[amtak]

Originally Posted by Johnny_

Hi there,
I have been using Dell mini 10 since last 8 months. Its good.
But mine's US make. A dealer imported a lot by forming cartel and retailed it locally.
Mine has 1 GB RAM, which at times is insufficient.
So if you can get the one with 2 GB RAM, it would be better.
A Sir of mine has one with 2 GB RAM, it costs some where around 20 or 21K.

Hi Johny,

My US imported Dell Inspiron has 1 GB RAM since 2005. Since the next 2 months are "tax deduction" months, I am not willing to spend more than 17-20K. Plus, I would need a model that is "new" in the market as I don't want to hear, "wow" nice netbook. Didn't Dell phase it out recently?

I had finalized upon Dell mini 1018 but realized that its "dead". Don't want to buy the left over stock. Hence my search is back to the following (In order of preference)

1. HP
2. HCL
3. Lenovo

[Johnny_]

Originally Posted by amtak

Hi Johny,

My US imported Dell Inspiron has 1 GB RAM since 2005. Since the next 2 months are "tax deduction" months, I am not willing to spend more than 17-20K. Plus, I would need a model that is "new" in the market as I don't want to hear, "wow" nice netbook. Didn't Dell phase it out recently?

I had finalized upon Dell mini 1018 but realized that its "dead". Don't want to buy the left over stock. Hence my search is back to the following (In order of preference)

1. HP
2. HCL
3. Lenovo

Hi,

I can understand your concern.
I have never used any of the above mentioned products.
There are some 4-5 netbooks in our college here in Mumbai. Out of them, 2 are dell, 2 are hcl, and one Sony.
I will inquire with our IT dept. about the best one out of these and will let you know by tomorrow evening.

[anku94]

Originally Posted by amtak

I had finalized upon Dell mini 1018 but realized that its "dead". Don't want to buy the left over stock. Hence my search is back to the following (In order of preference)

1. HP
2. HCL
3. Lenovo

Someone in this thread or the "What's your computer configuration thread" said it's better to not buy a computer than buy a HP (again, some after sales issue). And just because you didn't read negatives here about HCL, don't assume they are flawless. Truth is, I haven't heard of anyone buying a HCL.

Now it is up to you to decide what drawbacks you can live with.

[devarshi84]

for pc's based on quality and service I would rank them

Dell/ Apple
Toshiba
Asus
Lenovo/ Sony
Acer/Gateway/ emachines
MSI and others (no experience)

and for netbook

Asus
Dell/ Lenovo
Toshiba/Acer/ Apple
Gateway/emachines
Sony/MSI
Others (no experience).

HP doesnt rank in customer service but their product quality is up there with Dell and Toshiba. FUjitsu is not consistent in availability hence not ranked. Also, I have not dealt with Wipro, Zenith and HCL but my first impressions about the keyboard flex on them was not positive and neither were the ergonomics which I rate highly. Yes the price factor makes them a good buy though since you can buy better specs which is more important here.

Originally Posted by anku94

just because you didn't read negatives here about HCL, don't assume they are flawless. Truth is, I haven't heard of anyone buying a HCL.

Most of their sales come through corporate and institutional purchases. They are definitely working to get the retail sector too.

[anku94]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Most of their sales come through corporate and institutional purchases. They are definitely working to get the retail sector too.

I know they've been handling banks and government schools. And the people they send them to install don't instill much confidence.

I know someone who works for HCL and is responsible for installation/maintenance of computers. 4-5 years ago, my Windows conked, and I didn't know a lot about computers back then, so I called this person. This person came with a friend who too worked in HCL and had similar responsibilities.

What they did was they formatted my entire hard disk, despite me insisting that only the OS partition needs to be formatted. I even had them talk to my computer vendor who said the same thing. And the partitions they created had a total size of 19GB (my HDD capacity was 80GB). When I asked, they said that "some space is lost due to installation etc". Mind you, I was 12 or 13 that time and could clearly see they had no idea what they were doing. (They were trying to format C drive from the command prompt launched from C drive !!).And they were always upto something with the institutions' computers. That took away all the fondness I had for HCL (My first internet pack was HCL, when I jumped around the house for 4 hours when I came to know that we were getting internet, despite me not having much clue what exactly you could do with internet, except act idiotically with strangers on Glide Chat). The person happens to be close to my family, so I'd never have spoken ill about him (or HCL) if I could help it. Just hope that the situation is better now.

[devarshi84]

Dell/Toshiba/Asus representative are equally Dumb. If you hate HCL/ Wipro/ Zenith for that reason, then let me tell you that all the pc brand reps are the same. They are asked to strictly follow the steps which is not always the best way to find a solution.

I had a complex case with Compaq (US Model) much before HP-Compaq turned into what they are today. My laptop is a 939 AMD 4000+ and being a desktop chipset supposed to support dual-channel memory. The reps didnt know what dual channel memory was and the case ended there itself. IT was the geeks who found out later that HP had disabled the dual-channel support for power savings crippling its performance.

I havent fared better dealing with Asus, Acer and Sony.

IBM used to be great but I havent had much experience with Lenovo. Looking at their (not thinkpads but Lenovo's) lineup I am sure they are not a bit better.

Apple on the other hand definitely performs better but I still think they overcharge for their products. While cutting edge on many parameters, they lose out on various others at the same time.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Apple on the other hand definitely performs better but I still think they overcharge for their products. While cutting edge on many parameters, they lose out on various others at the same time.

What parameters are they cutting edge on?

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by carboy

What parameters are they cutting edge on?

- User interface
- Build quality
- Ergonomics
- Considering the MacBook Air, it's so damn slim!

[amtak]

I think I saw a couple of Toshiba Netbooks (?) as well. I quite liked them. I think i should stop posting in this thread and directly go and buy the product! If i post my confusion here, I am getting even more confused

I am really thankful to you guys!

Keep tuned in

[devarshi84]

What are your basic requirements and budget?

[amtak]

Originally Posted by amtak

I am not willing to spend more than 17-20K.

Originally Posted by amtak

17K

Originally Posted by amtak

Budget - 17K max!

PS: I am currently using a Dell Inspiron series since 2006.

Please advise.

Dear Devrishi,

It is between 17-20 K for the time being. As mentioned in one of the posts, since these are the tax heavy months, cannot spend more than this.

My requirements are pretty basic. A good user interface (I think Windows 7 is good), Office for the occassional usage, 1/2 GB RAM.

Last but not the least, a very good service back up for the "when the time comes" sort. And yes, a sturdy device.

[devarshi84]

There is a product from Asus named 1018P. Has decent specs too. But the price is around 23K.
http://in.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=hbAiLQA6LRG0qcNH

MSI has a collection of netbooks including a touchscreen solution

MSI Global ? Notebook - WindPad 100W
http://www.msi.com/product/nb/#/?sk=Wind%20Netbook

Lenovo and Toshiba and Dell will also fit your budget.

Dell and Toshiba are better as per build quality while Asus build is equivalent only on higher end models.

Most wont fit in 20K so your choice will be very limited.

[amtak]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Most wont fit in 20K so your choice will be very limited.

That is okay as this would be primarily for my spouse who would use it to plough and plant vegetable in Farmville.

I have decided what to buy, so will go ahead and buy it on the eve of Valentine's day!

[amtak]

Dear All,

Ended up buying Lenovo G565 with some real good offers from Croma. went in with a budget of INR 17,000 but ended up buying a laptop for 31,000 (appx).

[devarshi84]

That's alright and Congratulations. let us know your first impressions with the product.