(no subject)

[nny]

Random update of randomness with no ulterior motives whatsoever:

What kind of laptop (if you have one) do you have? Why'd you buy it? How much did it set you back? What's good about it? What's bad about it? What's the advantage over a desktop?




Also, in other news, it's raining like anything outside. I meant to have a two hour nap last night, and woke up fourteen hours later. With 'Shiny Happy People' in my head. I had earl grey and toast, with orange marmalade made with whiskey, my room smells pleasantly of sandalwood, and I've spent my morning revisiting old favourite A/C threads on milliways_bar.

*beams*

Good day.

Comments

[djcati.livejournal.com]

Gosh. That first paragraph is almost a question from a Computing exam. My brain started to answer it like one before I remembered this is eljay.

I don't have a laptop though. Am waiting 'til I get across the Atlantic CHEAP COMPUTERS AHOY.


Main advantage, of course, is it takes up less space and you can take it anywhere. Disadvantages are they aren't as powerful as a desktop of the same price, and they tend to crash a bit more often (for Windows, anyway).

[ctah.livejournal.com]

Another disadvantage of laptops is that they're so much more expensive and if one part goes wrong, you have to send the whole thing back rather than just replacing the problem.

But if you have the money and want one, you might as well :)

[darthrami.livejournal.com]

I have an Apple iBook G4 12 inch. Which, they've actually moved on to the "MacBook," but that's essentially the same thing. It's about $1100 (not sure how many pounds that is). Got it from an Apple Store (they're everywhere here, though you can buy them online, too), and hrm. What's bad about it? It has a fairly small hard drive (30G, though you can GET larger hard drives, it's just more expensive then). What's good about it? EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING EVERYTHING. I am so in love with my laptop, and I find it very hard to go back to the desktop. The only thing that's made sort of difficult is that there are some games that are more difficult to play on a trac pad than with a mouse. (like that crazy addicted bees and bubbles game)

Selkie has a Toshiba - I forget the exact number. But it cost about $750 from the Toshiba Direct Website and, well, you get what you pay for. It's a good enough computer and does what she needs (word processing, surfing the web, occasional game of the SIMs) but that's about it.

[dopplegl.livejournal.com]

I too have an iBook. Mine is the 14 inch (named Aziraphael). This one has a large harddrive at 80GBs and some pretty good RAM (512, I'm pretty sure) and set me back around $1700. I am only OMGVERYSLIGHTLYBITTER because about two months after I got mine they released the newer iBooks with better specs for less than what I paid. But that's how it goes. So you could now get a very good MacBook for not TOO bad.

And like Rami, I love EVERYTHING about it and WILL NEVER GO BACK TO A PC.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Glad you had a good day, boo :)

Re laptops:
I have a Dell Inspiron 6000, which is a PC running Windows XP. I bought it because it was on ridiculously good sale and my other laptop was wearing out. I needed a good, reliable piece of hardware to write my thesis on and it didn't disappoint. It set me back about $800 all told (by the time I included shipping -- I built it on the Dell website) but at the time it was selling retail for about $1100, so I got a good deal.

The advantages over a desktop are MYRIAD, but what I like best about it is the portability. I can put it on my lap, on my bed, I can bring it into the kitchen with me while I cook, I can keep in touch while traveling, and I can keep appliances like printers and scanners in out-of-the-way places and only plug them into the laptop when I actually need to print or scan things. It also plays DVDs, which means basically anywhere I am is now a home theatre.

What's good about it:
The Inspiron is designed with media in mind. It has a wide screen, much wider than most laptop screens, which means that widescreen DVDs play better on it but ALSO, more importantly, that you can fit more on the screen at once. I can have a full word document open and two chat windows at the same time, or three small .txt files, or similar. The laptop also has a console on the front with CD-player keys (mute, volume, stop, pause, ff and rew) so that I don't have to swap over to Media Player to advance the tracks on whatever I'm listening to, or to pause them. I just hit the button on the front console and it does it automatically. Not to tempt fate, but the computer is very reliable, durable, and it has a lovely silver-and-white colour scheme. In addition, the power cord is designed so that you can wrap the cord around the adapter and strap it down, which is convenient for traveling. It also has FOUR USB ports, which is really nice, and an "s-video" port to connect it to media like televisions.

What's bad about it:
I didn't pay extra for a large HD, so I only have a 20gig. Which is enough for me, but not for many people. Because it's widescreen, it doesn't fit many standard laptop cases, but widescreens are becoming more popular so there are more cases designed for them now. The speakers are not terribly loud at the best of times, though they're adequate to be heard in normal situations and the sound quality when you're using headphones is quite good. I personally love touchpad-mouse designs, which is what this has, but some people (like my parents) don't like the touchpad and prefer to carry a small optical mouse for use with it. The only hardware issue I've had is that you have to clean the fan fairly regularly or it stops working efficiently, but that's easily done in five minutes with a cotton swab.

