[CONSUMER ADVICE] Laptop Buying

Sorry, MSI wind.

It hadn't occurred to me to check the 'small business' computers rather than the 'home' ones. gosh.

I remember looking at the Asus Eee back when I was disappointed that one laptop per child laptops were only showing up in north america, I didn't realise that kind of semi-laptop had so much competition yet. I'm in two minds whether one of these things — or a cheap business laptop — will do me, or whether I want a DVD/CD player and to be able to run a bit more than just word processing/internet.

Dell Vostro then

http://blog.laptopmag.com/getting-windy-full-specs-of-the-msi-wind

msi wind looking good right now...but is 10" too big?

pc world are doing a nice samsung that's tempting me even though the last thing i need is another computer

it's time

i've actually never owned a computer lol

do you want a mac or an el cheapo

ive never really used macs much, but i'm not against them. i think its time to make up my mind on this issue. i am getting an iphone on thurs, maybe a mac makes sense now.

macs never make sense

macbooks for $999 - can't beat for price/performance imo

i think you can pay it off w/ $24 a month or somethin?

i've got scrill right now, it ain't a thing

yeah get macbook. i have had to fix stuff on mine but now when i go back on a pc like at work i get angry

i always have to do work on PCs

oh shit and all my sims are for PC!!!!!!!

well the new new macbooks are nice but they're $1300 -- 2nd gen macbook for $999 is tight

had my macbook almost a year now, totally addicted to it. granted it replaced a shitty, low-memory dell, so anything would have seemed like a big improvement. still. it's nice.

Definitely MacBook. You can run Windows on it when you need to Sims it.

nice!

If you like rebooting to XP when you feel like playing the Sims and then rebooting to Mac OS to check yr email/ILX etc

you can get the sims for mac without all the windows crap :D

I guess roxymuzak has already bought the sims on PC

i can sell them, it aint a thing

actually i just realized it really aint a thing, cause i only play sims at work, where i have a pc. so whatever. mac it is!

You could save a few bucks on a refurb and use the money to max out the RAM, always my preferred move.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTMzNTY

Apple store refurb = dope. You can get Applecare too, which is advisable with a notebook.

not a mac but cheapo

I have a very nice 15" MacBook Pro for sale. People on Craigslist keep trying to get me to ship it to Africa. That's never going to happen.

how much!

http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/large_images/100/210490100.jpg

"latitude"

tht thing looks 1˚ of latitude thick

I bought a $500 old shitty Toshiba from Wal-Mart 2 years ago and it's still doing OK... of course I only use Winamp, MS Word, and Firefox, so ymmv.

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/857/delldudetn4.jpg

you can buy my macbook in august, roxy. It has a "£" key and a battery that doesn't work!

sounds like a real good deaPPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!

A new battery is about $100, so if caek takes of 1/2 street price for lappy for bad battery then you are to get a deal rox.

you will have to come to the winner of Liveblogging caek's job applications — "Wisconsin? i hear that's a real party state." to collect

u gettin new compu for post doc caek???

I hope so. This one is lame.

Actually, it's fine. I just need a new battery. I should save the money and go to more conferences.

"how much!"

Make me an offer? But first I would ask if you really need the firepower of the Macbook Pro? Like, do you do more than surf the web or word process? The pro has additional firepower that's best for people who are doing video, music, animation, etc.

This is one of the ones you can install Windows on if you want to. If you're really curious, shoot me an email offline. It's such a great computer, but I ended up with a newer 17" through a job I did earlier this year and it's silly to have two laptops.

Reasons to get a MBP over a MB:

1. You have an aircard.
2. You do video or audio and need an outboard FW800 disk.
3. You like having a nice big ol screen.
4. You play 3d games and need better 3d proc...wait, nobody who needs 3d performance buys a Mac lappy.

Distinctions that have vanished from MBP/MB:
1. Memory capacity.
2. External video capability.
3. Superdrive (DVD writing) vs. combo (CD writing) drive.
4. Network speeds, wired and wireless.
5. Glossy vs. matte screen options.

also in my experience the pros are more lemony than the regular unleaded macbook

^ this is why I am loathe to get rid of this computer. It's not a lemon. Though I have used Applecare to replace the power supply and the battery. It's a good one for sure. (this is not a sales pitch--it's my first Mac and though I have no allegiance to Apple, I have loved this computer).

im looking for a mac to use when djing. im a bit clueless about the options but im looking for something powerful enough to cope with whatever i throw at it (more than 2gb ram, etc). should i look at buying a refurbished one? (im in the uk)

is it possible to buy a mac set up with the monitor separate to the tower (ie. not a laptop) but buy a case so it can be packed up easily and be transported about, or is it best to just stick with a laptop type one?

Are you talking about lugging a monitor around with you to DJ gigs? You def. want a laptop instead of the hassle you're describing. Anyway, a Mini probably doesn't have enough oomph, and a Mac Pro weighs a fucking ton.

DJ software isn't going to be terribly RAM-intensive, FYI. Not unless you have to keep the entire library in memory.

I'm shopping for one for basic writing/surfing/music listening needs.

Anyway, a Mini probably doesn't have enough oomph

my brother happily runs logic studio on his!

yeah i was thinking about carting a (lightweight) monitor around, but sounds a bit too complicated.

anyone know of a good place to buy a reconditioned mac from? im looking for a pretty high-spec one, for around £800ish. (new ones are around £1400 arent they?)