laptops

[Basil]

stelynn - 2007-12-25 3:45 PM

 

Have you seen the Asus Eee PC which seems tailor made for travelling.

 

Excellent machine, shame there are none in the country at the moment (except the 2Gb version) you can't buy one for love nor money. When they went on sale the 10000 inital release were sold out at a rate of one every 6 seconds (according to industry news). Have not read a bad write up on them yet.

With XP on it is the ideal unit for travelling.

 

Bas

[Randonneur]

Shaun - 2007-12-24 8:28 PM

 

God, yes, I forgot to mention the blasted security. Vista doesn't like the user doing things, so you constantly have to confirm your actions before it will let you. It treats everyone like an ignorant novice and there's no way to tell it to "Sod off and mind your own business."

 

It's also true, there's loads of software and peripherals which just don't work properly with Vista. My quite new HP printer insists upon reinstalling itself every time I connect it to the laptop.

 

But, as has been observed, it's far harder to buy a laptop without the dreaded Vista, than with it. Those of us who have been lumbered with it, pray, dear users, for the inevitable service releases to iron out all the bugs which should never have been there in the first place.

 

Shaun

 

 

The laptop I bought in August has Vista Home Premium installed and it has been excellent, no complaints so far. My previous laptop was a Compaq and in the first 12 months it had to go back 3 times and in the following 3 years I had no end of trouble with it. After the 3 yr guarantee was up I was able to sort things out myself. I only took this guarantee because of the TFT screen because they were so expensive to replace.

 

As far as security on vista and the recurring asking for acceptance to do anything, this can be turned off.

 

I have been using and building computers since 1981 and would still say that the desktop is the more reliable but the laptop is for convenience and does not replace a desktop for general use. I have both XP and Vista Home Premium on my desktop and Vista HP on my laptop and the only reason I keep XP is because my Husband is used to it and the Vista is in French. I use all my original ME & XP Software and its fine. But you need to install the latest drivers for any equipment you intend to use with Vista most of them are out there on the internet, only very old equipment you struggle with, my scanner is 7 years old and works perfectly ok with Vista after downloading the correct drivers, my printer is 4 years old and again it works perfectly.

 

I have a book called "Vista for Dummies" and it is a source of valuable information even for me, there are always new things to learn.

 

[twooks]

someone mentioned Dell, when you know what you want have a look here

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfo

but you have to be quick.

I've had 2 laptops from here - no problems - still get full warranty - just double check the spec and small print on what is included before you press the button

 

B-)

 

and - if possible avoid Vista until about 6 months before it's due to be replaced :-> :-> may have all problems sorted by then and the additional resource required to run it should come as standard

[Shaun]

One of the most frustrating aspects of Vista is that it's known problems don't affect everyone - in fact, they might affect only a minority. I have one whereby when viewing files in Explorer, it's not possible to 'select all', usually to then copy elsewhere or delete. Research on the internet described this as a known fault which only affects some users. There's a workaround which entails altering lines of Windows code - but, again that 'fix' can adversely affect some PCs.

 

Another Explorer foible is the huge number of possible columns which can be displayed, the vast majority of which are of no interest to the average user. However, my Vista won't remember to apply the settings and reverts back to its own choice, so I have to get rid of useless colums like 'rating' for audio files and bring back the ones I want, like size and date modified. Again, this is commonly reported and only affects certain users.

 

It might well be possible to find drivers for old hardware, but it would help if users who have Vista thrusted upon them, were warned in advance to burn the midnight oil to attain backwards compatibility with old bits of kit.

 

Software is a different matter; I have much Adobe stuff which just won't work with Vista, so I have to maintain a separate XP laptop. Adobe have made it clear they don't intend to supply Vista patches. Instead, it's necessary to (expensively) upgrade the various software to the Vista-compatible versions. This is just one example of a lack of backwards compatibility, which up to and including XP, was pretty good.

