Laptop Question

[Shadrok]

I'm thinking of getting a laptop to work on art with but I don't know if I should get a Dell (like my desktop) or go with some other brand.

What are some good laptop brands?

[Fuyudenki]

Though there's a stigma attached to the brand, Sony VAIO laptops are great, as long as you're not gaming.

For gaming, you would want to go with either Alienware or there's another company that makes effectively the same thing.  I forgot the name, but early Alienware laptops were actually this company's laptops with retooled cases.

I think Gateway also has good laptops, but I haven't heard much about them.

[Aridas]

I thought the general idea of Alienware was "it's alright, but it's still overpriced crap, find another one"

[Tapewolf]

Try to get one with a decent screen, if it's for art.  It might be a good idea to check them out in-store rather than buying online - otherwise you could have colour problems.
(For what it's worth, I simply cannot use my Toshiba for anything colour-related, and believe me I tried)

[Fuyudenki]

I thought the general idea of Alienware was "it's alright, but it's still overpriced crap, find another one"

Actually, that could be said of anything you didn't build yourself, or get one of your tech-savvy friends to build.

Guess who manufactures all of my computers.

[Aridas]

It's overpriced for anything. I can compare a similarly specced PC from Alienware to one in my local store, and the one in the local store is still a MUCH better deal. We're talking differences in the hundreds.

[DarkAudit]

Whoever it is, make sure they give you the choice to have XP preloaded instead of Vista. I finally had enough of the nitpicky little annoyances to put XP back on this system. Having to reboot multiple times to be able to finish a backup was the last straw (apparently there's some ~16K file limit on how many files you can copy from one place to another without having to reboot)

[bill]

Odd, Vista doesn't do that for me.

[Brunhidden]

Im looking for a laptop too- but im looking for something different. i do not want wireless internet, a whole bunch of fancy features, and whatever else laptops keep advertising they have. i want a glorified typewriter, for cheap, and i don't care if it weighs ten pounds. i would actually prefer the complete lack of internet and games, they distract me too much.

Its time to chew ass and kick bubblegum, and I'm all out of ass

[Kryptic]

I remember seeing a laptop that had a pivoting screen with a built in tablet, on the screen.

Now, that's a computer for art. I'd really love one of those... I think Toshiba makes 'em.

I personally don't have any preferences or opinions on the hardware. Whatever runs.

[xHaZxMaTx]

Good luck finding a laptop without built-in WiFi.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Dells run hot.

Gateway, I haven't heard much either way.

Sony, the long-term support bites, they tend to drop anything older than about a year and a half, and stop doing any support on them at all. Throw in the sony my bro had, that they replaced the hdd 3 times in 4 months, taking a month each time (and this is in london, where you'd expect, given the sheer number of sales they had, there'd be a reasonable tech center...)

Toshibas are solid laptops. Avoid the really little ones - they're good, but being that light, you're paying for lightness... Shadrok, I think Tapewolf covered it for you. Brun, you probably want an nice 1-2GHz toshi tecra series, if you can find one. Heavy, solid, and they'll work until you die of old age.

[Zorro]

Good luck finding a laptop without built-in WiFi.

Not really you can usually pull out the WiFi Card.  That or just disable the drivers.

[techmaster-glitch]

Yeah, Toshibas are good comps/tops, as this flash shows, lol

[xHaZxMaTx]

Good luck finding a laptop without built-in WiFi.

Not really you can usually pull out the WiFi Card.  That or just disable the drivers.

Of course, but my point is that nearly all if not all laptops came with WiFi, anymore.

Anyway, I just picked up an Acer Aspiron series the other day, and when I first turned it on I got a blue screen error, and after that, the screen was all screwy and I had to replace that one with another laptop.

My dad has ad his IBM for a few years, now, and the way it's built, it feels like you could drop it out a second story window and it would be fine.  Haven't had any tremendous problems with it since he's had it, either.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

More recent IBM's have been... let out to a third party to build.

The build quality has suffered somewhat.

