My laptop crashed and I need a new one-- advice please.

[JOHNDEEREGN]

I need a new laptop to take with me on the road when I travel.

All I want is email and surf the net at night like t6p and tb.com.

I will not use it for anything else and would like something pretty fast.

Any advice from fellow travelers?:wink:

Oh yeah; $600-$1000 preferably

 

[Gary Wells]

Etchasketch 1000

 

[faster]

Office Depot advertised one last sunday for $299.00

Toshiba Satellite, the chaep one but it does everything i need it to do.

2G harddrive
1G ram
DVD/CD read and write

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

Etchasketch 1000

Thnx Gary:biggrin:

 

[87Jen]

Toshiba Satellite is great. Mine was $699 at Best Buy. I got one to replace my Dell that crashed. It has a 13.5" screen, about 4lbs. Easy to carry and does everything you need. The one time I had to call support, I didn't have to wait long and I spoke to an American, not to someone in India.

 

[SouthernCal GN]

I'd go Macbook- they're more expensive, but well worth it.

 

[klrv6]

Disposable laptop.

All I can really say is get one that you can part with. I try to stay in the $500 range for mine. I won't feel too bad when something happens to it. I helped someone pick out a $7000 MAC TiBook a few years ago. The hard drive failed in it , just like any other laptop. You still want to take care of it but, avoid "investing" lots of cash on one. Most of the internal parts are the same.

I know ACER and Gateway are doing pretty well right now. I think I would rather have an acer, based on friends of mine experience with them. If it has any version of Vista, try to get one with at least 1.5 gigs of RAM.

Techbargains - dell coupons discount computer sale buy cheap digital camera cheap laptop Best Buy tech bargain - Techbargains.com
FatWallet Forums - Hot Deals -
Slickdeals.net
AnandTech -- Hot Deals

These are a few of the deal forums I visit to save money. I had to stop going there because of all the money I was saving. I see laptop deals in there all the time.

Avoid letting sales people up sell you on everything. No, you don't need extra software and definitely not anti-virus. You will uninstall whatever it comes with and put this on it. AVG Free Advisor - Free antivirus and anti-spyware downloads
And run this on it yorkspace.com » The PC Decrapifier

There is even a free Office version you can install. OpenOffice.org: Home
This is based on the source code from Office 2000 that sun microsystems obtained years ago.

 

[klrv6]

Just flip a coin...

I'd go Macbook- they're more expensive, but well worth it.

You say go exspensive, I say go cheap... just flip a coin. Maybe a dart board with all the names of laptops you looked at, blind folded in the computer section, ?

 

[SouthernCal GN]

All I can really say is get one that you can part with. I try to stay in the $500 range for mine. I won't feel too bad when something happens to it. I helped someone pick out a $7000 MAC TiBook a few years ago. The hard drive failed in it , just like any other laptop. You still want to take care of it but, avoid "investing" lots of cash on one. Most of the internal parts are the same.

I know ACER and Gateway are doing pretty well right now. I think I would rather have an acer, based on friends of mine experience with them. If it has any version of Vista, try to get one with at least 1.5 gigs of RAM.

Techbargains - dell coupons discount computer sale buy cheap digital camera cheap laptop Best Buy tech bargain - Techbargains.com
FatWallet Forums - Hot Deals -
Slickdeals.net
AnandTech -- Hot Deals

These are a few of the deal forums I visit to save money. I had to stop going there because of all the money I was saving. I see laptop deals in there all the time.

Avoid letting sales people up sell you on everything. No, you don't need extra software and definitely not anti-virus. You will uninstall whatever it comes with and put this on it. AVG Free Advisor - Free antivirus and anti-spyware downloads
And run this on it yorkspace.com » The PC Decrapifier

There is even a free Office version you can install. OpenOffice.org: Home
This is based on the source code from Office 2000 that sun microsystems obtained years ago.

