<p>Previously I asked about what specs I should get in a new desktop computer we are going to buy for Christams, but I have been thinking of maybe getting a laptop instead, so we can take it on trips if needed. If I do get a laptop, I want to get a docking station so I can easily use a regular keyboard and a bigger screen (my old eyes need a bigger screen). Any suggestions on the brand of laptop (dell, sony, etc), or on the specs I should look for? Thanks in advance for all of your help.</p>
<p>I’m ridiculously happy with my Compaq Presario C700. HP and Compaq make great computers…my family is hard on computers (my mom especially) and they last us a long time. </p>
<p>If you get Vista, make sure you upgrade to Business or Home Premium. It’s not quite as hard to adjust to these models, IMHO.</p>
<p>I’ll second HP/Compact. I’ve owned 5 of them over a 13+ year period. </p>
<p>Get alot of ram and a fast processor. Go to a store and see the big 17 in screens. I think HP has an 18 in screen on a laptop too.</p>
<p>I’ve used lots of Dells and they’ve been okay. My D purchased a Dell Vostro laptop and it’s very quiet, doesn’t get hot, seems sturdily built, and wasn’t terribly expensive. </p>
<p>I’m currently using a Lenovo and it’s okay as well.</p>
<p>I think you should just look for the best deal from a major manufacturer - Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. Pay atention to the price/performance and the warranty and try to notice if it has a flimsy design or not. The actual components in all of these laptops are pretty much the same and they all buy from the same component manufacturers - drives, displays, batteries, keyboards, etc. are generally all made by someone other than the laptop vendor (except that Sony tends to make batteries for many of them - the infamous exploding batteries found in Dell, Apple, Sony, etc.).</p>
<p>Look for deals through using coupons (google Dell coupons for discounts), through a college bookstore, Costco, etc.</p>
<p>The exact notebook capabilities you need totally depend on what you plan to do with it. For size, I suggest around a 14" model as the bigger ones get bulky and heavy if you move them much and the smaller ones are more difficult to read and squeeze your fingers together for the keyboard. Take a look at Dell’s website as they typically have the best website for configuring a PC and see what they have. You can then look at HP’s and see what they have that’s similar and compare costs. Also check out Apple’s products if you’re interested in those.</p>
<p>I was going to buy myself a new laptop for Christmas, but changed my mind after some investigation. I’ve heard bad things about Vista, and Windows XP is preferred for the software I need to run. However, it’s nearly impossible to buy a PC without Vista any more. </p>
<p>I was told by a person in technical support of the software company (whose product I need to run) that, because of all the problems with Vista, the next generation of Windows - Windows 7 - might be out as early as this spring. So I’ve decided to hold off with the purchase until Vista is no longer the default operation system.</p>
<p>[Dell</a> PCs with Windows XP](<a href=“Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell USA”>Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell USA)</p>
<p>you might still be able to get a Dell PC with XP installed</p>
<p>Actually, I looked into it, and the only Dell laptops with XP available were either bigger or smaller then I wanted. If you want tiny or large, that might be an option!</p>
<p>I’ve heard that the new program will be out in February (?). Our school district is buying one laptop per teacher (we are talking 100+ schools, so LOTS of laptops.) and has delayed until february to get the new version of windows preloaded. At least, that’s the scuttlebutt!
If it were me, I’d buy an ibook or the new thin i laptop. DD has had an ibook for 5 years and still working fine.</p>
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I run both Vista and XP and prefer Vista. I have a laptop that came with Vista, was switched to XP for corporate reasons, then I switched it back to Vista. The display is much nicer with Vista which seems to handle the new widescreen aspect rations better than XP, and importantly, the battery now lasts much longer with Vista which must have better optimization in this area. On top of that the look and feel of Vista is somewhat nicer than XP IMO.</p>
<p>I think the stories about Vista are overblown and largely based on when it first came out. After using it for quite some time on laptops from multiple vendors as well as multiple desktops, I don’t think the lingering fears are worth being greatly concerned about.</p>
<p>Most ‘corporate software’ should run okay on Vista although it’s possible you might need updated versions of some ancient apps some corporations use. One that comes to mind is the Cisco VPN client if you use that - it needs to be 5.0 or above. When an IT group says ‘preferred’ it usually means they don’t want to be bothered acquiring/providing any updated versions of off the shelf apps (like the Cisco) and they don’t want their help desk to have to field calls regarding it. It usually doesn’t mean the apps wouldn’t actually work on Vista.</p>
<p>I recommend just getting Vista that comes standard on most new laptops.</p>
<p>One of the big computer makers will start shipping laptops with Open Solaris in the future.</p>
<p>I absolutely hate paying the antivirus/antispyware tax in performance with Windows and spend most of my working time in Mac OSX connected to Linux and other systems. It seems to me that virus databases are growing exponentially and that the download time for virus databases affects startup time considerably.</p>
<p>In general, companies are shipping Vista x64 if you get 4 GB of RAM or more. Cisco VPN doesn’t work on Vista x64. Cisco blames Microsoft. At any rate, the only alternative right is to run a virtual machine with Windows 32 (or another OS that Cisco supports). I have Vista on one of my systems and an upgrade disk for another XP system.</p>
<p>One other minor headache with Vista is DRM. There are things that I can do around recording stuff that Vista just won’t let me do with the same software.</p>
<p>I got this Latitude from my PawnShop. Came clean without the subscription junk, verified by Dell as not stolen, XP Pro, dual processor, Good Price and he guarantees for 30 days.</p>