NationStates Jolt Archive

Alright, so I think that the time has come for me to consider investing in a laptop (I still have to make sure that I can do it financially in the near future, but I think I can). Anyways, I've done a bit of research and I'm generally not sure what is considered good (it's been quite some time since I've bought a computer and I've never bought a laptop before and a lot of websites seem to be really bad for comparing products/not having a really good selection).

Generally: I don't really care if it's a mac or pc, except that if it's a pc running vista I'm getting rid of it and putting some version of linux on it because I'm not putting up with vista. And basically my requirements are that it be decently fast, small, light, relatively cheap (well, as long as it's under ~$1300 CDN, I'm happy) and stores a fair bit.

Any suggestions?

If you want under 1,300 then you don't want a Macintosh... those things are that and up if you want one worth its salt.

Windows Vista is not that bad really, just takes some time to get used too... most people I know have a HP laptop and it seems to work great for them, however the customer service should something go wrong kinda sucks so I would recomend trying a place like Best Buy that will give you a sotre warranty.

If you want under 1,300 then you don't want a Macintosh... those things are that and up if you want one worth its salt.
I saw some macs that were like $1100-1200 when I was browsing yesterday. Although I'll admit that when I say under ~1300 that number is kinda flexible (i.e. +/-100 before tax).

Windows Vista is not that bad really, just takes some time to get used too... most people I know have a HP laptop and it seems to work great for them, however the customer service should something go wrong kinda sucks so I would recomend trying a place like Best Buy that will give you a sotre warranty.
I'm kinda generally annoyed at the amount of hand holding and lack of customization that windows seems to have and I've heard that vista is really buggy on top of this (plus more obnoxious about security). I don't want a computer that acts like I'm a complete and total retard when I use it.

Alright, so I think that the time has come for me to consider investing in a laptop (I still have to make sure that I can do it financially in the near future, but I think I can). Anyways, I've done a bit of research and I'm generally not sure what is considered good (it's been quite some time since I've bought a computer and I've never bought a laptop before and a lot of websites seem to be really bad for comparing products/not having a really good selection).

Generally: I don't really care if it's a mac or pc, except that if it's a pc running vista I'm getting rid of it and putting some version of linux on it because I'm not putting up with vista. And basically my requirements are that it be decently fast, small, light, relatively cheap (well, as long as it's under ~$1300 CDN, I'm happy) and stores a fair bit.

Any suggestions?

It depends what you'll use the computer for. I bought a desktop comp a week ago and primarily looked at the RAM since I want things to run smoothly when I have more windows and programs open. I have Windows Vista(since it was "kindly" pre-installed on my computer when I bought it and it is on almoust every PC on the market giving me no choice really) and it's actually working much better than I thought so it isn't that bad. It looks much better than XP too but it's much heavier.

Personally I'd go for an HP (preferably Pavilion) or an Accer Gemstone. They are a tad more expensive than similar products of other brands but they are better quality (and look better too;)). And of those two, look at the most expensive you can afford as a good rule of the thumb.

Also Vista still needs quite a few patches and everything but it should be working just fine in half a year or so. Also, it will work very nicely if it comes with the laptop as all the settings and drivers will be settled by the provider.

Also, as all MS products, Vista will assume you're a retard, but will only treat you as one if you act as one. There's nothing stopping you from going into whatever settings you want and mess it about as you like. Just as in Win XP and so on before it. This can't be said about Macs, which will treat you like you've been lobotomised, and there is nothing you can do about it.

As a last note, you'll probably have more problems with Linux, than you'd have with Vista, as far as drivers and such are concerned so you'd probably be better of sticking to Vista.

I'm kinda generally annoyed at the amount of hand holding and lack of customization that windows seems to have and I've heard that vista is really buggy on top of this (plus more obnoxious about security). I don't want a computer that acts like I'm a complete and total retard when I use it.

Its buggy because its new... and they had to design it like that, the average american seems to need thier hand held these days.. I'm not pointing any fingers when I say it though. If you know what your doing you can turn off most of that annoying BS; however the operating system is your decision I was just trying to help. I like it on a MAC personally

Personally I'd go for an HP (preferably Pavilion) or an Accer Gemstone. They are a tad more expensive than similar products of other brands but they are better quality (and look better too;)). And of those two, look at the most expensive you can afford as a good rule of the thumb.

