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Thread ID: 65659	2006-01-26 05:13:00	Laptop- where to look, what to buy!?	Sick Puppy (6959)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
424387	2006-01-26 05:13:00	Hi there, I want to buy a computer and am considering buying a laptop . It will be used for storing music/ burning MP3 CD's for car, internet, web cam stuff for family in UK, and if I get the chance, mixing music (but that's something for another forum thread!), and word processing/ document scanning etc, for which I'll be using MS Office . What I would like to know though, is: 1 . Where to look for current technology, what is available etc . , e . g . websites, magazines . It's been years since I've been computer shopping (P120's anyone?), and magazines I've looked at so far haven't really been of much help . I know that once I buy a laptop, the only thing I can upgrade is the RAM, so I want it to be as good as I can afford now . My budget is around $2-2500, and so far Asus keep on appearing as a really good deal . . . 2 . Brands to look at/ avoid- Repairing a laptop outside warranty will be hugely expensive, so I want reliability, and good after sales service within warranty would be good too! Any help you guys can give me would be much appreciated, so thanks in advance for your time!	Sick Puppy (6959)
424388	2006-01-26 05:22:00	Any help you guys can give me would be much appreciated, so thanks in advance for your time! Plenty of helpfull gals here too, OK? Personally I wouldn't touch a laptop unless I really was an archeologist out in the field or a oil expl. engineer or a poet or a schoolkid in some places or whoever else needs to be mobile and connected. Your middle-of-the-road PC does fine for all you want, why get a laptop?	mark c (247)
424389	2006-01-26 08:49:00	Well, I work in an office all day looking at a computer screen, so when I'm at home and don't want to see a computer, I can always fold it up and stick it in a drawer! :) Besides, I've always wanted a laptop ever since I was a kid, and while it will be spending most of its life on a desk, there will be times when I want to take it away with me somewhere! I figure on keeping it for about four years, and for comparable spec, I'm paying about $800 more for a laptop- about 50cents a day which I can live with, and once I've got it, there isn't anything else I'll want to add to it. Will bear in mind your comment about the gals!	Sick Puppy (6959)
424390	2006-01-26 08:56:00	OK fair enough SP. Hope it heals you up. :D	mark c (247)
424391	2006-01-26 13:47:00	You don't really need anything flash, since you're not going to do anything heavy duty (gaming, graphics...) from what you have said. Consider getting one from The Warehouse (Dell) and then add another 256MB meg RAM or 512 MB for the music-mixing stuff... I believe the one from The Warehouse actually comes with a DVD burner. Around 1200 NZ$ by the end :P. Hey hey, you still have some money to put away for that visit to the UK :P Or you can always ask your local computer shop to assemble one according to your specification - very convenient since you wouldn't be tied up in "limited warranty" debates with the customr-support people if your branded computer goes wrong somehow ;), and also you know exactly what goes in your laptop.	Amoki (9426)
424392	2006-01-27 02:24:00	. . . Or you can always ask your local computer shop to assemble one according to your specification . . . Unlikely . Laptops are manufactured by only a few companies in the world . It's a very specialised field . Of the components, only the hard disks are "commodity" items . And "your local computer shop" hasn't got anyone with fingers small enough . ;)	Graham L (2)
424393	2006-01-27 04:02:00	In a limited way can be made to specifications. The RAM and HDD can be chosen and the DVD drive or DVD Writer drive can be added by the per manufacturer of laptop. But you can't alter the screen or cpu or video card ie.. a faster 3D card for video games. Those will be decided by the specific model you chose. If you want a real upgradeability then its IBM but its not really a benefit becos the drives cost so much and an avg person won't need it anyway most of the time. You can swap out the optical drive and choose a CD or DVD or CDRW or DVDRW or Zip Drive or Super Floppy, or standard floppy 1.44MB or 2nd HDD or 2nd Battery. Not sure about this one but you maybe able to swap in a cellular GSM module. Talking about upgradability thou, if ya wants sounds Sound Blaster offers a 8.1 sound card PC Card I think. Some asian brands I think are v thin hence portable than the more known intl brands and some have a slide out tv remote which you can take out and the laptop has a integrated tv tuner builtin. But more on the serious side. Prob all you need is any laptop .. choose your own drive requirements, size/weight of laptop and size of screen. If you can live with a 12 or 13 inch screen you can hit intl brands at 1.2kg with or withhout any drives (apart from the HDD). If you go to some brands you can get this under 1kg. Price will come for portable laptops. The most sensible price are the avg laptops, the avg sized laptops. Generally laptops are std around 2.5kg is it? Then 1.6kg then 1.2 then under 1kg. The more portable ones tend tobe integrated graphics so not for games. But fine for other stuff. Not the best CPU eitiher so not for grunty stuffs.	Nomad (952)
424394	2006-01-27 05:41:00	Unlikely . Laptops are manufactured by only a few companies in the world . It's a very specialised field . Of the components, only the hard disks are "commodity" items . And "your local computer shop" hasn't got anyone with fingers small enough . ;) My bad . Always thought laptop computers can be custom-made, just like how PC can be :p .	Amoki (9426)
424395	2006-01-27 05:50:00	Oh, they can. Desktop cases are a commodity. They have plenty f room for any selection of components. Except the small cases which might limit the choice of parts. Laptops are special. Theres no waste space inside a laptop case. You can't just get components from a variety of suppliers. They are designed by experts. That's why there are only a few manufacturers. The "makers" give their specifications to the builders. The "maker's" name is put on it. But they didn't make it. There, I think, one available which can be "custom built". It was reviewed in one of the Australian magazines recently. It was heavy. It was bulky. It cost about $6000, as supplied to them. You could have bought a better, smaller, lighter laptop for $2000.	Graham L (2)
424396	2006-01-28 07:23:00	I'm figuring that it will spend most of it's life on my desk at home, but there wil be times when I want to take it somewhere, so I can live with 2-3 kg, and even crap battery life since it will be plugged in most of the time . I simply want it to work when I want it to, that is, be reliable/ not break (computer repairs are expensive, and laptop repairs are really expensive!) and be able to last technically- I don't want to buy a software application in a few years time only to find that my computer is barely able to run it! I thinking Asus so far, but from what I've read of specifications so far (bear with me now since I'm new to this!) this is the sort of thing I'm looking for: *Large hard drive (60GB) that's fast revving (5400RPM+) *AMD Turion/ Intel Centrino processor *min 512 DRAM (but 1-2GB would be better) *Seperate graphics card *15" screen with no glare (I don't get the new fancy screens that you can see everything behind you!?) *Dual layer DVD/ CD burner *A whole bunch of other stuff I can't think of at this point in time . . . probably USB ports, TV outs, decent video card, web cam stuff, etc . . . I was initially thinking go cheap with Dell, but apparently their innards are cheap and show it by being sent back a lot, and I don't want that kind of hassle . Virtually any techie I know says to stay away from HP/ PB and Toshiba, which really leaves only Sony (overpriced in all their product lines), Compaq and Acer, the last two being ones I know nothing about, hence my asking what you guys think- this being a PC forum and all, I figured you guys would know and have suggestions without the hard sell! :D	Sick Puppy (6959)
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