Comments | dostoevsky_girl: computer advice

dostoevsky_girl

computer advice

Jun 18, 2008 22:44

so, let's say you were gonna buy yourself a laptop. you've never really actually owned a computer all yours before, so you want new, not used/preowned. you don't really have an OS preference, tho if you end up going PC, you'd prolly be inclined to try to finagle a way to get XP, as you keep hearing how much vista sucks ( Read more... )

Comments 14

snakelegs June 19 2008, 03:11:49 UTC

coming from someone who knows squat about computers, I can tell you that I LOVE love my MacBook. I have two; one from Bob for my own use and pretty much teh ame one for work.
It is fast, efficient, the Mac system is very user friendly and intuitive to use, and best of all? I dont have problems. With my Dell and Windows, which was also high end when I bought it, I got a virus that was a huge problem, i had windows popping up on me and problems bob had to fix.
I never have problems (that i dont make on my own) with the Mac.
I will also say that most media people I know and publications, designers, use Macs so its something to consider if you ever wnat to try to sell or do stuff and have systems work togther.

but that's a person who is a user and not a geek; its like a car to me. I need it to turn on and "work."

dostoevsky_girl June 19 2008, 03:20:39 UTC

and the "it just works-ness" of macs is verrrrryyyy appealing to me. the price tag scares me tho. especially for the 15 inchers. i guess i need to go see a 13 incher in person before ruling it out- cause i could prolly afford a 13inch mac w/o going into the poorhouse.

moad_terran_hq June 19 2008, 03:41:31 UTC

That was exactly what I was going to suggest. I like my iBook - but the 14" screen is about as small as I would want for major usage. However, I never thought I would get used to watching movies on my iPod, which I do a lot now - so check out the resolution on those new macbooks (I keep seeing refurbs at the Apple Store site for around/under $1000).

Worst case scenario, you could always buy a lcd monitor to use with it at home later on if you need a bigger screen....

Oh, and dual booting means you won't even have to give up any PC stuff you like.

pengcognito June 19 2008, 19:29:32 UTC

Plus, external monitors are getting cheaper every day.

catwho June 19 2008, 03:38:33 UTC

For a PC laptop, I'd take a look at what NewEgg has available.

You can sort by all the things you were listing -- OS, screen size, etc -- and sign up for daily deals emailed to you. My current PC of doom was a "refurbished" model, or so it said, but in actuality it was just the retired 2007 model that HP was trying to get rid of cheap. Brand new on the HP website the 2008 version was $900; off Newegg I got it for $360.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000260032+103980226+1044906965&Configurator=&Subcategory=32&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

Search screen for 15" runnning Windows XP Pro.

I recommend Toshiba, and suggest avoiding Compaq, just from Lothar's personal experience with them. His Toshiba is on year 4 whereas his Vaio and Compaqs both croaked within 2 years.

sister_katana June 19 2008, 03:42:38 UTC

i know you really want a brand spankin' new one...
but to get the price down, you might want to look into an official apple refurbished laptop. it's like getting a 'certified' used car. my ipod is a refurb... my mom's mac is a refurb...
and there have been no troubles with either of them.

sister_katana June 19 2008, 03:45:00 UTC

oops... this was supposed to be a reply to snakelegs's post.
hopefully that will give some (possibly) needed context. :)

snakelegs June 19 2008, 14:26:08 UTC

Yes, actually my personal computer laptop is refurbished and I would never know the difference.
I did plunk down the $350 for the 2 years of coverage; and when I broke the thing (all my fault) I brought it to the Mac store at Vcitor and they fixed it pronto. For free. It was worth it and I was happy with the service.
No calling INdia as I did with Dell. That was a nightmare.

The other thing I would say is bob first took me to look at various laptops and when I saw the macbook and its small screen, i was very nervous. i just didnt think I could get used to it. I use it mostly for writing and then for my phtoos and now I am completely used to it and its fine. the smallish screen does not seem small for me.
I dont play video games htough so it may be different for that.

dostoevsky_girl June 19 2008, 12:53:52 UTC

yeah, it's not so much worries about a used one being less reliable, it's just the silly selfish "i want something shiny and new and all mine" impulse.

kalessindb June 19 2008, 04:54:27 UTC

Newegg is full of win for pretty much anything computer related.

Alienware makes amazing laptops, desktops, and anything... but unless you tripped and fell into a pile of money recently, I don't think that's where you're looking...

As far as software for a PC goes... my number hasn't changed. Call me.

transer June 19 2008, 12:44:51 UTC

First choice, imo, is a MacBook or MacBook Pro. I don't think it's a secret I'm a big fan of Macs, but they have earned my fandom. I'd probably lean towards a MacBook, in your case-the internals are almost the same as the Pro version. You only give up a little screen space for a machines that's about half the price-good deal, imo. Refurb is a good way to go, too, you'll save a couple hundred bucks that way. One advantage to getting the Mac-it runs Windows too. You can set it up to dual boot, or if you absolutely hate Mac OS X, you can just install Windows. The biggest problem I can see, is that I can't imagine you with a white MacBook, and the black one is more expensive ( ... )