What the hell was in that Mac for $7k? Never heard of any Mac going for that much- even loaded to the gills!

IMO Vista sucks- it was rushed to market, there are a lot of issues with backward compatibility, and there are many hardware compatibility issues (driver availability). Also, since it's still based on BIOS, there are going to be issues with viruses, trojans, malware, etc....

The reason I recommend a Mac:
-UNIX based vice BIOS- more stable platform.
-Intel chipset in the late model Macs can run both Mac and Windows op systems.
-No need to run multiple antivirus/spyware programs (eating up memory resources).

I went Mac last year after almost 40 years of building my own PCs. I simply got tired of chasing the BSOD (blue screen of death), running a 1/2 dozen spyware programs, and dealing with Microsoft. My home took me all of 45 minutes to completely install and network 3 Macs and a printer- completely wireless and secure.

I think Jdeere is looking for the best bang for the buck- I believe Mac is it.

 

[SouthernCal GN]

You say go exspensive, I say go cheap... just flip a coin. Maybe a dart board with all the names of laptops you looked at, blind folded in the computer section, ?

Think of it this way- spend a bit more now for the long term reliability, or spend a lot less now, and toss more coin at it in the future.

Kind of like our cars.

 

[Gary Wells]

My desktop crashed about a month ago, and after looking at virtually everything on the market for a desktop, I am going to a new iMac, all in one design. I think that Mac has a lot to offer, and I would rather shoot myself than use Vista. I like the new Sony type LT, but pricier than a mac by far.

 

[klrv6]

I have posted my opinion of MAC on this board before.

You would think I insulted someone's religion or something. I know it has a huge following. You do know what all the current MAC OSes are based on right? The FreeBSD Project I just install that or the desktop version and run with it.

This 7K (extended Apple warranty included) TiBook was a very nice piece of hardware. She still uses it today (4yrs old). It's been around the world a few times and still keeps on kicking. Another person I worked with at LexMark, had his fall out of his backpack while riding on the highway (65MPH). He just wiped the dirt off it and it booted up, yes it had a rash after that.

I agree with your analogy about our cars except that computer hardware does not appreciate in value. If we had to get rid of our cars every few years because they couldn't keep up with technology, that would be a better comparison.

I fought with a MAC today. I ran ifconfig and it puked the subnet mask out in hex. Everything else was ascii, but the subnet mask was hex. This wasn't an internal interface and it wasn't a machine that I normally have access to. I thought about choking that iMac by it's tiny chrome plated, pedestal monitor mount.

I think I will just post this web site for anyone to review before trying to make claims about how much better/more secure an OS is over another. Secunia Advisories by Vendor - Secunia Look up any OS. The openBSD is my dear friend I run several web/VPN servers off of it.

I actually used to have a G4 as one of my desktop computers at work. It would puke TCP dump port information out to the screen. I had the terminal about 75% transparent so I could see my desktop background all the time. It looked cool with millions of packets an hour running across the screen. It did this so I could catch virus propagation before things got too bad.

 

[SouthernCal GN]

Panther may be based off FreeBSD; both are UNIX based. I gave up chasing electrons many years ago- I like a system that works, and Mac is it. It's not a religion, it's a practical reality.

The more you hack into a system, the more stuff can get SNAFUed. I'm past the game of hacking into systems, overclocking for performance, and looking for the cheapest way to get around things.

I prefer the binary method:
0=off
1=on


Wells, you won't be sorry that you got a Mac.

 

[klrv6]

To each his own.

It's not a religion, it's a practical reality.

Then why do so many MAC users get offended when my opinion differs from their's? I really do know my way around anything from cheap/stupid desktop computers, all the way up to IBM AS400 systems. These things always morph into some religious battle over why Steve Jobs deserves more money than Michael Dell.

The reason I say get a cheap one is that technology for a new machine will soon be antiquated. How easy will it be to upgrade a MAC to 802.11N when it becomes standard? That's my point, a cheap laptop will just get donated (tax write off) and go out and pick up one that meets the standard. That's just one example.

