DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Want a new computer.. it's time

Hi,, I know this has been discussed a million times.. but I have some specific desires regarding a new computer.

I DO NOT INVOLVE MYSELF IN GAMING.... at all.

First, I intend to keep my current slow as heck desktop., It's just something I'll keep but won't necessarily use often. I'll kinda set it off to the side, keep it hooked up but I bet I won't use it more than once or twice a week.

I want to replace my desktop with a new, superfast, laptop.

This is what I will use it for:

Resume searches on Monster and other career boards
letter writing
surfing the net
Bookkeeping
developing and editing spreadsheets
email
scanning documents (I have the scanning equipment)

I also want a docking station at my desk (w/ a cooling pad for under the puter)
I"d also like a wireless keyboard and mouse when it's docked. I'd also like an oversized flat screen that stays at the desk as well.

I have an Apple I-phone now, but I'm thinking I'm going to get either a new one, or a droid so whatever I get, I'll need it to sync up.

Software that I use most often is:

Microsoft Office products such as Word, Excel, Publisher, powerpoint and Outlook is my Email product.(obviously, I'll need to transfer documents from desktop to the new laptop) I'll have a professional do that for me...

I've always had great luck with Dell. I've not liked any of the HP's I've owned over the years (really kinda sick of thier printers as well)

I need a large HD to store a ton of old documents (perhaps an external would be a good thing, not sure or a friend recommended something called "Cloud")

I need something that easy to back up.

I don't know the first thing about "CLOUD" but I have a friend that says that's what I should set up. (I have no idea how to do that but I'll get help) He says the cloud would be great because I wouldn't have to have everything resident on any particular computer.., OK,, if he says so LOL

I have a secured wireless High Speed connection for home but I want to be able to go anywhere to get on line if I wanna) not sure if that's a reasonble request.


And being Italian,, I have no patience.. I NEED IT TO SCREAM... Speedwise that is.

Nothing bugs me more than a sluggish computer. And while I've had pretty good luck with laptops over the years, they all seem to be a lot slower than the desktops I've had. (this desktop was so fast for years but now it's just gotten sluggish)

I also need spam, virus protection etc.. I currently use webroot spysweeper and norton anti virus software... and the supscriptions are paid up for at least another several months.

Can I transfer that to a new puter? Or should I just say the heck with it and get new stuff.. (any recommendations)

I'm told Windows 7 is the way to go.

I've got about 1200 or so to invest. Is that enough? I can, if need be, go higher..

Two questions, is it smart to completely get rid of a desktop and if so, what laptop would you all think is best for the the money I want to spend?

Thanks in advance for you thoughts.

Windows 7 is a no brainier. Get at 4 to 6 gigs of ram if you can.
An external hard drive is pretty cool I have a 1.5 terra byte. The trick is to make sure your usb port gives you the best data transfer rate.

I hate HPs. I have seen good deals on Toshiba at radio shack and best buy.
I was looking for the cheapest laptop not sure about the $1200 price range.
I am sure you cant go wrong with a Dell, but there might be something better out there.


Plug your laptop into your desk top monitor and you have a desk top...sorta

What BadDog said, and for $1200 your more than enough.

I got at Xmas time a Toshiba laptop with Intel i3 Processor with 750GB HDD, 4GB ram Blu-Ray player w/17" screen for $500

Truth is nothing your doing requires a lot of processing power. So focus your attention on the amount of RAM and Hard Drive storage.

I tend to stay away from the value chips (IE: Intel Celeron), with that budget I'd look at the i3 or i5 processors, and still fall hundreds below budget.

General reply:

From the description, it sounds like a fairly normal laptop these days.

The extras would be software related.

You don't need a fancy video card, or HDMI out, or any of that stuff.


Buy yourself a nice $500 laptop and it will do what you want as long as you look carefully at what you buy. If it has Office pre-loaded, then you'll almost certainly have to buy it after the fact on a lower end machine.

Look for good battery life as one of your factors if you are going to haul it around with you. If not ..... then don't worry about it. I almost never lug my laptop anywhere. I might take it down to the living room ..... but that's about as far as mine goes these days.

If you don;t have a wireless router, then invest in one so you can move your laptop around easily if you want to. I run both of my computers, my printer, and all of my Rokus off my wireless router.

