Computers for Law School 2011

[kalvano]

Just to throw it out there, I had to call Lenovo tech support last night. It was great. It was in Georgia, the guy spoke English (well, Georgia English), and the entire thing took 10 minutes. No messing about, straight to the point and how to fix the issue.

Very pleased.

This is a good point - if you're buying a Dell or something, the premium support gets you similar service. I don't know much about their consumer support, but Dell's gold level business support is very good.

I didn't have to pay extra, it's part of the Thinkpad support.

[ResolutePear]

Just to throw it out there, I had to call Lenovo tech support last night. It was great. It was in Georgia, the guy spoke English (well, Georgia English), and the entire thing took 10 minutes. No messing about, straight to the point and how to fix the issue.

Very pleased.

This is a good point - if you're buying a Dell or something, the premium support gets you similar service. I don't know much about their consumer support, but Dell's gold level business support is very good.

I didn't have to pay extra, it's part of the Thinkpad support.

This. I keep telling people the Thinkpad is the way to go for law students - but people seem to think that I'm trying to get them to buy C4

[ResolutePear]

If they knew more, they wouldn't keep that job. lulz

Or they will be promoted to 2nd line support for calls where the script fails.

Well, that's technically a different job.. lol

But I was talking about the field grunts.

[kalvano]

Yes, I worked in IT for 2 years and we had an exclusive contract with Dell and had their highest level of tech support for all our machines. Like I said, they're nice but they're morons.

I had Dell gold and it was fine. The techs seemed nicer than regular support but about the same level of competency (which basically meant they could read off a script). The people who did on-site repairs were competent at being able to replace the part they were told to replace.

What I liked was there was no script. My battery refused to charge, and instead of having to go through some long-winded runaround, he asked some pointed questions and gave me a Lenovo firmware upgrade to Google and install. Fixed it right up. Then he called me back to make sure it was fixed.

[albanach]

What I liked was there was no script. My battery refused to charge, and instead of having to go through some long-winded runaround, he asked some pointed questions and gave me a Lenovo firmware upgrade to Google and install. Fixed it right up. Then he called me back to make sure it was fixed.

So it was likely a known issue and the script was install this firmware update.

[kalvano]

What I liked was there was no script. My battery refused to charge, and instead of having to go through some long-winded runaround, he asked some pointed questions and gave me a Lenovo firmware upgrade to Google and install. Fixed it right up. Then he called me back to make sure it was fixed.

So it was likely a known issue and the script was install this firmware update.

I've called tech support before and told them exactly what the problem is and heard "OK, the first thing we need to do is format the computer." For a hardware issue. So if their script is to be direct, to the point, and fix what is wrong with a minimum of fuss and bother, then I'm OK with that.

[albanach]

I didn't have to pay extra, it's part of the Thinkpad support.

And similar to what you might expect if you buy a Dell Latitude.

You paid extra when you purchased a ThinkPad. Your support would be different if you had bought an IdeaPad, Lenovo's cheaper line of laptops.

[kalvano]

Yes, but then I would own a Dell. Which would be a sorry state of affairs.

[ResolutePear]

Thing with Dell is simple: You have to buy Dell-proprietary/OEM parts. None of this standard power supply bullshit, apparently.

So, once the computer begins to fail.. just HOPE they have parts available for them - at a reasonable price.

[albanach]

Thing with Dell is simple: You have to buy Dell-proprietary/OEM parts. None of this standard power supply bullshit, apparently.

So, once the computer begins to fail.. just HOPE they have parts available for them - at a reasonable price.

Well, we're mostly looking at laptops, and laptops from every manufacturer are full of proprietary parts. And there that's one of the places Dell wins - especially with something more stable like the Latitude line, there are gazillions of them out there and consequently an endless supply of cheap parts on fleabay.

Whether you need a new keyboard, screen or power brick, it's there and probably cheaper than for any other manufacturer.

[ResolutePear]

Thing with Dell is simple: You have to buy Dell-proprietary/OEM parts. None of this standard power supply bullshit, apparently.

So, once the computer begins to fail.. just HOPE they have parts available for them - at a reasonable price.

Well, we're mostly looking at laptops, and laptops from every manufacturer are full of proprietary parts. And there that's one of the places Dell wins - especially with something more stable like the Latitude line, there are gazillions of them out there and consequently an endless supply of cheap parts on fleabay.

