Thread: Buying A Laptop, And I'm Completely Clueless.

Well, firstly, you can get away with a low-end laptop. Something with an AMD mobile processor with at least 1GB of RAM (if you go with Vista, the more ram the better). You could opt for an Intel Core 2 Duo, but they are more expensive than AMD, and since you aren't going to do stuff like gaming, you could get by on a Celeron (though they are pretty weak). So this leaves you with either an AMD solution, or low-end Intel solution.

HP, Acer (I think...), Asus,Dell (I don't like mentioning them, but they do make cheap computers) can provide some decent laptops for the price, though I'd reckon HP or Asus can offer some good laptops for the price. Best way is to look around for the best prices.

So all in all you have:

AMD Turion 64 and Turion 64 X2 based systems
AMD Sempron systems
Intel Core Duo and Core 2 Duo systems
Intel Celeron M systems

You can probably live with a 1.66 or 1.73 Ghz clocked system with these processors, though AMD's will have slightly higher clock frequencies.

Recommended amount of RAM is 1GB, pure and simple, especially with Windows Vista. 1GB should give you plenty of headroom with your applications and allow for smoother loading times, especially with booting.

Hard drive capacity, depends on what you need to do. HDD capacities are increasing for laptops, and getting cheaper, so seeing laptops with 100GB drives isn't uncommon. The more capacity, them more music, pics, and applications you can hold.

Then all you need to look for is Wi-Fi capability and any extra features which you might like.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the speedy response! You just brought my knowledge of laptops into this century.

My father, who considers himself the computer-buyer of the family (oh, dear), tends to voice opinions in favor of Toshiba and Dell, when the subject comes up. I'll definately look into HP and the others, now that you mention them.

For some reason, I'm a bit hesitant to get Windows Vista. It's probably because I haven't even seen a computer with it, yet. Looks like I'm going to have to do some research about Vista, too.

I'm curious to see if anyone else has anything to say. If you do, don't hesitate to speak up-- I'm eager to listen.

Originally Posted by Spritely

Thanks for the speedy response! You just brought my knowledge of laptops into this century.

My father, who considers himself the computer-buyer of the family (oh, dear), tends to voice opinions in favor of Toshiba and Dell, when the subject comes up. I'll definately look into HP and the others, now that you mention them.

For some reason, I'm a bit hesitant to get Windows Vista. It's probably because I haven't even seen a computer with it, yet. Looks like I'm going to have to do some research about Vista, too.

I'm curious to see if anyone else has anything to say. If you do, don't hesitate to speak up-- I'm eager to listen.[/b]

Vista is very new, so if anything be wary of getting it, since initial software support will be not so great. However, it was the same thing with XP back when it was first released. So if anything, go with Vista because of future proofing. Most of the support problems with it are with games and professional software, like AutoCAD and 3DS Max, and since you won't be using your laptop for either of those cases, then you can comfortably migrate to Vista. I, however, am postponing the installation since I have use my PC for both games and professional software, and since support is a bit thin for either of them, I'll have to stick with XP for the moment.

Toshiba aren't bad, but I don't like Dell, purely because of their reputation. Again, just shop around to find whatever is the best price for the best performance.

I have an old Acer and so does my roommate and they've both broken more than once and Acer wouldn't help us, so I would advice from experience against them. Since you are going to school for programming I would recommend getting a decent computer. You should have at least 1GB or RAM and an Intel Dual Core processor. Since you are planning to use Linux then I would buy a blank one (part of the price that you pay in the store is for the operating system.)

I'm not sure about you school but mine has been quickly transfering its computer departments to Macs since they've gone to intel processors. They will run almost any operating system (including Ubuntu), but are high end and expensive. My school uses Suns for all of the networking courses, but I'm not sure if they make laptops.

You mentioned that you like Python, most of your early classes will be probably either Java or C.

From what I've encountered the most reliable companies for computers are IBM, Apple, and Dell. If you're computer science (I assumed that you were) then it would be worth it to get a high end computer so that you can use it for all four years.

Actually, I'm going to be an English major. Programming is just one of those things I dabble in, telling myself "I'll eventually buckle down and learn it properly..." Hopefully, I'll end up in at least one non-major CS class during college.

Interesting feedback on the Acers. My sister has one, which she likes, but she admits that she does little other than store music on it. The dual core processor is looking very appealing right now-- I'm a terrible multitasker, and what little I know of processors seems to indicate that this would be a good thing for it.

Oh, for an english major then I don't think that you need a really powerful computer. You can get by with a cheaper celeron or AMD processor, Macs should also be out then. I would recommend IBM, they are always reliable and from what my friends tell me are built like a rock. I believe that you can also get them without an operating system so you can install Linux without deleting Windows or dual booting.