Also Vista still needs quite a few patches and everything but it should be working just fine in half a year or so. Also, it will work very nicely if it comes with the laptop as all the settings and drivers will be settled by the provider.
So if I'm buying a pc laptop I should wait until Vista stops sucking or deal with a sucky OS for half a year?

Also, as all MS products, Vista will assume you're a retard, but will only treat you as one if you act as one. There's nothing stopping you from going into whatever settings you want and mess it about as you like. Just as in Win XP and so on before it. This can't be said about Macs, which will treat you like you've been lobotomised, and there is nothing you can do about it.
Actually, one of my friends had a mac that he modified to be pretty sweet.

Avoid Vista like the plague. It always acts like you're a total retard, from User Account Control which will sometimes prevent you from deleting files you made yourself (yes, I was annoyed) to Internet Explorer 7 which is by default in Protected Mode, meaning that your downloads disappear into smoke. I tried downloading Opera three times before I realised what was happening.

It is very much inflexibe in terms of customisation, too, and to be honest the effects that Aero provides and more can be gotten for free by using Compiz/Beryl.

However, laptops normally have very bad support for Linux indeed, due to the specialised hardware that has to be used in the cramped space. I use a Gateway 6000 and I experienced massive screen corruption after trying to boot Ubuntu and Debian, even though this is an NVIDIA card (which Linux is usually quite good with).

This site will help considerably, I'm sure. (http://www.linux-laptop.net/)

As for performance, on RAM and processor speed laptops can equal desktops quite easily nowadays (this one's got a fairly good two gigs of RAM and 1.7 GHz AMD dual-core processor; however, graphics cards in laptops are generally rubbish, and to get even halfway decent performance you have to share loads of the RAM with the card. Gaming isn't going to be the best it could be if you're a gamer, and you might have difficulties with image editing.

Its buggy because its new... and they had to design it like that, the average american seems to need thier hand held these days.. I'm not pointing any fingers when I say it though. If you know what your doing you can turn off most of that annoying BS; however the operating system is your decision I was just trying to help. I like it on a MAC personally
haha, sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was taking offense.
I do hate that most people don't know how to avoid downloading and installing viruses so my OS will assume that I also don't know how to do this and do things like delete files I receive from friends or choose to download or constantly harass me because I've chosen my own (and better) firewall and anti virus. Well... these are more things that have been annoying me about XP lately and I've heard that these things are worse with vista.

What do you plan on using it for?

If you're gonna use if for anything other than school/work, you'll need a dedicated GPU & VRAM. But if that's the case, you're better off with a stationary, especially if you're on a tight budget. To play Crysis & the like, you'll need something like a HD2600XT.

If you have another machine somewhere, a 120GB HDD should be plenty.

If you're just gonna use if for work, more than 2GB RAM is overkill.

To me, the four major concerns are:
1. Keyboard layout.
2. Screen size & resolution.
3. Weight.
4. Battery life.
- In that order.

Linux, if you don't plan on running MS apps, is a very good idea. Macs are too expensive & have too many compatibility issues.

Regarding screen size, widescreen is not always good.
It looks fantastic, but it's bloody well impossible to find any decent wallpapers for the resolution (1280x800 here).

What do you plan on using it for?
Probably school stuff (I can generally use something for making presentations, I have a tendency to make up my presentation on one computer and forget to put the final version on my usb stick so I've wound up a few slides short a couple of times) and playing music, and I'm thinking of starting to play Gemstone... I have a computer in my office that I can do any programming I need to do.

To me, the four major concerns are:
1. Keyboard layout.
2. Screen size & resolution.
3. Weight.
4. Battery life.
- In that order.
I would probably put them in 3,4,1,2.

Linux, if you don't plan on running MS apps, is a very good idea. Macs are too expensive & have too many compatibility issues.
Do they still have a lot of compatibility issues?

Regarding screen size, widescreen is not always good.
It looks fantastic, but it's bloody well impossible to find any decent wallpapers for the resolution (1280x800 here).
Haha, really? My monitor in my office is square and it was a bitch to find anything that didn't look distorted.

Probably school stuff (I can generally use something for making presentations, I have a tendency to make up my presentation on one computer and forget to put the final version on my usb stick so I've wound up a few slides short a couple of times) and playing music, and I'm thinking of starting to play Gemstone... I have a computer in my office that I can do any programming I need to do.


I would probably put them in 3,4,1,2.


