I want to buy a new 15" laptop and one of the main criteria is that it
should produce reasonable quality sound when we are listening to the bbc
iplayer, dvds etc..
I have a laptop at present but the sound quality is tinny and abysmle..
The Acer laptops are shown as having dolby sound but I am not sure if this
makes a difference. it is not easy to try them out in a store otherwise I
would take along a cd and listen to that.
Does anyone know of a brand that has reasonable sound output?
My price range is between £450 and £550.
Thank you.

"Stewart" <him@invalid.supanet.co.uk> wrote:

>I want to buy a new 15" laptop and one of the main criteria is that it
>should produce reasonable quality sound when we are listening to the bbc
>iplayer, dvds etc..
>I have a laptop at present but the sound quality is tinny and abysmle..

Have you tried using media players other than the default player that
came on your laptop? Some players sound better than others. Try them
to see if they will improve on the sound. Also try adjusting the
equalizer which often comes set to 'flat'. For example adding a little
bass may help with the tinny sound.

>The Acer laptops are shown as having dolby sound but I am not sure if this
>makes a difference.

My Acer 5516 15" laptop has audio comparable to the mp3 players I own
except for one annoying thing. It has weak electronic sounds in the
background. Clicks and buzzes including drive noises. They can only be
heard on earphones and cannot be heard during songs or other audio
played at a normal volume. But it is still slightly annoying. Course
this is a US$339 laptop so I got what I paid for. Fortunately other
than reviewing downloads prior to transfer to my portable players I
don't use the audio much so it wasn't a deal breaker.

>it is not easy to try them out in a store otherwise I
>would take along a cd and listen to that.

If audio is very important to you I would think that trying the laptop
in the store is about the only way to be sure you get what you like.

>Does anyone know of a brand that has reasonable sound output?

You will surely get suggestions. However will you gamble big bux on
what someone else thinks is good sound? I wouldn't... ;)

Thank you; the two I am looking at just now are the Acer AS5532 and the Acer
Aspire 5536G. There is not a lot of price difference.



"AJL" <339@fakeaddress.com> wrote in message
news:phnme5hshn01bhfjhnvv9tf3apgaapcck8@4ax.com...
> "Stewart" <him@invalid.supanet.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>I want to buy a new 15" laptop and one of the main criteria is that it
>>should produce reasonable quality sound when we are listening to the bbc
<snip>
<snip>

I doubt if there is any significant difference in the "sound card" of
any laptops. The differences are in the output stages and the speakers.
The best advice might be to use external amps and speakers, but some
laptops are definitely better in this regard than others.


Stewart wrote:
> I want to buy a new 15" laptop and one of the main criteria is that it
> should produce reasonable quality sound when we are listening to the bbc
> iplayer, dvds etc..
> I have a laptop at present but the sound quality is tinny and abysmle..
> The Acer laptops are shown as having dolby sound but I am not sure if this
> makes a difference. it is not easy to try them out in a store otherwise I
> would take along a cd and listen to that.
> Does anyone know of a brand that has reasonable sound output?
> My price range is between £450 and £550.
> Thank you.
>
>

"Stewart" <him@invalid.supanet.co.uk> wrote in
news:hcfdi8$ukh$1@aioe.org:

> I want to buy a new 15" laptop and one of the main criteria is that it
> should produce reasonable quality sound when we are listening to the
> bbc iplayer, dvds etc..
> I have a laptop at present but the sound quality is tinny and
> abysmle.. The Acer laptops are shown as having dolby sound but I am
> not sure if this makes a difference. it is not easy to try them out
> in a store otherwise I would take along a cd and listen to that.
> Does anyone know of a brand that has reasonable sound output?
> My price range is between £450 and £550.
> Thank you.
>
>
>

Put some of your favorite music on a USB flash drive and test them all....

After you're as dissatisfied as the rest of us, start shopping for an
external speaker/amp or portable headphones, the latter of which are a much
better solution.

Here, waste $11.82 on these Sennheisers:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Z7BYSA
then try to find something that sounds better that is so comfortable and
will store in your little laptop case. Sennheiser anything is fantastic,
even ones so cheap!

I don't think you'll find ANY laptop that sounds good, even ones costing
more because BOSE sold 'em a license to use their name. "Poor" is my best
rating. Netbooks are rated "Horrible!". I don't even know why they bother
putting earbud drivers in little plastic tubes and calling them a
"speaker".

Good luck.

