Author Topic: Laptop advice.  (Read 811 times)

Under the moon

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Laptop advice.
« on: November 08, 2005, 01:25:45 am »
Howdy folks. :)

I am here today to pose a few questions to the knowledgably inclined. My youngest sister has begun the vast and sometimes traitorous journey into College Land, and has found the need to procure a laptop computer able to suite her needs. Her needs are simple, not being of the gamer or graphics type. Most of the use of this pc will be for writing papers.

The following are her requirements:

Reliable- She is on the road to being an orthopedic surgeon, and cannot afford to lose a single paper to a temperamental or otherwise rabidly behaving computer.

Cheap as possible- Let?s face it, college kids are poor.

Mobil- She is one tough cookie, and in great shape, but does not want to have to haul around something weighing the same as a lead brick. A gargantuan screen with all the bells and whistles is not needed or wanted. Something battery friendly would be a plus.

Simple- She can name most of the organs and bones in your body, but doesn?t know a gfx card from a hard drive. The same with programs and OSs.

Familiar- Sorry folks, this means it would most likely have to be a Win based pc. You can offer up alternatives though. If the cost is good, then perhaps she would go a different route.

Internet- A must. Half her classes have partially online materials. Home use will be dial-up. :( School use will be wireless. WiFi, I think.

DVD- Unnecessary, but a plus.

I thank anyone who can point me in the right direction.

Kiern

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« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2005, 01:38:36 am »
I can\'t be much help if you\'re looking for anything specific, but a cheap Dell is what seems to be the most popular around my college..

steuben

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« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2005, 01:38:55 am »
what is she studying?... (edit) life sciences...

for math, eng, some(many?) sciences a laptop is useless for taking notes. better off getting a desktop at that point.

(edit)

given that it is meds a desktop would be better. and a burner, since she wants to keep everything.

a good laser printer maybe a good additional investment. cheaper to run then an ink jet. and the print job looks better.

« Last Edit: November 08, 2005, 01:44:47 am by steuben »
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Under the moon

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« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2005, 02:01:31 am »
Thank you for answering, sirs. The Dell is a likely option, though I have a dislike for them. A desktop is not an option due to the need to take it wherever she may roam. Also, I will be building my own desktop in a few weeks, which she will be hostilely taking over whenever she needs. As she is a freshman this year, her notes are not extreme, and processing power will be at a minimum.

Cha0s

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« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2005, 02:15:43 am »
You\'re describing a Mac near-perfectly (the iBook, actually), but you said you want a Win PC, so... :( Well, I\'ll make my recommendation anyway. :P

This is the configuration I\'d suggest (you may be able to drop $100-150 off with a student discount).

--Just checked:
Normal price: $1,327.00
Education discount price: $1,181.00

I can tell you from personal experience that Macs are intuitive, simple, reliable, and easy to use, but it really depends on the person. My suggestion would be to visit an Apple Store (only one in Wisconsin) or an Apple reseller (you can search for them here) and check it out.

P.S. If you get to the Apple Store, I\'d suggest sitting in on a Getting Started or Mac OS X Workshop to get a feel for how the OS works (times posted on the Apple Store page at above link). Of course you can also just play around on the computers as well. ;)
« Last Edit: November 08, 2005, 02:27:37 am by Cha0s »
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Keyaz

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« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2005, 04:30:19 am »
my old man just bought himself a dell inspiron 6000 for ?600 of the old queens gold

it\'s not the smallest thing, but it\'ll go in a decnt size satchel and just feel like a book, runs pretty well, win OS and is pretty muc hready to go as soon as you turn it onfor the first time.

the dell notebooks are well worth a looking into, as long as they have a fare share of ram, unlike my brothers desktop, that thing lags like a monkey on crack.

steuben

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« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2005, 04:53:38 am »
and a portable external hard drive. these puppies are nice for two reasons. one easy to move _huge_ files around. second, if she religiously backup her data files on there it provides a good backup for when her laptop gets lost/stolen/fubared and needs to be replaced/repaired/warrenty work.
may laanx frighten the shadow from my path.
hardly because the shadow built the lexx.
the shadow will frighten laanx from my path.

derwoodly

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« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2005, 05:03:32 pm »
Backup smackup, you can fit anything a freshmen can type on a oldfashion 3 1/2 inch flopydrive.  If that is not sexy enough for you, get a 128 MB USB thumb drive or some other USB back up device.

I also agree with others on getting a desktop.  It is a whole lot easier to type on a full size keyboard.  For portability you could get some sort of palmtop.

my 2 cents

Cha0s

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« Reply #8 on: November 09, 2005, 12:29:04 am »
You\'d be surprised. The Mac keyboards are very well-done. I\'m on a 15-inch laptop and have no trouble typing at good speed.
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Efflixi Aduro

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« Reply #9 on: November 09, 2005, 02:48:47 am »
1 word of advice, microsoft works sucks big time make sure the comp you get has word on it instead.
Lol Internet

verideon

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« Reply #10 on: November 09, 2005, 11:27:29 am »
Quote
Originally posted by Efflixi Aduro
1 word of advice, microsoft works sucks big time make sure the comp you get has word on it instead.


I strongly Agree with that statement your honour, hey, wait this aint no courtroom. *Your excused* thankyou your honour, WTF. anyway i\'m over that. yes Works sucks Word is best :P but make sure you register it before it loses activation period or your stuck with the horrid Microsoft Wordpad 8(.

A guy in a Computer store told me in these words [Never buy Laptops. Most burn out within the next 2 years] I\'m guessing he\'s incorrect :P. If I get anything it might be a notebook thingymaboby :D
yes... i\'m addicted to smilies :P:):D;), get me mental help peoples....

lanser

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« Reply #11 on: November 09, 2005, 11:59:07 am »
Quote
Originally posted by Efflixi Aduro
1 word of advice, microsoft works sucks big time make sure the comp you get has word on it instead.


I would suggest you try Suse 10 as an alternative OS but at least try Open Office 2 it\'s as good as M$ office, opens and saves in .doc, .xls and .ppt plus even with the M$ student discount it\'s still cheaper just the cost of a blank CD and a download :) get it from Here

*edit emphasis added by me
« Last Edit: November 09, 2005, 12:02:02 pm by lanser »
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Drey

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« Reply #12 on: November 09, 2005, 02:30:56 pm »
Quote
Originally posted by verideon
A guy in a Computer store told me in these words [Never buy Laptops. Most burn out within the next 2 years] I\'m guessing he\'s incorrect :P. If I get anything it might be a notebook thingymaboby :D


well all technology becomes obsolete after a week (or something pretty close to that). also with laptops there is like a non upgrade ability for them, where as with desktops if you have the right things you can add new bits. and then theres the thing that desktops are just more powerful.

and on the MS office front, you can get a student discount over here, not sure on there. and like with all these things there is always a friend with a cd.
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