[gmku]

I need a laptop. But damn these things are pricey. What do you recommend? I need it for my new life as a freelance writer in a coupla months. PC, Mac? How big? Where are the best deals?

[gmku]

Is there anybody going to listen to my story?

[Pookie]

I have no clue.

[Torn Curtain]

I voted for PC (as prices have gone down for the same price a PC will have better features than a Mac).

Do you want to play video games with it ? If yes you'll need a good graphic card, if no you can have a correct portable PC for 600€ (it can even include a Core 2 duo, which is currently the best CPU).

As regards the size if you don't want the PC to be too heavy 15.4" is the best.

[gmku]

No, no games. It's strictly for business. Writing, keeping in touch with clients by e-mail, Internet and wireless connection.

[Inhuman]

Originally Posted by gmku

I need a laptop. But damn these things are pricey. What do you recommend? I need it for my new life as a freelance writer in a coupla months. PC, Mac? How big? Where are the best deals?

I'm getting a macbook pro just this week actually. Go with mac I say, their regular Macbooks aren't too too pricey.

"Why?" asks gmku

Becuase they're much cleaner systems than pc's. In addition, you can install ANY operating system on mac, using boot camp and they're fully functional. If you just want a mac operating system, you can buy/download PARALLELS which will allow you to run windows software on OSX-Tiger and OSX-Leopard.

Oh, and find a student to buy you one, you'll get about $300.00 off the laptop, plus a free ipod. It's well worth it!

[gmku]

As a U employee (for about another month), I can get a small discount (about 100 bucks) off the entry level MacBook. I might go for that.

[Rob Instigator]

the real question is, can I get assparade porn on my iphone?

[Cardinal Rob]

An ideal world is a Mac world.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by gmku

I need a laptop. But damn these things are pricey. What do you recommend? I need it for my new life as a freelance writer in a coupla months. PC, Mac? How big? Where are the best deals?

get a good business class laptop, like a thinkpad or a dell latitude. it's gonna cost you but it will be worth it. consumer laptops are worthless pieces of junk.

i personally am a fan of the thinkpad X series-- i own an x30 and i'm planning on an x60/x60s soon. you're talking about $2K-- but for that price, what do i buy? a) a titanium frame b) reliability like no other brand except the panasonic toughbooks they sell to the military. i've had my x30 i think for 3 years now, runs all day, it's suffered accidents and mishaps and it keeps going and going. in fact i'm going to refurbish it to squeeze some xtra life out of it.

consumer laptops-- cracked lids is problem #1. overheating. short battery life. crummy all around. heavy, too.

so it's not about the "bargain" but about the good value of quality hardware, protecting your data, and enjoying good productivity at work.

oh, the X series machines have a tiny screen (12"), but you can carry them around like a waffle, and if you have a desktop you can plug an external monitor (like i'm doing right now) or 2!! with the matrox dualhead2go

http://images.digitalmedianet.com/20...display400.jpg

now if you just want it for writing/email/etc you can find a used/refurbished model and live happy for less.

my x30 i bought on an official ibm auction off ebay-- it was the previous year's model, cost me $1000---that's about $300 per year, or $25 a month, for this sweetness of a machine i've been abusing day in & day out. i mean-- carried in a bike bag, a portfolio, dump under the car seat, flung over the bed, you name it, it has endured it.

im planning to go all the way with my next purchase though, top of the line stuff FTW. it will be $$ but it's for work so i can justify the expense.

[wax]

once you go mac, you never go back.

[Inhuman]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

consumer laptops-- cracked lids is problem #1. overheating. short battery life. crummy all around. heavy, too.

Glad you brought it up. Gmku, if you get an entry-level macbook, there's a discoloration problem with your hands rubbing against the plastic, and it just gets worse and worse. Make sure you protect it, get a black one, or get a better laptop

 

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by wax

once you go mac, you never go back.

i did. i got started in computers with macs. got tired of everything costing double. still it does.

Originally Posted by Inhuman

Glad you brought it up. Gmku, if you get an entry-level macbook, there's a discoloration problem with your hands rubbing against the plastic, and it just gets worse and worse. Make sure you protect it, get a black one, or get a better laptop

 

yeah if you want just web/email/writing, a used mac in good condition should fit your needs. just beware, some are HEAVY. that's why i favor the ultraportables. what's the point of having a laptop if lugging it around will give you a backache? the x61s i'm saving for weighs 2.7 lbs. oh yeah!

other good brand is fujitsu. toshiba used to OWN the laptop market but now i don't know-- my wife has a toshiba, it's nice & all, but my ibm kicks its ass. i hate sony vaios-- all flash & flimsy crap.

one important thing to add-- widescreen laptops, though "fancy looking", have actually less area than the equivalent 4:3 (the largest area of any rectangle given a set perimeter is a square, so the closer to a square the bigger your real estate, all other things being equal). so yeah i don't like wide screens on laptops. it's bullshit for people who like to watch movies on instead of working.

