Laptop suggestions

[ken4ord]

Ok I am in the market for a laptop and not really sure what to look for. I know how to use a computer and I navigate around pretty good, but do I know the ins and outs of memory and RAM and all the other crap, NO. So I need help. If you folks out there that know this this well can spell out some of the stuff that they use to market computers that would be great.

 

Also these are the main reason why I want it.

 

1. I want it for is backing up my music, I am tired of having to replace discs that get scratched. Eventually will probably get an MP3 player.

 

2. I will want to store digital images on it.

 

3. I will probably want to do photo editing on it, (later on and maybe even setting up slide show and short movies).

 

4. One idea I have had is maybe starting up a website, but don't know what type of computer requirement are necessary for that.

 

5. It will need to be sturdy, I will be doing a lot of traveling with and not necessarily in urban environments.

 

6. Also I will be traveling in foriegn countries with 220v, so I imagine you can get power regulator of sorts.

 

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[SnowByrd]

1) Any old thing will do....as long as it has a hard drive.

2) same as 1

3) same as 1 and 2 but install photo editing software

4) website doesn't really matter as long as you can run IIS or a non MS web server such as Apache if you're planning on hosting it on your laptop. Most people use their Internet Provider to do this so they don't have to reserve a static IP address.

5) Sturdy: look into some of the smaller notebook types (IBM Thinkpad)and buy a pack that has a padded place, just for laptops (I have a Traeger I used in College and Im still using it 3 years later.)

6) Buy a power converter for whatever specific country you are going to.

 

I would recommend staying away from the Dell refurbished models and definitely stay away from the Celeron processor if you possibly can. An AMD or a P4 will cost a little more but you will be much happier in the long run. Celerons are cheaply made and have a short life span, especially in the close proximity to all the other components of a laptop.

 

http://www.laptops-guide.com/laptops-guide-site-map.html

 

PM me if I can be of help

[John Frieh]

[arlen]

 

No matter what kind you get, it sounds like you'd like extra hard drive capacity. Just choose the option for a step up, if it's an option. RAM's not an urgent issue, as long as there's room for more. It only takes a text editor, an FTP program and a graphics program to do web stuff. Wireless is a good, good thing. Lighter does not equal sturdier, but it does amount to less chance of damage. If you want to do image and simple movie editing out of the box, see the above .

[icegirl]

macintosh G4 powerbook (or a new G4 ibook)

[cracked]

Macs drive me up the wall.

[CascadeClimber]

Macs drive me up the wall.

 

Mac users drive me up the wall.

 

[Dru]

they make this model in laptop

[icegirl]

dru, is that your gut hanging out over your cat-lap-top?

[Dru]

busted and my stained ergonomic keyboard and tan slacks and burnt orange carpet

[icegirl]

Dru is a cat person... that is too funny... a black cat even... I GOTTA hear the story behind that... Was it yours, of did a GF leave it with you????

 

nice carpet.

[JoshK]

macintosh G4 powerbook (or a new G4 ibook)

 

have you actually ever compared a powerbook to a PC equiv or do you just assume they are the best? Yes, their style is nice but they are seriously fucking overpriced. It isn't even like the iPod where their design is nice and the wheel thing is cool. You just get to pay more for the little apple logo. They also use suck ass HDs, which is the limiting factor in notebooks these days. Lots of the PC manufactures are now offering 5400 and 7200 rpm drives in notebooks now as options, thank god.

 

BTW, for what it's worth, if you are intersted in style, check out the new Sony S series. Widescreen 13" WXGA super-brite screens and great components. From your requirements it looks like you are looking for something cheaper and more utilitarian tho...

 

Nols posted a pic of the centrino stuff.that is the key. well, centrino is basically just marketing for built in wireless + pentium M, but the Pentium M is far and away the best mobile processor on the market today. Their battery life can't be beat.

 

On a random note...the super-brite screens (like in the sony I mention above) are fucking amazing. They are nite and day better than the standard laptop screens.

[ken4ord]

So let me ask this, how do you tell the difference between different HD and what does the rpm's have to do with a HD, more RPM the faster data is accessed? What do you mean when you say the HD is the limiting factor in notebooks?

 

How do you tell the differences between screen? I have notice that is one of the things that I really don't like about getting a laptop is the screens.

 

I know there is all this hype about Pentium processors and Josh you mentioned Petium M. So I imagine they make all different types, are they for different applications or just different levels of quality?

 

So what are AMD and P4 are these processors, who makes them and what sets them apart?

 

Thanks so far everybody. Snowbyrd thanks for that link.

[eternalX]

Ken - I'm a lifetime PC user and I use a DELL D800 for everything. As a developer and PM it's super fast, reliable, and has a huge screen. It also cost about 4k. Luckily work paid that.

 

Having said all that, for what you want to do, get an iBook. They look better, they are smaller, and they do everythnig you want exceptionally well. My gf just bought the 14" one for like $1100 and it's perfect for her (ironically, she works at microsoft). If i was going to buy a laptop for myself, it's what i would get as well.

