Potential Need for New Laptop

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Therefore, any recommendations? I'm looking for something sturdy and I'm not going to be doing anything spectacular with it. I need basic functionality (though decent speakers would be nice).
Someone else suggested a Mac. Thoughts on that? Vista hasn't been super annoying to me, however, so I'm torn.

[Griffin NoName]

Well as everyone knows I find Macs drive me nuttier than even Vista so I shouldn't comment which of course I just have.

My own spec would be very different from yours... but.... if you get a PC with Vista, then just go for the biggest RAM (memory), the fastest processor (dual wotsit by preference for futurability), largish disc - dont worry too much about access speed or you'll get tied up in knots and size only really matters if you store masses of music, pics, videos, dont forget a DVD etc, ... that you can afford. Graphics not worth worrying about unless you are a gamer. Ditto, sound cards mostly good enough if not a perfect pitch person.

Others can probably give you "the best Brand" for stuff like discs, but actually even the worst brands are generally ok for people who dont care too much.

Buying it from somewhere with good support is a clever idea but never seems possible in practice. (Sony's support has been good but then they dont come into the cheap bracket. )

Avoid the total cowboys especially the ones that have just gone out of business

[Bluenose]

My thoughts are if you're going to run Vista, get 2 GB RAM, preferably 3.  (More is not required and if the device has a PCI Express bus (most do these days) then you lose about 700 MB between 3 & 4 GB anyway (which means if you have 4 GB, you only get 3.3 GB you can use).  A dual core processor is a good idea, but I'm not too hung up on the actual speed of the processor, but try to get one with as fast a front side bus as possible.  Like Griffin said, unless you're a gamer, don't worry about the graphics card, but one with separate RAM is good.  As for brands, the price diff between the tier one vendors and the cheapies has reduced to the point that I generally recommend people buy brands like HP and Toshiba.  Sony are generally well regarded, as well.

The most important thing IMHO with a notebook is to purchase a 3 year warranty uplift.  You can save a little by buying a "return to base" warranty, but if you live far away from a service centre or the machine is vital to your work, consider the cost of either a "next day on site" or a "4 hour on site" warranty.  Sometimes these better warranties can be had for not much more than the return to base one, always check the price.  The reason you want a 3 year warranty on a notebook is because almost anything that goes wrong on one requires a motherbard replacement and typically if you need that, it costs a great deal of money, plus notebooks by their very nature are more likely to suffer damage of one sort or another that would be covered by the warranty than desktop machines.

Just my 2c, of course.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Which is definitely valuable.

[Griffin NoName]

As Bluenose said re on-site if poss. I always go for it 

However, the last engineer they sent out knew less than I do and in replacing the broken fan but not curing it, managed to break the keyboard, the motherboard and also leave a dodgy power supply connectivity so sometimes I find myself working in the dark. They had to send out another engineer to repair his work and I still have a dodgy power supply. They did give me a free (decent and bigger capacity) disc though.

The only other useful thing I'd say is choose a laptop with as few screws as possible (they are very small and often well disguised so it could take a few years to decide on your best option). 

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

If you want my recommendations (on top of those from our siblings) I'll tell you a bit.

So far I have not have any success with Vista on a laptop particularly with the moving files bug, 3 laptops, 3 systems with the bug. I don't know if is something related with mobile chipsets or what but I would definitively try to skip Vista for a lappie. If you wonder how on earth to buy a new laptop with XP, you can go here and look at the available options. Sadly all of those with XP have Intel integrated graphics so playing games on those wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

On the graphics front I know you played Portal and perhaps other things ( ? ) so if you want to go that route I suggest you to skip any laptop with nVidia graphics* (that includes Apple BTW). That leaves only one choice ATi and the options depend on money or how much you play. A Radeon 3200 is a decent integrated video card that wont break the bank, anything with a higher number will be better (like this, sadly with Vista  ).

BTW I totally endorse Newegg to buy stuff. I've been buying from them for years with no problems whatsoever, and the prices are quite good.

The recommendations on dual core processors (AMD or Intel are more or less the same with the former likely to be cheaper) and lots of memory specially if you'll use Vista apply.

* nVidia had a number of problems with their mobile parts, that they claim have been fixed but the cards are still on the channel, so avoid them particularly in laptops for at least 6 more months.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Slightly tangent to the topic:

I'm one of those persons who advocate "skip every other version of Windoze-- the off-versions are not ripe".

As such, I missed out on DOS 4-- the whole series.

I missed out on Windoze ME-- never installed it.

I missed Windoze NT-- never owned a copy.

And I am missing Vista.  I *will* be purchasing a copy of Windoze 7, when it's ready for Prime Time.

By that time, I'll be ready to build a new box (I build'em from parts I purchase myself.  Then I know what's inside the box.  Obviously, I scavenge parts from the old box, where usable. This does not work with laptops, though.... parts I mean).

If you can hold off the Vista thing, and wait for Windoze 7, I think you'll be right pleased.

On the other hand?  If you don't have nasty "how a computer should work" ideas/habits?  (such as what I have) and can afford the huge mark-up?  Buy a Mac.   If you've no bad habits to unlearn, you can learn to compute "the mac way" and be happier in the long run.

But, if you've learned how to compute on a PC?  You'll quickly come to loathe "the mac way" as I have....

...for with the mac, it's do it the mac way or not at all.     But, if you elect to be assimilated, you'll never have to put up with the BSOD* either.   And help is pretty easy to get, usually for free.   And usually directly to the point: for with a mac, when they break, they tend to break in very predictable ways.  One of the benefits of everything being "the mac way". 