Do they still have a lot of compatibility issues?

Well in that case it is really a case of what your school uses. I hardly see how a linux office suite file would work on an MS OS computer when giving in presentations, handing in homework etc.

To my knowledge these things really aren't cross-platform and a machine with a different OS/architecture than that of your school would be useless.

Well in that case it is really a case of what your school uses. I hardly see how a linux office suite file would work on an MS OS computer when giving in presentations, handing in homework etc.
Well, a lot of profs at my school use linux and open office. I've taken to writing up assignments in LaTeX and putting them in pdfs though if I don't do them by hand. And if I had a laptop then I could plug it into the projector and not worry about what the school uses.

To my knowledge these things really aren't cross-platform and a machine with a different OS/architecture than that of your school would be useless.
Hmm... I dunno, one of my officemates had some version of MS office on his mac I thought... I'll have to ask him about it.

Well, a lot of profs at my school use linux and open office. I've taken to writing up assignments in LaTeX and putting them in pdfs though if I don't do them by hand. And if I had a laptop then I could plug it into the projector and not worry about what the school uses.


Hmm... I dunno, one of my officemates had some version of MS office on his mac I thought... I'll have to ask him about it.

Well if they also use linux, then you'd be safe with it (I'm also assuming that because of this they aren't completly computer illiterate which is reassuring).

As long as you don't need any sort of MS apps then you'll be fine.

On a side-note, you could just go for a dual-OS system;)... or indeed a Virtual Machine setup.

Any suggestions?
I just bought one of the following on Christmas eve:

ASUS F5VL-C1 T2310 SIS 671DX 1G-DDR2 120G SUPER MULTI DVDRW 15.4"WXGA ATI X2300 128MB,VHP (F5VL-C1)

http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=351415

Base price: $899. With taxes $1024.

Grab this: global 2 year warranty included in price. Best in the business.

I didn't buy it at Infonec.

Good luck!!

Hmm... I dunno, one of my officemates had some version of MS office on his mac I thought... I'll have to ask him about it.

The Mac version of MS Office tends to be compatible with just about all other versions (Windows or otherwise).

If you could get yourself a MacBook, I'd recommend that. They're pretty tidy wee machines.

If you want under 1,300 then you don't want a Macintosh... those things are that and up if you want one worth its salt.

Windows Vista is not that bad really, just takes some time to get used too... most people I know have a HP laptop and it seems to work great for them, however the customer service should something go wrong kinda sucks so I would recomend trying a place like Best Buy that will give you a sotre warranty.

I wouldn't trust Best Buy with a burnt out match. I bought an HP Pavilion tx1308nr Convertible from them (which I am happy with) and the salesman pointed out that the 1GB of RAM it came with was a little sparse and I should upgrade to 2GB. I paid for the upgrade, and their in-store Geek Squad guy put in some off-brand chips that also totalled to 1GB. Then the store manager told me that I wasn't entitled to them fixing the problem because obviously the chips had been changed after I left the store.

Fortunately, I went to another store that pulled the system event log, confirmed that the machine had NEVER booted with 2GB of RAM in it, and put it in for me at no cost.

When I reported it to Corporate Customer Service, they backed up the first store and said that I was never entitled to those chips, but that they were installed as a gesture of "goodwill", and that the guys in the first store were 100% right in treating me like a criminal.

Besides, if you look into it, most extended warranties are expensive and pretty much useless. Read up on them online before getting sucked into one.

My advice: DON'T get it from Best Buy. The HP Pavilion I have, though, is sweet and is still worth all the aggravation I had at the front end.

Vista is bad. I have a Dell laptop with 2gig of Ram and it still took 15 minutes to load on start up.

I would recommend my Dell laptop though, it was cheap and it's really nice, when it's running linux. It's a Latitude I think....

Vista is bad. I have a Dell laptop with 2gig of Ram and it still took 15 minutes to load on start up.
From the hibernate mode, my laptop is up and running in 40 seconds, and that is with one gig of RAM.

