I need help from those who are computer savvy

[jnd4rusty]

I have plans to purchase a laptop after the first of the year (depending upon whether I get a bonus check or not) and I don't know the first thing about laptops. I own a Dell desktop at the present time and have been pretty pleased with it but I did not purchase it myself, I gave my boss (ex-boss as he left the company) the money and he bought it for me. I basically want a laptop to use in school, take notes, write papers, maybe surf the web and play games on. I don't get into really graphic games just things like solitaire and word games and such. Any advice would be much appreciated!! Thank you!!

[Greenday]

When I left for college last year, I went with a brand spanking new Dell Inspiron. It's served me well so far. Got the all important CD burner, DVD player, etc. I put Windows XP on it and it's really simple to use. Not ridiculously cheap but as far as laptops go, not too expensive either.

[Boozy]

Sounds like you're looking for something along the same lines as me. I posted a thread about it in the Tech Help forum, and got some great responses. Here's the thread:

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=14274

[Rapscallion]

Moved it here - best place for getting answers.

Rapscallion

[Shabo]

The most important thing for you to think about, since you are going to be carrying it around school with you, is how much weight you think you can handle. If you get a huge laptop because it looks cool, then you have to keep in mind that that sucker is going to be *heavy*. Also, you are going to want to invest in a good laptop bag (backpack is better for your back) so you can carry it without cracking the screen. Beyond that, any laptop will fit what you need it to do.

Many companies are now offering travel size laptops that have small 12" screens and no dvd or cd drive to help reduce the weight, and usually smaller batteries too. Take this into consideration as it could be a better alternative for you. You are going to want to do a lot of homework and look for customer reviews when you are narrowing your search down, and if you find a few models that you want help deciding between, post some links here and we'll take a look for you. The good thing is that you are giving yourself plenty of time to decide, and that's important. The only other thing I really have to recommend is don't plan on spending less than $1000 for your computer. Anything less than that ballpark is made with alternative parts (like refurbished) to cut on costs or it has lower specs and will go obsolete much faster.

I personally went with an IBM tablet that weighs less than 4 lbs because I'm a diminutive girl, and even with a backpack and a light laptop, it still gets really heavy after a short while.

[digilight]

I agree with shabo on the weight/size issue. We bought a HP Laptop about a year and a half ago with a 17" widescreen monitor. While I have no issues with the laptop itself, the size of the screen and thusly the laptop make it prohibitive to carry around and really make it more of a desktop type that you can put on your lap if you want. We dont really take it anywhere so thats not a problem for us.

Just my advice on a couple of things. Get as fast and powerful a processor as you can afford. If you don't have to settle for a celeron then dont. Ours is a AMD Turon and again does great for us. And get as much RAM as you can afford. If you can get at least a Gig of RAM if not more. I know I went for a GIG on mine and I'm glad I did. Its running XP not Vista so its plenty for what I need.

If you wanted a DVD/CD Burner, but they want a buttload extra for the convienence you can always get an external USB burner. Thats what I did and the price difference - about 90 bucks for the external about 5 months ago, versus about 200 bucks at the time of purchase. Although I think its pretty standard anymore to include the burner.

[Shabo]

Oh yeah, definitely don't buy any accessories from the company you are buying the computer from. Check out Newegg.com, Tigerdirect.com, zipzoomfly.com for deals with both laptops and accessories. You never know what you may find there, and it's going to be cheaper for the accessories than a brick and mortar store.

[JustADude]

I totally agree on the weight thing, buy something you're sure you can deal with schlepping around all day.

If you want a desktop-replacement that you won't be hauling out of reach of a power socket then battery life isn't so much an issue, but you sound like you want a 'constant access' laptop, so be sure to check systems that give you a good long period of usage between charges.

[jnd4rusty]

Thank You for the info, when I get closer to purchasing one I will post the little details. I am just going to keep looking online and at the big box stores and compare prices. I do want to be a bit cheap, but again it will not be my main source of computer. I don't go to a lot of places..mainly work, school and home so I mainly want one that I can use for schoolwork and to play games. The portability is a plus for me so when the other 'half' is watching races or wrestling, I can go to the bedroom for quietness. Again thanks to all who took the time to comment!!

[Seshat]

Make a list of the programs you'll want to run, and make a list of the how many of those you expect to want to run simultaneously. If you're running them on your desktop currently, that will help.

I'm using Linux right now, so I'm not sure where the monitoring info is in Windows, but if you look in the control panel section you'll find a place where you can find out how much CPU time and memory each piece of software you're using takes. In the mythical ideal world, you'll want enough RAM for all the programs you're using simultaneously to be in RAM at once. In the real world, that doesn't happen. But the greater a proportion is in RAM, the faster you'll be - so long as nothing else is limiting your speed.
You'll also want a CPU fast enough that at no time are you using 100% of your CPU.

Find the monitoring programs, and test all the laptops you're offered. Load every piece of software you expect to run simultaneously, or as close to that as you can get on their demo machines. Don't forget that your operating system and antivirals are software too. Then check what the monitors say. You'll want to know what the maximum CPU percentage is from the moment you start playing with the machine, what the percentage of RAM usage is and how much virtual memory is being used.
If they're all fairly similar numbers, choose based on other factors (weight, price, whether you like the colour). If there's a significant difference, you want a low CPU percentage, and a low usage of virtual memory.

For what you're telling us you want, the graphical and sound ability of the laptop shouldn't matter much. Your hard drive size will matter, but should be fairly similar on models of the same price range.

Find a keyboard action you're happy with, a mouse-equivalent you're comfortable with, a display that's designed to be at an angle you find comfortable and which you like to look at. Look at the sturdiness of the hinges and catches, and general construction. It probably will be much of a muchness within a price bracket, but look anyway.

Buy a laptop case which doesn't look like a laptop case - it's less likely to be stolen if it looks like an ordinary backpack, and you can get backpacks or satchels or stuff with a laptop section.

Mostly, choose what you think you'll be happy with.

[JustADude]

In the mythical ideal world, you'll want enough RAM for all the programs you're using simultaneously to be in RAM at once. In the real world, that doesn't happen.

Sorry to correct you, but yes it does.

I have my page-file (aka Virtual Memory, for those that didn't know) turned completely off, and I hardly ever go over 50% memory usage, with 3 gigs of RAM. If jnd4rusty springs for a laptop with 2GB of RAM (most I've seen on the market without a custom build) it should be quite possible, even using Vista.

[Seshat]

Sorry to correct you, but yes it does.

I have my page-file (aka Virtual Memory, for those that didn't know) turned completely off, and I hardly ever go over 50% memory usage, with 3 gigs of RAM.

Okay. That almost never happens if you're as cheap as me.