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Walter  All-Star Member 1445 Posts 3/05 |  Posted - Aug 19 2007 : 8:09PMI am going to buy a laptop. I will use it for: Internet Microsoft Office Listening to and storing music DVDs and porn related uses. It doesn't have to be a small laptop because I don't travel very often. I do not take part in gaming. I notice that most of the more expensive computers advertise "gaming" abilities. I am not strapped for cash, but I do not wish to spend money on a more expensive computer unless it performs better than a less expensive alternative considering my uses. However, I am willing to spend money for great performance. What do you folks recommend? Are there any considerations that I have not mentioned? Thanks! [Link] |
| conquistador Deactivated User Hellhamster. 2947 Posts 10/03 | Posted - Aug 19 2007 : 10:26PM [Link] |
| Walter All-Star Member 1445 Posts 3/05 | Posted - Aug 19 2007 : 10:45PM [Link] |
| Azieru Member 32 Posts 7/07 | Posted - Aug 20 2007 : 6:11PM It starts at $580 and you can customize it however you see fit. [ invalid url ] Edited by - Azieru on 8/20/2007 6:15:08 PM [Link] |
| Redish Poetic Moderator Long and Cursive road to the Ivory Pagoda in the province of Loraine 4076 Posts 12/03 | Posted - Aug 21 2007 : 2:19PM I would try to find a machine with XP or Media Center on it instead of Vista. It might be a little harder to find but its worth not dealing with the hassle. Also if that is all you are going to do, you can steer clear of a dedicated grapichs card, dual core, or quadcore. Those things are nice, but not needed unless you plan on doing some serious gaming on it. [Link] |
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| conquistador Deactivated User Hellhamster. 2947 Posts 10/03 | Posted - Aug 21 2007 : 2:41PM Also you might want a better graphics card if you want to run on an external monitor or hook up to a TV. You didn't mention it. Edited by - conquistador on 8/21/2007 2:43:02 PM [Link] |
| TheRizDawg Member 118 Posts 12/04 | Posted - Aug 22 2007 : 9:21PM [Link] |
| Loraine Senior Member 1559 Posts 3/04 | Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 2:06AM [Link] |
| RandomPrecision Senior Member Enjoy! 8175 Posts 3/06 | Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 5:15AM [Link] |
| Walter All-Star Member 1445 Posts 3/05 | Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 10:34AM I am anticipating that internet will become a more dominant medium and DVDs will not be as popular within the next few years. I am not an expert on this matter, but I am trying to think of the future. FWIW, my current system has a 1.7 GHz CPU and 256MB RAM and it is too slow by my standards. If Vista is a bigger memory hog than XP and I can't avoid it, then I suppose I will want to increase the above figures substantially, right? Thanks to everyone for their helpful replies! [Link] |
| conquistador Deactivated User Hellhamster. 2947 Posts 10/03 | Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 12:20PM [Link] |
| Harri Patel Senior Member #SDNY he's all yours. -- Michael Steele 5110 Posts 3/03 | Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 1:08PM [Link] |
| TheRizDawg Member 118 Posts 12/04 | Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 6:25PM FWIW, my current system has a 1.7 GHz CPU and 256MB RAM and it is too slow by my standards. If Vista is a bigger memory hog than XP and I can't avoid it, then I suppose I will want to increase the above figures substantially, right? I have heard that increasing the RAM on a Vista system doesn't always do the trick, and that it depends more on the combination of RAM and Processor speed. I dont have a Vista system, so I don't know for sure. But I have been looking around for a new laptop recently also, and have been hearing a lot of negative vibes about Vista and it's effects on RAM and speed. [Link] |
| SexyHard Member 673 Posts 6/07 | Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 7:39PM Macs use an operating system called Unix which is the standard in the non-PC computer industry. Unix is higly stable, and the Version of Unix they use, called BSD, is widely used by people with an interest in computer security. The DoD, CIA, and FBI probably run BSD Unix on their most-secure systems. If the Space Shuttle and International Space Station aren't running Unix, then lives are being put at risk unnecessarily. As a result of Window's poor design, you have frequent crashes, problems with Viruses, and Windows machines tend to age poorly. (Essentially, they handle the installation of new software poorly, and every time you install a new program, it has the can effect every other program on the machine. Over time, you find that none of your programs are performing well.) The problem with Viruses is especially annoying, because most people deal with it by installing anti-virus software. The software needs to be