Go for a Macbook. You can get a nice 13" monitor laptop that comes with Leopard for under $1300. ... I got one for Christmas. :D

Looky (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=7B723640&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook)

And, of course, if you want something even cooler, spring for a Macbook Pro. But that costs upward $2000... (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=7B723642&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro)

*is a Mac fan*

This seems rather good http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4PTG&InMerch=1

It should also be cheaper where you are. ;)

From the hibernate mode, my laptop is up and running in 40 seconds, and that is with one gig of RAM.
Hibernate mode is different then a full boot to start with the time to load SHOULD be less

And there are way too many variables, Ram can increase boot up time in some cases for example
Drive RPM's
Version of Vista and its features
Boot software

Go for a Macbook. You can get a nice 13" monitor laptop that comes with Leopard for under $1300. ... I got one for Christmas. :D

Looky (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=7B723640&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook)

And, of course, if you want something even cooler, spring for a Macbook Pro. But that costs upward $2000... (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=7B723642&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro)

*is a Mac fan*
I have owned (through work) both the macbook and the pro at work and was decidedly un impressed for the price

Hibernate mode is different then a full boot to start with the time to load SHOULD be less

And there are way too many variables, Ram can increase boot up time in some cases for example
Drive RPM's
Version of Vista and its features
Boot software

my laptop boots in about 2 minutes with linux, I think my vista was.....borked or something.

my laptop boots in about 2 minutes with linux, I think my vista was.....borked or something.

Could be a heavy install ... specially if it was a dell original install.

Probably school stuff.Sounds like the Canuck's suggestion is just about right for the purposes, if battery life/weight/layout suits you.ASUS F5VL-C1 T2310 SIS 671DX 1G-DDR2 120G SUPER MULTI DVDRW 15.4"WXGA ATI X2300 128MB,VHP (F5VL-C1)

http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=351415Do they [Mac's] still have a lot of compatibility issues?It depends. For common word/media processing, it's not an issue. For pretty much everything else, it's sketchy. Problem is, you can't look up Hacker God from Hell's Magic Fix when you run into trouble. And of course... There's the whole hardware monopoly thing, which doesn't just make Mac owners pricks, but makes Mac's really expensive & tinker-hostile. Real laptops are fiddle-friendly.

Could be a heavy install ... specially if it was a dell original install.

twas.

I have ubuntu running on it lightening quick now, so meh.

twas.

I have ubuntu running on it lightening quick now, so meh.

If you like ubuntu you should give debian a run, You can get the installs to be a fraction as big as an ubuntu install and a lot lighter on ram with all the same advantages

If you like ubuntu you should give debian a run, You can get the installs to be a fraction as big as an ubuntu install and a lot lighter on ram with all the same advantages

I have debian on my desktop now, but my laptop is used half the time by the 4 year old and she is peculiar and will only use ubuntu even though I can make my debian look just like it.......

weird kid.

Although, it runs in the family, my 6 year old started calling microsoft "microsuck" when she was about 3.

I have debian on my desktop now, but my laptop is used half the time by the 4 year old and she is peculiar and will only use ubuntu even though I can make my debian look just like it.......

weird kid.

Although, it runs in the family, my 6 year old started calling microsoft "microsuck" when she was about 3.
Cool if ya need any help :)

BTW here is my work debian machine (what can I say proud of it)
http://www.youdontevenrealize.com/pictures/computers/debian_work2.png

IM not sure if this has been suggested, as I have not had enough time to read the whold post, but IBM's are a safe bet.
They are compact and are generaly ok laptops. Most of them come with xp as well although Im not sure why.

I would definitely pick moderately priced Alienware though. They are built for gaming, so they are fast and can store a lot of information, albeit they arent as small as Im guessing you would like it to be. [all alienwares come with xp as well, optimal for gaming!]

Good Luck!

ps. dont get a mac! macs are for losers. maybe.

Alright, so I think that the time has come for me to consider investing in a laptop (I still have to make sure that I can do it financially in the near future, but I think I can). Anyways, I've done a bit of research and I'm generally not sure what is considered good (it's been quite some time since I've bought a computer and I've never bought a laptop before and a lot of websites seem to be really bad for comparing products/not having a really good selection).

Generally: I don't really care if it's a mac or pc, except that if it's a pc running vista I'm getting rid of it and putting some version of linux on it because I'm not putting up with vista. And basically my requirements are that it be decently fast, small, light, relatively cheap (well, as long as it's under ~$1300 CDN, I'm happy) and stores a fair bit.

Any suggestions?

Spend your money on a blazing-fast desktop instead. They're more upgradable, more reliable, better value and a lot less attractive to steal.

Better ergonometrics, better expandibility, and they can keep your feet warm on a cold day too. If storage is your priority, add disks at about $300 a terabyte.

