Hey Computer smart people.

[royalfan5]

So my current laptop is about on it's last legs and I would like to replace it in the near future. I won't be using it for work functions for the most part.(or at least the financial analyses parts of my job) Mostly it will be used for personal functions, except for I don't do any gaming. What kind of capabilities do I need to pull this off without paying for a bunch of capacity I don't need?

[sooner_born_1960]

If by personal functions, you mean internet surfing, word processing, and email reading, the cheapest laptop you can pick up will do nicely.

[royalfan5]

If by personal functions, you mean internet surfing, word processing, and email reading, the cheapest laptop you can pick up will do nicely.

I have a lot MP3's as well though and use video functions quite a bit as well. If that matters.

[OUDoc]

So, why are you getting rid of your current laptop then?
My point is, do you really need a NEW laptop, or can you fix up the old one? Almost any chip will get you on the internet and do word processing without a problem.

[BudSooner]

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9240008
Though I probably wouldn't buy one from Wally world, this Toshiba is a nice buy.
200 gig hdd, built in wireless, 2 gig ram and on top of that, it's $768.

[royalfan5]

So, why are you getting rid of your current laptop then?
My point is, do you really need a NEW laptop, or can you fix up the old one? Almost any chip will get you on the internet and do word processing without a problem.
It has some serious issues, is old, and it doesn't seem like it would really be worth sticking the money in.

[King Crimson]

like Bud linked above at any of the Circuit City type places you can spend about 700-800 and get something that does what you need--Toshiba, HP. if you get Vista, i'd make sure you've got 2 g RAM.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I like my Dell pretty well...have not had a problem with it...But that Toshiba probably will fit what you want

Like King said, make sure you get at least 2 gig RAM with Vista

[RacerX]

$600-$800

What everyone else said on the memory.

However, with vista, they are putting quality graphic chips on the motherboard that will use up to 799mb of your ram for video. Some peope see the nvidia and ati logos as a sign that it has a video card. Many of them don't, they're just putting better video chips on the motherboards.

Vista may not be that spunky with 1.2gb.

probably a 15.4" screen - pay attention to the screen quality. 17" widescreens are huge.

Something like this (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8776149&type=product&id=1204332255236) 3gb of ram, $599.

[sooner_born_1960]

Can you tell us a litttle bit about the old one?

[royalfan5]

Can you tell us a litttle bit about the old one?

It's an older Dell that's been used pretty hard. It also had a hard drive failure right after I aquired it. It has some issues with power, the battery is shot, and has a plastic piece sticking out of the side.

[Whet]

Some things to ponder before you purchase a new laptop:
1. Think about getting a wide screen, either 15.4" or 17" - you'll like the screen view much better.
2. Blue tooth allows you to communicate with your blue tooth-enabled cell phone to transfer pics, ringtones (where can I get a boomer-sooner ringtone, btw), and address book.
3. Ensure the laptop is capable of upgrading to 4GB. A lot of the "older" versions allow upgrading to only 2GB.
4. Since you keep mp3 files, get the largest hard drive available for your particular model of laptop - you don't want to run out of storage.
5. Contemplate a built-in webcam and microphone - you will be able to send video emails.
6. WiFi, of course - think about one that has the "n" standard (also, blue tooth - see #2 above).
7. Get at least 2GB of RAM, since Vista will work smoother with the additional memory.
8. Think about Vista Home Premium, as the operating system.
9. Think AMD processor, it seems to run cooler than the Intel.
10. Ensure it has plenty of USB ports.

Those are a few things to think about...

[OUDoc]

It's an older Dell that's been used pretty hard. It also had a hard drive failure right after I aquired it. It has some issues with power, the battery is shot, and has a plastic piece sticking out of the side.

Yeah, I think an upgrade may be in order. :D

[King Crimson]

i have a Dell that ran me about 1000 about 6 months ago. it's a solid, if unspectacular machine. does what i need. it's not any great aesthetic statement. on campus at CU i see a lot of kids with the newer HP's and they look pretty sharp. if i was going to do it over, despite some brand loyalty to Dell, i'd probably get an HP.....but, at the time, I didn't want to fool around with Vista and Dell stills sells you XP.

i'd get one with a keyboard that feels comfortable.

as far as Mp3, external storage is pretty cheap to buy and it's good idea to have that stuff backed up somewhere, anyway.

[Sooner_Havok]

I'm abstaining from this thread

[Sooner_Bob]

I like my Dell pretty well...have not had a problem with it...But that Toshiba probably will fit what you want

Like King said, make sure you get at least 4 gig RAM with Vista


:D

[SoonerJack]

Some things to ponder before you purchase a new laptop:
1. Think about getting a wide screen, either 15.4" or 17" - you'll like the screen view much better.
2. Blue tooth allows you to communicate with your blue tooth-enabled cell phone to transfer pics, ringtones (where can I get a boomer-sooner ringtone, btw), and address book.
3. Ensure the laptop is capable of upgrading to 4GB. A lot of the "older" versions allow upgrading to only 2GB.
4. Since you keep mp3 files, get the largest hard drive available for your particular model of laptop - you don't want to run out of storage.
5. Contemplate a built-in webcam and microphone - you will be able to send video emails.
6. WiFi, of course - think about one that has the "n" standard (also, blue tooth - see #2 above).
7. Get at least 2GB of RAM, since Vista will work smoother with the additional memory.
8. Think about Vista Home Premium, as the operating system.
9. Think AMD processor, it seems to run cooler than the Intel.
10. Ensure it has plenty of USB ports.

Those are a few things to think about...

What he means to say is you should get a MacBook Pro.

[soonerboomer93]

If you mess with pictures/video get something with a standalone video card (big hint, if the graphics is intel, it's integrated)

Personally, I went for the fastest drive available (7200 rpm in a laptop) rather then the largest. Personally, I notice the speed difference and well, the applications that I run require a faster drive with a high cache so I run a 200gb drive when I could have gone for a 320 gb. You can always supplement with external storage. (I carry a 200gb 2.5" external with me and have a 750gb at home)

I also run a 13.3" and use a 19" widescreen lcd at home. If you don't plan to travel with it, 17" is great, if you travel with it, well, mine weighs 4lbs and runs for 4 hours in high perfomance mode on battery, my 17" was atleast twice the weight and 1/2 the battery life.

you only need a couple usb ports, use a blue tooth mouse, you can always supplement with a usb hub if necessary.

if you get intel, make sure it has the centrino label, it will generally have better overall components, better perfomance and better battery life because of how the components are paired and the requirements intel has for Centrino.

N cards are ok, but well, you're not going to run accross many places with N routers.

[Animal Mother]

like Bud linked above at any of the Circuit City type places you can spend about 700-800 and get something that does what you need--Toshiba, HP. if you get Vista, i'd make sure you've got 2 g RAM.

I'm going to add another gig of ram to mine w/Vista. I had no problems until three months ago with Vista. In the last three months I can't install any downloads from Microsoft. I can't install Adobe Reader so I went with Foxit which seems pretty good. I wanted to go back to AVG virus protection but when I try to install it it tells me I need some KB90000 patch or words to that effect but my personal confuser won't install the patch when I go to Mickey Soft.com to get it. I've seen other on message boards with similar problems. Anyone had these type of errors? I found a website that was suppsoe to have a Vista compatible Adobe but same crapola. Downloads but won't install. It will install their useless media player. I even cracked and re-loaded the Vista OS. No change. HALP!!!