non audio: laptops

camn

camn

Active member
Hi, guys. I need to get my lady a laptop, right.. and she wants a new one... and , like, I dont know a damn thing about who makes a good laptop.

so, like, who makes a good laptop?
Are all laptop mainboards created equal?
How heavy is heavy?
should she get a Dell?
are floppy drives out like plaid?

your thoughts are appreciated.

xoxo
 
Do you just want this laptop for her to use or do you wanna accidentally buy her a laptop that you can use for recording? we would need to know that first...
 
I use a Dell at work...its a fine machine, very light weight. No crashes with WIN2k Pro since I got it. About 1.5 years now.
Marty, the title was Non-Audio laptop;)
 
I picked up a Compaq Armada 700 MHz PIII. The floppy is an external unit the hooks up to a parrallel port. It has a DVD drive in it, 256M of RAM. It's pretty cool.
 
Its true.. non-audio is fine. I have my own hardware.

Thos desknotes... Ive seen them.. and I think I was interested.. but what does it mean "external battery"? Do you always have to wire up the battery, or what?? It just doesnt make sense. Is it designed to plug into the wall?

xoxo
 
The desknote comes with a power supply you plug into the wall. You can run it off battery power, but as you pointed out, it's an external battery. which you buy separately. The desknote really wasn't designed to be run off a battery, but you can do it. This might bother some, but it really doesn't bother me since I've never really had to run a computer off a battery.

There are a lot of options for the desknote....so if you shop around, you might be able to put a system together for considerably less than you'd put out for a comprable name brand notebook pc. However, if price isn't an issue, you might want to go for something a little more sexy.
 
Price is always an issue. I just want to get her something *good* that wont give her any problems. She wants a warantee, which I think is a good Idea, cuz of the monitor.. so new is a good deal.

I know a considerable amount about desktops... but Laptops not a thing@!

anyway.... what should I avoid??

xoo
 
I would avoid Compaq. Every one of their notebooks that I have seen develops a loose hinge on the monitor and gets sloppy.

Dells and Gateways are generally pretty safe, but...I guess I just don't like them all that much. See what you like, though. I've never heard any hardware complaints from all the folks around me who own gateways. (The last tech guy here was a gateway fanatic and he convinced lots of people to buy them.)

I do like Sony's and Toshiba's. The Sony's tend to hold their value better than most and the Toshiba's are a good value.

Use all the same desktop harware knowledge that you have. Make sure the screen is nice as that is what she is going to notice the most. Concider the 3 year warranty extension that most stores will try to sell you. Its not a bad idea since notebooks are more prone to damage than desktop computers.

I'm not familiar with the many other brands out there. I'm currently geeking on a vpr Matrix widescreen laptop from Best Buy. I do lots of video work so the wide screen really called me. Its a sexy machine and I love it, but might not be what the doctor ordered for the lady.

Enjoy the hunt!

Chris
 
Consumer Reports latest mag did a review on laptops. I don't personally know much about laptops myself... and am kinda looking and learning myself for a possible purchase for my daughter. I have found Consumer Reports reviews to be an interesting place to start... but be aware that their criteria may not agree with yours on certain issues.

I believe the top two in their ratings were a Toshiba and a Gateway.... don't remember which models.

Good luck.
 
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