[Fuyudenki]

Im looking for a laptop too- but im looking for something different. i do not want wireless internet, a whole bunch of fancy features, and whatever else laptops keep advertising they have. i want a glorified typewriter, for cheap, and i don't care if it weighs ten pounds. i would actually prefer the complete lack of internet and games, they distract me too much.

Keep an eye out at yardsales and pawn shops.  I once picked up a laptop with a monochrome screen, single floppy drive, and Windows 95 for the OS for about $10 at a yardsale.  No USB, no optical drives, and a tiny hard drive.

Only downsides were that the screen also would not stay up, and it had an eraser-head mouse.  No touch pad.

Well, that, and I had to transfer any files that I wanted on it via 1.4MB floppy disk.

Its time to chew ass and kick bubblegum, and I'm all out of ass

[Reese Tora]

As a general rule, the things that make a computer good for gaming make it good for graphics processing.  RAM is more important when you start with graphics programs, especially memory hungry programs like photoshop.

If you want a windows XP machine, I can tell you that I've had some limited success installing it (including hardware drivers) for HP laptops.  I don't think much of thier tech support, though.
(And that based only on my experience getting laptops sent in for replacement.)

[superluser]

Keep an eye out at yardsales and pawn shops.  I once picked up a laptop with a monochrome screen, single floppy drive, and Windows 95 for the OS for about $10 at a yardsale.  No USB, no optical drives, and a tiny hard drive.

Only downsides were that the screen also would not stay up, and it had an eraser-head mouse.  No touch pad.

Well, that, and I had to transfer any files that I wanted on it via 1.4MB floppy disk.

Luxury!  I remember we used to have a Zenith 286 SuperSport laptop.  Two double-density (720K) drives, no HD.  I remember that one of the DOS versions (3.3, I think) wasn't supposed to work (an issue with subdirectories, if I recall correctly), but we made it go.  Through strange incantations, we eventually got DOS 5 to boot on it, but it wouldn't do much more than that.

That's what I'd recommend if you want to do word processing.  Get yourself a copy of Wordperfect, and it will work just fine.

As to graphics...

As a general rule, the things that make a computer good for gaming make it good for graphics processing.  RAM is more important when you start with graphics programs, especially memory hungry programs like photoshop.

Actually, there's at least one thing that's good for gaming that can be largely irrelevant for some types graphics processing... speed.  If you're working with static images, you can sacrifice speed for RAM.  Don't sacrifice too much, or else your programs will run like molasses.  But remember--without enough RAM, it will run like *cold* molasses, anyways.

[bill]

Dells run hot.

Not unbearably so, from my experience. I've had Dell laptops all my life, with the exception of a Gateway a few years back, and a horrifically bad Vaio from several years back. They've always been generally good, though my father's just had a head crash on his.

[Ryudo Lee]

A buddy of mine owns a computer store, and he's setting up a fairly decent Acer laptop for me.  In my experience, Acer laptops are good machines.  Also good are HP laptops, believe it or not.  I've had nothing but good experiences with both of them.

[Azlan]

I'm pretty poor with laptops, my last one met with a fine end at the hands of a Light 50... it was a Toshiba Satellite.

My current one is a fairly plain Compaq with a Turion TL-50 X2, it gets the job done. 

My experience with Dell laptops comes from my time supporting the NMCI and their Dell system base.  they use regular laptops and ruggidized models for field deployment... these things run relatively hot, not good in a laptop.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Dells run hot.

Not unbearably so, from my experience. I've had Dell laptops all my life, with the exception of a Gateway a few years back, and a horrifically bad Vaio from several years back. They've always been generally good, though my father's just had a head crash on his. D:

They're reasonably ok - certainly the dell I have is fine (work bought it for me, otherwise I'd have considered a toshiba)

Just... hotter than they really -ought- to be. General use, that sort of thing. Indicates that they're sucking more power, which suggests you might get longer battery life with a cooler laptop.

[Shadrok]

Try to get one with a decent screen, if it's for art.  It might be a good idea to check them out in-store rather than buying online - otherwise you could have colour problems.
(For what it's worth, I simply cannot use my Toshiba for anything colour-related, and believe me I tried)

what type of Toshiba do you have?


