Laptops

[Guest starspirit]

Thanks one and all - some interesting points raised.

 

I was going to use a usb plug in flash drive to store personal data etc as I can just put that in my pocket or easily hide it when leaving the van and as there will be nothing else on the hd that can't be reloaded from cd or online do I really need an extra hd?

[Brian Kirby]

starspirit - 2007-02-28 7:36 PM Thanks one and all - some interesting points raised. I was going to use a usb plug in flash drive to store personal data etc as I can just put that in my pocket or easily hide it when leaving the van and as there will be nothing else on the hd that can't be reloaded from cd or online do I really need an extra hd?

On the last point, I forgot my personal bete noire, which is the present tendency for computers to be supplied with all the OEM software in a "hidden" partition on the hard drive.  Thus, no reinstallation CDs, so if the hard drive does crash bang goes your software master copies, and you loose a chunk of the stated HDD capacity to hold it all.  I think most do allow you to take it off to CD, but so far as I can tell, not in the original "compressed" format, so it won't fit on one CD.

My final whinge is the bind you get caught in if something does malfunction and it isn't as simple as a dead HDD, or nothing happens when you push the power button.  Hardware manufacturer blames software conflicts, the operating system is OEM, so only the hardware manufacturer's boffins are allowed to deal, but they don't know the OS as well as, say, Microsoft, and just blame the hardware, and round and round and round it bl**dy goes.

Pa in law bought a Dell in 2005 and it suffered intermittent blue screens.  We reinstalled the OS twice under guidance from India, changed the broadband modem (not, of course, Dell supply, so the obvious cause of the trouble) then Pa got ratty and told them he was far too old for all this (he is 90!), and they'd just have to take it away and fix it.  They whinged about the warranty, which was so badly written it could have meant almost anything, but eventually relented, took it back, tested it and returned it saying it was fault free.  Another blue scereen followed in short order, more fireworks, a lot of research on the blue screen error messages, and we convinced ourselves, and eventually, after further, exhaustive on line and diagnostics checks, even Dell that it was either faulty memory or a dud HDD.  Eventually, after seemingly countless e-mails, Dell sent an engineer, who simply installed, without testing anything, a new hard drive and memory chip.  It took hours because the software pre-loaded on the drive was wrong, and had to be fully updated, and it has worked perfectly ever since.  And they'd had the thing in their own workshop six weeks earlier, and had pronounced it fault free.  How so?  Oh well, said Dell, the return was for a software fault, not a hardware fault!  Well, it was returned to Dell because of a fault, and if the software checked OK, why not turn attention to the hardware?  Oh, it doesn't work like that!!  Durrrrr.

Like all computers Dells are fine provided they keep working: but when they don't, be prepared to find their award winning customer support wouldn't actually win any awards from you!

Sorry about that little rant.  Go in peace!

[Guest starspirit]

Your rant would be oh so wrong if it wasn't so oh so right Brian!

 

Trying to get good service for just about anything is a lottery these days as so very few people give a toss any more.

 

I would not need to be so paranoid if the whole world was not out to get me.

 

Perhaps I won't bother with a laptop after all as I'm not really convinced I need one after all!

 

Some of the many joys of going away are no computer, no newspapers, no TV signal, no telephone (unless I turn it on to make a call)!

[net-traveller]

It seems a daunting task to buy IT kit but it isn't. It is useful to know a few things to check for so .......

 

You want a laptop to take away with you so you can check your routes, save your digital photos, do a bit of writing and maybe e-mail, internet and TV. You may also have downloaded some tourist brochures.

 

You also said that on your desktop PC you haven't used much of your hard disc.

 

I'll start by naming a few brands and what is known about them.

 

Acer - used to be part of Siemens but have been sold on.

Dell - mail order only. Has had a rough ride in the IT press, seems to have the same sort of reaction as our friends in Newark.

IBM - good name but comes with a price tag.

Sony - as IBM

Toshiba - been around for yonks, were producing laptops in the days of Windows 3.x (before Windows 95)

HP + Compaq - as IBM

Fujitsu/Siemens - not big in the domestic market but good in commercial.

Packard Bell - used to be cheap & cheerful but is now thought to be reasonable.

 

A honest PC World assistant did suggest that Patriot, Advent and a few others not mentioned above were somewhat below par.

 

So I would suggest that you look for 1Gb RAM + 40GB hard drive (more if you can). You should also ask about watching TV because that will affect your choices. All computers have either Intel or AMD processors. In both cases there are slow processors and fast processors and that may affect what you want to do.

 

I would also suggest that you visit the likes of PC World, Comet, Staples and have a test drive. Easiest way to do that is to get the start menu up then select Run, type notepad and OK. This should bring up the notepad and you can type away. The reason is to check out the keyboard as the keys and pressure needed to get a result do differ.

