Computer guru's? Advice requested on Lap-top computers, please?

[shadowkat]

Thanks for all the computer advice! You guys have been incredibly helpful. Due to numerous issues - including the fact that my landlord has to come into my apartment August 8th and rip out the wall the computer is located next to, have decided to take graffitandsara's advice and get a lap-top, keep the other computer for rudimentary junk.

But being a bit of a computer dolt, in case you haven't noticed, need a little advice:

Here's a Dell Computer Lap-top I saw advertised as Outrageous Deal 6000:

1.Processor: Intel Cenrino Moblie Tech - Intel Pentium M Processor 715
(1.50GHz, 2MB Cache, 400 MHz FSB) - what's this mean? And do I need 1.60 GHz?
2.Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
3.Display: 15.4 Widescreen XGA Display (What's the best to have here?)
4.Memory: 512 MB Shared* (What's shared mean? I know 512 is good - it's the amount of memory on the computer at work. )
5. hard drive: 80GB * Hard Drive (Does it matter if I have 40 GB or 80 GB?)
6. media bay: 8x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW*) - Do you need 24x or 8x? (I don't really burn CD's) Is this the disk drive? Or is it something separate? (Yes, the last lap-top I worked on was my father's Compaq in 1996, we didn't have stuff like this back then, those were the days.)
7. graphics card: Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (Do you need the 64MB DDR ATI's Mobility RADEON X300 PCI Express x16 Graphics or is this enough for my needs?)
8. Wireless: Intel PRo/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g) - what is this? Is it an internet card? Or something that allows you to operate the computer without plugging it in?
9. The whole warranty package - 1 year on each.

Any advice, welcome.

Going to try and get before August if possible. The gods seem to think I need a new computer and it should be a lap-top for some reason or other.

Comments

[atpolittlebit.livejournal.com]

Just some quick comments:

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition is fine unless you plan at some point to network the laptop. Then it needs the XP Professional edition.

512 MB shared memory should be plenty for most anything you do. Shared just means that the system can allocate memory to other functions if needed.

A 40 GB hard drive should be fine unless you do a lot of image stuff. I've been doing a lot with photos and they just eat drive space.

The 8x CD/DVD drive should be fine. Even though you don't currently burn CDs, I've found them to be a really easy way to do data backups. The CD/DVD drive has pretty much taken the place of the old 3-1/4" floppy drives.

The basic graphics card should be all you need. The more powerful graphics cards are needed if you plan to play video games or do a lot of graphic intensive work.

Wireless means it comes ready to connect to a wireless network. But you still have to have a network to connect to. It's a separate function from the internet connection. If you use dial-up (or decide to upgrade to DSL/cable) those connect into the laptop directly. You'd have to add a wireless router for the wireless card to work for you.

Hope that helps.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Sorry to butt in, but I've been eying the same machine. LB, do you think these are fairly sturdy? Is the video card good enough for gameplaying? In terms of value for the dollar, would an Apple be better?

[atpolittlebit.livejournal.com]

If you play a lot of video games you generally need more RAM and the best graphics card you can manage. Usually I've been able to upgrade fairly inexpensively.

As for the Apple vs. PC question...I really don't know. MACs are superior when it comes to graphics applications, but I don't know how they compare for gaming, which is heavy in the graphics.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Well, gaming is really a minor concern--I don't do it a lot. The big issue for me is durability. I used Dell laptops when was working (and Gateway too) and they seemed not to hold up well--electrical connections seemed to get jiggled loose. I'm not rough with them--just the normal amount of handling (putting under seat in plane, etc.) Maybe Apples are the same, or maybe Dells have gotten better. That would probably be the deciding factor for me, since the Dells are so much cheaper.

But if you don't work much with Apples, don't worry--I'm asking around elsewhere as well.

[(Anonymous)]

Regarding Dell vs. Apple?

It's interesting, but the people who have the apples or i-books, seem to complain more online about their notebooks crashing on them or durability issues. I haven't seen any Dell people complain. Course,
they might just be quiet about it.

Both poneygirl and buffannatator have taken theirs into the shop repeatedly - I've seen four posts over the past three years from both of them. My brother - who uses apple for graphics and just about everything - advised me long ago: if you do graphics or design work, you need to use Apple, otherwise, the non-Apple brands work best.
The problem with Apple's and this may have changed since Microsoft bought Apple or joined with Apple - was you could convert non-Apple (or IBM compatible to Apple but not vice versa). This drove me bonkers in the late 90's when I was working on an IBM at work and had an Apple at home. Since 85% of the computers in the workplace are IBM-compatible, this is an issue. Only certain publishing companies or companies that specialize in graphics work appear to use Apple. Everyone I know who works in graphics design for instance, certain areas of tv/entertainment is apple.

