Posted by Linda_H/FL on 10/29/06 3:59pm
Msg #156005

Need some help on Laptop shopping

Am considering getting a laptop - keeping in mind that I've only been in business for 3 months (and feel I've been very lucky so far) what are the MINIMUM requirements I should look for in a laptop (other than duo processor - I know that much)...TIA for all your help

Reply by Charles_Ca on 10/29/06 4:22pm
Msg #156013

Re: Need some help on Laptop shopping ~ Check with Andy Le!

Andy posts as NDWA and I have no idea how he does it but he has some incredible pricing on computers.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 10/29/06 4:25pm
Msg #156015

Re: ~ Check with Andy Le!...thanks!! n/m

Reply by Howie35CT on 10/29/06 8:25pm
Msg #156042

Recently got a great deal on the DELL 1505 inspiron. Just kept checking the dell site and saw the price fall more than $150 in just a few weeks. Bought it new (do not get a refurb, for the same money you can get a new computer) for just over $600, with all the fixins: duo core, huge hard drive, lots of software options, great laptop computer. I did comparison shopping for a few weeks before taking the plunge, and found that only the Sony came close to what this computer offers, just add $200 to get the same 15" screen, DVD-RW, and duo core upgrades. Just my $0.02

have a great next week, stay safe out there!

Reply by Larry/Ca on 10/29/06 8:39pm
Msg #156043

Howie, my laptop of 9 years....

died yesterday and i too ordered an inspiron except i got the 1705. thought it was a deal as my old one cost near $3000. My question is since you seem knowledgable about these will my wife be able to copy her tv shows from i-tunes downloads to DVD's and then play them on the tv. I also got the DVD-RW option on the drive. The Dell site said if you want to copy movies to DVD's you should get a DVD "BURNER", not the DVD-RW. I obviously don't know the difference, do you?

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 10/29/06 9:03pm
Msg #156047

Re: How about HP - how are they? n/m

Reply by Gary_CA on 10/29/06 10:25pm
Msg #156051

Yuck, icky pewy

HP was one of the great American companies, till it became Compaq... haven't had such great luck lately.

Dell's still pretty good, their customer service sucks... but right product, right price. I bought mine, and have bought several for clients off their outlet website: refurbs, scratches, returns, etc... you can get a pretty good deal and same warranty as new.

Whatever brand you choose, get a Pentium, not a Celeron... the biggest hard drive you can afford and lots of RAM. It might be cheaper to buy the RAM upgrade seperately afterwards.

Good luck!

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 10/29/06 8:55pm
Msg #156046

Re: Need some help ... thanks Howie

Built an Inspiron 1505 at Dell today after looking on ebay - wanted to see what I needed/wanted and then comparison price shop - the one I built came to a little over $1,000 and I kept it pretty basic (at least I thought I did) - I'll have to watch and see if the prices drop.

Reply by David Kral on 10/30/06 4:02am
Msg #156073

Checklist

1 Duo Core processing is nice
2 Large harddrive 40GB on the lower side 60 to 80gb
3 Built in CD burner nice(might get DVD if you are going to use that)
4 Several USB ports(parallel port is nice too).
5 Wireless nice(I have a printer with a wireless print server and a wireless router)
6 Extra would be a 12 cell battery nice but you can order it later
7 Ethernet port nice

I get them from Best Buy. I like Compaq Presario. I buy the warranty plan. On the last two
the screens have cracked at the hinges and BB has replaced them rather then send them in.
I have bought about two in 10 years and had about four. I like the ability to walk in a drop it off. I bought one for a realtive for around $550.


You can usually find a good lappy on sale at BB especially during the holidays. Black Friday is coming!

I do not recommend taking your laptop out of your home/office. If you lose it, it has sensitve data.


Other things:

Good printers:
Brother 8220(sale rebates (OfficeMax))<====Frequent coupons
Brother 1020(sale/rebates(OfficeMax)<==Frequent coupons
wireless print server(bought on sale near Free after rebate(BB--they dont do rebates any more))
wireless router(Bought on sale around $10.00 after rebates)
External hard drive(I use it to back up Quicken and my other computer files, Excel, Word, etc.(( Buy on sale around $20.00 after the rebates))
Bluetooth(syncs my Palm((after rebate $10.00((Circuit City)))
USB Flash Drive 512(after free after rebate$0.00(Circuit City)
QuickBooksSimpleStart(($5.00 after $75.00 rebate awhile back((CircuitCity))
Norton AntiVirus--Free after rebate(It is good for about a year, but rather than pay, I just pickup another free after rebate copy the following year. So....it is always free.)
(Use office supply store coupons, price match and sometimes these products are filler items
when you are purchasing paper.)

[Around $400.00 for the other stuff. Order over the internet and do free instore pickup. The printers were over $50.00 each so they shipped for free to my home.)

Now if I could only get toner....free after rebate!

Reply by ReneeK_MI on 10/30/06 4:50am
Msg #156076

Ha - just for the Advil factor ...