So, in conclusion, I love my laptop and it's v. useful :D

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Like Sam I built my laptop on the Dell website. It's a couple of years old - an Inspiron 1150 running Windows XP - and I cart it about in a rucksac along with pen, paper, drawing materials and so forth. This has given me muscles. It has 40gb of memory and does most things I want it to. If it doesn't I tend to assume I'm doing it wrong.

Portability is the big advantage cuz it can go where I do so I can cook and write at the same time, take it to bed if I'm ill, take it to work to fill in those quiet times. Deprived of it I feel bereft.

Last summer when it's one year warranty ran out I paid another £100 for a three year next day on site repair warranty which paid for itself last week when the screen's backlight went. Next day a nice young gentleman came to my house and made it better for me!

So £750 plus another hundred for the extra warranty and I've had a lovely 2 years with it so far *fingers crossed*.

[tropes.livejournal.com]

OMg isn't that on-site service fab? They replaced my screen and my keyboard for FREE. :D

[essayel.livejournal.com]

I couldn't believe it!! The chap who did the work said it would have taken about three weeks and cost over ?500 to get it done without the warranty, though he admitted that for a PC it probably wasn't worth it because they are so much more robust than laptops.

Much better than, as I was the previous evening, sitting typing with a maglite between my teeth shining it on the screen.

[tropes.livejournal.com]

Seriously.

After I spilled a pint of coffee in my old laptop, I bought the most expensive, most comprehensive warranty they offered, so that if I knocked a drink into my laptop again, I'd get a new one without dropping a grand on it, and it was the best decision we ever made.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Mine's had Chicken Biriani in it courtesy of the dog and I had to pick the bits of rice out with a pin.

And yeah - Nny! It's gotta be worth it in the long run.

[tropes.livejournal.com]

You cannot imagine the electrical crackling sounds which issued from that laptop after that coffee went in. I spent and entire day in shock and going D:


Yeah, Nny! Warranties are good, because bad things happen!

[tropes.livejournal.com]

I have a Dell Inspiron, and I hear that right now they're going for only about $400, if you don't get any bells & whistles. Of course, if you want to download and play shows and stuff, you need a few bells & whistles, but I would keep an eye on Dell.com for good deals.

Good: Mobility. I can go to a cafe and get things done.

Bad: I don't like how it's aged. It's getting awfully slow for a computer that's only 1.5 years old.

[ms-ntropy.livejournal.com]

I too have a Dell Inspiron. Mine's the 6000 model, if that means anything. I should lay my cards right out on the table: I know Jack and Crap about computers. I just knew I needed a lap top because a) I wanted to take advantage of the wireless network in my house and b) because I was never ever EVER going to lug my desktop down a flight of stairs again. (Yes...the partial purchase of said laptop was on account of Milliways....wanna make something of it?)

I considered getting a Mac because of their history of being virus proof for the most part, but I'll be honest the whole Mac set up makes me feel like the computer is talking down to me. It's just SO user friendly that I don't trust it. Like it owes me money or something. So I went with what I knew, and that was pc.

I went with Dell because my company has a deal with them and I could get a brandy new LapTop with a 60 gig hard drive for under $800. Plus there was no interest for 18 months if I got their credit card.

Good deal all around.

[manynames.livejournal.com]

I've got a Sony Vaio VGN-FS215S. I bought it because it had a fancy extra-black, extra-bright LCD screen and it because it was pretty and very, very light - something like 4lb. It cost about £1100 (eep) but I use it constantly and, fingers crossed, it should last me for a while.

Good: the screen. It's so bright and clear that it doesn't strain my eyes and give me headaches, and it's big and widescreen so great for watching DVDs. 100GB hard-drive, which is essential because I'm a media pack-rat and the idea of deleting any of the gigabytes of music or film I've got pains me. The lightness means I can actually carry it round and have it on my lap with no problem. They use laptops like this in Doctor Who! That made me more pleased than anything.

Bad: the screen is so big and bright that the battery life's only about an hour. Using work computers is unpleasant because they're so much blurrier than it! I actually can't think of anything else, I am very fond of it.

[lurvesnape.livejournal.com]

I have a little iBook G3 that I got a couple years ago from eBay. was less than $500US, and I didn't have to pay shipping cos I picked it up from the seller in Boston. It's slow, for a computer, but it gets me online when I'm away from home. Had to get the seperate AirPort card of eBay, too, cos Apple doesn't make it anymore, but at least I can abuse the free wifi at different places :) The advantage is that I can stick it in my backpack and leave with it. Am in the market for a new laptop, tho.