I bought a Toshiba about a year or so ago, and I really like it. I can definitely recommend them.

You definitely want an i3 or preferably i5.
Look into laptop dockings for that desk top feel.

I've been a long standing supporter of PC but on a recent trip a friend of mine who went Mac showed me his layout.

And seriously, its pretty damn cool.

Its just so damn SIMPLE. You take it out of the box, plug in one cord and boom. Sailing. All the peripherals are wireless. It just looks like a flat screen TV. No cords no nothing.

The advancements in software have been big. I was always turned off by the lack of availability of software for Apple- including games. Taking a look at the iStore, this no longer seems to be an issue. Everything from games to the microsoft office suite. Operating system is slick and the difference in price is stupid... Windows 7 will cost what...250? 300? Lion? 40.

Hardware has caught up as well. Might not be AS fast as the fastest PCs but its more than enough for most from what I've seen.

What I really liked was how well apple stuff plays together. In particular, Apple TV. Costs about 100 bucks but acts as an instant bridge between your computer and your TV. So now your TV can access all your music, play movies you've downloaded, show pictures, etc etc etc. The Apple TV also can access any iPhones, pads or pods that come into the area. So if someone has a movie on their iPhone, they could stream it directly to your TV. Was very cool.

Now the bugaboo....price... I've always said yeah Apple is nice but look at the premium you pay. Well, there's still a premium but its come down considerably. the 21.5 inch iMac goes for $1200 right now all in, pretty nicely equipped..

Now before the chants of "fanboy" start, I own a PC and have had PCs my whole life. My current PC is a top of the line rig that I has custom made. PC still has the advantage cost wise for sure and for hardcore gamers, there's no other options.

However, with me appreciating simplicity as I get older and having acquired an xbox for games, I'm seriously thinking Mac for my next purchase.

Just my two cents

Hmm between you and Ytown and Bad,, I think I have an idea..

My wife has a Toshiba and she loves it.. But the problem is, it's running Vista which I think is about as slow as molassas.. man it takes forever to do anything. I was told I could move that to Windows 7 as well. Probably will do that very soon.

I'm gonna go to Micro Centers to look around this afternoon., I doubt I buy from them, but it's nice to go there, touch and feel what you want and then go in search of a better deal..

I'll keep you all posted
Thanks

Vista sucks. Do the upgrade if you dont mind the hassles. Macs are great but expensive. Hit best buy and radio shack if you can. I got mine at radio shack . but like I said I was looking for the cheapest.

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Look for good battery life

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Was the major factor in my purchase, weight is also a concern.

microcenter is the place to go, they have tons of laptops, and they even have the apple's in the back.

I love my macbook pro as far as laptops go....don't think it has a dock, but you can use a wireless mouse/keyboard thru the blutooth.

Think they are actually selling them for 1000 now.

nothing wrong with either platform....windows 7 is pretty good. I do love this mac though.

Pc for gaming...macbook for laptop...i can see this thing lasting for years.

I'd just buy the Win7 upgrade put in the disc and click next til it says finished.

There's things she won't be able to do on the iPad that she can on the laptop. A tablet is NOT a computer, they are more like over-sized smartphones without phone capabilities.

If everything she does is on the internet, then yeah it would work. But not if she needs specific programs.

If you are going to buy a pad I would get something other than an ipad. It does not run java. A lot of website run java. I would get another type of pad probably a Samsung.

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her Toshiba is at least 3 years old now... so that may not be the best answer.

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Make sure her laptop can support windows 7!!

Okay, first off ... brandname really means NOTHING when it comes to PC's. Doesn't really matter if it's a Dell, HP or Toshiba. They all just toss in 3rd party motherboards, intel/amd processors, western digital/seagate drives, put it in a case, slap their label on it, and call it good. About the only thing you're getting from them is additional software (which you usually don't need, and half of the time erase anyway) ... and tech support (which half the time comes from the same 3rd party vendor in India).

Really, just look at the specs and see which gives you the most bang for your buck. Since you're not gaming, you don't have to worry about a video card, which can sometimes be the majority of your expense. Avoid anything that advertises a top-line gaming video card, because you'll be paying more for the video card than the PC.

Processor speeds can be a little iffy, because sometimes they claim what the processor should "behave" like, rather than the actual processor speed. Plus Quad cores with slower processors will sometimes work faster than Duel Cores with faster processors. Really, processor power doesn't matter too much for you anyway, since you're not looking to crunch numbers.

