previous post next post  

Blog bleg about laptops and the blog.

By The Armorer on November 16, 2007 | | Comments (17)

My desktop being over four years old, it's time to bring myself into more current tech.

I'm thinking laptop.

Gotta handle graphics and pictures well, and since I still amuse myself with gaming, it should be a competent gaming machine, ala being able to run IL2-style flight sims without choking or having to throttle the graphics to merely adequate. I do like *some* eye-candy when I fly and die.

I've not been keeping up with the latest and greatest in laptop tech, and I know I have readers who *do* keep up with that.

I don't do multi-media aside from Photoshopping and gaming, so that's not really a driver for me.

I'm thinking second tier in pricing - I want a good competent machine, but I don't need a premium machine (and the associated cost) - that would just be buying capacity and capability I'm not going to use.

Yes, Instapilot, you may wax eloquent about products from the fruit company.

Secondly - I'm also looking for a competent blog designer, this place needs a facelift, and I need the services of a good blog mechanic who's got the skillz and time (that seems to be a killer) to do some serious back-office stuff - to the level of being able to clean up problems in the database (like the posts which have been deleted from the DB, but did *not* get deleted themselves... which makes it a real pain to clean up and try to gain back some disk space on the server, which will speed things up for you guys. And there's the broken trackbacks... and spotty notifications, etc. Need a real MT mechanic, and I don't expect it to be free, either. The Castle's engine needs a rebuild and probably a version update, too.

Share This Article:

Categories:

17 Comments

By Eric on November 16, 2007 7:40 AM
John, a lap top that has the umff to do the tasks that you wish (desk top replacement) aint goin to be cheep. then you have the lack of upgrading ability in a laptop/notebook. if you want to play games to include the new generation games, a laptop will be cost ineffective. Get a good solid notebook for working and posting on the road, and keep the killer machine on the desk.
 
By kat-missouri on November 16, 2007 7:41 AM
Anything you buy is going to have Vista on it. Having just experienced the joys this year of Vista on a new machine, I only have a few recommendations: 1) Get at least 2 gigs of RAM. Even 1 gig starts running very slowly with 5 to 10 tabs open or two or or more functions. 2) I don't know what sort of browser you use, but as of March when I bought mine with Vista on it, the internet explorer window was having problems with running videos or animated advertisements embedded in many web pages. The browser would freeze up. even after all the updates from windows, it still does it. So make sure you go with Mozilla or something.
 
By wolfwalker on November 16, 2007 7:45 AM
Personal opinion, worth exactly as much as I'm getting paid for it ;-) : I don't like the idea of laptops as primary machines. Perhaps for businessfolk for whom portability is high on the required-features list, but other than that -- no. They generally lag behind desktop technology by a generation or so, you get a very limited selection of hardware, they aren't designed to be as robust as desktops, and upgrading is expensive, when it's possible at all. You're a gamer? How often do you have to replace a keyboard or joystick? Can't replace the keyboard on a laptop -- well, you can, but it's real expensive. Do you like a big monitor for your gaming? Laptop monitor sizes are limited, unless you want to run an external monitor. Modern games require topnotch graphics adapters -- again, you can get that in a laptop but it's real expensive. A good multipurpose laptop today will probably run you between $1500 and $2000. For the same two grand, you could build a good desktop PC tailored to your needs & wants, buy a barebones laptop as a traveling machine, and still have a couple of hundred left over for upgrades down the line a year or two, when the only thing wrong with it is that it needs some extra memory or a bigger hard drive. Also, with a desktop built by a local shop, you might still be able to get Windows XP on it, and avoid having to deal with Vista.
 
By BloodSpite on November 16, 2007 8:20 AM
Drop me an E-mail when you get time, with more details on specifically what your wanting to do. I may have an idea.
 
By Instapilot on November 16, 2007 8:56 AM
Windows for gaming (Apple has never been into supporting games like Microsoft), but I can do everything else on my MacBook Pro. Want an Intel machine? MacBook Pro. Want WIndows? MacBook Pro. Want on-the-road processing capability (Photoshop, et al.)? MacBook Pro Want protection from Windows viruses? MacBook Pro (except when running Windows; then you have to have all the protection software running just like you do on a Windows machine). Want a stable operating system that's regularly improved without waiting 3 years (assuming you think Vista is ready for prime time....bwaaahahahahaha!). MacBook Pro But I'm a Mac bigot. You knew that.
 
By Russ on November 16, 2007 10:01 AM
You can still get XP(Dell, HP,etc.). Do not buy Vista, way to many things do not work well with it. And yes, the Mac is sweet since you can run Windows natively. Get at least a 2.0 gig "core 2 duo" not core duo, with at least a 128 meg video card, 2 gigs of ram (1 will do but 2 is better), and a 9-cell battery. You can build a Dell like that for around $1100.00.
 
By Pogue on November 16, 2007 10:03 AM
...and you can get a Macbook Pro with a nice 17' screen.
 
By John S. on November 16, 2007 11:37 AM
Avoid VISTA at all costs!!! If you must, then check all the programs you need to use to ensure they have a Vista version available. (e.g.- UPS shipping does not, so I would have been out of business.) Regardless of that, my pet geek and I got so frustrated with other VISTA problems we finally wiped the hard drive on a new desktop clean and installed XP- also voiding the warranty, but at least it works.
 