constantly updated to keep up with all the new Windows viruses, and, often this means that you need to pay for a subscription or risk infection. Additionally, the anti-virus software works by inspecting every new file you open, and this can be annoying if you dowload a lot of files off the net. Microsoft is also a convicted criminal. The facts in the case are damning. Additionally, they donated lots of money to the Bush 2000 campaign to make their legal problems go away, and put Ralph Reed on a $20,000/month retainer to influence Bush. So there is a direct connection between Microsoft's criminal behavior and the war in Iraq. Anyone who read the PNAC document would have known that a Bush Presidency would mean war in Iraq. I doubt that either Paul Allen or Bill Gates would have voted for Bush on the issues (and I don't care how either of them voted.) They gave Bush enough money to make Microsoft's legal problems would go away, and may have tipped a very close election. Their strategy worked, but about one million Iraqis are dead now. Microsoft's criminality and cynical use of the system of legalized bribery that passes for Democracy in America is one reason. Please forgive me for using this forum to criticize Microsoft rather than extol Macs. Macs are good dependable computers. But every computer in the world could be as reliable as a Mac. All they did was put a nice user interface in front of a solid, well-constructed operating system. (OK the hardware is good too, but lots of companies offer quality hardware.) [Link] |
| conquistador Deactivated User Hellhamster. 2947 Posts 10/03 | Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 7:42PM Have fun reading mac repair forums. [Link] |
| SexyHard Member 673 Posts 6/07 | Posted - Aug 24 2007 : 2:49AM I spent some time on the boards once. A DVD wouldn't eject, and the boards were an ugly and useless. Eventually I called Apple's technical support, the guy was very helpful, and I ejected the DVD. I've also needed to replace a video cable, and the little plug piece on the powercord. I've been running OS X since 2001. Still, I don't remember ever using a screwdriver on a Mac. On the other hand, with one of my PC's I used to need to reinstall the operating system about once every six months. It would get to where it would bluescreen about once a week, and it was time to reinstall. (Ask a Mac user what their computer looks like when it has a system crash, and they will look at you funny. Yet "to Bluescreen" is a verb in our language. Why is that?) But it's not just that Windows sucks, OS X is a very solid operating system. For example, in OS X, you can do the following: 1) Using a PowerPC chip, you can emulate an Intel machine, and then open up Windows as though it were just another Mac application. When Windows (inevitably) crashes, you don't need to reboot your machine, you just close the window, open a new window, and start a new Windows window. (Admittedly, the emulation is slow, but the Windows is truly Windows.) 2) Thanks to the Wine Project (marketed as CrossOver) you can run some Windows applications natively in OS X. 3) You can overwrite the Master Boot Record. (Unfortunatly, OS X forces you to log in as "root", which I guess is their silly little way of making sure that any old user, or some guy sitting at home who likes to write malicious code and distribute it on the internet, doesn't just junk the MBR.) Windows lets you overwrite the MBR too, and you don't even need to log in as root! It let's any piece of code on the machine just overwrite the MBR.... Isn't that cool!?!?! (To be fair, Windows doesn't let every single user or program overwrite the MBR-- anymore. But there are so many security vulnerabilities that anyone who wants to can figure out how to get root permissions. This creates lots of fun and excitment for teenage boys with nothing better to do than create new viruses.) Gangsters who need to store records remotely like this too. Don't bother checking to see if there are any spreadsheets on your computer documenting the financial history of the Medalins. Unless you're logged in as "Root" you won't see them, and they would have changed your Root password to make sure that they, and only they, can access the records in the future. Thus not only is Microsoft a convicted criminal, but by selling junk, they aid other criminal organizations, by making it easy for them to maintain files without actually being in possession of the files. This is, in fact, how many organized crime figures deal with their computer files, and they don't just crack one machine, they crack thousands to assure backups, and 24-7 access to their data.) So yeah, Macs aren't perfect, but I'm pretty confident that the the 911 Terrorists aren't using my computer. How about you? [Link] |
