computer advice please - help request

[earwigmc]

hi all. i'm thinking you'll all have something to say about this subject, being that you're all using some kind of device to access the internet and access this site. some of you might have more to say/add to the matter than others.

i'm looking to sort out my computer/pc/whatever situation, at home and in the van. many of you will know i currently

Comments

[calum]

You can do speech recognition with Dragon Dictate on an iPad. Depending on your voice, it seems to work pretty well, or pretty badly.. so worth having a try on someones iPad or iPhone.. (but reset the training first, or it'll be trying to recognise THEIR voice)..

Unless I needed a tiny laptop, I wouldnt buy a netbook to run windows. There are small cheap laptops based on CULV processors that can do way more than netbooks can.

If its useful to you, I get staff discount on Toshiba stuff, and am allowed to buy for friends, but the discount is pretty small on the cheaper end stuff (like netbooks).

[earwigmc]

thanks :)

a friend mentioned dictate... and that it worked okay, but wasn't so easy to switch between voice input and keyboard input. good to know re it going either way re how well it works for an individual - will try and try if i can.

=nods= seems that a laptop is winning over a netbook re usefulness.

cool re toshiba discount - will get in touch if it looks like i'm wanting to buy a toshiba :)

[calum]

Cool.. It was worth trying..

If you want a tablet style laptop, the Toshiba Portege M750/M780 are used by people at my work, and they like them.. Not cheap though.

for example:
http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Portege-M750-12F/1076341/
around £1200 normal price.. (£834 with discount)

[burntgorilla]

Some thoughts about the netbook - I'm very happy with the one I've got (first generation Acer Aspire One) but it's not always very fast. These days a high-spec netbook costs as much as a laptop, the latter being better value for money

[earwigmc]

good to read your experiences, thanks :) and most of the input i'm getting seems to be suggesting laptop over netbook.

cool re thoughts re mac.

yes, heard about tablet pcs just last night. i hadn't come across them either. have started looking and reading a bit today. be great to hear re liz's research if that's available in any publicly accessible format! (or they're happy for you to pass it on to me). reading about touchscreen pcs there seems to be single touch and multi touch - i think the multi touch can respond in similar ways an ipad does - where you can pinch the screen to manipulate stuff, etc. i'm guessing a single touch you can't do that (doesn't sense more than one touch point)(which could be useful if you're a bit shaky, i guess).

i don't think i understand/know enough about linux to do what you suggest to run windows software. i wonder if i can learn...

cool re small external hard drives and power :)

and kewl re video editing crash course! ;)

[rhialto]

The two or three features I liked most about netbooks don't seem to exist any more: very small and light, no moving parts (in particular no hard disk, but a Solid State Disk), and no MessyWindows. Everything seems to have grown, MessyWindows needs more storage space than Linux/other Unix, and therefore SSDs have disappeared again in favour of rotating magnetic platters. Unfortunately, those are much less resistant to shocks; my Eee 901 with 20 GB of SSD already fell from a chair on a concrete floor and survived; I doubt a hard disk would have.
So, I'm not sure what I'm saying here except perhaps that the advantages of a netbook are smaller than they are/were made out to be.

[earwigmc]

thanks :) yeah, i get what you were saying. looking around i've noticed a few with SSD as optional, but HDD seems standard on most.. and yes, re storage space wrt OS, etc =nods= your eee 901 sounds good and bouncy ;) i've been admiring some of the tougher rougher tablets and laptops ;)

[calum]

Oh, and for pure gadget fun, check these guys:
http://uk.dynamism.com/

They import laptops/tablets/netbooks that arent usually available outside Japan, and support them in UK/US

[earwigmc]

nice! ;D