Laptop for wifey

RatLabGuy

RatLabGuy

You look like a monkey and smell like one too
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
Churchville, MD
Tiem to break down and get a laptop for the wife.
She won't use it for high-end graphics or anything, however I do see her doing a lot of digital photo/scrapbooking stuff on it, and at least offloading and minor editing of videos from our camera.

This whole Vista thing is annoying, we are perfectly happy w/ XP... yet all the OEMs are being forced to abandon it, and you have to pay more to get it. Grrr.

So what's the actual (not MS stated) minimums for running Vista Premium? Is 1 gig memory really sufficient? (The idea of an OS requiring that is rediculous IMO) how about the integrated Intel video - good enough?

I've alwaus gone for the the philosophy of getting higher-end nVidia cards etc so i'm not familiar w/ the basic stuff.
 
check out dell outlet, you can still get some new XP units....
 
MAC
 
HP has served me well. It finally broke down near the end of it's three-year extended warranty. I'm glad I bought that, because it wasn't the usual power connector. I disassembled it and checked that before remembering I actually bought a warranty on it! It was the MoBo. Unfortunately, the one they replaced it with is flaky too. However, Bust Buy is still covering it under warranty. It has performed exceptionally well for the abuse we've put it through. I would buy one over a Dell any day. Toshiba seems to offer some good bang for the buck, too. As for Vista, I haven't used it yet, but I've heard 1G is the absolute minimum. I agree, it's silly. Don't like it? Try Linux! ;) Seems like computers with 2 and 3 gigs of ram are getting cheaper, though. For what she's doing, that's going to serve you better than an upgraded graphics chipset.
 
For Vista, I have 2 gigs on my desktop at home and hate it.
I really think 2 gigs is the minimum to make Vista happy.
I would pay the extra to get 2gb in a new laptop.

As for which laptop, I would stalk slickdeals.net and wait for somewhere to have a deal on one that's pretty good.

Personally, I hate dell's quality and feel. If for anything other than gaming, I'm a big fan of Lenovo. I like the idea of having metal hinges, and drain holes through the keyboard.

(My last t42 is still running fine, according to the former coworker who inherited it, and I managed to drive over it with the jeep. Twice. :( )
 
^My x31 finally died after being dropped from 10' off the moving truck last year. tp's take a hell of a beating though and keep on ticking. I bought a compaq with vista and just wasn't happy with performance at 2gig of ram but I was also running cad which runs like crap on vista period.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Tiem to break down and get a laptop for the wife.
She won't use it for high-end graphics or anything, however I do see her doing a lot of digital photo/scrapbooking stuff on it, and at least offloading and minor editing of videos from our camera.
This whole Vista thing is annoying, we are perfectly happy w/ XP... yet all the OEMs are being forced to abandon it, and you have to pay more to get it. Grrr.
So what's the actual (not MS stated) minimums for running Vista Premium? Is 1 gig memory really sufficient? (The idea of an OS requiring that is rediculous IMO) how about the integrated Intel video - good enough?
I've alwaus gone for the the philosophy of getting higher-end nVidia cards etc so i'm not familiar w/ the basic stuff.
Click to expand...

Ok, I am still ordering XP laptops for all my clients at Dell (main website, there is a link to all current XP avail machines.)

I would not get a Vista with less than 2 gig of ram and a vid card is a good idea too.

Cheapest I have seen is Dell Vostro 1000, AMD 1.9 Ghz, 2 gig of Ram, 15.4" screen, XP HOME, 120 gig HD, DVD and wireless, $594.60. (Quote in front of me, machine just came in / client coming to get it)

Don't think Vostro allows me to upgrade vid ram but I can check, PM me if you want...

We have yet to buy Vista for clients, have a couple that are on it already / supported them but PITA and too much crap they move/hide it seems like.

Real good chance a NEW OS will be out in a year or so and skip vista altogether... so snag ya an XP and skip the Vista generation.
 
SHINTON said:
so snag ya an XP and skip the Vista generation.
Click to expand...
As someone that was stupid enough to install Vista Ultimate,
(free copy from MS at their release event. Also got free breakfast, lunch, cooler, and a tv) I can honestly say, I have been miserable since installing it.
All, and I mean ALL of my apps, run like absolute CRAP.
I'm buying a new computer shortly, (well bits for a new compie) so i figured I'd put Vista on. I mean, it can't be THAT bad can it?
OH I was sooooo wrong.
After 4 hours I was almost able to play some video games.
The ONLY thing I've found that runs out of the box, Call of Duty 4.
And when I say "runs" I mean stutters. I was playing with good fps at 1280x1024 and decent settings. Now I'm at 1024x768 with lower settings, and it lags bad enough I went from consistently finishing 1-3 place in a round, to middle of the pack at best.
UT 3, about the same thing, only I can't even get it to the point I can beat my buddies. (With XP I was consistently doubling their scores)
:(
Other than sheer stupidity, I really should admit Vista beat me and go back to XP.
Hell server 2008 is better than Vista. (It uses less ram at idle. WTF?) And runs office etc better.

Oh well. Enough ranting about hating vista.
 
I had a mac a few years ago. I liked it but it really opens your eyes to what a world with limited software is like. Every small software company targets only windows. Bend-tech, your random chat client or illegal music downloading client is probably unavailable or not as good for the mac. (Unless you run parallels, which looks very cool.)

This article is worth reading. It covers the crapware problem on new PCs. http://news.cnet.com/PC-makers-walk-fine-line-with-crapware/2100-1041_3-6177050.html
 
Yeah, i will never understand all the hype about macs. I have used them, my girlfriend uses a macbook pro. I really cannot stand the thing, it doesn't do ANYTHING that a windows or linux machine won't do, and does nothing but make things more difficult as far as i am concerned, and cost a whole hell of a lot more than a comparable windows laptop would have. Hell i learned computing on apples in school, and still could never stand to use them.
 
i have a getac A770 military edition laptop. it is freaking alsome. its water proof, good for offroading, viabration resistant, also good for offroading, has a back lit keyboard, good for rock crawling at night. everything is built in, tough as hell. they will ripp your wallet to shreads if your not careful. check it out. www.getac.com
 
IBM /Lenovo (as most vendors) are selling Laptops with a downgrade option. I'm biased but short of a full on rugedized laptop thinkpads are a little better than most.

But reguardless that are a few things you can do to not destroy them.
-Lifting them with one hand by the corner with your thumb on top and fingers on the bottom... ya don't do that.
- Lifting it by the top of the screen in one corner (or just by the screen) ya don't do that..

FWIW: last announcement I saw support on XP runs through 2013... so plenty of time to switch to linux...
 
Ya, looks like I'm going to try and get a Lenovo/TP. My experience has been that of the older ones I've seen, rarely are the screens all wobbly... unlike 90% of the other manufacturers. Plus, she really prefers the eraser (nipple!) style mouse, not so many other mfgrs still use that.
Now just have to score a deal that comes w/ XP.
 
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