Ayudame por favor: getting a laptop, totally lost

[wasteofo2]

I'm going to be getting a laptop soon, and I'm really ignorant about Computers in general, so I'd be really appreciative if I could get some help narrowing down the chioces of what'd be best for me from some of the computer geniuses here.

I don't play any sorts of computer games like Half-Life or anything like that; if I do play any computer games they're just little flash things, so I really have no need at all for a special graphics card or a screen with great resolution or anything.

I record music, so I'm guessing I'll need at least a 2.0ghz processor and 256mb of dual drive ram. With recording music, I obviously would like to have a good quality sound-card, but I really don't know which brands are good or even what characteristics make a sound card good so I really need help there.

Recording music is the most resource-intensive thing I do on a computer, besides that I pretty much just use it for school assignments (powerpoint and word), listen to MP3's, download music, browse the web and use Instant Messenger. I do generally like to multi-task alot, like have music playing, be iming people, have a few web pages up and maybe MS word or paint or something like that running, so I need to be able to do all that without freezing up and crashing.

Also, I want to try to keep this on the relatively cheap side, somewhere around $800 or less if possible...

So, any reccomendation on some specs for a laptop, or a good company to look into?

Thanks a TON,
Jacob

 

[Clausius2]

Good spanish!. Espera, que te ayudo un poco...

Well, I have a Toshiba Satellite 2.8Ghz 500MB RAM Pentium IV laptop. But I have been damning it at the Software forum, because I have to do heavy calculations with it and it hasn't got enough power to do that.

Anyway, if you are not going to exhaust your computer like me, the installed power I have is enough for games, videos (Sccchhhh I don't mean porno!), mp3 download, records...

 

[Clausius2]

An advice: buy an Intel Centrino. Do not buy a Pentium. It is said that Pentium gets hot too soon, and so the efficiency and speed gets down. Centrino is a chip which does not seem to get hot too much. So your computer will run without the need of cooling a larger time.

The main problem with laptops is its inmmediate warming.

 

[Monique]

My laptop specs: AMD athlon XP-M 2500+, 1.86 GHz clockspeed, 512 Mb DDR, 40 Gb HD, 32 Mb shared video, 15" TFT XGA, Li-ion battery, and DVD/CDRW combo.

I wouldn't get an AMD, my ventilator seems to be always running (but it is cheaper). I've seen a lot of Dells that are quiet as a butterfly, but I don't know in which price range those were

Oh, try to get one that has wireless internet build in. Otherwise you can still get something that you plug into the laptop.

ZDNet is a great resource http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-7602_16-1016082-1.html?tag=dir.nbg

 

[wasteofo2]

Una mas pregunta: when looking at processors, how important (comparitavely) are ghz, cache size, and mhz FSB?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Keeping in mind that due to on-site work and travel, my business is about as hard on a laptop computer as it gets - wide temp variations, salt and or moist air, high static and EM environments, industrial contaminants, dust, chemicals, and about anything else that one might encounter in a factory or outside. So, due to the excellent support that I've received, I am a die hard Dell fan. I have gone to war with them a couple of times but in the end they always came through. I know that some of my most successful competitors also use Dell exclusively, and I know of a couple of competitors who don't. When the non-Dell people had problems, they were affected for a week or more. When I've had a problem, the new part shows up the next day: UPS Red, and no charge. When you make a living with your computer, you really can't ask for more.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

A quick note about my old NEC laptop. While I was on-line with a factory system, a huge exhuast fan in the adjacent room failed. Due to the nature of the failure, I was right in the line with an arctic wind that was 40 below 0 F. It was a race to finish the corrections to the program before my computer or I froze. The computer lost.

 

[Danger]

First, and most importantly, make sure it's a Mac!

 

[Evo]

Toshiba is my favorite, no problems at all. My last was a portege.

I currently have a HP/Compaq from my company and I hate it.

 

[Danger]

Toshiba is my favorite, no problems at all. My last was a portege.

I take it, since it's from the competition, that Protege isn't in the HP's spell-checker?

 

[Evo]

I take it, since it's from the competition, that Protege isn't in the HP's spell-checker?

It's a "Portege", not a "protege".

 

[Danger]

It's a "Portege", not a "protege".

Sorry... Unless they have 2 different lines, this must be one of those cross-border things. The only ones that I've seen up here were called 'Protege'. A lot of identical things are sold under different names here, like Downy/Fleecy fabric softener, etc.. Sometimes it's even split between eastern and western Canada, with one going the Yank route and one using domestically built stuff from a subsidiary company. I think it depends upon transport costs and whatnot.

 

[The_Professional]

I record music, so I'm guessing I'll need at least a 2.0ghz processor and 256mb of dual drive ram. With recording music, I obviously would like to have a good quality sound-card, but I really don't know which brands are good or even what characteristics make a sound card good so I really need help there.

Recording music is the most resource-intensive thing I do on a computer, besides that I pretty much just use it for school assignments (powerpoint and word), listen to MP3's, download music, browse the web and use Instant Messenger. I do generally like to multi-task alot, like have music playing, be iming people, have a few web pages up and maybe MS word or paint or something like that running, so I need to be able to do all that without freezing up and crashing.

Also, I want to try to keep this on the relatively cheap side, somewhere around $800 or less if possible...

So, any reccomendation on some specs for a laptop, or a good company to look into?

Thanks a TON,
Jacob

$800 or less if possible? Man you're cheap. If you want a decent one you'll have to spend a little more than that! you can always ask mom. Toshiba is a good brand and I've heard really good things about them and of course Dell, even with their not so good tech support. I also recommend getting at the very least one with 512mb memory since you'll be opening a lot of programs at the same time and you'll want them to load faster.

As far as ports go, make sure your laptop has USB 2.0 and/or firewire; just in case you decide in the near future to buy a digital camera or some other device you can't go wrong with having these.

Since you'll use it primarily to listen to music, I recommend getting these external soundcard: http://www.soundblaster.com/products/extigy/
no need to open your desktop or laptop, you just plug it in your usb port, get some top of the line logitech's or klipsch speakers and you'll be rockin in no time. Cheers

By the way, you can get a 2.4 or even a 3.0 ghz at a reasonable price. Depending on brand. And don't forget to get an Anti-Virus program, with all the new threats coming out everyday you don't want to lose that precious homework over some nasty worm or virus..

 

[Danger]

Mac, I say again! Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac... a thousand times Mac!

 

[Danger]

Seriously.

 

[The_Professional]

I haven't eaten a Big Mac in a while and I'm not going to start now. I did have the classic single from Wendy's though, no mayo and no cheese...I mean, seriously.

 

[franznietzsche]

Mac, I say again! Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac... a thousand times Mac!

Macwhore.

 

[Danger]

Macwhore.

That's Mister Macwhore to you...

 

[franznietzsche]

That's Mister Macwhore to you...

I reiterate:

Macwhore.

 

[Moonbear]

Mac, I say again! Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac... a thousand times Mac!

Not on his budget. And not really for his needs either. Sounds like he can do with a pretty basic laptop and just upgrade on the soundcard. (And I agree with whoever said don't get less than 512 Mb RAM...it'll drive you bonkers if you have less than that.)