You should also check the screen. Never mind the physical size it's the resolution that counts. Once again get start menu, select control panel then select display then settings. The more pixels on the display the less you will have to scroll but the smaller the writing, eg 1400x1050 needs no scrolling.

The equivalent of a mouse is either a touchpad or a rubber teat. Go for the touchpad, the other is a pain in the nether regions.

Go for 4 USB ports.

 

Check that it comes with reload discs (CDs or DVDs). A post from Brian stated that Dell doesn't. I assume that this is because Dell builds to order and perhaps has a interest in relieving customers of a bit more cash as and when.

 

For travelling I would suggest that you buy a case for it. Doesn't have to be expensive. While travelling store it flat in the bottom of the wardrobe or a drawer so it doesn't wander too much.

 

Warranty - not usually worth the paper it's written on. Check your yellow pages and see if there are any local PC Repairs or Data Recovery folk around. They will be able to sort out any of your problems and probably a good deal cheaper too.

 

Refurbished laptops.

An alternative to buying new. Again check your local area as above or try http://www.ittrading.co.uk/default.asp. I have no personal experience of them but they've been around a while.

 

Computer consumables - memory sticks, hot swappable hard drives - yes they work but have you considered the humble CD preferably CD-RW?

Cheap, simple and can transfer data from laptop to desktop.

 

One final suggestion. Go online and check the manufacturers websites. You should find information on the product line and where to buy.

 

;-)

[enodreven]

Hi,

 

lots of interesting information, after reading some of the replies i have just purchased a 2gb USB Memory Stick which I will store all of my personal info on and put it in a safe place away from where i store the laptop.

 

www.autdirect.co.uk 2gb USB Memory stick £9.99 inc vat.

 

Brian

[twooks]

just buy an apple and be done with it .. .. .. .. .. .. [one of these days I'll take my own advice :-S ]

 

B-)

[Mel B]

net-traveller - 2007-03-01 2:40 PM

 

Warranty - not usually worth the paper it's written on. Check your yellow pages and see if there are any local PC Repairs or Data Recovery folk around. They will be able to sort out any of your problems and probably a good deal cheaper too.

;-)

 

Sorry, can't agree with this, we've got loads of PC repair places around but not a single laptop repairer at all, when ringing the PC repair places they say they'll have a look either for a price or for free, they then say it's not something they can sort so want to send it away at a great price with no guarantee of a fix. My hubby can build and repair PCs and can check all the basics on laptops, which he did on ours so you really do need someone who knows about laptops, not just some PC technician who doesn't know what to do with them.

[mom]

starspirit - 2007-02-28 7:36 PM 

<snip> do I really need an extra hd?

I have one, an 80G Passport drive, but the only reason I needed one is for my hobby - digital photography.  So I take my PC and external HDD when travelling, but not to do real work!!  Just to pursue my hobbies. 

[Brian Kirby]

net-traveller - 2007-03-01 2:40 PM It seems a daunting task to buy IT kit but it isn't. It is useful to know a few things to check for so ....... Check that it comes with reload discs (CDs or DVDs). A post from Brian stated that Dell doesn't. I assume that this is because Dell builds to order and perhaps has a interest in relieving customers of a bit more cash as and when.

With apologies for the selective quote, but Sony also supply at least some of their laptops without the actual CDs.  I know this because we have one.  I think this has more to do with a percieved risk of all the CDs being passed around your friends than any concept of selective build.  However, the Sony has a nice feel, and a cracking wide screen that is pin sharp.

I'd quibble a bit about the joystick mouse though.  I used to use an IBM laptop with one, and found I liked it far more than the touch screen mouse. 

We also have a little Fujitsu Siemens laptop with a joystick, and I still prefer that to the Sony touch screen (we just use a USB optical mini-mouse with the Sony), so I think it's just a case of getting used to the feel of either. 

Re Fujitsu, My experience was that the support for our particular model was rather short lived.  Not sure if this is typical of their consumer type products but, just to be aware!

Since Vista has arrived, there must be quite a few XP based laptops going cheap, and XP seems to work well enough for most home purposes.  You won't need more than 512mb RAM either and, if the use is mainly a bit of spreadsheeting, word processing e-mail and web browsing, 256mb would probably do.  Chip speed?  Well they're all so much quicker than me, I don't think it really matters all that much - unless you want to edit high definition images of more than, say 12mb each.  Question is, would you really want do that on the average SVGA or even XGA laptop screen?  On the Sony, however, you just might!

Final point is size.  Small normally costs more, but it is easier to hide in a motorhome.  I think I'd be a bit inclined to look for something quite compact (and probably remaindered), running XP, and just go for the big discount.  Sony (sorry!) produced some real little beauties and there must be some still in stock somewhere at the right price! 

Maybe have a punt around Amazon and Laptop shop and see what you can find?

