I'm in the market for a laptop. I want one that can run Microsoft Office Professional Edition and not be too slow. I don't care what brand or color it is, though I would prefer a 15 inch screen or larger and I don't want it to weigh a ton. An IT friend suggested the following specs for a Dell laptop, but I suspect some of it is overkill (I imagine I could get away with 2GB memory):
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5800 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
- Windows Vista® Home Basic Edition SP1
- 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (2 Dimms)
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
- 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
- Integrated 10/100 Network Card
- Integrated Modem
- CD/DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
- High Definition Audio 2.0
- Intel Next -Gen Wireless -N Mini-card
- 6 cell battery
What laptop do you use, and how do you use it? Do you like it? Would you recommend it to others?
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7 comments:
Non-techy person here, but hope you get the good deals going on now and ask for the free 3-year warranty if available.
If you want it to "not be too slow" you need at least 3GB memory, especially if you're running Vista. Vista sucks up a TON of memory and space. Found that out when we bought my daughter's laptop in August.
We got her a Toshiba with all sorts of memory and hard drive space. This is a digital existence and photos, music, videos, etc. take up lots of room.
This is the one she got and so far, it's been exceptional for her:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9164343&type=product&id=1218040476937
You don't want the lower end of things in terms of memory. If you buy a laptop with 3GB memory, it'll be sufficient for Vista, but it may lag on multiple programs running. I'm NOT a geek, but I did learn this from a few folks as we were looking. Get at least 4GB memory. My personal recommendation. It's worth the extra cash.
Sorry - that first sentence should be "at least 4GB memory." I missed the numbers row in typing class. :))
Hm, I wish I had blogged about this before buying my own!
I bought this one two weeks ago and Lori is right, Vista does make your computer slow. Mine is only 3G memory and it's irking me. But, I like everything else. I'm a big fan of HP.
4GB? Really? Wow . . . good to know. Thanks for the input, everyone!
I've got Macs for both work and home, and do my Windows business, when necessary, in virtual environments using VMWare.
Get a Mac.
The new MacBooks are probably the most solidly-built machines on the market, which is a big benefit in the laptop world.
If you don't like the virtual, you can boot the thing directly into Windows.
No matter what you do, avoid Vista like the plague that it is. It simply makes everything else run worse.
Bob, as the commercial goes, "I'm a PC." I've worked on Macs before, but I just don't like them. I agree they are awesome for graphic work, but that's maybe 10% of my business.
As for Vista, I use it at one of my client's offices--it doesn't seem to muck anything up there, but maybe that's because they're on a server?
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