I twice bought Compaq's from Best Buy ... my experiences were the total opposite of David's, to the point where I won't buy anything that says "Compaq" on it, and I don't shop at Best Buy. Now have a Dell XPS/M140 and I'm quite happy (thus far, have two Dells).

For every recommendation for any particular computer, car, brand of coffee or breed of dog, you'll find an equal and opposite opinion/experience. Keeps life interesting!

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 10/30/06 8:53am
Msg #156103

Re: Ha - just for the Advil factor ...how true Renee

My husband and I both have Dell desktops - we love them and never have a problem - my sister-in-law has an exact duplicate from Dell (my husband ordered it for her) - she has nothing but trouble and hates it!!

Thank you all for the tips - again I'm just at the "thinking about it" stage but it's nice to know what the heck to look for. Laptops are real foreign territory for me.

Reply by Charm_AL on 10/30/06 9:07am
Msg #156105

check your e-m Linda..... n/m

Reply by Gary_CA on 10/30/06 10:18am
Msg #156112

Re: Ha - another ha... now it's ha ha

In my previous life I was a computer tech, and I still service half a dozen loyal clients and ma...

Same thing, I've dealt with lots of Dells, all good luck, but customer service from hell. Wouldn't ya know that my pickiest client got a lemon and had to deal with the phone system at Dell. She hates them and now almost hates me (well not really, but she told me in no uncertain terms that this was the last Dell in her office)

Luck of the draw.

Reply by ReneeK_MI on 10/30/06 12:44pm
Msg #156184

now it's hysterical laughter ...

I love my Dell computers ... I said NOTHING about Dell C/S. I tried to call and order a laptop for my sister, hit a website glich, called C/S .... the guy hung UP ON ME because I could not understand a word he was saying, and had to keep asking him to repeat himself. Knock on something lucky, but I've never had to actually use their C/S for anything else.

Reply by hcampersFL on 10/30/06 7:10am
Msg #156086

Re: Checklist- David hope you don't mind, I added this to

the famous "list". Really good information.

Reply by Gary_CA on 10/30/06 10:15am
Msg #156111

Maybe just a couple thoughts on David's list

All in all it's a good list, but a wee itty bitty bit outdated...

I don't think you can get a laptop now with a parallel port, or a printer that needs it. (Becoming a dinosaur in this industry is a matter of months not years)

I would absolutely think 60g and above for the hard drive, upgrading laptop harddrives is a pain.

When I said "Pentium" in my previous post I meant "Duocore" in today's language (now who's the dinosaur?)

I don't like the Presario product either, but Dell who makes a great product comes with extra strength Advil "customer-serve-us" the most horrid phone robot ever in the history of mankind...worse than the phone company, worse than your bank, worse than IRS.

The insurance plan hmmm.... reasonable people can reasonably disagree on this one. In general extended warranties are overpriced. There are a couple exceptions, maybe, laptops and PDA's. David's example is a great one, and it's the achiles heal of laptops, the screens. Make sure the warranty covers it. By the way, you can add your laptop to your homeowner's insurance very cheap. The extra coverage will cover damage (dropping the damn thing) or "mysterious disappearance" (normally insurance will only cover theft if there's evidence of a break-in) that coverage will cost you like $20-40 a year, far cheaper than the warranty, but it doesn't cover a defect (unless the defective laptop gets dropped, oops.)

Someone else opined against refurbs... and in fact new laptops are now sometimes just as cheap... but I've had great luck with refurbs and usually saved $100+. A refurb machine has been inspected by a real tech, whereas a new one just got that little QA sticker stuck to it. I'm talking factory refurbs with full guarantee... not a used computer.

Reply by Howie35CT on 10/30/06 11:52am
Msg #156164

Re: Maybe just a couple thoughts on David's list

Agree, some refurbs are actually worth a 2nd look, but in today's laptop/notebook industry, you will probably not miss the savings by just purchasing your own, new, right out of the box.

My thoughts on a simple machine that will probably not need upgrading for 1-2 years:
60G Hard drive, 512M RAM (unless you are into online gaming, this amount of ram will quite possibly be all you need for office documents, spreadsheets, and low/intermediate internet usage with pages laden with graphics), DVD +/- RW (this means that you can not only read DVD's and CD's from this optical drive, but that you can now write to DVD-R/RW cd's. This means that you can now backup >4G of information instead of 700M at one shot. 15" screen is generally more than enough visually, and getting anything bigger than this might mean that it won't fit into your notary bag. Bummer... Full sized keyboard a must. Laptops nowadays are coming outfitted with WiFi capability, so don't shop around for a wireless device. Should come with several USB ports, and at least a 5 in one, 7 in one, or even 13 in one card reader, for those of you utilizing various multimedia and sharing pictures/files from your camera, palm pilot, camcorder, smartphone (my next purchase), etc.

In other words, if you purhase something that hit the streets sometime late last year or even this year, you won't have any problems meeting more than these requirements, and should appease you for at least a year before you even feel the need for upgrading.

Those of you COMPLETELY confused, please email me at [e-mail address] and I'll delve deeper into twidgitville, but I'll type slower, I promise!!! :oD