Buying a laptop

[jackhammer91406]

Hey Guys,

"Buying a laptop"...no, I'm not looking for an escort. I want to buy a laptop to take to RIO in two weeks. This will facillitate posting my travel threads and related pics. I am looking to set up a website in order to post pics. I recognize many of you out there have laptops, and would like some feedback on what to buy. I am going to purchase at Best Buy, so I need to try to find models that they may carry. Ultimately I want to be able to record and play DVD's /CD's as well as manage a modest website (don't worry Hooboy, I am no competition for your great efforts). Can one of you tech gifted guys help me with suggestions as to what to get? Appreciate the help

[ted]

Given the restraint you may want to look at the Sony's-they do pretty well on the DVD/CD side of things. But Dell has consistently been top rated in the PC mags. They are direct mail order. I bought my last laptop from them and it arrived as ordered in a matter of 2 days or so. I hated my Compaq, but don't know whether they are better or worse since they merged with HP

[Rick Munroe]

Everytime I see the word "laptop" I think about a top lapping at my hairy ass.

 

Hijacking mission accomplished. Over and out. Carry on.

[Michael]

>Hey Guys,

>"Buying a laptop"...no, I'm not looking for an escort. I want

>to buy a laptop to take to RIO in two weeks. This will

>facillitate posting my travel threads and related pics. I am

>looking to set up a website in order to post pics. I

>recognize many of you out there have laptops, and would like

>some feedback on what to buy. I am going to purchase at Best

>Buy, so I need to try to find models that they may carry.

>Ultimately I want to be able to record and play DVD's /CD's as

>well as manage a modest website

 

Important things to consider when buying a laptop include:

 

- size

- weight

- battery life

- screen size and resolution

- keyboard

- pointing device

 

as well as the more usual issues of processor speed, memory size, disk size, DVD etc ...

 

A lot depends on how you are going to use the system.

 

If it's really just a "portable" system that you only ever use when it's plugged in to a wall socket then battery life doesn't matter too much - if you spend a lot of time on transatlantic flights and want to use your laptop for hours at a time on batteries, then in does.

 

Make sure you like the feel of the keyboard and the built-in pointing device. I absoutely *hate* the touch pad pointing device that many laptops use, so I would only look at systems that had an IBM TrackPoint or something similar. You need to figure out what works for you.

 

The fact that you want to *manage* a web site from your laptop shouldn't really make any difference - you are going to the management by some combination of a web browser, ftp and telnet, and whatever web authoring software you happen to be using. I assume that you are not going to try to *host* a web site on the laptop ... it can be done but it is rather perverse to try to host a site on a machine which is not permananently conneceted.

 

For overall quality and reliability I really like IBM ThinkPads, I used to use Toshiba a lot, but found them to be not particularly robust or reliable.

[ready182]

Michael's advice is excellent. If you like the joystick, IBM ThinkPads are the best. I wouldn't carry anything else. Size, weight, and battery life are important considerations. Also what kind of CD/CD-RW/DVD are you looking for, and do they need to be built-in vs. external?

 

Anything decent should include a built-in modem, ethernet, and 802.11 wireless LAN capability.

 

IF you don't like the ThinkPads for some reason, my second choice would be Dell. I would avoid Toshiba and HP.

 

Good luck ...

 

Ready

[+ deej]

What's your budget? That's going to narrow your selection a bit.

 

I've recently bought two notebooks for friends. Absolutely LOVED the Toshiba when I was setting it up. Not as crazy about the Compaq, but he had a different budget. Both are good machines, but the Toshiba's feel was more solid and lasting. I'm carrying a Dell these days, but that's because the company got it for me. I'm very fond of Dell laptops and have used them almost exclusively over the last few years, but I hated to give the Tosiba up to my friend. :9

 

Make sure, whatever you get, it has all the peripherals you need. Many notebooks today don't come with a floppy disc drive, for example. It's how they cut down on size, weight, and price. Sony Vaio's are known for this. If you don't have a floppy drive, Murphy will ensure you REALLY NEED ONE RIGHT DAMN NOW. ;-)

 

Make sure it has modem and ethernet, as well as USB and Firewire ports. PCMCIA slots are still important. Take a look at the location of all the ports with regard to usability. My last Dell had the Ethernet connection on the right-hand side, near the front of the keyboard -- exactly where I'm usually using the mouse. I was constantly beating back the network cable.