 

So, all in all, those who aren't so lucky to have Vista which properly works out of the box, and who have old software which may or may not be compatible, and who might also have hardware which they might have to faff about with to get working - well, it all lessens the experience, doesn't it? This is supposed to be progress.

 

Shaun

 

 

[twooks]

PS re Dell - if you opt to 'build your own' you can opt to go with XP Prof for about £25

worth it

 

B-)

[Basil]

Randonneur - 2007-12-26 1:03 PM

..................... Vista most of them are out there on the internet, only very old equipment you struggle with, my scanner is 7 years old and works perfectly ok with Vista after downloading the correct drivers, my printer is 4 years old and again it works perfectly.

 

Not strictly correct, my 2 year old Toshiba laptop has no upgrades from Toshiba (or anywhere else) my four year old scanner could not be updated niether could my Epson printer though that was nine years old but still working well.

Still a new all in one Epson has cured the printer and scanner problem and the laptop still works well on XP. My desk top has both Vista and XP on the drive and a start up menu so that I can chose which to use, however I still preffer XP.

 

Bas

[Randonneur]

Basil, what toshiba driver updates do you need?

[Basil]

It's ok Randonneur thanks, there are none available, though thanks for your interest. The driver lists for Vista on the Toshiba website are not available for this laptop.

When you check with the MS Vista test to see what version will be ok on the laptop it says that it is suitable, but as Toshiba don't provide the Vista drivers for the laptop the battery is down in under 15 mins, the mouse pad doesn't work as it was designed, the screen brightness is non controlable, the F keys don't work and several other features cannot be enabled, basically all the Toshiba software functions don't work and Toshiba are unable to say when or even if they will be re-written.

 

Bas

 

 

[Brian Kirby]

Basil - 2007-12-26 12:20 PM

stelynn - 2007-12-25 3:45 PM Have you seen the Asus Eee PC which seems tailor made for travelling.

Excellent machine, shame there are none in the country at the moment (except the 2Gb version) you can't buy one for love nor money. When they went on sale the 10000 inital release were sold out at a rate of one every 6 seconds (according to industry news). Have not read a bad write up on them yet. With XP on it is the ideal unit for travelling. Bas

Just in case anyone is still interested in "ultra portables", I recently stumbled across the Packard Bell XS20-006. 

It is very similar in size to the Eee PC but is, in fact, a "regular" PC, with a mechanical hard drive, so you can add/delete more or less at will. 

Available from PC World and others, it has a 7" screen, a 30GB HDD (with about 13GB free at the point of sale, the rest goes to installed software and recovery partition) 1GB RAM, 2 x USB, card reader, wi-fi, runs Win XP, but no CD/DVD drive.  Current cost £350.

Seems to have been introduced around October '07.  It is quite solid, and although it has obvious limitations, if you want an almost pocked sized PC for internet and e-mail use while travelling, it might be worth looking at.  The small screen is quite good but, in the final analysis, it was too small for me.

[Basil]

Brian Kirby - 2008-01-19 8:00 PM

 

It is very similar in size to the Eee PC but is, in fact, a "regular" PC, with a mechanical hard drive, so you can add/delete more or less at will. 

 

Hi Brian,

 

Yes there are several on the market, with some new entrants due in. But even the one you describe cannot come close on price, the Eee being £140 cheaper, there is nothing else outside a PDA thats close.

Not quite sure what you mean by 'so you can add and delete at will' the Eee is a 'regular' Ultra Mobile PC but has the advantage of modern technology in that it has a SSD (Solid State Disk) which in terms of mobility is far superior to a hard drive and is quicker than a hard drive as it has no 'seek' delays.

It is strange to be able to pick up the Eee turn it upside down and generally 'throw it about' whilst the PC is running or loading or closing ideal for travelling about with no chance of damaging a hard drive, I've had two laptop harddrives go at just over a year old in two different machines, so a hard drive is not high on the priorities list for me, though a larger SSD would be (16Gb Eee out soon) but being 'new' technology it is always more costly per Gig than 'old' technology.