 

I personally don't like Sony's because they load them with a bunch of crappy Sony programs and the design just doesn't compete with apple. I like Sony in other areas though (tv, stereo).

 

Get an iBook.

[larrythellama]

Panisonic tough book, you can kill people with it or stop a bullet. Plus it has a touch screen for those intimate moments with your internet porn.

[cj001f]

I personally don't like Sony's because they load them with a bunch of crappy Sony programs and the design just doesn't compete with apple. I like Sony in other areas though (tv, stereo).

Sony's also have alot of proprietary buses & hardware.

 

I've a Dell Inspiron. It's heavy, but nice to do real work on for an extended period of time. The ultraportable laptops are so cramped they suck to work on for more than 30 minutes.

[Dru]

Dru is a cat person... that is too funny... a black cat even... I GOTTA hear the story behind that... Was it yours, of did a GF leave it with you????

 

nice carpet.

 

maybe if you followed the URL you would figure out it is just some random picture i discovered by googling "lap cat"

[eternalX]

So let me ask this, how do you tell the difference between different HD and what does the rpm's have to do with a HD, more RPM the faster data is accessed? What do you mean when you say the HD is the limiting factor in notebooks?

 

How do you tell the differences between screen? I have notice that is one of the things that I really don't like about getting a laptop is the screens.

 

I know there is all this hype about Pentium processors and Josh you mentioned Petium M. So I imagine they make all different types, are they for different applications or just different levels of quality?

 

So what are AMD and P4 are these processors, who makes them and what sets them apart?

 

Thanks so far everybody. Snowbyrd thanks for that link.

 

Don't worry about hard drive speeds. Unless you are editing large amounts of digital video or running a database, it won't matter. RAM is 100 times faster than the hard drive so an increase in RAM would be much better than a faster hard drive. I would think the limiting factor wolud be more the size. If you want to store images and mp3s, bigger is better. I would think 40GB would be a good size.

 

The differences with Pentium M is that it adjusts its speed (and threeby power) based on what you are doing. I get like 4 hours of life on one battery charge of my Dell.

 

In the past, I was slightly weary of AMD, just because it wasn't the leader (and so might not be as compatible), but it's probably a fine choice nowadays. They tend to be a bit cheaper.

[eternalX]

Just look at the screens to tell the difference. Apple is known for quality screens and rendering fonts, which makes sense because they used to be THE standard for printing and design (and still are at most design firms).

 

Having said that, the widescreen (1920x1600) on my DELL is brilliant. I combine it with a second 19" Sony Trinitron monitor at work to get a total resolution of 3520x2800. It rocks. Surprisngly, the 17" laptop screen looks better and is sharper than the 19" sony tube. LCD screens have come a long way!

[willstrickland]

I will give a third or fourth for the iBook. My home computer is an iBook and externalX hits it on the head in his post above.

 

I've used PC stuff and some unix boxes at work for a long time, I much prefer the Mac OS. The photo, music, and video software is also very user friendly...BUT if you are accustomed to PC/Windows environment, particularly things like shortcut/hotkey stuff in common programs (Word,Excel etc)....you will have a bit of a learning curve.

 

A couple of things I put high on the list regardless of what you choose:

 

1. Full sized keyboard.

2. Battery life.

 

I also agree with Josh that the Ti Powerbook G4s are overpriced. They are very nice, and if I were using mine for traveling on business, I'd get one. But you can get an iBook with almost the same specs for much cheaper. I paid about $1600 for mine a couple of years ago.

[pzack]

A very nice feature for travelling:

 

Make sure that you can plug in two battery packs (in place of CD/Disk drives). That way you can use the laptop for up to 4 hours without recharging.

[cracked]

My Inspiron with two battery packs gives me approximately 6 hours of power. And the screen is easier on my eyes than desktop monitors. I like this thing.

 

For storing images an external hard drive is the ticket, pics will eat up space very quickly.

[eternalX]

A very nice feature for travelling:

 

Make sure that you can plug in two battery packs (in place of CD/Disk drives). That way you can use the laptop for up to 4 hours without recharging.

 

check the stats. i get over 4 hours on one battery pack with my monster of a laptop.

[Gary_Yngve]

It all depends what you're doing on the laptop, as well as how old the batteries are. If I dim the screen and don't do anything too harddrive- and CPU-intensive, I could probably get four hours on one battery, but usually it's 2-3 hours.

[John Frieh]

In the past, I was slightly weary of AMD, just because it wasn't the leader (and so might not be as compatible), but it's probably a fine choice nowadays. They tend to be a bit cheaper.

 

Unless he goes wireless (which he should) and then he should pick Centrino (aka WiFi) as AMD doesn't have a chip that competes with it. FYI/Stock tip: Intel is ramping a chip which is the equivalent of P5 only wireless (aka WMax).

 

AMD has excellent chip layout/design and was the first in delivery of a 64 bit chip but that’s about it... (my 2 biased cents).