 

A good thing about buying at BestBuy is you get a 15% (I think) discount on accessories at the time of purchase. Use that discount and BUY AN EXTERNAL MOUSE! They even make mini-mouses for laptop users these days and they can be had for under 50 bucks. No matter how usable you think the touchpad/joystick/whatever is, you won't want to be doing much real work without a real mouse.

 

When buying a notebook case, beware of heavy over-padded leather jobs. The bag alone can be heavy. Consider the weight of hauling the thing through airports. Personally, I favor backpack-style bags when traveling. (In fact, I have a spare I'd be willing to part with.)

 

If you can wait until a week from Saturday, I'd be glad to go shopping with you.

[Michael]

> No matter how usable you think the touchpad/joystick/whatever is,

> you won't want to be doing much real work without a real mouse.

 

Actually, I disagree with that - the TrackPoint on the ThinkPad

really *is* good enough that you (or, at least, I) do not need

an external mouse. The ones on Toshiba and Compaq lapops, while

they *look* identical to the IBM one are, in my experience, not

nearly as good.

 

Since I want a machine that I can use almost anywhere it's a

very big negative for me if it needs *any* external gadgets

hooked up to it. I remember being furious with Toshiba a few

years ago for advertising one of the Portege series as having

an "integrated network adaptor" without mentioning that there

was no RJ45 jack on the machine, and the only way to *use* the

"integrated network adaptor" was to hook up a ridiculous port

replicator that weighed about half as much as the laptop did ...

[+ deej]

>Since I want a machine that I can use almost anywhere it's a

>very big negative for me if it needs *any* external gadgets

>hooked up to it.

 

I think we actually agree, except about the need for a mouse. I'll leave ALL the peripherals at home but the mouse.

 

I've been using portables as my primary machines since long before the term laptop was coined and I surely agree with you. The less you have to haul through airports the better.

 

If we're talking Mac laptops, I'd agree that the trackpad will suffice. But there is no laptop in the Wintel world that will get me to give up the external mouse. When you're doing an intricate PhotoShop image manipulation, I haven't found a touchpad that gives the control a mouse gives.

 

Sure you can write email and Word documents, but doing anything intricate is just not practical without a mouse.

[HooBoy]

As a person who travels extensively and have purchased 4 laptops in the past 12 months, the best by far is the Toshiba Satellite 5205 (now the 3500) series, the one with the built-in wireless modem. It has a sleek design, Harman Kardon speakers, a touch-pad that actually works and is loaded with innovative features & ports galore. Wireless broadband is the future and it is already showing up everywhere- some of it even free, like Bryant Park in New York.

 

My past laptop computers have been IBM, at least 5 Dell's over the years and before that, I was the first guy on the block with every new Apple Macintosh product.

 

(I still think Macs are far superior to any Windows-based product, however software manufacturers just do not support them with the product I want and I have no need for buggy whips.)

 

Other than broadband wireless, customer service ranks at the top of my list of things to consider. From my experience I can tell you DELL has good customer service, depending on who you get, but every time I used them, my average waiting time was an hour or more. My IBM was stolen two weeks after I bought it so I cannot speak to their service.

 

Toshiba's customer service has been outstanding with no waiting time and patient, knowlegeable techs. (I use them to explain the manual to me with questions like..."what's the second hole on the right side do...?")

 

I think Microsoft has good customer service, but paying $36 bucks to speak to a technician is an annoyance that rankles me and is up there with ATM bank fees, hotel mini-bars, hotel phone charges, people who talk loudly on cell phones in public and escorts who ask for their fee up front.

 

Go with Toshiba. In fact, I've got an extra one I'll sell you. Used only 10 months. Everything on it is fine - my problem was software and I did not have time to get the software working, so I bought the same computer.

 

(Actually, since I had my computers stolen last year, I have been traveling with two computers, one as back-up and I find boys like to play with them, check their email, look for someone more fun than me to be with and it keep them off of my computer. I have a router I travel with so everyone gets broadband. Most likely I'll keep both Toshibas, but I do have a DELL I was thinking about putting on eBay.)