Another point - when I asked people what to get, offline as well as online - everyone without exception said a Dell. One person suggested I try the homeshopping network or qvc which sells Dell products at a discount, course you don't get the warranties or the sales help.
My landlord who is a senior art director with Saatchi and Saatchi suggested a dell lap-top.

Have yet to see anyone suggest an Apple outside of my brother, who as I mentioned - runs a graphics business and does use IBM-compatible for the non-graphics related work.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Sounds like excellent advice. I like it, since I already have PC desktops and didn't want to face the conversion issue.

The Apple propaganda I get does mostly come from a good friend who's a graphics designer, so I know his issues are different from mine.

Thanks very much for all that. You may have saved me some real $$$.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

That was me, by the way. Stupid lj put it down as anonymous because I can't sign into it and accessing via email.

Glad it helped. I've been on the fence myself a couple of times, because i-books look so cool and shiny. But the one time I considered getting one, my brother, who loves Apple, talked me out of it. Stating that the machine is designed for someone who does a lot of graphics work or web design. He said that I should check out the industries that have Apple and the ones that don't - turns out he was right. In fact whenever I interviewed at publishing companies - the art division was the only one with Apple's, everyone else had the IBM compatible. He had both - because he needed on for business and one for graphic design.
It may have changed since then, but from what I saw interviewing in 2002-2004, it hadn't. Without exception the companies who did web design or graphics or desktop publishing had Apple's for the art and IBM compatible for everything else.

The biggest factor though at least for me, continues to be conversion.
It's why I veer away from it - because all the jobs I've ever had or interviewed for used IBM compatible PC. Plus my home PC is IBM compatible. If I got an Apple - I'd have to either find a way of converting everything or just print it off and retype it in. Much easier and cheaper to get a Dell.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have the conversion issue too--I share desktops with my husband who's not going to change, for sure--just got a new PC. Dell is definitely easier.

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

Say whatever you will about Gates and Windows, at this point in time it's the closest thing the world has to a 'standard' PC operating system. And in truth, XP is not bad at all.

I'm a practical kind of guy, and if I have a choice between a really common solution that works most of the time and another far less common solution that-- works most of the time (and just has different bugs), I go for the common one.

Maybe someday Linux or something else/better will rule, but that's someday. Meantime-- I'm a Windows user.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this, now just have to decide if:

1. I want to try gaming. Never really been into it or had the ability.
2. Do I need to network? Probably not, since just me and I don't bring work home at the moment.
3. Final question might be can you buy a wireless router in lieu of DSL/Cable or is it an add on?
I assume the DSL/Cable will be easier with lap, since can put lap anywhere.

[atpolittlebit.livejournal.com]

IF you want to try gaming then go for the better graphics card. It speeds up the graphic display and makes a difference when a game relies on fast-changing displays.

You most likely don't need to network (at least as it applies to having XP Home vs XP Pro). I have it because between my hubby and myself we have something like four working computers and this lets us work with and transfer data among them.

The router is in addition to the cable/DSL/dial-up internet access. But any of them, without the wireless router, will require a wired connection. The only difference is that dial-up uses the phone cord (and seriously, I've used a 25 ft cord that let me go pretty much anywhere I wanted to) while cable/DSL use a different type of cable. If you decide to get a wireless router then the cable/dail-up connection goes into it, and it then connects to the wireless card in the laptop so you don't have an internet cord to trail around.

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

Just seconding what 'Bit said, both here and above.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

5. hard drive: 80GB * Hard Drive (Does it matter if I have 40 GB or 80 GB?)

This really depends on what you do with multimedia. If you carry a lot of video or graphics, or if you load a lot of games or software applications - space can get eaten up pretty quickly. If the price jump from 40GB to 80GB isn't that much, and if you have any aspirations - go get the extra storage.

I have a 60 GB Hard drive, and I download and watch a lot of TV shows. The only way I've been able to get by, is by deleting a lot of them. When I would have wanted to archive.

If you don't game, if you don't watch movies/video on your PC, if you don't store a lot of music, or do graphics, you can be okay. But generally, there's no such thing as too much storage.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I don't at the moment, because can't.
But would like to be able to at some point, so maybe having extra storage capability is a good idea.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Okay - then it gets down to the cost issue. How much you're willing to spend on a capability that you might not really need. So that's between you and your budget

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

The budget bit is a good point. Truth is I don't need these things - don't see myself watching TV on a lap-top.

What I really need it for is the net, ability to maybe do photo-shop. And write. Mostly for writing and exchanging views on writing. As well as internet research.

[atpolittlebit.livejournal.com]

If you want to photoshop but don't want to have to spend extra just for photo storage capacity, you could consider saving photos onto CDs. Since a CD holds 700 MG you can get a lot of them on one. And there's almost always sales where you can pick up 50 for around $10 to $15 if you catch a good one.