Only get a laptop if you need to do things only a laptop can do: working on the road, surfing the net in a train-station, massively gratifying a mugger.

Here ends my advice.

<Snip>That'd be anti-advice, yeh?

Just wait! The new Intel quad-cores are coming out early 2008! Meaning, the older models will be dumped, so you'll get a real bargain.

Just wait! The new Intel quad-cores are coming out early 2008! Meaning, the older models will be dumped, so you'll get a real bargain.

If they come out in quantity, yes. If Apple don't corner the market with some sleazy deal, yes.

You're generally right. Sudden improvements are when you get the real bargains on adequate stuff from the previous generation. I'm not convinced that quad-core is necessarily that big an improvement over dual core. Yes, I've seen the benchmarks ...

If they come out in quantity, yes. If Apple don't corner the market with some sleazy deal, yes.

You're generally right. Sudden improvements are when you get the real bargains on adequate stuff from the previous generation. I'm not convinced that quad-core is necessarily that big an improvement over dual core. Yes, I've seen the benchmarks ...

Still, I want a quad-core laptop. My dual-core Intel T5600 aint fast enough! :D
Hopefully they ship with those new SAS 2.5" hard drives too.

Alright, here's my advice for the hardware settings, taken from a guy that worked in college tech support to have weekend cash:

Processor:
The physical brain of your computer (the OS is akin to the personality) should be at least 1.6 GHz on a dual core processor. In the Intel vs. AMD wars, keep the following in mind:
Intels generally cost more, but the architecture runs much cooler, and the processor is where your heat will be coming from. They also appear to have longer battery life, but the Front Bus speed is lower, generally available at ratings up to 800 MHz.
AMD's will cost less, but your computer will be hot, and have a shorter battery life. If you get one, buy a chill pad to increase circulation, or your other components will slow down. However, AMD's are less calculation oriented, and with a Front Bus speed of around 1500 to 1600 MHz on consumer models, they handle multi-media and games much faster, leading to faster load up times.

RAM: (also called memory by the manufacturer)
If the processor determines the speed of fuel intake, then RAM is the size of the engine that is your computer. Currently, 2GB of RAM is akin to running a V8 engine for most scenarios, and unless you are dedicated to having the absolute best of the best, or you plan on pushing your computer to all possible limits, it will be plenty to suffice. Office work normally takes up to 1GB, but Vista is a RAM hog, and if you use the media features, go for 2GB, preferably already installed when you buy. If it comes with 1GB, it's about 95% odds that you'll have to remove the 512MB chips that are in there.

Hard Drive:
The gas tank, or the bank account, this is essentially how much space you can fill up. Generally, 120 to 200GB is the recommended, mostly for software files. Music, photos, documents, and movies can be kept on external drives when not in use, so don't waste money on bigger internal drives if you can find a decent external drive on sale for storing your files.

Media cards:
If you plan on playing WoW, any Halo, Elder Scrolls, or advanced PC game, get a dedicated graphics card. I've tried both nVidea and ATI cards, and the nVidea GeForde series is probably the best consumer chip on the market. Make sure the video processor does not say "dynamic", "integrated", or "shared," RAM. These are simply accelerator cards that use the RAM and CPU to process gaming. Playing movies and TV shows is nowhere near as demanding, and a dedicated graphics card becomes wasted money for the non-gamer. But if you do plan on buying Halo 3 for your laptop, look for a GeForce card with around "256 dedicated video memory."

Display:
Generally, people start complaining about weight when the screen hits 17", and even some people complain about the 15.4" screen. While lumberjacks and the true manly man will carry around the 17" screen, don't bother if you can actually understand the Starbucks' nomenclature. The 17" screen is for people that drink coffee black and extra strong, adding whiskey when they need to be reminded that it's not oddly colored water that they are drinking. If you're looking for a portable, potent machine, then look at HP laptops with a 14.1" screen. It packs the same resolution as a 15.4" screen, but the computer is lighter, and your battery life will last longer.

HP offers some good deals on their website, where you can customize the computer to your specifications, and the overall cost will be less than buying retail and then fiddling with it. If you can wait for the shipping, then look at HP's 14.1" laptops.

Advice for OS!

Windows XP
You don't need Professional unless you want to use it with real network. Home is fine for most things but totally devoid of useful features on a corporate network. There's also Windows Media Center Edition which has fancy home theatre features, not sold as superceded by Vista Home Premium.

