Fujitsu quality?

How do they compare to HP, Toshiba, Acer, and LG? I'm a former Toshiba, HP, and Acer owner and will never buy them again due to shoddy quality and many, many problems. So now i'm contemplating LG or Fujitsu, in particular the Lifebook N3430. Looks ok, but a little dissapointed with the 4200rpm HD, and 4 cell battery! That's ridiculous. is there a huge difference between a 5400 and 4200rpm? I know the 4 cell battery doesn't even achieve 2 hrs!

any help is appreciated.

 

I think your question/s could have been achieved in (1) post not 2 however 82.6% of notebooks are made by a handful of companies in Shanghi China don't expect there to be a GIANT difference from one to the other companywise besides spec differences and design.

 

are you talking about the n3530?

 

n3430...trying to decide between that and the LG F1 series. comparable specs...LG is slightly faster...1/2 gig less ram, but the n3430 has a 4200rpm HD and 4 cell battery. n3430 is $200 more. i'm leaning toward the LG.

 

In recent customer surveys conducted by PC Magazine, Lenovo and Fujitsu ranked the highest as far as quality is concerned.

 

I think it depends on where it is made. I think the low end model is made in china or taiwan. Some mid to high end model is made in Japan. The ones made in Japan have better quality and no problems at all. The ones that have problem are made in China or Taiwan. I have a fujitsu lifebook s6220 that is make in Japan. I used it for 1 and half year with no problems. Still runs like new(with proper care).

 

This is nonsense. One of the least reliable laptops I ever had was Sharp made in Japan. You cannot just say all Chinese laptops are bad and Japan good.

 

My N5010 says 'made in taiwan' and it's given me no grief even after 2.5 years of schlepping it to and from school everyday and often running 24hr/day w/ processor pegged for days at a time.

Now, the flip side is that I get the feeling their quality isn't what it was back when I bought mine. Opinion based on how nature of posts has evolved in the forum over the years.

 

True some ODMs are of lower quality, and others like Quanta are known for the ability to build really great notebooks. But the truth is they still build notebooks to their customers specifications, with the designs and materials the customer requests, at the price point the customer requires. A Quanta made for Dell can be poor quality, while a Quanta built Thinkpad could be the most solid non-ruggedized notebook around.

The ODM doesn't really matter as much as you might think, though some will have less quality control. If that's matched with poor reseller quality control it could make for a lot of quirky notebooks.

 

My S6120 broke a key within a week of purchase in 2003, which was considered to be one of the "high-end" model at that time (costed my more than $2,500). I then kept having all sorts of problems that I never had with my Sharp and IBM machines. The screen went black several months ago and will cost more than $600 to repair. Now I am about to get a new laptop, and I am thinking about either Sony (SZ) or Lenovo/IBM (thinkpad).

 

By the way, my S6120 was made in Japan!

 

In the summer of 2005 I made the mistake of buying an S7020D. Not only was it plagued by frequent BSOD, but after 2 hard drives, 3 motherboard replacements, a speaker/hinge assembly replacement, bluetooth card replacement, Atheros card replacement and replaced LCD screen because they managed to nick the original--well, let's just say that I still had BSOD. Apparently there was some driver issue with the wireless (Googling it, btw, showed up many others with the same issue) which Fujitsu upper level tech support could not figure out. That addresses its reliability.

As to durability: after 3 months there wasn't a part of the machine that didn't creak, the letter "n" had partially popped off and had to be reseated on the keyboard, there were 2 very small stress cracks, the speaker was elevated on one side, the hinges were loose, etc.

If not for Ivan's help (from Portableone- until a few months after this fiasco they used to be Fujitsu's largest NA dealer) intervening with Fujitsu's corporate reps. I would have had a $2200 paperweight (pricey, esp. with extra charger and battery and 3 year on-site warranty). The machine was such a lemon that Fujitsu did ultimately refund my purchase price.

I replaced it with a Portableone UX. My daughter has now been using that machine for a year, giving it the same use she gave the Fujitsu (in and out of a messenger bag with books for law school). Aside from a nice sheen on the keyboard from a lot of typing and scratches on the wristrest area from her bracelet and watch, the machine looks and runs like the day it arrived. Nothing is loose, nothing creaks, everything is solid. It is used all day long and while she is careful, law students really use their laptops so her useage is a good test of durability. From what I heard from many others, Fujitsu used to make a top notch product, but its quality isn't what it used to be. Personally, I would never look at another. I know the only reason I was ultimately satisfied is because Portableone stood behind me and Ivan promised to "make it right." Otherwise, I would have had to replace the unit and have been out a lot of money.