From what I gather I should either get a Toshiba (and make sure the monitor's color settings are right) or an Acer.

My first computer was an Acer desktop which only lasted 4 years (1998 - 2002) before out right dieing.

The whole heat issue with Dells has me second guessing getting one of them, even though I've had my Dell desktop for about 6 years (2001 - to now) now and only had to replace the hard drive once.

Should I get a 9 cell or a 6 cell battery and what about duo processors?

[bill]

Dells run hot.

Not unbearably so, from my experience. I've had Dell laptops all my life, with the exception of a Gateway a few years back, and a horrifically bad Vaio from several years back. They've always been generally good, though my father's just had a head crash on his. D:

They're reasonably ok - certainly the dell I have is fine (work bought it for me, otherwise I'd have considered a toshiba)

Just... hotter than they really -ought- to be. General use, that sort of thing. Indicates that they're sucking more power, which suggests you might get longer battery life with a cooler laptop.

Doesn't really bother me, as I generally use it on a desk/counter.

[bill]

Try to get one with a decent screen, if it's for art.  It might be a good idea to check them out in-store rather than buying online - otherwise you could have colour problems.
(For what it's worth, I simply cannot use my Toshiba for anything colour-related, and believe me I tried)

what type of Toshiba do you have?


From what I gather I should either get a Toshiba (and make sure the monitor's color settings are right) or an Acer.

My first computer was an Acer desktop which only lasted 4 years (1998 - 2002) before out right dieing.

The whole heat issue with Dells has me second guessing getting one of them, even though I've had my Dell desktop for about 6 years (2001 - to now) now and only had to replace the hard drive once.

Should I get a 9 cell or a 6 cell battery and what about duo processors?

Duo processors are nice.

I'd recommend my model (Dell Inspiron E1705), but it's been discontinued. Got it for $600 off. Dells are good quality machines from my experience. Certainly better than the Gateways and Vaios that I've tried.

[Shadrok]

Duo processors are nice.

I'd recommend my model (Dell Inspiron E1705), but it's been discontinued. Got it for $600 off. Dells are good quality machines from my experience. Certainly better than the Gateways and Vaios that I've tried.

But don't they have issues with heat? 

One thing I liked about their online shop is you can still get a laptop with XP.
Before starting this thread I was looking at The Dell Vostro 1000 Notebook, now I don't know.

[Reese Tora]

Should I get a 9 cell or a 6 cell battery and what about duo processors?

abttery size is all about where and how you paln to use the laptop.  Figure that, off the shelf, a 4 cell is good for 2-4 hours, and a 6 cell is good for an additional 1-2 hours.  If you plan on using the laptop plugged in, the extra life is a waste of money.

As for dual processors, they are becoming more or less standard at this point.  Certainly, any mid-high end laptop, such as you would want for graphics, will most likely have a core duo or 64x2.

IIRC, the intel mobile chip series with the 65 nm technology runs cooler.

[Fuyudenki]

Yes, Intel's mobile chips were designed with low power consumption and thermal output as top priority.  A friend of mine has a Toshiba laptop running the Centrino chipset which is about 3 years old.  It's a bit dated, now, but it still holds enough juice to dual-task note taking and ROM-playing in two classes, unplugged.

When he first got it, he inadvertantly damaged my grades in Physics class by playing Terranigma for the SNES interleaved with taking actual class notes.  Terranigma is a good game.

[Ryudo Lee]

When I was still working at the law firm I used to work at, they were purchasing HP laptops with both internal and external batteries, which gave them a total of 8 hours of battery life.  I made sure to instruct them on how to get the most life out of the batteries, because as most people know, attorneys are educated idiots when it comes to computers.  And as Shadrok said, if you're going to leave it plugged in, then battery life is a moot issue.  But if you are going to take it places on a regular basis, get an external battery.  It's a worthwhile investment for the extra hours of battery life.

I have an old Toshiba Sattelite that I've left plugged in for almost it's entire life so the battery has completely lost it's ability to hold a charge.  It doesn't bother me as much since I don't really take it anywhere.  It was a stopgap between old and new computers.