I’m flummoxed. I’ve never had much use for a laptop before, but it’s become painfully obvious that my employer is simply not going to get around to buying me one, and I travel too much not to have one available. Help! I have not much idea what I’m doing.
Here’s what I’m thinking:
Something basic, but not so stripped-down that I’m going to get really annoyed in a year. At the same time, I’m not made of money and I have a perfectly respectable, two-year old 866mHz PIII with 256gB of ram sitting at home.
Doesn’t have to be super-light. I travel about once a month at most.
Here’s it must be able to do: wordprocess, surf internet (maybe wirelessly) and MS Word, a little bit o music, maybe watch a DVD (I have a player at home) when I’m board. I’m not much of a gamer (Pinball is about my speed) and barely even need e-mail for this machine.
Wireless. I don’t know much about this. I know there’s this thing called WiFi which you can somehow or other access at Starbucks, but that’s about it. Does seem handy, however, if it actually works and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Clutzitude. I am a klutz and forgetful. This is, I know, BAD.
I would like the company to be in business for the length of my warranty. This factor militates against buying a Gateway.
Do I need that port duplicator replicator procrastinator thingy? Sounds like a Really Cool Thing if you’re a heavy user, which I don’t think I will be.
So, whaddaya think, folks? How much processor power do I really need? How much RAM? Please let me know…
Start looking in stores for unadvertised specials - I found my Compaq shortly after Christmas brand new at Circuit City for $549.
It allows wireless access when I’m on campus, internet, word processing and the like. Also has a DVD player and a CD burner. Does what I need it to do (and more), and it was a great price.
HPs are ok, but my the favorite one I’ve ever had (for work) was a Toshiba SatellitePro. Heavy, yeah, but had enough power.
Dunno if you’re preemptively devoted to the use of Microsoft operating systems or not, but if you’re open to the possibility of a Mac, I’m typing this on a 1998-vintage PowerBook. That’s a five year old laptop, and I expect at least one more year before needing to replace it with something with sharper teeth and more modern accoutrements.
Mac laptops (PowerBooks) are solid, they tend to be more upgradeable than you’d expect from a laptop (this one was born with a 300 MHz G3, 128 MB RAM, 8 GB HD, no USB, video mirroring only, and MacOS 8.1 preinstalled; in its current form it has a 500 MHz G4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB HD, USB, (I could also add FireWire), and I’m running an extended dual-screen Desktop, under MacOS 9, and could boot from MacOS X with a couple clicks and a restart).
The diminuitive little 12-incher in the modern lineup is incredibly portable and runs either MacOS X or a PowerPC Linux distribution, all Unix builds, and while not cheap, not exorbitantly expensive if you shop around and comparison-shop between vendors. Very sharp 1024x768 built-in screen plus extended-desktop video-out, good speed, and weighs about as much as a restaurant placemat.
I think you should stop at a few places that have floor samples to try out. Ask questions there, too. Also search the Internet if you find a model you might want. I have a Toshiba Satellite and love it. It’s my 2nd one.
I would second the idea of getting a Mac, but an iBook, not a PowerBook. The reason is that the G3 is one of the most energy efficient processors on the market. I recently bought one of their low end iBooks. It’s 700MHz processor is only slightly slower in real performance than my 1.2GHz Duron in my desktop box. As far as price for performance, an iBook is one of the best deals you can get.
What sold me originally was the long battery life. I haven’t used a Mac since our MacIIsi (10ish years ago), but this thing is really cool, and it will run for over 4 hours of normal usage (with the wireless card running) on one charge. When I’m running my CD drive full speed the whole time, it runs about 3:15 or so.
The downside is that they are not as customizeable as some other laptops (I don’t mean upgradeable, I mean choice when you buy it. I wanted a DVD player in mine, too, but I couldn’t just upgrade the DVD drive, I also had to buy the faster processor, the bigger hard drive, etc. The end result was that I didn’t want to spend an additional $300 for a DVD player and a bunch of stuff I didn’t need).