--
Larry

In news:hcft4g$bft$1@news.eternal-september.org,
Barry Watzman typed on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:33:30 -0400:
> I doubt if there is any significant difference in the "sound card" of
> any laptops. The differences are in the output stages and the
> speakers. The best advice might be to use external amps and
> speakers, but some laptops are definitely better in this regard than
> others.

"Newer Toshiba laptops will see (or rather, hear) the wonders of Waves'
MaxxAudio signal processing technology. Unfortunately, this improvement
can only be heard on Japan-bound notebooks."

I also thought my old Toshiba 2595XDVD laptops from '99 sounded very
well for being a laptop. The speakers were very large and were on top of
the top keyboard row.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives...eat_sound.html

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2

Stewart (him@invalid.supanet.co.uk) wrote:
> I want to buy a new 15" laptop and one of the main criteria is that it
> should produce reasonable quality sound when we are listening to the bbc
> iplayer, dvds etc..

(Snip)
> The Acer laptops are shown as having dolby sound but I am not sure if
> this makes a difference. it is not easy to try them out in a store
> otherwise I would take along a cd and listen to that.

*** I would think that any salesperson would allow customers to try
out audio if it means a sale.


> Does anyone know of a brand that has reasonable sound output? My price
> range is between £450 and £550.

*** The likelihood today of getting decent sound in anything in that
price range is low. They make them as cheaply as possible. If you want to
get a pro model, they might sound better but will cost you considerably
more.

I think the suggestions here regarding external speakers may end up
being your best solution as far as sound goes, but would reduce
portability, and would extend the set-up time. )-:

--
Richard Bonner
http://www.chebucto.ca/~ak621/DOS/

Over the years, Toshiba laptops as a group have unusually good speaker
systems, sometimes with a dedicated "subwoofer". But it's
model-by-model specific and not universal. And I don't think that most
of the current models are as good as some of the past models have been.


BillW50 wrote:
> In news:hcft4g$bft$1@news.eternal-september.org,
> Barry Watzman typed on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:33:30 -0400:
>> I doubt if there is any significant difference in the "sound card" of
>> any laptops. The differences are in the output stages and the
>> speakers. The best advice might be to use external amps and
>> speakers, but some laptops are definitely better in this regard than
>> others.
>
> "Newer Toshiba laptops will see (or rather, hear) the wonders of Waves'
> MaxxAudio signal processing technology. Unfortunately, this improvement
> can only be heard on Japan-bound notebooks."
>
> I also thought my old Toshiba 2595XDVD laptops from '99 sounded very
> well for being a laptop. The speakers were very large and were on top of
> the top keyboard row.
>
> http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives...eat_sound.html
>

Barry Watzman (WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com) wrote:
> Over the years, Toshiba laptops as a group have unusually good speaker
> systems, sometimes with a dedicated "subwoofer". But it's
> model-by-model specific and not universal. And I don't think that most
> of the current models are as good as some of the past models have been.

*** I have a couple of friends in, or associated with, the laptop repair
business. Their general consensus is that the majority of today's laptops
are much more poorly built than older models, with components that are
underspecified or are not tested for value accuracy.

--
Richard Bonner
http://www.chebucto.ca/~ak621/DOS/

I have worked for laptop manufacturers, service laptops and teach IT
(specifically A+ certification and networking courses) at a local college.

I disagree with the part of your post which stated "components that are
underspecified or are not tested for value accuracy"; but I do agree
with "today's laptops are much more poorly built than older models".

The differences are not components or specifications, but rather what I
call "build quality". The decline in "build quality" comes from
pressure to cut down on cost, weight and size, all of which contribute
to systems that are electrically well designed but which are
mechanically flimsy and of inferior quality compared to the way that
laptops were built 4 to 8 years ago.


Richard Bonner wrote:
> Barry Watzman (WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com) wrote:
>> Over the years, Toshiba laptops as a group have unusually good speaker
>> systems, sometimes with a dedicated "subwoofer". But it's
>> model-by-model specific and not universal. And I don't think that most
>> of the current models are as good as some of the past models have been.
>
> *** I have a couple of friends in, or associated with, the laptop repair
> business. Their general consensus is that the majority of today's laptops
> are much more poorly built than older models, with components that are
> underspecified or are not tested for value accuracy.
>

In news:hclr0h$thk$1@news.eternal-september.org,
Barry Watzman typed on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:34:06 -0500:
> I have worked for laptop manufacturers, service laptops and teach IT
> (specifically A+ certification and networking courses) at a local
> college.
> I disagree with the part of your post which stated "components that
> are underspecified or are not tested for value accuracy"; but I do
> agree with "today's laptops are much more poorly built than older
> models".
>
> The differences are not components or specifications, but rather what
> I call "build quality". The decline in "build quality" comes from
> pressure to cut down on cost, weight and size, all of which contribute
> to systems that are electrically well designed but which are
> mechanically flimsy and of inferior quality compared to the way that
> laptops were built 4 to 8 years ago.