[twooks]

I'm currently using a Dell latitude - this has 2 mouses < *-) > joystick and pad, the joystick grows on you with use and I now prefer it - the position of the pad is more comfortable tho and I still generally use the pad buttons because of their position.

 

B-)

[howie]

twooks - 2007-03-02 2:52 PM

 

I'm currently using a Dell latitude - this has 2 mouses < *-) > joystick and pad, the joystick grows on you with use and I now prefer it - the position of the pad is more comfortable tho and I still generally use the pad buttons because of their position.

 

B-)

Sorry to pick you up on this Twooks, but as everyone knows, the plural for mice is "meeces" 8-)

[Guest starspirit]

And I tort it twas mices?

[howie]

Your,e losing it Richard. Wrong cartoon. Off to the pub to drown my sorrows now. :->

[Guest starspirit]

Waddya mean losing it?

 

'It' went years ago!

 

Enjoy drowning!

[Dave Newell]

twooks - 2007-03-01 5:54 PM

 

just buy an apple and be done with it .. .. .. .. .. .. [one of these days I'll take my own advice :-S ]

 

B-)

 

I had an apple at lunchtime but it was too slow to load any internet pages and I couldn't get any pictures onto it. What kind of apple do you recomend Twooks, Bramley or Granny Smith?

 

D.

[michele]

Sony Viao brilliant machine nice clean screen ...fast good .

[twooks]

Dave Newell - 2007-03-02 8:22 PM

 

twooks - 2007-03-01 5:54 PM

 

just buy an apple and be done with it .. .. .. .. .. .. [one of these days I'll take my own advice :-S ]

 

B-)

 

I had an apple at lunchtime but it was too slow to load any internet pages and I couldn't get any pictures onto it. What kind of apple do you recomend Twooks, Bramley or Granny Smith?

 

D.

 

 

_________________________________________

we have a local orchard - specialises in the 'traditional apples' of odd shapes and y'know what - they actually taste and smell of apple - diya think it might catch on one day??

 

B-)

[GJH]

Dave Newell - 2007-03-02 8:22 PM

I had an apple at lunchtime but it was too slow to load any internet pages and I couldn't get any pictures onto it.

It wasn't because you were connected on GPRS via an Orange phone instead of using broadband was it?

 

Graham

[Guest starspirit]

It was the core processor at fault - watch out Bloosom or it will give you the pip.

[Dave Newell]

Going back to laptops for a moment I've just been up town and see Woolworths have a Medion laptop for £399. Its got a 15.4" WXGA screen (widescreen) Intel mobile processor (sorry can't remember the number) 1024MB ram, built in WiFi and Windows Vista home.

[michele]

Rich,

pay an extra 100 and get a tosh you'll get a Sat a 100 .

Mind you you are payng fr the name but you gets what you pays for .

Buy cheep get cheep ?....Be careful as its money down the pan in the long run.

[GJH]

Dave Newell - 2007-03-04 1:11 PM

 

Going back to laptops for a moment I've just been up town and see Woolworths have a Medion laptop for £399. Its got a 15.4" WXGA screen (widescreen) Intel mobile processor (sorry can't remember the number) 1024MB ram, built in WiFi and Windows Vista home.

Nothing wrong with Medion in principle. I looked at those the other week before buying my Acer. Four factors persuaded me to spend an extra 100 quid:

1. They only had 512 Mb RAM at the time, which I thought was a bit light.

2. The processor is a Celeron rather than the dual core Pentium in the Acer.

3. The hard drive is 80Gb rather than 120Gb in mine.

4. The Acer has Vista Home Premium rather than Basic.

 

Graham

[twooks]

so you've been conned by BG into Vista, Graham - what's your opinion??

 

B-)

[michele]

Not alots changed since windows 3.1 apart from he's still trying to get rid of DOS. All those Billions and his biggest problem is hiding DOS.

 

SAD................Greedy .....Wonder what he will do with it all . ;-)

[GJH]

twooks - 2007-03-04 1:42 PM

 

so you've been conned by BG into Vista, Graham - what's your opinion??

 

B-)

Having said I would wait a while, I had to get Vista because I decided that I had to get a new laptop. We mainly use the laptop when we go to family history fairs and it was getting to be too much hassle to mess about with an external hard drive linked to the 4 year old box on our travels.

 

I was a bit frustrated by Vista at first but that was mainly because the security on system files (even the likes of start-up menus) is switched on by default and it's a bit of a clart on getting round it. Once I had switched the desktop to Classic mode and found my way round all the security to set up the machine to my liking I found that Vista was quite comfortable to use.

 

I was impressed with the ease of linking to our wireless network - once I had altered the security settings on the network to allow the new laptop to connect it was all plain sailing.

 

I haven't tried all the software we use on the new machine but that isn't a priority as I usually use the desktop at home. I've put the essential stuff on and it seems to work OK.

 

Graham