I do think Apple has a very interesting product lineup. It just has very little place in my dealings with computers. I am the type who is always on the very cutting edge of what's coming out. I need a system that is more flexible and forgiving to my needs. Why would I drop a grand or two on an internet/sniffing machine? All the software for my laptop is free, the OS is free. I just don't need the things that make a MAC a MAC.

 

[SouthernCal GN]

Who's offended? This post is about advice for a machine.

I posted my advice- you posted yours.
I defended my position- you defended yours.
I understand IT- you understand IT.

Most folks don't give a crap about IT- they just want a machine that works.

ps- All Macs 12/06 and newer are already 80211.n compliant:biggrin:

 

[turbojimmy]

My wife dumped a full glass of wine on our Dell Inspiron 8500 last month (no she didn't pass out in a drunken stupor, she was picking up dinner and knocked it over

Needless to say, that was all that poor Dell could take. It was a great laptop. It was over 4 years old and had been all over the place with us. It had been dropped many times but was a sturdy machine.

I replaced it with an inspiron 1520 because it has the 15.1" screen like the old 8500. If I were to travel a lot I'd consider something smaller, but it's fulfilling the high expectations I had for a Dell product so far. It's the same size as the old 8500 but feels like it's only half as heavy.

Anyway, my advice is to check out Dell's refurbished stuff. My past 4 or 5 Dells have been refurbished and I haven't had any serious problems with any of them. The new inspiron is green since that's all they had in stock, but it's nicely optioned (Pentium dual core, 120 GB of storage, upgraded screen and 2GB of RAM) and was only $538.

Jim

 

[klrv6]

Almost N

ps- All Macs 12/06 and newer are already 80211.n compliant:biggrin:

There is not a single electronics manufacturer that can legally claim they are 802.11N compliant, period.

IEEE 802.11 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"802.11n is a proposed amendment which improves upon the previous 802.11 standards by adding multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and many other newer features. Though there are already many products on the market based on Draft 2.0 of this proposal, the TGn workgroup is not expected to finalize the amendment until November 2008"

It is not expected to be a standard until Nov of this year. I hope you didn't purchase MAC that is already making this claim. Once N is truly running, you can kiss battery life good-bye. I had lunch with some guys from Cisco this week. They were telling me about how some IT infrastructures have to install all new, higher amperage circuits just to support the N standard on equipment. That falls in line with everything I have seen and read about N. The only way I see abattery survivng in an N laptop is with serious bandwidth throttling. N really isn't going matter at all for a home user. What is the fastest average internet connection, 10meg? 802.11b had that covered. More than one wireless computer, go with 802.11G and you are safe. Why worry about a network card that is 30-300 times faster than your internet connection can supply.

I don't doubt that you know a few things in IT but..."Also, since it's still based on BIOS, there are going to be issues with viruses, trojans, malware, etc...."

I don't understand how a system with a BIOS (all machines have them) is any more vulnerable to system compromise? Why does the BIOS matter? Educate me one this, please. Thanks:smile:

 

[KEVINS]

I just picked up a 17" Refurbished HP laptop from TigerDirect.com Best Deals - Computer Parts, PC Components, Computers & Electronics for $700 and I am more than happy with it, b/c it still looks new. I will admit that since it came with Vista I had to purchase some new software (accounting software and photoshop) but I was still running win98 until December then went to Win2000 my programs were a bit outdated for Vista.

But for the $$ on this laptop I am really happy with it and it should handle my web development projects pretty easily with the power it has.

Good Luck!

KS

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

I bought the HP right wrong or indifferent it sould be here this week:biggrin:

Hewlett-Packard HP DV9720US Pavilion Notebook Computer - Model HP DV9720US at Sears.com

 

[Gary Wells]

Ty:
Good luck, Ty, I am sure that you will be happy.