Ubuntu comes with The Gimp and OpenOffice.org, I'm not sure if there is a roughdraft version for it. As for playing music and movies I've found Linux to be unreliable and far behind everything else. The players that I have on my Ubuntu machine can play MP3s, but not the standard AAC file, nor can it cope with advanced video codecs (H.264.) I'm sure that someone is working on that, but they will always be a few years behind Apple and Microsoft.

The meain gof the previous paragraph is that I would also recommend getting Windows XP to supplement Ubuntu. I wouldn't get Vista, it's brand new and a little buggy. I would wait until at least the first service pack comes out (should be soon though.)

If it comes down to dual-booting and messing around with partitioning my hard drive just so I can have Ubuntu, I think I'd just give up on that idea and use Windows XP instead. I know my way around it, I know all of my programs will run on it, and I know that campus tech support will be more willing to help me if I use Microsoft products. Oh, well.

Thanks for the thoughts, Ninja. It seems like a sort of trivial issue to be worried about, but I was wondering how physically durable laptops tend to be, and if any are less fragile than others. I think I have a strange magnetic field, and I'm also pretty clumsy-- so all told, I am death to hardware.

I recently bought my first HP laptop, and am very pleased with it. It came with a no extra charge three-year warranty, which includes accidental damage.

The one catch - this isn't the "consumer grade" laptop series, which seemed to be pretty cheesy to me. It's a "business class" HP laptop - the same series that are commonly used for U.S. intelligence applications. After a lot of research, this was the best "bang-for-buck", and has so far been a fabulous computer. The one I have is an nx6325.

It runs Ubuntu great too, but I run it mostly XP Pro.

One thing that isn't mentioned yet: Have you considered getting a tablet?

As for brands, I have a Fujitsu and it has worked very well for the past two years. My roommate has an Acer and he's been having problems with it since day one. On of my suitemates has a Dell, and he's gotten very good support on it, but I've also heard from others that Dell customer support isn't good. I guess it all depends. My other suitemate is a computing assistant and he owns a HP tablet, which has been working great for him.

All in all I'd suggest a Japanese brand since they build good quality stuff.

Originally Posted by Squall

One thing that isn't mentioned yet: Have you considered getting a tablet?[/b]

Thank you for saying that, I was hoping I wouldn't be alone trying to convert someone

I would seriously suggest getting a tablet pc, it's great for note taking, and if you're desperate for a keyboard, you can buy a convertible, giving you the best of both worlds.

Recently, I bought a Samsung Q1 tablet, and it is so much fun and so easy to use, I'd really recommend looking into them.

Anyway, by looking at your needs, I don't think you'll really need a very powerful laptop, and so you've got a pretty big market to look through. For brands, I'd definitely suggest Dell, as they are really reliable and fast for their price, and if you want to look at a tablet (even if not you should check them out), then I'd suggest Fujitsu, as they have a good range of tablets and regular notebooks, meaning you've got a good choice.

Others have mentioned Acer, and until around Christmas, I would have said yes, but then I saw three people returning Acer laptops to a store within half an hour of one another, and I wouldn't be so confident with them.

I hope what I've said helps and isn't too much.. And seriously, look at getting a tablet

Tablets are more expensive though and from what I've seen are somewhat lacking. No computers out there support any form of multitouch and I think almost all require the use of a stylus. I'm sure that they are great for note taking, but I know from experience that I can't write a paper with a touchscreen, even with graphic to text converters.

If you are thinking about getting a tablet then I would wait until the next generation tablets, ones with onscreen keyboard that work well. All OSes have an on screen keyboard, but without multitouch it is useless. If you don't know, multitouch allows the operating system to handle more than one touch at once (like for pressing Ctrl and Alt and Del all at the same time ) As far as I know Apple is the only one publicly doing research with multitouch (iPhone) and they have multiple patents filed for multitouch computers, but no demos yet. I forget where I heard this, but there is a rumor that IBM is also looking at it for their new Thinkpads, but I doubt that either company is within five years of releasing one. It would require an overhaul of the operating systems.

I think I'll stick to my keyboard. I type almost everything these days, because I find that typing is far faster and easier than anything I can do by hand. I haven't considered a tablet, unless you count my contemplating getting a Wacom to aid my doodling habit. The Samsung tablets are neat-looking, but I think not quite what I'm looking for.

So far, the consensus seems to be that Dell and HP are good brands, and that Acer is iffy. Thanks, guys! I'm way more confident at this point-- I have some idea what I want and need, and where to start looking.

You could always opt for a convertible tablet PC, so you don't have to give up your keyboard but still be able to use touch screen

Those are very nice, and in combination with Vista's tablet PC stuff you have one heck of a machine