I don't know... as computers are always going to get more powerful and
less expensive over time. And I am not convinced that there is a decline
in built quality either. As laptops have also improved over the years
too. Like getting rid of florescent lamps and inverters and trading them
for a row of bright LEDs. Which are much more reliable and not as
sensitive to shock.

Speaking about not sensitive to shock, we are only a few years away from
SSDs replacing old mechanical hard drives. I too also believe this is
far better than the older method. And speaking of mechanical hard
drives, these too have been improved over the years. Some even sport
anti-shock features. They have also increased in capacity and also
dropped in price.

Take my old Epson PX-8 built back in 1984. I like to think of it as the
first netbook. As it is about the same size and shape. But the display
is terrible and it is heavy. Besides it is very limited compared to
today's standards. Although it is well built, nonetheless. Although it
also cost $2000 (including the RAMDrive and extras) back then. I do love
the Epson's keyboard, but for that price you should get a great
keyboard. Even then and now though, I would have traded it for one of
today's netbooks in a heartbeat. ;-)

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 701G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2

Re: "I am not convinced that there is a decline in built quality either"

If you have been taking apart a variety of models made over a 15-year
period, your doubts about that would disappear very quickly. They don't
build them like they used to. It's only partly cost related, the
pressure to make things smaller and lighter (and, especially, thinner)
also contributes. The circuitry, the ICs and other components, are not
the problem. It's the overall mechanical assembly, everything from the
thickness of the motherboard and the thickness of the foil traces to the
all-plastic (thin, cheap plastic) cases. The build quality is not what
it used to be. Again, the problem is not the components (which includes
the hard drives), it's how those components are assembled.



BillW50 wrote:
> In news:hclr0h$thk$1@news.eternal-september.org,
> Barry Watzman typed on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:34:06 -0500:
>> I have worked for laptop manufacturers, service laptops and teach IT
>> (specifically A+ certification and networking courses) at a local
>> college.
>> I disagree with the part of your post which stated "components that
>> are underspecified or are not tested for value accuracy"; but I do
>> agree with "today's laptops are much more poorly built than older
>> models".
>>
>> The differences are not components or specifications, but rather what
>> I call "build quality". The decline in "build quality" comes from
>> pressure to cut down on cost, weight and size, all of which contribute
>> to systems that are electrically well designed but which are
>> mechanically flimsy and of inferior quality compared to the way that
>> laptops were built 4 to 8 years ago.
>
> I don't know... as computers are always going to get more powerful and
> less expensive over time. And I am not convinced that there is a decline
> in built quality either. As laptops have also improved over the years
> too. Like getting rid of florescent lamps and inverters and trading them
> for a row of bright LEDs. Which are much more reliable and not as
> sensitive to shock.
>
> Speaking about not sensitive to shock, we are only a few years away from
> SSDs replacing old mechanical hard drives. I too also believe this is
> far better than the older method. And speaking of mechanical hard
> drives, these too have been improved over the years. Some even sport
> anti-shock features. They have also increased in capacity and also
> dropped in price.
>
> Take my old Epson PX-8 built back in 1984. I like to think of it as the
> first netbook. As it is about the same size and shape. But the display
> is terrible and it is heavy. Besides it is very limited compared to
> today's standards. Although it is well built, nonetheless. Although it
> also cost $2000 (including the RAMDrive and extras) back then. I do love
> the Epson's keyboard, but for that price you should get a great
> keyboard. Even then and now though, I would have traded it for one of
> today's netbooks in a heartbeat. ;-)
>

On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:34:06 -0500, Barry Watzman
<WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:

:>I have worked for laptop manufacturers, service laptops and teach IT
:>(specifically A+ certification and networking courses) at a local college.
:>
:>I disagree with the part of your post which stated "components that are
:>underspecified or are not tested for value accuracy"; but I do agree
:>with "today's laptops are much more poorly built than older models".
:>
:>The differences are not components or specifications, but rather what I
:>call "build quality". The decline in "build quality" comes from
:>pressure to cut down on cost, weight and size, all of which contribute
:>to systems that are electrically well designed but which are
:>mechanically flimsy and of inferior quality compared to the way that
:>laptops were built 4 to 8 years ago.

