.

non-Pro Macbooks start @ $1099 and will match (and in most cases exceed) any PC laptop in performance for the price. Also you have the option of running OSX and/or Windows. I'd think being a music/graphic artist you'd want that.

I really don't like macs. I've grown up using windows so when I try to use a mac, I feel belittled. The simplicity of them confuses me. I'm not a freaking two year old. I couldn't even figure out how to get on the internet right away because there's no start menu. When I tried to shut it down, I thought maybe 'file -> quit' would work? I'm sure they take a little getting used to but when nearly everything uses windows, it's probably a good idea to be proficient with windows. I hear macs are only good if you're wanting to use them to make music. I have a toshiba and my bf's mom has a toshiba and I'm very happy with it. Dells - whatever. I'd build one before I bought a dell.

Can't really build a Laptop though........

Mac's do take some time to get use to. I've used Macs and PCs all my life. I've found Macs are really good for Graphics like Photoshop and music. When it comes to doing 3D animation and modeling, I cringe at the thought of using one.

PCs on the other hand are better at pretty much everything else. They don't have the smooth rendering feel that you get from macs but the ability to have 2 buttons (or more) on your mouse instead of just one button makes for more freedom.

I personally would never buy a Mac laptop just because I prefer PCs WAAAAAAAAAAAY over mac. I would love to try Serato on a PC some day. Hopefully I'll have enough to put it on this laptop someday.

As far as repair goes it seems like Macs are easier. The Mac technician in the techshop I work in has shown me a couple of things, and it seems like, for software fixes, you just need a couple of clicks and the system will tell you what's up and usually fix it. Otherwise just do an erase and install and it's good to go. And to Apple's credit, whenever we have to order parts, they're usually there the next day or the day after. With HP or Toshiba it can take a week or more.