The biggest thing to look for is RAM. 8GB of RAM is pretty good. If you can get higher, that's better. RAM goes a long way towards making your computer appear faster. It's really the cheapest way to "upgrade" a computer.

Hard-drive space you don't have to worry about either. Most drives these days come in at around 250GB or more, which is WAY more than you'll ever use, unless you plan on doing a lot of video editing. Don't really get drawn in to a more expensive PC because it has a Terabyte Drive ... that thing will sit empty most of the time.

Also don't be afraid of getting a "package" computer with a mouse/keyboard you don't need, if you can get it cheaper. Sometimes they have pretty good package deals with monitors/peripherals. Just toss aside the basic mouse they give you, and buy the wireless one you want. At the very least, you'll have a backup if the other one goes out.

Honestly for you ... look for something that has Windows 7, a lot of RAM, and a decent Processor. Which ever brand gives you the best deal.

Not sure about your comment on Name brand Excl,,, I've had HP's and have not been happy with them at all.. whereas, I've always been happy with Dells. and my wifes Toshiba is pretty sweet as well. Although, with Vista, man it runs slow.

I did find out that it will support Windows 7 just fine so it shouldn't be a problem.

Having it done on Sunday.

What haven't you been happy about? Under the hood, it's all the same components, so maybe you're just buying the wrong configuration ... or not deleting enough worthless software that comes pre-installed.

I have an HP home computer now, and it works just fine. Was a bit cheaper than a comparable DELL, and I swapped in faster video card.

The difference is the software as Excl said, HP bloats there's with crap.

Judging from your other comments on this thread, I would assume you may want to avoid HP for that reason. As Excl said you can just remove all the bloat, but knowing what is bloat and what isn't is the key, and I take it you may know be "tech" enough to make those decisions.

Funny story... friend bought an HP a few years ago, and went about removing stuff he didn't "think" he needed. He calls me up and says his new PC isn't working. After a confusing conversation on the phone I agree to stop by.

Turns out... He removed anything that didn't start with the word Microsoft from the add/remove programs menu.

Boy that was a fun night.

I just buy an OEM copy of Windows 7, and over-write whatever comes on the system.

Did anyone hear HP is getting out of the PC business. That should tell you something.

"Compaq"? ... that was my first 486. Pain to work on too.
The computer I have now is the first that I haven't built since owning that Compaq ... It's an E Machine I purchased from best buy on an impulsive moment.

I used only AMD processors in the 5 PC's that I have built over the years and I was pretty happy with their performance and value, so that was a contributing factor, but It's the worst PC I have ever owned and the memory was out dated at the time of purchase
(unbeknownst to me at the time).
The Sound and Video are dedicated to it's mother board and even though there are slots for upgrading the boards (which I have) they can not be used because the others can't be disabled.

Daman, It doesn't sound as if these things will be a problem for you with your computing needs unless you plan on getting into memory intense programs.
You can't build them yourself as cheap as you can buy one nowadays.

note: Check the date of manufacturer. Some may be left over from last year depending on the store.

Let's see, I have an apple as my avatar...

Get a MAC, the OS is worlds better than windows.

Laptops are built to be small, lightweight, portable, with long battery life. They are NOT built to be hi-performance, upgradeable, repairable, or to last a long time. They are a compromise much like a folding bicycle.

Win 7 is virtually your ONLY choice in an OS.

Mac is an option, if you want something vastly different from 90% of the market and wish to pay a higher price for it.

Dell represents an excellent dollar value and in general their warranty support is good. Toshiba has usually been very good quality at a somewhat higher price point. Pray you never need to purchase factory parts. NOTE - most laptops contain a high percentage of proprietary parts that must be obtained from the original maker, there are no generic alternatives. This is VERY different from desktops.

HP has gotten in and out of the PC business 3 or 4 times now.

For $1200 you should be able to get an absolute hot-rod. If you do choose a laptop, invest about $100 of that in a good-quality case, preferably a hard-shell. A busted screen can be well over $300 replacement cost, and they break fairly easily.

If you get a desktop and can handle a #2 Phillips, you can build it yourself with higher-quality, higher-performance parts and gain the ability to do any needed repairs yourself, also get exactly what you want.