Whether you need a new keyboard, screen or power brick, it's there and probably cheaper than for any other manufacturer.

There's a reason why there are so many Dell parts on Ebay

[merc280]

Thing with Dell is simple: You have to buy Dell-proprietary/OEM parts. None of this standard power supply bullshit, apparently.

So, once the computer begins to fail.. just HOPE they have parts available for them - at a reasonable price.

Well, we're mostly looking at laptops, and laptops from every manufacturer are full of proprietary parts. And there that's one of the places Dell wins - especially with something more stable like the Latitude line, there are gazillions of them out there and consequently an endless supply of cheap parts on fleabay.

Whether you need a new keyboard, screen or power brick, it's there and probably cheaper than for any other manufacturer.

There's a reason why there are so many Dell parts on Ebay

or you could just do what I did, and store up two sets of replacement parts for my Dell, and have next day onsite warranty. That way I only call them out if actually need to do something major.

[ResolutePear]

Thing with Dell is simple: You have to buy Dell-proprietary/OEM parts. None of this standard power supply bullshit, apparently.

So, once the computer begins to fail.. just HOPE they have parts available for them - at a reasonable price.

Well, we're mostly looking at laptops, and laptops from every manufacturer are full of proprietary parts. And there that's one of the places Dell wins - especially with something more stable like the Latitude line, there are gazillions of them out there and consequently an endless supply of cheap parts on fleabay.

Whether you need a new keyboard, screen or power brick, it's there and probably cheaper than for any other manufacturer.

There's a reason why there are so many Dell parts on Ebay

or you could just do what I did, and store up two sets of replacement parts for my Dell, and have next day onsite warranty. That way I only call them out if actually need to do something major.

Having two spare laptops around for just parts seems a bit excessive.

[merc280]

well its just the extra hard drive, few power adapters, and a couple mother boards. It was actually Dell's fault, due to their technical support communication issues they sent me alot of parts I didn't need.

[fatduck]

dude, you're defending a dell!

[northwood]

dells are best used to demonstate the abilities of a hammer.

[kalvano]

It seems an awfully poor way to defend a brand by talking about how many spare parts you have lying around for use with it.

[Dany]

It seems an awfully poor way to defend a brand by talking about how many spare parts you have lying around for use with it.

lolol

[Stoic]

So with Thinkpad's you guys recommend the OnSite-Warranty+ (I forget the name but it covers spills and all that)? I'm not being too protective?

[albanach]

So with Thinkpad's you guys recommend the OnSite-Warranty+ (I forget the name but it covers spills and all that)? I'm not being too protective?

If you are getting a loan increase to purchase the computer, I believe you can only do this once - at least without negotiating with the FinAid office.

If you had the cash on hand to replace the computer with no notice at any time over the next three years, it might make sense to self insure. Equally, you might not need on-site cover if you have an older backup laptop that you could use for a couple of weeks.

Unless you are buying a cheap laptop (sub $500), I think the extended warranty and on site cover makes sense. This is an essential educational tool, even being without it for a couple of days will be a major inconvenience. At exam time it could be a disaster.

[thepete]

So do you guys recommend that I wait til blackfriday to purchase the laptop, probably thinkpad, or just buy it now. (I have a working laptop, with like..2 hr battery).

[albanach]

So do you guys recommend that I wait til blackfriday to purchase the laptop, probably thinkpad, or just buy it now. (I have a working laptop, with like..2 hr battery).

Get it now. You then have all semester to get quick on the keyboard rather than having to acclimitise in a week or two.

[thepete]

what do you mean? I already own a laptop and will be using that until I purchase one on blackfridy, so I will already be used to typing on a keyboard. Or did you mean get used to the thinkpad's keyboard specifically?

[iwanta170]

Just ordered my 13" Macbook Pro last night! I ordered it with free standard shipping and it's already supposed to arrive tomorrow. Too bad I have absolutely no experience with mac operating systems

[TTH]

Just ordered my 13" Macbook Pro last night! I ordered it with free standard shipping and it's already supposed to arrive tomorrow. Too bad I have absolutely no experience with mac operating systems

The great thing about Macs is that you don't need to have any experience. Once you figure out the shortcuts, that's basically it.