By MR T's Haircut on November 16, 2007 12:11 PM
Laptop, Good question. I just bought a HP Pavilion dv2620 Paid 945.00 samolians 250 G harddrive wireless everything hell this thing will make coffee. Will be testing it in Afghanistan. Needs a bigger battery but a 12 cell is available for 134.00 try it
 
By MR T's Haircut on November 16, 2007 12:13 PM
Laptop, Good question. I just bought a HP Pavilion dv2620 Paid 945.00 samolians 250 G harddrive wireless everything hell this thing will make coffee. Will be testing it in Afghanistan. Needs a bigger battery but a 12 cell is available for 134.00 try it
 
By Trias on November 16, 2007 1:27 PM
You could get away with any newish laptop if it weren't for gaming. Gaming means 2 things. Money and Windows. You will have to pay for the hardware grunt and Windows is the only realistic option for games. It's well known i like linux but it's a simple fact that windows is gaming focused and game makers work with that OS for it's wide market. It's a hard decision regarding Vista or XP. You *can* get XP btw many people hate Vista. XP is mature but slowly slipping out of the mainstream. Microsoft will end support soon and that is a security problem. Vista is new and the problems haven't been ironed out. It has a boy-cried-wolf security feature which pesters you again and again but offers rather little security. And some things just won't work and it's voodoo magic to figure out why. Sometimes voodoo happens once more and it will suddenly be ok again. Also with Vista being new it's even more glossy and sparkly and has a few decent ideas thrown in none of which are very exciting. I support what others have said do your job on the laptop. You want to play games have a desktop beast. A core2duo processor 4500 perhaps, 2GB ram (def 2 if you do Vista), an 8000 series nvidia card or the equivalent Radeon sitting on a decent motherboard with all the usual doodahs. Frankly I don't like laptops. They are inflexible with horrible mice/keyboards and itty bitty screens.
 
By AFSister on November 16, 2007 2:05 PM
sorry Brab... but i concur= VISTA SUCKETH MIGHTELY. I just bought a new Acer for $600. Cheap, but effective- except for that Vista part. *shudder* My Toshiba was great until I closed it up with a pen on the keyboard. CRACK is not a friendly sound. New laptop screens cost nearly as much as a new laptop. My advise? 1. Don't EVER buy anything from Micro Center. 2. Buy the idiot-level insurance coverage. 3. Vista is so unpopular that some companies are offering new laptops with XP instead- buy one of those!!
 
By John of Argghhh! on November 16, 2007 2:13 PM
Heh. But no one's he'pin' me wit a blog-mechanic! I wonder if Brab or MCart will mount a Vista defense...
 
By J.M. Heinrichs on November 16, 2007 2:26 PM
Go with Vista, it may have a few teething problems but it represents the future, and you should prepare yourself soonest. And avoid Apple: reliability and functionality are muchly overrated. Cheers [Why do I think I should read this one with a mirror? -the Armorer]
 
By Andrew on November 16, 2007 3:46 PM
I agree with the others AVOID VISTA at this time. Yes MS will stop supporting XP at some point, but it will be several years at least because Corporate users are still using Windows 2000 and XP because they are stable. VISTA does not work with all XP programs or other hardware (think printer, scanner, camera that are over 2 years old and the manufacturer not writing new drivers). At some point we will all have to move to VISTA but let someone else get the bugs out and in 3 to 4 years the platform will be stable and all the other equipment will have been replaced. Between Notebook and Desktop, biggest problem with notebooks is HEAT. They generate a lot of it and it will shorten the life of hard drives. Desktops have more room inside so usually have better cooling. If you need a computer and are on the road, get a midline notebook, can get a decent Dell for under $1,000 with the full warrenty. My sister has manged to get her notebook rebuilt twice due to drink spills, well worth the costs. Any computer, get as much RAM as possible 2 GIG minimum and get the fastest hard drive you can (9500 RPM instead of the cheap 5500 RPM). The fast hard drive will speed the loading of programs. Macs are ok, but tend to be more expensive both the hardware and software.
 
By Cassandra on November 16, 2007 5:51 PM
John, I found out when trying to delete my own site that just deleting posts doesn't delete them - you have to delete the actual files from the server. What a PITA. And the index pages from the archives. And a whole lotta other stuff. *sigh*
 
By Foxfier on November 16, 2007 9:20 PM
1) I highly suggest you go with a desktop, unless you have a LOT of money to burn. For the price of a decent gaming machine, you can get a top of the line desktop that will be upgradable and last for five-ten years. 2) if you live in a city or inside of an hour's drive from a city, go with Dell and pay for the full-service, no-matter-what repair warranty. Dells are either outstanding machines or hangar-babies, but their on-site repair is outstanding. 3) Vista is NOT that bad. I remember when both ME and XP came out-- it's much better than ME was, and about the same as XP was. Unless you get into a moding kick, you don't have to worry about their possibly nasty replace-too-many-parts-and-it's-another-computer thing. It can be a little bothersome for the first week until the security gets its habits down, but it is very pretty. (Another bad move was having several different flavors. If you do go with Vista, pop for the home premium version.) If you MUST have a laptop, I again suggest that you go with a Dell if you're near a city, and that you be prepared for it to be outdated in two years.
 
© 2008 John Donovan
All rights reserved.