.....

Or, if you're on a budget?  Buy used.  That's what I do with laptops...I own several.  All used.  All refurbished by yours truly.  (and yes, all PC flavor, but none Vista).



___________

_{* Blue Screen O' Death.  A blue background screen, with crappy-font white letters, hearkening back to the old DOS days of yore.  The actual contents of the message is meaningless GEEK-SPEAK.  The *real* message is always understood:  You're screwed.  Your computer has just suffered the electronic equivalent of a massive stroke.  It *may* be recoverable, but typically it is not without major repair. You may begin crying now....your $2,000 computer is now the equivalent of an unplugged toaster.  Sutable for use as a doorstop, or perhaps a step-stool.}

[Griffin NoName]

In the interests of debate, I'd never buy used ever. I can imagine though, if one is familiar with building blocks, the advice would be different as is Bob's because one can fiddle and replace anything dodgy.

I get the impression you, Scribs, want an out of the box plug and play. In that case Bluenoses advice (which includes some of mine) is probably best.

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

As for brands, the price diff between the tier one vendors and the cheapies has reduced to the point that I generally recommend people buy brands like HP and Toshiba.  Sony are generally well regarded, as well.

My personal machine is a 4-year-old Toshiba Satellite running Windows XP that was originally my father's work machine.  It's been generally good, except for a few things:

- the touchpad hasn't worked since I got it, though I don't know if this is just because my Dad disabled it.
- the battery doesn't last nearly as long as it used to - only about half an hour.

My wife got a new Toshiba Satellite running Vista at Christmas and so far it's been fine; she's been generally happy with it.  I can't remember the exact model, but it's an AMD dual core beastie and seems happy enough to run Vista.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

I have an Acer and it seems not to mind Vista. I didn't install all that crap it comes with, so that might be it (freeware all the way!).

I think I have a few more months on this one, so I can afford to wait. I want to save up and get a good one.

If you want my recommendations (on top of those from our siblings) I'll tell you a bit.

So far I have not have any success with Vista on a laptop particularly with the moving files bug, 3 laptops, 3 systems with the bug. I don't know if is something related with mobile chipsets or what but I would definitively try to skip Vista for a lappie. If you wonder how on earth to buy a new laptop with XP, you can go here and look at the available options. Sadly all of those with XP have Intel integrated graphics so playing games on those wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

On the graphics front I know you played Portal and perhaps other things ( ? ) so if you want to go that route I suggest you to skip any laptop with nVidia graphics* (that includes Apple BTW). That leaves only one choice ATi and the options depend on money or how much you play. A Radeon 3200 is a decent integrated video card that wont break the bank, anything with a higher number will be better (like this, sadly with Vista  ).

BTW I totally endorse Newegg to buy stuff. I've been buying from them for years with no problems whatsoever, and the prices are quite good.

The recommendations on dual core processors (AMD or Intel are more or less the same with the former likely to be cheaper) and lots of memory specially if you'll use Vista apply.

* nVidia had a number of problems with their mobile parts, that they claim have been fixed but the cards are still on the channel, so avoid them particularly in laptops for at least 6 more months.

We actually have a media computer now, which I steal periodically and play Portal on (and will be playing Empire: Total War on  ) so graphics is less of a worry. The sound card IS because I listen to music and watch movies on it. As long as it can play a movie, that's all I care about for graphics on my laptop.

In the interests of debate, I'd never buy used ever. I can imagine though, if one is familiar with building blocks, the advice would be different as is Bob's because one can fiddle and replace anything dodgy.

I get the impression you, Scribs, want an out of the box plug and play. In that case Bluenoses advice (which includes some of mine) is probably best.

Yes. I am not savvy enough to fiddle with anything.

Bob: I will try to wait for Windows 7. If I can't, I'm getting a Mac. I have a friend who's a Mac programmer and I can get him to help if it gets bad. I've actually heard that the learning curve on Macs is pretty short. I don't think I have any bad habits to unlearn.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

We actually have a media computer now, which I steal periodically and play Portal on (and will be playing Empire: Total War on  ) so graphics is less of a worry. The sound card IS because I listen to music and watch movies on it. As long as it can play a movie, that's all I care about for graphics on my laptop.

All laptops come with integrated sound which is more or less the same thing, and will sound decently with headphones and/or external speakers. If a laptop sounds wonderfully by itself it isn't because the sound card is special but because the speakers are a bit better and the case was properly designed to take advantage of the speakers. If you have an Acer (and I'm writing in one right now) the speakers suck badly but works fine with the headphones or external speakers.

Again, if you want to go the Mac way wait as much as possible to avoid problems with the nVidia video card, also waiting for windows 7 might be a better option than use Vista.

Oh, and the media computer likely has a mid of the road video card, I wouldn't be surprised if you get a better performance with an ATi 4650 or a nVidia 9600 on a laptop.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

I think it's the sound card, since my headphones sound great with my mp3 and do nothing for my laptop.

Thanks guys!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Certainly the audio output is low in my Acer (and in my FiL's) but the quality isn't bad per se. You can fiddle with the Realtek control panel and perhaps get better results, but I give you that the audio isn't the best feature from the Acers. In any case you'll likely will have a Realtek chip in whatever laptop you get, although perhaps the implementation might be better.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Question solved if it does before Windows 7.

[Griffin NoName]

You have a thing about tutus ?