[JamesK840]

I agree pretty much 100% with Deej. Dells are great and you can get exactly what you want (but you have to order them and wait, probably not quick enough to get before your trip), Toshibas are good, and there are some interesting Sonys. I don't like Compaqs/HPs. IBMs, I just don't like the software that usually comes on them, and they're getting pretty rare in stores. Stay away from cheap no-names at places like PC Club.

 

There is an amazing range of sizes, prices, weights and battery lives available. Though they tend to be pretty similar in the reasonable price range, $799-$1200. More features = more $$ of course. I could easily spend $3500 on a top of the line one (Sony's got a great powerful little one I covet...). Do think about what you need vs. size/weight. I have a very top of the line, every feature you could get at the time, laptop... but it's huge and with the (heavy) case and all the accessories it's got to weigh more then 20 pounds. Not fun to carry with all the other crap through an airport, and pretty much too big to use in Coach anyway.

 

Speed, well, faster the better, but if you'd like to be able to play modern games talk to me before you buy, otherwise everything is pretty much more then you'll need. I like at least 2GHz in a Celeron, slower in a Centrino CPU is fine. If you get a laptop with a P4 and want reasonable battery life make sure it's a P4-M, but Centrino is the way to go for good battery life. Don't expect more then about 2 hours regardless, though you may get more then 3 on a Centrino... So, you may want to consider a spare battery.

 

The more hard drive space the better, 20-300GB is common, 40GB is good. Make sure you get at least 256MB of RAM, and Windows XP is better off with 512MB.

 

Modem/Ethernet are a given on a new laptop, and most still have PC Card slots. Very few come with floppy drives now, and external ones are often not bootable, but that isn't too likely to affect you. USB is a given, but USB2.0 and/or Firewire are really nice to have, however they are hard to find in the low price ranges. Built in WiFi (802.11b or g) is great to have, it sure beats needing to have a card stick out of your laptop all the time if you set up a wireless connection to high-speed internet at home (a great thing to have, especially for a laptop). I think even on the cheap Toshibas internal WiFi can be added later if it doesn't come with it...

 

One great feature I think is a must is the ability to burn CDs, and I really want the ability to play DVDs too. Many laptops have combo drives now (one drive does both those things), it's a great feature. Being able to burn a CD with backups of your documents, or to be able to transfer files is very important.

 

The touchpad/eraserhead debate is pretty much settled, you'll get a touchpad on any of the laptops Deej or I would recommend. I have both on mine, I preferred the *idea* of the eraserhead, but find I only actually use the touchpad. That's when I don't plug in a mouse, which I almost always do. You'll want an optical mouse, the Microsoft ones are nice. They have a cute little one for around $30 I think, or if it's too small get a regular for about $20.

 

Once you get the laptop, uninstall all the worthless crap that they pack on there (including AOL hopefully ), have someone show you how to use msconfig.exe to keep stupid crap from running, and you may want to pick up a copy of Office, oh, and virus protection (I like Norton, you just need the latest AntiVirus, which I think is 2004 by now, not the SystemWorks crap--it's not a Mac: a PC laptop actually comes with the system utilities you *need* }( ). There's usually a student package of Office available for a great price and you don't have to prove you're a student that I've ever seen.

 

Once you start using it, make sure to back up any important stuff you have on it regularly. Laptop hardware is more prone to failure (about the only thing in BB I'd consider the extended warranty on...), plus there's drops, spills, and theft as possibilities. You may want to get one of the Kingston lock things so you can lock the laptop to a table or something in Rio, by the way. They're also sold in Best Buy.

 

I may be able to take you shopping too, hell, both Funseeker and BGP are considering new PCs as well, maybe the next meeting should just be at the 'restaurant' in Fry's! :7

[Michael]

> If we're talking Mac laptops, I'd agree that the trackpad will

> suffice. But there is no laptop in the Wintel world that will

> get me to give up the external mouse. When you're doing an

> intricate PhotoShop image manipulation, I haven't found a

> touchpad that gives the control a mouse gives.

 

Agreed - the touchpads all suck.

 

I couldn't do intricate PhotoShop manipulation with *any* kind

of pointing device so I'm not in a position to dispute that

particular claim, although after 7 or 8 years of using the IBM

style trackpoint I actually *prefer* it to an external mouse

particularly when manipulating text since you don't have to

continually move one hand between the keyboard and the mouse.

