Laptop spec

[noby]

I'm looking in to joining the 21st century and getting a laptop.
I know this is a bit of an impossible question, but can anyone give me minimum specs I should be looking at?
Home use, browsing, burning/playing music, dvd, word processing. A couple of programs that wouldn't be heavy going. Probably your typical non-gaming home usage.

[anto1208]

from my very limited knowledge on computors id say you want min 1 gb of ram , 80 gb hard drive , Dual prosessor ( allthough mine doesnt have the duel and it works fine downloading and playing footy manager at once ) .

Mine was a compaq which was 750 and quite good that got robbed so i got a cheap ass Advent for 650 and it works fine downloads quickly , plays all the games i want it to and surfs the tinterweb fast aswell .

[pete]

The simple answer is to set yourself a budget & buy the best you can get for that price.

- Bigger screens are good but also means have bigger laptop to carry around.
- 1GB RAM should be minimum.
- 60GB HD minimum but i suspect they don't sell below that anymore. Get as large HD as you can afford as external ones a pain unless using for backup.

Some brands are better than others but you will have to judge against the prices listed...

[anto1208]

The simple answer is to set yourself a budget & buy the best you can get for that price.

- Bigger screens are good but also means have bigger laptop to carry around.
- 1GB RAM should be minimum.
- 60GB HD minimum but i suspect they don't sell below that anymore. Get as large HD as you can afford as external ones a pain unless using for backup.

Some brands are better than others but you will have to judge against the prices listed...

Some externals are good ive 3 now a 250gb one, a 500gb one that connects to my wireless network so i can get stuff off it with out even plugging it into the comp . and the best a new 320gb one that hooks straight to your tv and has a remote so you can watch the vids etc on your tv with no need for a comp at all . ( all from ibood for under 170 euro each )

All connect into the USB very usefull if you have 00's of GB's of stuff .

Keep the Laptops hard drive as empty as possible

[pete]

External HDs are good for certain purposes but they defeat the advantage of a portable laptop in some cases.

[Peadar]

Give me your budget and I'll recommend a laptop.
By the way, if you're running Vista, don't get less than 2GB of RAM, otherwise, you'll struggle when you use MS Office and add new programs.

Check your PM's by the way.

P.

[noby]

PM received, thanks.
My budget? As cheap as possible. At the moment about €600, but that may increase when I get some tax back. I realise that puts me in the 'cheapest model from dell' category.

[Peadar]

You're unlikely to get a Vista machine for that price, but XP SP2 is very good now, so you're safe enough with that.
Word of caution though, it wont be long before they stop shipping machines with XP.

[GavinZac]

You should try out Dell's new laptops (http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&kc=6V440&l=en&oc=DNCWEL1&s=dhs) with Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com), the free operating system. It is more secure and has more features than windows XP, although people sometimes find the "catalogue" style program finder confusing at first, it means its highly unlikely anything malicious will get on your pc. also, if you simply have to run a windows program, WINE, a program for linux/ubuntu will run 9 out of 10 applications. I use it for playing football manager :)
because the operating system is free, your money goes on getting you the best machine and the best specs, without having to waste your money on a buggy, soon-to-be unsupported operating system that is over priced because others don't pay for it so you're covering their costs.

Intel® Pentium® dual-core proc T2080(1MB Cache/1.73GHz/533MHz FSB
Ubuntu Edition version 7.04
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™(glossy)
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Integrated Audio
Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g
1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
Free Recycling Kit

for €485 - you have room to spare, to save money or to add better specs.

the catch? its not for sale from dell ireland yet, but will be soon enough. if you can't wait, you can just order from dell USA - you can pick up an adapter in any second hand shop.

[Peadar]

the catch? its not for sale from dell ireland yet, but will be soon enough.

Glad you added that bit. Dell have given no indication as to when they plan to make Ubuntu machines available in Ireland but apparently, they've go significant driver issues. Also, there's the added complication of having limited applications available for Ubuntu.

[GavinZac]

but apparently, they've go significant driver issues.
:confused: ubuntu installs perfect on a dell laptop straight from the CD, and the version supplied with ubuntu comes with specific drivers written for ubuntu. do you think dell would just throw anything out there?

Also, there's the added complication of having limited applications available for Ubuntu.
I wouldn't called it limited. Controlled, maybe, as (unless you choose to add more lists) the ubuntu download list (repository) is fairly exclusive. There are free alternatives to almost every application you can think of, and if you cant find one or the alternative isn't up to scratch (for the most part, read "games"), WINE will run the windows version 9 times out of 10. i havent come across a need for WINE outside of games yet.

to give you an idea of the free alternatives:
internet explorer - firefox
MSN messenger - pidgin (http://pidgin.im/pidgin/about/) (also connects to yahoo, AIM, googletalk, ICQ and various others - ad and annoyance free)
outlook - thunderbird (i use, made by the same community as firefox) OR evolution (comes with ubuntu as standard, all the features of outlook but i don't feel i need them)
photoshop - G.I.M.P (http://gimp.org)
windows media player - Totem Media Player (standard) or VLC (i use, just as great as its windows version)
itunes/ WMP - RhythmBox music player
Microsoft Office - OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org)
3DMax Studio - Blender (http://www.blender.org/)

and applications that run on both:
google earth
google picasa
limewire (but with none of the virus troubles on ubuntu)
azureus
bittorrent

and one exclusive, that will let you know where microsoft got their idea for Vista:
beryl (http://www.beryl-project.org/features.php)

[noby]

You're unlikely to get a Vista machine for that price, but XP SP2 is very good now, so you're safe enough with that.
Word of caution though, it wont be long before they stop shipping machines with XP.Dell seem to give you an XP Media Centre 2005 option. Should this be filed under 'things not to touch with a barge pole'?

GavinZac, I'm a big fan of Firefox. I'll have to check out some of the others you listed.