I'll have to agree with you there. My last 10 years of employment
before retiring around 3 years ago was as a senior tech at a Toshiba
Premier ASP. I was there when Toshiba made the transition from
notebooks being designed and built by Toshiba to notebooks being
speced by Toshiba and being designed and built by Compal. This was
followed by Toshiba using other Taiwanese ODS like Inventec, Quanta
and ASUStek.

During the Toshbia designed and built days we saw more notebooks in
for service that had software issues and not failed hardware. Once
they went over to the ODMs we saw just the opposite. Either outright
hardware failures like the rear mounted ac adapter jack that was
soldered directly to the system board and easily broke off damaging
the system board beyond normal repair or poorly designed cooling
systems that were all but impossible for the end user to keep clean
and working correctly. Also virtually all the class action lawsuits
that Toshiba was hit with in those days were about ODM designed and
bult models.

me/2

In news:hcnkd7$kcu$1@news.eternal-september.org,
Barry Watzman typed on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:53:40 -0500:
> Re: "I am not convinced that there is a decline in built quality
> either"
> If you have been taking apart a variety of models made over a 15-year
> period, your doubts about that would disappear very quickly. They
> don't build them like they used to. It's only partly cost related,
> the pressure to make things smaller and lighter (and, especially,
> thinner) also contributes. The circuitry, the ICs and other
> components, are not the problem. It's the overall mechanical
> assembly, everything from the thickness of the motherboard and the
> thickness of the foil traces to the all-plastic (thin, cheap plastic)
> cases. The build quality is not what it used to be. Again, the
> problem is not the components (which includes the hard drives), it's
> how those components are assembled.

Well I have been taking them apart for the past 15 years. And yes, I
have seen what you are talking about. Although not everything has gone
that way. For example, Asus President didn't want the EeePCs to have
that cheap feeling. So they made sure it had great solid lid hinges. And
that was a weak point of laptops even some 15 years ago.

Another trick Asus did to save on weight was to use the keyboard as a
heatsink. As why add a heatsink when the keyboard would work too? I
believe this was another great idea. Although the PCB are indeed very
thin.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 701G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2

In news:t5lue5lhm5sqcnt9fecpj8v316p8e4lauj@4ax.com,
me/2 typed on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:47:09 -0700:
> On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:34:06 -0500, Barry Watzman
> <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:
>
>>> I have worked for laptop manufacturers, service laptops and teach IT
>>> (specifically A+ certification and networking courses) at a local
>>> college.
>>>
>>> I disagree with the part of your post which stated "components that
>>> are underspecified or are not tested for value accuracy"; but I do
>>> agree
>>> with "today's laptops are much more poorly built than older models".
>>>
>>> The differences are not components or specifications, but rather
>>> what I call "build quality". The decline in "build quality" comes
>>> from
>>> pressure to cut down on cost, weight and size, all of which
>>> contribute
>>> to systems that are electrically well designed but which are
>>> mechanically flimsy and of inferior quality compared to the way that
>>> laptops were built 4 to 8 years ago.
>
> I'll have to agree with you there. My last 10 years of employment
> before retiring around 3 years ago was as a senior tech at a Toshiba
> Premier ASP. I was there when Toshiba made the transition from
> notebooks being designed and built by Toshiba to notebooks being
> speced by Toshiba and being designed and built by Compal. This was
> followed by Toshiba using other Taiwanese ODS like Inventec, Quanta
> and ASUStek.
>
> During the Toshbia designed and built days we saw more notebooks in
> for service that had software issues and not failed hardware. Once
> they went over to the ODMs we saw just the opposite. Either outright
> hardware failures like the rear mounted ac adapter jack that was
> soldered directly to the system board and easily broke off damaging
> the system board beyond normal repair or poorly designed cooling
> systems that were all but impossible for the end user to keep clean
> and working correctly. Also virtually all the class action lawsuits
> that Toshiba was hit with in those days were about ODM designed and
> bult models.
>
> me/2

Well I know what you both are saying. But not everything was too rosy
back then either. As what about the old Toshiba 1950CS 486 laptops built
in '94? Toshiba didn't have fans in them yet and in a few years the
power regulators cooked themselves to death.

Or what about my Toshiba 2595XDVD laptops ('99 era)? Both of them would
just suddenly freeze up about twice a week. I would lose all of my
unsaved work. That was really annoying as I killed power and rebooted.
Even Linux users complained about it. So it wasn't Windows. Years later
I discovered all one has to do to unlock the computer was to hit the
Function key. Boy I wish I had known that years earlier. :-(

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 701G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2