| conquistador Deactivated User Hellhamster. 2947 Posts 10/03 | Posted - Aug 24 2007 : 3:29AM I used macs for many years before I decided to get a PC when I got into video gaming. The mac is awesome for many applications, gaming isn't one of them. As far as terrorists go I don't worry about them, if they have figured out how to use my computer without my noticing I would be shocked and impressed. And I don't really care if I am aiding criminals. They haven't encroached on my movie watching or game playing and I don't keep sensitive information on my computer. I can totally spare the space for a few spread sheets if someone feels like getting past security. Besides those spread sheets are bound to be stored elsewhere as well. If someone had the skills to put them on my machine they probably are also know that I do a clean windows install from time to time. When I am using the computer I am not the slightest bit concerned about terrorism. (Actually I don't worry about that stuff at all ever). If using your computer is able to make you paranoid about terrorists they have won. And I love getting to use a screwdriver on my computer because that means upgrades and improvements. Which is something I never had the pleasure of learn about when I was a mac user. Customizing things is fun for me. Macs can be great, they just don't fit my needs and many mac users don't ever seem to acknowledge that macs are far from perfect as well. [Link] |
| Walter All-Star Member 1445 Posts 3/05 | Posted - Aug 24 2007 : 10:47AM It might be good for me to keep this machine as a backup that I can learn to tinker with, but I am wary of keeping this as my main machine. Since this machine is too rickety, old, and slow for me, I figured that it might be a good time for me to look into getting a new computer. Thanks for the response though. Thanks to the other helpful responders also. [Link] |
| SexyHard Member 673 Posts 6/07 | Posted - Aug 24 2007 : 10:56AM People should understand the that the difference between a half-way decent operating system, and Windows is things like "You'll have system crashes, and it will get worse over time, so you'll probably need to replace it in three or four years. You'll have to deal with anti-virus software. Crooks might access your system." There is more software, especially gaming software available for PC's. If you use your computer mainly for gaming, Windows may be the best choice. But this isn't a quality issue, it's like saying, "If you want a Big Mac and fries, McDonald's may be your best choice." We're now dealing with the issue at the core of Microsoft's criminal conviction, and their use of campaign contributions to avoid being penalized for their crimes. The main reason you can't run a Window's application (like your favorite game) on a non-Windows computer is that there are a set of Application Program Interfaces (API's) that only run under Windows (or with Codeweaver, they've reverse-engineered a lot of them, but Microsoft is constantly creating new ones), and allow the game to communicate with Windows. Since Macs don't come with a complete set of Windows API's, you can't run a Windows application on a Mac. About a decade ago, a number of companies were working to create a set of universal API's that would allow software developers to write programs that could run on any computer. If successful this effort would have eliminated the whole issue of "I need Windows to run this program." Microsoft would have needed to compete on quality and price, and the Windows monopoly would have ended. Microsoft used incredibly hardball, in fact criminal (thus the conviction), tactics to crush these efforts. The media picked up on the part of the penalty which would have involved the break up of Microsoft. But the important part of the penalty would have been that Microsoft would have needed to release their API's into the public domain. This would have made it very easy to port any Windows application to run under any operating system. It would have effectively ended Microsoft's criminally acquired and maintained monopoly, and it would have become the basis for a set of standard API's accepted by all computers. This would have been a great boon to computing in the same way that the agreement that the binary code "110 0001" corresponds to the letter "a" allows people to type text into one computer that can be easily read by another computer. But Microsoft gave Bush a lot of money, so the Bush Justice Department said, "Penalty? Why should a criminal be penalized? Why should the penalty repair the harm done by the crime? Who would want to be able to run any program on the computer of their choice anyway?" The poster didn't mention gaming. But he did mention porn. Some pay-per-download porn only runs on Windows Media Player. Oddly enough, Microsoft hasn't ported that application to OS X yet. Can't imagine why not. The ability to watch pay-per-download porn may be enough to motivate Walter to go with a Windows machine. Still, I avoid doing business with convicted criminals, especially