 

The important thing when buying a laptop is to figure out what

works for *you* and how *you* will be using it.

[JamesK840]

Oh, and if you're planning to be able to use an old printer, Palm Pilot or some other accessory, make sure the new laptop still has the port! Serial and Parallel ports are starting to go away.

[Guest sdmuscl4hire]

Just purchased a Sony Vaio PCG-GRT170

 

FUCKING FLAWLESS

[bigguyinpasadena]

I do like the looks of the sony Vaio,they are so $$$$$ though,I think you are paying for styling/name.I was impressed by the one I did get to use however.

Still debating over laptop/desktop.Maybe we should go shopping Jack.

I will probablly go with dell,I have heard many good things about their customer service,however I have never looked at a toshiba.

[jackhammer91406]

Practical realities

 

First, I want to thank all of the gifted tech people for their suggestions. I knew I could count on the guys here to cum through..ooops.

second, I should mention the practical realities. I am saving EVERY U.S. BUCK (read cash) for RIO. Ditto every cent of credit line on Visa/ Mastercards (of which there are way TOO MANY). So that means I will be using my handy Best Buy Card and the line of credit there to purchase what will be a seldom used laptop. To offset this seemingly impractical purchase, I wanted to see if I could get some additional capability that I don't have on my home PC, such as DVD-RW, and also software for website management. I also got a fistful of discount coupons for a BB sale this weekend (today, tomorrow and Sunday) so want to make the most of those. The fools at BB also upped my credit line (are they republicans?...ooops, don't want this thread relocated to the dead zone of the politics forum. never mind.)

Thanks again for all the help. will probably go today to at least look at stuff. If anyone else is willing to or wants to come, let me know how today or tomorrow works for you. I just want to get this done so I can start packing.

[JamesK840]

RE: Practical realities

 

Ability to *play* DVDS and write *CDs* is very common. Ability to write DVDs is much less so and usually only in the much pricier laptops, if that's what you meant by DVD-RW. If you get firewire or USB2.0 ports this ability could easilly be added later, externally.

 

Otherwise, there is a honking big, expensive Toshiba with an internal DVD-RW drive at BB, with a wide screen and TV tuning capabilities too, but it weighs a ton, is huge, and I wouldn't hold out much hope for it's battery life.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Best Buys

 

Rio has several perfectly good internet cafes. If you are going to only use the lap top minimally, I would strongly urge that you save your money. Using credit, as you well know Jack, is simply a way to postpone using cash today.

 

Another benefit of the cafe is that you may have limited or bad internet access. I am writing this at a Hotel and as someone who uses his lap top (an Apple IBook) and travels a great deal, I will advise you that even when hotels say they have high speed internet access, the quality varies even in a reputable chain. This has a lot to do with vendors, equipment and any number of other factors.

 

I have stayed at Hyatts with great (and free DSL internet service) and I have stayed at Hyatts with dial up service that left something to be desired. On this trip, I stayed at the Westin in D.C. serviced by Unysys (sp?), who together with two other firms provide the basis of the back bone of the actual internet wiring in this country, and their service was among the worst I have ever experienced. I am presently at the Hilton in Boston and can not maintain a stable high speed connection without actually typing on my computer. Obviously, I am paying for "always on" service which is not actually always on.

 

You have gotten some good advice here, Jack, but if you will not be using a lap top at least one fourth to one third of the time and base on the prior travel history you have discussed with me, I can think of better uses for your money, particularly given how much loss in value derives with a lap top.

 

You should also be aware that lap tops have more technical problems than desk top computers.

 

Do not get me wrong. I could not live without my lap top and I spent the extra money to get a built in DVD/CD burner and all the other "bells and whistles" but on the other hand, I use this lap top a great deal and travel a great deal with it.

[+ deej]

RE: Practical realities

 

I'm pretty much with Franco. If you're really squirreling away cash for the Rio trip and don't have plans to use the laptop much afterwards, I wouldn't spend the money.

 

There are too many other fun things to spend money on in Rio. }(

 

But if you still want to shop, my schedule has changed. I'm available this weekend. Drop me an email.