…because I am really clueless here. Currently my husband and I share an aging desktop which has held up well and still does most of what it is supposed to. Unfortunately what it doesn’t do anymore is reliably allow me to open and save to floppy discs–yes, it still uses floppies–which makes word processing a crap shoot because I never know whether I’ll be able to access a given file ever again. And that just sort of defeats the whole purpose of having things on disc.
I just learned that I will be getting a nice bonus at work (seems that our location exceeded the expectations the corporate office had lowered), and I’ve decided I need to use the money for a second computer, probably a laptop. With a laptop my three season office in an old outbuilding would become much more official.
Basically what I need is a glorified typewriter. That reliably remembers things. And prints them*. I’m not into games, and I don’t care too much about internet access. (The desktop works just fine for that.) I won’t be using it to watch movies. I really just need the word processing.
Does anyone have any suggestions/warnings/testimonials?
Sounds like any $400 laptop will do you just fine. Or, if you are into ultra-portability, a Netbook will also be plenty good enough (at around $300).
If you insist on sticking with floppy disks, expect to buy a $50 USB external floppy drive. You won’t find too many laptops with the drive built in anymore. But I’d dump the floppy drive altogether and go with USB flash drives: much higher capacity and MUCH more reliable.
If you’re a touch typist, buy a computer keyboard. Laptop keyboard are too small and also very awkward to type on. The keyboard should plug right into the laptop and increase your speed.
Second endorsement of an Alphasmart product–I use a Dana Wireless and I love it. The fact that it doesn’t not have an easily accessible web brower is a plus for me–that way, I write instead of surfing the net so much! AMAPAC
Thanks for your replies so far. I actually didn’t realize it was possible to hook up a full-size keyboard and a regular mouse to a laptop, and that’s definitely something I will plan to do. And no, I won’t insist upon sticking with floppy discs. I’m ready for something that actually works.
While I personally have a Macbook Pro and Dell XPSM1210 both of which have serviceable keyboards, I really lust for the Keyboard on Lenovo (IBM) thinkpads.
You can get The new Thinkpad Edge starting at $570 which from all reviews has a pretty good keyboard or get Thinkpad SL or a Refurbished T series or R series from the Lenovo Outlet Store to get a machine with the traditional Thinkpad keyboard.
While having an external Keyboard is probably going to be better, you lose most of the utility of getting a laptop is you need to use an external keyboard if you need to do any writing. As such if writing is most important, then The keyboard should be the biggest priority on a machine, before looking at the other feature.
My recommendation, if your on a budget would be to grab one of thinkpad SL400 or 500’s which can be had starting at $375 Refurbed or $500 new. If you want portability (which I usually think is equally important) I’ll consider getting the Edge, as you’ll get a lightweight machine which has a good keyboard, but is also a modern machine.
For my money, I would look for a second hand Thinkpad on craigslist. Every computer made in the last 8 years can do what you want but the classic Thinkpads we build with some of the best keyboards on the market. In Seattle, such machines seem to be selling between $100 & $200.
In the meantime: Get yourself an online email account if you don’t already have one, like Yahoo or Google Mail. Now, when you save your file at the end of your session, email yourself the file as an attachment. Keep it in your online email account. (To be really safe, set up 2 accounts and email it to both. That’s what I do with my important work files that I do at home. You can use 7-Zip and compress the whole folder and email it.) You will now have a foolproof backup that you can access from anywhere with an internet connection.
When you get your new laptop, don’t overlook internet access. It’s very useful for looking up stuff while you’re typing - spelling of foreign phrases, dates, downloading Word templates, and wirelessly printing to the printer. And emailing yourself your files as backups if you’re not the type to burn backup discs religiously.
I would have agreed with you a few years ago. Then, due to circumstances beyond my control, I ended up using a laptop as my primary computer for a while. I got used to it, and now I VASTLY prefer the laptop keyboard for typing, even for long tomes. The range of motion required is so much smaller and easier than for a standard keyboard…TRM
For online backup solutions, there are easier ways than emailing every file to yourself.
There are many online storage services such as dropbox, which syncs a folder on your hard drive any time you have internet access.
Dropbox (fixed your link) sounds cool. When I was looking a while back, I chose DriveHQ, which has less storage space, but allows you to set up web pages.
Some people like laptop keyboards, but I can’t stand them for long stretches of serious typing as I like to kick back not hunch over a screen. Get an external wireless keyboard and mouse combo. Try several in the store.
I would also suggest an external 22"-24" monitor.
A lot of the latest HP notebooks have credit card sized remote controls you can turn the unit on and off with with even needing to open the lid.
For your use a notebook around $450-$650 should work fine.
For the past two years I’ve typed an average of 5,000 words per day, every day on my laptop (a Toshiba). I hate regular keyboards now - they feel too big and clunky.
You may have got used to it by habit and the range of motion may be smaller and seem easier but longer term that may not do you any good as you’ll be making smaller more restricted repetative movements. Ideally you probably want a variety of wider movements to help prevent RSI