Vista
Avoid Starter or Basic, they are crippled. Better off with XP Home than those two. Home Premium is better value than Home Basic, but you need Vista Business or Ultimate if you want to connect to corporate network as well as other goodies. Most retail laptops come with Home Premium unless it's a cheapie then they use Home Basic.

Macs
Well, you're stuck with Leopard (or Mac OS X 10.5) unless it's an old Mac with a older version of Mac OS X or even one of those G3 or G4 laptops.

Linux
Let other argue with Linux is best ... I like Ubuntu myself.

Dell Inspiron #### with a Core 2 Duo.

When I bought, you could opt for XP on some models. If that is no longer possible, aim for Intel Graphics, or Nvidia if you think you really need discrete (Intel's Linux drivers are by far the best, with Nvidia running in second).

Lenovo also offer good laptops that are quite durable. I'm not sure if they offer XP and Vista or just Vista.

The MacBook, is quite overpriced for what you get. For $1250 you get the same specs as my $910 Inspiron 1520. If price wasn't really an object, the MacBook Pro would be worth looking at, but you'd have to double your budget first.

Vista is bad. I have a Dell laptop with 2gig of Ram and it still took 15 minutes to load on start up.

I would recommend my Dell laptop though, it was cheap and it's really nice, when it's running linux. It's a Latitude I think....
My desktop is up in about 40 seconds. It was about 50 with XP.

Well in that case it is really a case of what your school uses. I hardly see how a linux office suite file would work on an MS OS computer when giving in presentations, handing in homework etc.

To my knowledge these things really aren't cross-platform and a machine with a different OS/architecture than that of your school would be useless.
It'll be fine. Openoffice/KOffice/etc all support Microsoft Office's formats. In my case, most profs want either plain text or PDF's. If you have to turn in a word or ppt, they'll never know it was made with a Linux app. It is a filetype FFS.

My laptop, which is now in it's fourth year of service, is an HP product. The only substantial problem I've had with it was that the backlight behind the LCD screen burned out (in recent months), a third party component to begin with, though.

Based off of my experience with the HP laptop, as well as my recollection of price-value, this HP laptop has been good value, and I would recommend it.

It'll be fine. Openoffice/KOffice/etc all support Microsoft Office's formats. In my case, most profs want either plain text or PDF's. If you have to turn in a word or ppt, they'll never know it was made with a Linux app. It is a filetype FFS.

I have had a couple of MS word documents in the last few months which had smart tag trauma and would not open in word(03 or 07) and I was able to open them in OpenOffice and re-save them

Some rather large (300+ page) graphical intensive documents too.

I have had a couple of MS word documents in the last few months which had smart tag trauma and would not open in word(03 or 07) and I was able to open them in OpenOffice and re-save them

Some rather large (300+ page) graphical intensive documents too.
That happens from time to time with MS Word created docs too...

Don't buy one!!!! They are fragile as hell and you can lose your money with a small mistake.

Actually, just take out the best warranty plan available, as long as it's under half the price of actual laptop. It's generally worth it and the companies have to make money somehow. ;) Just take extra care with it and close the lid when transporting. Also, remove all wires when transporting and don't run. My screen cracked when I was running with the mouse attached and the lid open...-_- At least the motherboard survived...

Don't buy one!!!! They are fragile as hell and you can lose your money with a small mistake.

That actually is my advice.

Don't buy a laptop unless you need a laptop, and don't need another desktop. The "desktop replacement" big-ass laptop is a failure in both roles.

(Argh, what am I saying? I'd have a Vaio tablet and a quad-core desktop if I had the money.)

If you manage to find the laptop with Windows XP, you'll be fine with almost anything that has 1 GB of RAM. I use a really cheap Toshiba Satellite with Celeron 1,47 GHz and piddly Mobility Radeon X200, and I even managed to play Civilization IV on it (with reduced graphics settings to smooth up things a bit). The only major pain is that it has just one USB port and I use the external mouse, so I have to disconnect it to connect the USB stick.

Don't buy one!!!! They are fragile as hell and you can lose your money with a small mistake.

Actually, just take out the best warranty plan available, as long as it's under half the price of actual laptop. It's generally worth it and the companies have to make money somehow. ;) Just take extra care with it and close the lid when transporting. Also, remove all wires when transporting and don't run. My screen cracked when I was running with the mouse attached and the lid open...-_- At least the motherboard survived...