I have not yet read a bad report about the Eee and now having the advantage of getting one for my daughter (courtesy of a member of this forum thanks!) I know why, it is simply a brilliant piece of kit.

Installed with Windows XP and Office 2003 Professional it actually runs quicker than either of our two laptops (one Dual Core but running Vista and one high end Intel Centrino running XP).

IMO it is well worth waiting for the Eee to come in (due end of January at most suppliers) and at around £219 for a mobile device for motorhome use unbeatable currently. I have another on order that I will use in the motorhome rather than my four times dearer laptop.

 

Bas

[Brian Kirby]

Basil

All I meant by 'add and delete at will' is that you can delete out unwanted bits of your operating system to release more space for applications, which I understand is not the case with the Eee, where the amount of the flash drive available for new applications/files is fixed.

I agree with your comments, the only drawback for me was the 7" screen, which I found too small for comfort.  However, I hear a 9" screen is rumoured, which would be a much better bet.

[Basil]

Hi Brian,

 

With the Linux system that is pre installed that may or may not be true, I don't know, but certainly with Windows XP installed it is the same as any other PC. The delivered pre instalation has a recovery portion on the SSD which takes up some space and with the pre installed programs there is not a lot left on the SSD when compared to a full size modern laptop, bearing in mind that it is only a 4Gb disc to start with. However it is perfectly posible to load and run XP in less than 1Gb and without the backup partition, leaves 3Gb or three quarters of the disc available. If you then use the high speed SDHC slot to load any extra software too that makes it more than adequate for most 'serious' uses, i.e. don't expect a high end games machine.

My daughter, being a university student, has found this invaluable as she no longer has to carry her full sized laptop up to the various libraries and other venues she has to visit and can work on her thesis and translations on the train or wherever she is without worrying about loss of power as the battery is lasting for around five hours. At less than two pounds in weight and with the ease and speed of which she can stow it, it is so much more useable. These two things along with the SSD make it a seriously good mobile device worth considering. The WiFi card is one of the best available and has so far been faultless allowing her to log on to 'hotspots' she could not even see with her Compaq.

In practise the small screen is not so much a problem as you might expect as you can zoom Word documents or any other of the Office products though she does not find this neccessary, so far the use I have had of it, has not been a problem for me either.

Regarding the larger screen it has been released in the far east but it seems it has lost the camera, which may not be a problem to some. It also seems, from reports, that the larger screen has taken away some of the robustness of the screen as the border is much thinner and therefore more prone to flexing.

 

As you probably gather I am well impressed myself and all I need is for the 3G USB modem to be sorted out, i.e. working sensibly at sensible costs all over Europe instead of just over here and in Italy and I don't think there woud be anything to touch it. Mind you now Intel have released their own 'UltraMobile' chipset, as used in their version of 'a laptop for all' for other manufacturers to use I believe we will see a flood of other makes come on to the market, so stunned have they been by the success of the EeePC.

 

Bas

[tonyishuk]

Clive - 2007-12-23 10:46 PM

 

Whoever is upgrading please think of me for your old one. I paid £50 for each of my last two Laptops so as to give you a clue.

 

 

Gets my vote, Most laptops now are over spec-ed for what is required of them. £75 to £100 would get you a good secondhand one,

 

If it gets damaged, dropped or stolen you have not lost too much £££ wise.

 

BUT and it is a BIG BUT

 

DO BACKUP YOUR DATA, (Memory stick with a password ?) and make sure any personal data is ENCRYPTED or password protected (Word Documents can be very easily)

 

 

just in case it gets stolen.

 

Rgds

[twooks]

thought it was only knicked if it contained either govt based personnel data or banking data :D :D

 

B-)

[Brian Kirby]

twooks - 2008-01-20 6:33 PM thought it was only knicked if it contained either govt based personnel data or banking data :D :D B-)

Cart before horse!  They nick them to find out if they have the above data.  If they have, they sell the data to the Daily Mail: if not, they just flog the computer down the pub for £200.  Who was it back there saying they only bought cheap, second hand, computers?  :-)