Help please...

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › Help please...

DawneM

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#4280 27-Jun-2005 09:39

Hello everyone, can anyone please give me some advice on what I need in a good notebook/laptop? I am on the verge of buying one but i would like a bit of advice from those in the know as I am strictly a novice. I would want something that can handle my many photo's, music,DVD etc also of course some bookwork,hehe. Please your ideas will be sooo helpful to me.

freitasm

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#16007 27-Jun-2005 10:08

I think these days is a little bit of design preferences. You certainly will find lots of laptops that look different, but with samer power and minor differences.

First, is this going to be your primary PC? If yes, and if you have a Digital Video Camera, try findin one with Firewire. At least two USB 2.0 ports is good, and certainly the faster hard drive the better - but this will cost more on laptops. I wouldn't start with anything with less than 512MB RAM (I've upgraded my tablet PC to 1GB as soon as I bought it).

Are you planning to use it to play DVD at home or while travelling? Battery life will be a problem then, most laptops will last around 3 hours if playing a DVD and not plugged to power, so plan for it. Also, some have external DVD, which is a pain if you want to watch a movie while travelling.

Make sure you have a good backup device - at least an external 60GB USB 2.0 would be a good investment, if you have pictures and files you don't lost if the laptop goes missing or its HDD fails.

Also, if available make sure to buy a docking station. It's worth if you are working long hours in front of your laptop. I have one to use with my tablet PC and a cordless keyboard/mouse combo attached to it.

Talking about cordless, make sure you get something with Wi-Fi.

Have you considered a tablet PC? Toshiba has just announced one for retail here in New Zealand, and it looks good, although the price is a little bit higher than a normal laptop.

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mike

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#16021 27-Jun-2005 15:24

I'll recommend Apple, the 15" powerbook is very nice to work on full time. And if you want something portable the 12" iBook is a solid machine (especially on a budget).

Apple laptops come with everything you'll need included (wifi, bluetooth, cd writer/dvd, usb2, , firewire, large hdd, very nice software and a virus/spyware free environment).

www.apple.com/powerbook
www.apple.com/ibook

johnr

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#16023 27-Jun-2005 15:58

I'm using one of the new sony vaio laptops and its great but wish it had BT built in but got BT dongle and its paired up with my V800 and works great

DawneM

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#16025 27-Jun-2005 16:21

hi john, I was looking at the vaio. excuse my ignorance but what is BT?

johnr

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#16026 27-Jun-2005 16:26

BT=Bluetooth I also have a Vodafone connect card (GPRS only) which sometimes I put my SIM in but its not 3G so tend to use the V800 lots more and no conflicts yet (fingers crossed).

johnr

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#16029 27-Jun-2005 16:34

The sony backup service I got after purchase was second to none, The batt was not lasting very long so took the laptop into sony in Auckland city and they swaped the batt out with no issues. Just showed them my proof of purchase. I was very pleased and no issues since.

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#16048 27-Jun-2005 19:56

I second Mike's recommendation. I've had my iBook for 2.5 years, and I'll be aiming to buy another in the next 6 months or so.

If you could be more specific about how you intend to use your machine, then it might be easier to make a recommendation. Personally, I use my machine mainly for Internet access, with a bit of low-demand gaming on the side, and my main priorities are ease of use and reliability. If your requirements are different to mine, then you might need to look beyong my recommendation!

DawneM

21 posts

Geek

#16056 27-Jun-2005 20:28

Hey guys, thanks for all the advice. Im slowly getting there, I really just want something I can take with me when I head off to NZ, with internet access to keep up with my emails etc, something to download my photos to store until I can get them to my PC, watch DVDs.

barf

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#16936 22-Jul-2005 12:59

I'd like to reccomend any laptop powered by a Transmeta (Crusoe, or Efficieon) chip.

I used a Fujitsu one once and was very impressed. The laptop was hardly bigger than a VHS casette tape and when Linux was running on it the battery life was amazing (~10 hours).

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