Laptops seem more fragile because people abuse them and break them, they are actually designed to be tougher than desktops. Like all things, take care of them and they'll work as you need them.

That actually is my advice.

Don't buy a laptop unless you need a laptop, and don't need another desktop. The "desktop replacement" big-ass laptop is a failure in both roles.

(Argh, what am I saying? I'd have a Vaio tablet and a quad-core desktop if I had the money.)

I've got a desktop and two laptops (well, three but one is a non-functional Pentium 75) :)

I've got a desktop and two laptops (well, three but one is a non-functional Pentium 75) :)

A full muster of my old crap computers would probably come to about eight which could run some form of Windows. Plus another five which never did.

Five of the computers are laptops. Only two were decent when I bought them, one still is.

On the other hand, I have never owned a car. And I'm proud of that.

Vista is bad. I have a Dell laptop with 2gig of Ram and it still took 15 minutes to load on start up.

I would recommend my Dell laptop though, it was cheap and it's really nice, when it's running linux. It's a Latitude I think....

my dad just got a new lappy with 2 gig of ram. it loads and runs just fine on vista (way faster than his last laptop, but that was 2 years old)

personally i didn't have much of a problem with Vista when i was setting it up for him. yeah some of the features were a pain in the ass, but i turned em off pretty quick and it was fine. only major problem is our printer doesn't have a 64 bit Vista driver yet...
i actually found it more intuitive for me to use than XP in quite a lot of ways, which probably makes me quite odd :P



and btw, the semi-gravedig is because i've been researching what laptop to get myself as this one has finally crapped out on me. the last 3 computers i've had have broken not due to software problems, but due to shitty manufacturing. this one has seen the hinges on the screen shear off so that the LCD flaps around wildly unless i tape it back in place. my previous Dell had the Sony battery problem, and then developed another problem with the power plug thing which meant it didn't charge or run at all. and before that the company i bought the barebones desktop from didn't install the PSU properly and it short-circuited or something... and of course they tell me this after they wipe my HDD for no apparent reason :headbang:



anyway, i just ordered a nice new Dell XPS :cool:
i'd rather pay for a bit of decent build quality than have this happen again
its a core 2 duo, with 320gb Raid-0 HDDs, and SLI 8700M

don't get a toshiba satellite, i have one about 6 months old now and it's shite.

don't get a toshiba satellite, i have one about 6 months old now and it's shite.

yeah, I have one of those, it's about 3 years old.......it's basically crap.

don't get a toshiba satellite, i have one about 6 months old now and it's shite.

yeah, I have one of those, it's about 3 years old.......it's basically crap.
I'll third that and recommend against the Lenova IBM Thinkpad T-60, as well. The Thinkpad software that comes with it makes Vista look well designed. Plus the T-60 is very flimsy mechanically.

I'd save my money and buy a macbook pro.

Incidentally, Dakini, don't ever use the word "invest" in conjunction with a piece of computer equipment. To invest implies that the thing invested in will appreciate. I've never seen a piece of computer equipment, especially the crap for sale now, increase in value.

yeah, I have one of those, it's about 3 years old.......it's basically crap.

my last one was the same make/range and it was fine, survived nearly everything and was still running strong til i broke it after 4 years. this new one is just stupidly fragile though. can't deal with anything.

I've got a Toshiba Satelite Pro. I got for pretty much the same reasons as you want to get your laptop.

It's around $1,000 CDN, weighs 2.8kg, works perfectly with Linux, and has a battery life of about 3 hours on Linux.

It does use integrated graphics, so if you think you might want to play games on it them you might want to avoid it.

http://www.toshiba.ca/web/product.grp?lg=en&section=1&group=1&product=7275&part=6539#spectop

Heh, I took really bad care of my old laptop; the battery life ended up at a measly 8 minutes on 100%.
When I finally got Linux installed, though, it went up to 22 minutes, still measly but an almost threefold improvement. :D

Well, you're stuck with Leopard (or Mac OS X 10.5) unless it's an old Mac with a older version of Mac OS X or even one of those G3 or G4 laptops.

Whadda ya mean, "stuck with"? :p

That'd be anti-advice, yeh?

?

Whadda ya mean, "stuck with"? :p

Leopard drops Carbon ... which was in Panther and previous incarnations.