Anything over 8 Gb RAM for your needs is overkill. 4 would probably be sufficient.

you should seriously look at the macbook pro....i was re-reading your post, and i would suit your needs fine. Only thing i don't know about is the dock, and how you would attach a monitor. Apple sells bluetooth keyboards and mice, but honestly the trackpad is cool as hell.

My brother is big into mac and told me to hold off on a mouse and learn to use the trackpad.....its vastly different than a windows laptop. It works similar to an iPhone. you can pinch, swipe 2, 3, or 4 fingers to do different things. He was right...i have no desire for a mouse, except for a few games maybe, but i still just use the trackpad.

It also has time-machine for backup which i have never used, but you can back stuff up to an external drive and bring back a file with ease. I'm sure there are videos out there so you can see for yourself.

The lighted keyboard is awesome. The power cord is magnetic, so you don't have to worry about catching the wire....i've soldered 4-5 power receptacles onto pc laptops myself. It will just pop off if caught on something.

You won't have to worry about anti-virus, defragging, or other issues that windows require.

You can buy microsoft office if you like, but apples programs allow you to save in those formats for a lot cheaper.

Its a buy it and forget it laptop. I paid close to 1500 with the apple-care warranty, and i don't regret it.

I won't fault you for going with a dell, as they are great computers with windows 7, but apple bears looking at.

another thing that is cool is how you delete a program...simply drag the icon to the trash....thats it....no extra files left behind.

I think there is maybe some misconception that third-party peripherals aren't compatible with Apple computers? You don't have to use their mouse and keyboard and display if you don't want; other brands will work just fine.

that's correct. you can use any monitor, keyboard, or mouse you want.

Their mouse and keyboard are wireless with bluetooth, or usb. You can get cheap aftermarket keyboards that have all the apple keys too.

The actual hardware is whats not interchangeable. Printers and scanners all have drivers for osx too. Apples have intel chips, and use ati graphics cards....they just pick the stuff they will use in there computers, and make it work with osx.

Pc's are not tied down my hardware requirements...so you have more latitude for what you want, but more compatibility (driver) issues as a result.

Well, step one is being completed as I write this. My wifes Toshiba laptop is at Staples getting win 7 installed. Also having junk software removed.

So, she should run a little faster and smoother......

I'll let you all know how it goes after play with it for a few days.

It will be like a brand new computer. Should run much faster and smoother.
How much ram is in it? Maybe call them up and tell them to add more ram. I would think for your needs 4 gig would be more than fine.

its probably 4 gigs then, which is fine. did you get the 64bit version of windows? It uses all the ram

well its not the end of the world for a laptop. But 32bit operating systems only recognize the first 3.5 gigs of memory...so 4 gigs gets you 3.5 gigs really. On a regular pc you could have a video card that has 1 gig of memory, so you can actually have even less. 64 bit operating systems don't have this bottle-neck.

Its probably fine because a laptop doesn't have a huge video card, and 3.5 gigs is fine with windows 7, but if you buy or build a regular desktop go with 64 bit

daman, i scanned through this forum so forgive me if someone else already said it but if you want a really fast laptop, you want to pay attention to the hard drive speed. many times, when someone buys a cheaper laptop, the hard drive is rated at 5,600 rpm whereas the typical desktop hard disk is 7,200 rpm, and a "performance" drive is 10,000 rpm, where the faster the rpm, the faster read and write megabytes/sec. that is why there is such a craze for solid state drives now, since there are no moving parts, the write/read speed is off the charts resulting in faster boats and loads, while saving battery.

Thanks Dong


I got the laptop back today and it's better, but certainly not a screamer.. so the thought of moving it to me as my primary puter,, just went out the window..

I'll need something a lot faster and VERY dependable.

ahh, sorry i'm too late. if you're interested down the road, let me know and i'll link you to any deals i come across for a solid state drive. that'll let your computer fly (in some areas of course, like loading, booting, etc).

you know, being a fellow PC guy, if i were you, i would consider (depending how much you spent on the new laptop) just buying an ipad; especially since you have an iphone and have that familiarity. aside from your emailing and spreadsheets, everything else can easily be done on it. i would know. since getting mine, i never use the my computers (laptops included).

I'm gonna go give that a try. thanks Purp