That’s what I recommend too. Remember, laptop keyboards are non-standard and cannot be exchanged. Don’t get stuck with a crappy keyboard. I only buy IBM laptops now because I know they’re serious about making good keyboards.
Don’t go with an HP. I have one. It’s given me no end of problems. Admittedly, it’s been subject to heavy use, but it had problems even before the usage got really heavy.
I’ve heard very good things about Macs. However, if you are going to be doing a lot of transferring, you might want to go with whatever OS you have on your desktop. Just to simple things up.
Hmmmm. I have to admit I hadn’t seriously considered Apple, mainly because I have a preconceived notion that they’re not the greatest value. Very pretty, dependable, but you pay a lot for that. Is my view outdated?
That and I do have to compose my stories (I’m a writer) in Word, but I gather the conversion process is not nearly as painful as it used to be.
Good point about floor samples, I’ll take a quick run during lunch.
I don’t like BB rebates too much but here is one laptop they have now (from spoofee.com):
BestBuy has the vpr Matrix™ Notebook with Mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor 1.7GHz, 256mb DDR, 14.1" XGA TFT-LCD, 30gb hard drive, DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo, ATI RADEON 7500, and more for $799.99 after rebate.
"Dell Biz: Inspiron 1100 laptop 2GHz CDRW + Free Palm $699 shipped, expiring Apr. 1 Send this hot deal to a friend deal talk
Exp 4/2. Dell Small Business has the following promotions on notebooks. 1) up to $200 instant discount + $100 rebate. 2) free Palm Zire, Lexmark Z35 Inkjet Printer, or Largan Digital Camera! 3) Free Year of Next Business Day On-Site Service after rebate on select Inspiron notebooks. 4) Free CD-RW Upgrade on Inspiron notebooks. 5) Free LCD Upgrade on Inspiron 8500 notebook. 6) Free shipping."
That second one looks better. You get it from Dell.
If a Mac is able to communicate with your employer’s corporate networks (and it should, especially if Word is your only requirement), then consider a new iBook. The value for the base model is great at $999–very light, easy to use, and the CPU is fast enough for anything you may need. My wife has the next one up the line with the combo burner DVD player and we both fight over using it, even though my desktop is no slouch either.
OxyMoron, your preconceived notion is correct… to a point. Apple products are, on the whole, significantly lower pwered than their x86 counterparts. The gap is narrowing in some places, and expanding in others.
One of the places it is lowering, though, is in the notebook market, specifically in the low-end notebook market. The iBook is, in my opinion (Somewhat sub-expert, but very knowledgeable about computers, and I researched my laptop purchase for several months), near the best value you can get for a notebook.
Specifically, compared to other low-end (about $1000) notebooks, the iBook has much better power consumption, but a slower processor and a slightly smaller screen than most (12" vs 14" usually). You can of course get an iBook with that size screen, but it costs more. The slower processor is unlikely to make much of a difference at all for the tasks you mentioned.
Also, Microsoft Office is available on Mac OS, so you don’t have to give up Word.
WHATEVER notebook you get, be sure to do some research into the model’s ruggedness and reliability if you’re going to drag it around a lot.
I have a Compaq Presario 1800T, and it’s spent 2+ years being dragged around inside a wheelie bag. Since this past Christmas, I’ve had problems with the video adapter, to the point that it will only boot 1 try in every 4. The problems always pop up after I’ve hauled it off to school in that bag; if I leave on my desk, it works fine. My theory is that the vibration and shock has shaken something loose inside.
I bought that model based on on reports of other characteristics, such as the ease of use of the keyboard, the LCD screen characteristics, etc. I’m 110% certain that if it spent it’s time solely on my desk, I wouldn’t be having the problems I have now.
Depending on what the repair place says today when I take it in, I may have it fixed, or I might spring for a desktop and a PDA instead.