Buying a new laptop..any suggestions ??

[shaun]

Thanks

Don, I have it on good authority to not buy anything with Vista on it.

[maxx]

I run vista haven't had any problems with it.

[rockycoon]

Shaun, I will take your advice and go with 7.  Now, how big of a hard drive do they make for the laptops ?  I've been out of it for
years now, and haven't kept up.  Also memory, how much is much

[mustfocus]

Laptop hard drives go up to 500Gb right now.  But something you have to consider before you rush out and get a laptop with a huge HD.  Human nature is to not do anything like backing up.  If that's you, remember something.  If the HD crashes and you don't have a current backup, you could lose a lot of information.  That said, most people make do with 160 to 250Gb... (especially if they back everything up).

As for RAM, 3-4Gb is plenty.

[Neil]

Memory is the cheapest upgrade there is.  These days there really is no reason to have less than 3 gigs (go with 4 if you're running a 64 bit operating system), or even 8.

[Vince G]

WOW! I feel like I'm in the stone age? It might be the difference between Mac and PC programs? I have a desktop with a 40 GB HD, and 702 MB ram. On my HD I have 30 GB Available (free space). I can't imagine having that much on your hard drive that you need over 100 gigs? I have many programs, Photoshop, Print Shop, all the IM's, Printers, you name it? Thousands of photos, gifs and other things I use to make things. 100's of MPG clips, WMV convertor. I may get a laptop with higher gig HD and memory but I don't think much would b used?

[mustfocus]

Vince,

Most people won't make use of most of all those resources.  That said, if you were working with 1Gb images (common with graphic artists here), then 40Gb would be too small.  If you look at the current common configurations of macbooks, 250Gb is the smallest hard drive you can get and it comes with 4Gb RAM standard.

[Vince G]

I have some knowledge of graphic artistry and the other Adobe programs used. The 1Gb image is possible when making something like a banner or a large sign which the company I get work from does. But the more common Ad's like a sheet doesn't carry that amount of space. Besides, how many graphic artists are there buying computer that it is a common sale with such high gigs? A wise old jewish guy once told me "Buy what you need" and I understood this and stuck to it. Good advise. I may get a laptop with high gig? but only because that was the only thing available. Not because it is so big. (bragging right type thing).

[rockycoon]

Vince, don't forget speed, mine is running 2 Ghz and is sooo slow, those mac's are fast fast, so you won't know this until you
start running those app's and opening other windows.  That is my problem, as the more windows I open and work with the
slower the system is, just drags it down with only 2 windows running, I am wondering how slow it will run if I am also running
QQ at the same time.  When I get on youtube, or anything that is video, I can expect the video to stop every 3 seconds to reload
and this makes the video so choppy, that at times it is not worth watching.  I hate this.  Got high speed internet, so that is not the
problem, no bugs or virus's....:dodgy:  I watch these other guys just zip right through all of this with no problems, so got to be the
computer.  I'm in the stone-age with you...:s

[Vince G]

Rocky, believe it or not your light years ahead of me, in some ways. Your running at 2 Ghz? I'm running at 400 Mhz. But it runs fast I can run several programs at the same time without it slowing down. The only time I get reminded it's a slower CPU is on youtube or other videos. They run OK just choppy sometimes. This the reason I haven't put a webcam on here. But speed wise? I can have every large program open and zip through them one to another. Internet windows open in a second or so and the internet connection isn't the top speed either (1.5)

Hardware Overview:

  Machine Name:  PowerMacG3series
  Machine Model:  PowerMac1,1
  CPU Type:   PowerPC 750  (2.2)
  Number Of CPUs:   1
  CPU Speed:   400 MHz
  L2 Cache (per CPU):   1 MB
  Memory:   704 MB
  Bus Speed:   100 MHz
  Boot ROM Version:   1.1.1f4

[rockycoon]

It's not the cpu speed, it's the bus speed.  You can only go as fast as your bus speed, cpu can crunch numbers fast, fast, fast but the damn bus slows things down.  Your mac has that really fast apple chip in it, I think it's a motorla chip, and that is so quick, it made the
Intel chips of that time look really slow.  But once you move up to a faster chip, after a while, it is so slooow.  The mac was used for
graphics and design and so was quick, while the IBM was made for games, school (to catch up with apple), and odd ball stuff.  to this
day, publishing is best left to a mac, which was unbeatable, although they made them to also run IBM software.  This is the part where
they got ahead of me and I lost track.

As mine is "choppy" on youtube and all other videos, I think it is the memory thing and catched memory.

[Vince G]

I think all the new macs are intel now? But anyway, I keep any crap off the computer. Keep the HD clean. Anything that grows to much I put on another disc and off the HD. I think this helps big time for I worked on other Macs, newer and they're slower. One guy has so much crap on it? I keep asking him WHY? Like if he has a picture he'll make 10 copies and they're placed all over the place. In folders a few on the desktop and in places they shouldn't be?

[ttwjr32]

for us guys wanting to upgrade our laptop and arent to computer savy you
might want to post something like what vince did with what we should look
for in way of the info and items on the laptop we would want to buy

i know i would use the info as i want to upgrade this year

[Vince G]

If no one figured it out by now? I love the Mac. I tolerate windows when I have to. When I work with windows? I swear it's not five minutes before I'm cursing up a storm and ready to throw it out a window. I figured that's why they named it this? The computer is suppose to make things easier for you, with windows you work for the computer, with Mac it works for you. On windows I've had things come up like "would you like to open blab blab" I click "NO" and it opens anyway? On my Mac I'll do something I need to do. It takes like 5 minutes and it's done. On windows (and I've used windows for many years) the same project takes like an hour. All these wrong things opening can't get the info I'm looking for, etc. To much work. But the Mac isn't cheap either. That's why I buy used. The laptop I found a guy here that it falls off the back of a truck at half price? So I'll go with it.

[mustfocus]

I've worked with both for over 15 years.  I've worked with MacOS (before 10 and after), DOS, Windows of various flavours, OS/2 (yeah, I know, I'm dating myself), Linux (well, to a lesser extent) and even Amiga and Atari computers (way back when...all the way to the Pet).  I've slogged away on RealPC, VirtualPC, Parallels, Citrix and VMWare (virtual computing).  I prefer to use the right tool for the right job.  For graphics (which I really suck at), Mac was good.  For general use (gaming, office and whatnot), Windows.  I'm not sure why Vince has had so many bad experiences.  My computer is only slow if I don't flush memory-leaky programs out the system (usually with a reboot).  I can do what I need as quickly as I need to (well, limited to physical limitations...slow printer is a slow printer).

All computers have their pros and cons.  In the end, people just want their computers to work.  The difference is what happens when things go wrong.  Many people might not like windows, however they have to admit, at least if there is something wrong, you can figure it out.  With a mac, half the issues are cryptic and hard to extract.  How do you figure out what the broken glass sound means? (yes, I know what it means, I'm using it as an example).

All I am saying is that you should evaluate each platform based on your needs and pick what suits you, not what suits the other users.  If you want advice on how to approach things (like which anti-virus, office program, etc.) then do ask... But in the end, you should decide.  You'll be much happier that way.