---

ps- check out this site, formerly known as retrobox.

particularly, this link.

personally, i'd pick the T-23 for $300 and buy it a new hard drive & add memory.

they have right now a couple of T-series thinkpads and a dell latitude for a decent price. the t-series is more of a mobile workstation than the ultraportables, and their quality is legendary.

& avoid compaq. they are shit.

but you need to keep an eye on it for a while because their selection changes regularly.

if you need upgrades, i recommend newegg for hard drives & crucial for memory. i'm picking up a 100GB 7,200rpm seagate hard drive for my laptop off newegg for $100 (has a 5 year warranty!).

looks like that T23 takes up to 512 megs of RAM, and it has 384, so im guessing it has a 256 stick and another 128. i'd replace the 128 with a 256 so you get 512.

looky here.

that should keep you going for a while until you start making an income out of the machine & you can pay for a new one.

if you want a little comfort, i'd get an external monitor, keyboard & mouse for when you work at home. don't burn all your $ in the stuff.

now if you haven't got free office apps from your university job, i recommend you do it ipso facto. im still running the ms office i got from grad school.

BUT if you can't get it, Open Office should suffice for your needs.

[HairwayToSteven]

I just got a white Macbook a couple weeks ago and I love it! Damn, I hadn't heard about that discoloration problem until now. I knew I should have gotten the black one instead. I think I'll just have to use a wireless keyboard and mouse. Still a great computer though. Much better than any PC laptop I've ever used.

[Inhuman]

Originally Posted by HairwayToSteven

I just got a white Macbook a couple weeks ago and I love it! Damn, I hadn't heard about that discoloration problem until now. I knew I should have gotten the black one instead. I think I'll just have to use a wireless keyboard and mouse. Still a great computer though. Much better than any PC laptop I've ever used.

aah for sure! Yes, for the discoloraton you can easily use plastic wrap to cover it. My friend's macbook started getting discolored and the plastic turned pinkish brown. The white ones look so much nicer than the black I find.

[nature scene]

!@#$% is right. I've had a thinkpad and an hp. Thinkpads are great computers and well worth their price.

[gmku]

I think I'm going with a Dell. If it's good enough for John Cusack in 1408, it's good enough for me.

Seriously, though, I can get it cheaper than a Mac. and I've used them before and know they're reliable and easy.

The whole idea of going freelance is that I can go into business with relatively little overhead, so I like the idea of keeping this cost down. Maybe later when I'm raking in the coin, I can go to a better than entry level Mac.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by gmku

I think I'm going with a Dell. If it's good enough for John Cusack in 1408, it's good enough for me.

Seriously, though, I can get it cheaper than a Mac. and I've used them before and know they're reliable and easy.

The whole idea of going freelance is that I can go into business with relatively little overhead, so I like the idea of keeping this cost down. Maybe later when I'm raking in the coin, I can go to a better than entry level Mac.

mang, it's better to get a used thinkpad T or X series than a civilian Dell.

if you must go dell, be sure it's their business-class latitude series.

one small annoyance here-- the pro-mac crowd said "ooooh... coool...." as their main argument-- i on the other hand provided you with ample technical info about your needs, available hardware and software, etc. at least pay attention to what i wrote so you don't end up with some overpriced piece of crap-- even if "cheap", it's no good if it breaks after 3 months.

that t23 i posted, for $300 or so, is ALL you need right now, will last you a couple of years easy.

the NEW latitudes start cheap, but once you customize, it will cost ya. but they are worth the $, unlike other kinds.

--
ps- the d830's look placed at the right price/value point. i know the 630's are highly rated, and the 830's are a step up.... on the other hand... the 630's are 1.6lb. less.... i'd go with the lighter one, if you're planning to move around.

[val-holla-ing]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

the real question is, can I get assparade porn on my iphone?

actually, yes. and i plan on doing just that on friday.

[val-holla-ing]

Originally Posted by gmku

I think I'm going with a Dell. If it's good enough for John Cusack in 1408, it's good enough for me.

Seriously, though, I can get it cheaper than a Mac. and I've used them before and know they're reliable and easy.

The whole idea of going freelance is that I can go into business with relatively little overhead, so I like the idea of keeping this cost down. Maybe later when I'm raking in the coin, I can go to a better than entry level Mac.

dells are nowhere near as reliable as they're made out to be. my first laptop was a dell and it didn't even last a year before it crapped out on me. on top of that, windows really isn't a stable enough OS anymore (as if it ever was).

personally, i'd say bite the bullet and get a good mac and you won't be kicking yourself later on and spending more money than you would have in the first place. i speak from experience. i wasted too much money on a PC instead of just waiting a little longer for a mac and ended up spending about 1/2 the price of a good ibook on a bad pc, when i could've just applied it to the ibook.

but, if you only want it to write documents, surf the net (even though getting a mac would be in your best interest for internet security), email, and stuff like that, you may be better of with a pc laptop. if you do anything creatively, you may want to come on over to the fruity side, though.