when they were convicted of business crimes. "My stockbroker's been convicted of Securities Fraud, but he's paid his penalty. You should give him a call." "How much was the penalty?" "Well, he donated some money to the D.A.'s election campaign, and the D.A. argued for and got a $1 fine. He's really smart that way.... You should use him." "He's a crook. Why should I do business with a crook? "Well, he doesn't only deal with public stock offerings, he does a lot of private offerings too." "Oh really? The Federal Reserve Banks are all privately owned. Can I get involved with a company that makes something that people really need, like money?" "Oh no, most of his privately-held companies make entertainment products, things like games and porn." "Wow, games and porn!!! How can I get in touch with him?" "Here's his cell phone number. But he doesn't always answer. It seems that his phone sometimes just stops working for unexplained reasons. Don't worry, he just pulls out the battery, and restarts the phone. He's generally pretty good about returning calls from prospects... when his phone is working." "Oh, so he's good at sales. Does he return other calls?" "Well, a few times, I bought stock through him, and the companies went under a few weeks later. When I called him, he put me on hold for a half-hour, and then told me I needed to deal with the CEO of the companies whose stock I had just bought." "OK, no problem. You know how much I love games and porn." [Link] |
| skronker Notable Legendary Icon Scopophiliac 9780 Posts 9/02 | Posted - Aug 24 2007 : 11:58AM I invested $3,100 into a Dell in 1999. That was top of the line back then (wow, so much $$$). I think the Dell was OK, but the MS software was essentially fucked. I had problems the whole time I used the laptop -- only when XP came in did I successfully "pave over" the old operating system and at that point, in eaRLY 2003, the 450 model that I had was pretty close to obsolete. The iBook G4 that I got in late 2003 is still kicking ass, and I could continue to upgrade it past 10.3.9 ... I've seen the 13-inch Mac laptops, which are, honestly, killer ... if you want to spend a lot of money, the 17-inch MacBook is probably the best thing going. The only reason I used Word-for-Mac is that some of my employers insist on having copy sent in Word Docs. Otherwise, I don't see the point of Microsoft. I don't game and never will game, so that aspect doesn't really matter to me.
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| Janitor Retired Porno movies, sexy videos, xxx. Adult DVD Talk at your service. 6409 Posts 11/99 | Posted - Aug 24 2007 : 1:48PM [Link] |
| morbidthoughts All-Star Member Big cats scare me but... 3627 Posts 1/03 | Posted - Aug 24 2007 : 6:51PM In the meantime I had built a PC in 97 and continually upgraded through 2007 before I finally retired it. The only reason I retired it was because it was too damn loud and the beer drinking time value of upgrading was more than just buying a new system from Dell. That old PC ran every generation between Windows 95 & Win XP. Windows 2000 was the start of the time when I could run Windows for months without any stability problems. I've run Vista for 6 months now with the new PC and other than some quirky problems that I experienced with an unfamiliar operating system, it's been running fine. I haven't experienced any stability issues. It is a resource hog and I can't discern that it is better than XP but I knew that ahead of time and gave it 2GB of RAM to live with. I will probably always prefer a PC over a mac simply because I'm familiar with building, upgrading, and diagnosing physical failures within a PC. As for Walter's question, if you get a pc laptop, you should go ahead and go with 2GB ram if it comes with Vista. 1GB RAM if it runs XP. Anything with a Core 2 Duo processor is fine. HPs aren't durable if you travel a lot but you don't so the DV6000 series is fine. What you should do is just go to a store like Best Buy, check out all the models and see which ones you like in terms of build, size, and screen, and then go home and order one online. [Link] |
| AlexPanzer Deactivated User 1593 Posts 6/03 | Posted - Aug 25 2007 : 9:57AM [Link] |
| skronker Notable Legendary Icon Scopophiliac 9780 Posts 9/02 | Posted - Aug 25 2007 : 10:01AM [Link] |
| Walter All-Star Member 1445 Posts 3/05 | Posted - Aug 25 2007 : 12:19PM Should I exclude machines with AMD processors from my search? [Link] |
| morbidthoughts All-Star Member Big cats scare me but... 3627 Posts 1/03 | Posted - Aug 25 2007 : 1:02PM [Link] |
| Redish Poetic Moderator Long and Cursive road to the Ivory Pagoda in the province of Loraine 4076 Posts 12/03 | Posted - Aug 25 2007 : 6:18PM You are probably better off with the Intel chips. [Link] |
| Walter All-Star Member 1445 Posts 3/05 | Posted - Aug 27 2007 : 9:05AM [Link] |
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