Need Laptop Recommendations

Post #154,460 by jbrabeck 5/10/04 9:50:13 AM Reply	Need Laptop Recommendations My daughter is graduating from HS and has decided that she would like a laptop for college. Not a gamer. Standard "office" (not necessarily MS) products. Some way to connect to the internet. Doesn't need the newest and greatest, though I bow to the cumulative wisdom of the forum. :-) And to make life interesting, she graduates on Jun 4th, so I have just under 4 weeks to get this done. Thanks in advance. Joe
Post #154,470 by boxley 5/10/04 10:15:51 AM Reply	Ibook, no hassle OS can import heathen MS files good HW Time for Lord Stanley to get a Tan questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]
Post #154,479 by Steve Lowe 5/10/04 11:00:49 AM Reply	2nd the iBook. Just got one for the wife, love it. ----- Steve
Post #154,484 by Another Scott 5/10/04 11:24:41 AM Reply	Happy with my Thinkpad. I've got a refurbished [link\|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=139095\|T41] that I'm very happy with. It has a 1.7 GHz Pentium M, I've added 512 MB of RAM, and the battery life is ~ 8 hours with the extended battery and replacing the CD-RW with a dockable battery (it adds about 2 hours). If you have IBM stock (or know someone who does), you can save a few hundred by buying through their stockholder program. The iBook and PowerBook are nice machines, but some of the Thinkpads are quite competitive. Decide on your budget first and then see what you can get. HTH. Cheers, Scott.
Post #154,487 by jbrabeck 5/10/04 11:41:11 AM Reply	Budget definitely says "Used" or "Refurb" :-)
Post #154,514 by Ashton 5/10/04 2:07:28 PM Reply	You might fold into cost est. How much time you'd like to budget for RRR help re expected Worm-of-the-Week episodes, always needing correction overnight, etc. (Though I don't know your Apple Skillz) A friend bought a new G4 Powerbook a few months ago, after a decade+ of fighting The Beast; she has had no problems yet either adapting or.. with the provided s/ware - and she uses it to do editing work via telecommuting. ie your Apple skillz just might not be needed very often. Just an anti-Beast thought, as is always in order. (Then there's Longhorn to shudder about, next..)
Post #154,516 by jbrabeck 5/10/04 2:27:30 PM Reply	Aren't Apples little round fruit that grows on trees? ;-j Daughter has already rejected anything without Windows. I asked if she wanted Marvin, Pella or Andersen Windows. Nope, she wants MicroSloth WIndoze. She lives with her mom and is PO'd that I have put Linux on the computers here at home. But she does use it. :-) And since she will be living in a dorm 3 hours away, RRR becomes HER responsibility. And Yes, I have explained it all to her. As for Apples, use - no, eat - yes.
Post #154,518 by ben_tilly 5/10/04 2:45:33 PM Reply	Take that farther She has already told you that she doesn't want to take your recommendation. So tell your daughter that she can buy her own computer. Give her a figure for how much you'll give her to make the purchase, and leave the choice up to her. Make it something where she can reasonably do it, like $500. If she spends under budget, give her the full amount anyways. Lots of people have to figure out how to buy computers for themselves. There is no reason that she can't figure it out. And the experience of doing so certainly can't hurt. Cheers, Ben To deny the indirect purchaser, who in this case is the ultimate purchaser, the right to seek relief from unlawful conduct, would essentially remove the word consumer from the Consumer Protection Act - [link\|http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?NewsID=1246&Page=1&pagePos=20\|Nebraska Supreme Court]
Post #154,519 by boxley 5/10/04 2:58:50 PM Reply	well put and seconded Time for Lord Stanley to get a Tan questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]
Post #154,520 by drewk 5/10/04 3:16:02 PM Reply	Elaboration She has already told you that she doesn't want to take your recommendation. My standard response when someone doesn't like my recommendation is to ask why not. If they can't give anything better than "because I said no" then I piont out that until I know what's wrong with my reasoning I don't know what to change. (Feel free to read that as "won't change".) === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #154,826 by lister 5/12/04 11:57:51 AM Reply	Ditto and Toshiba's I've been quite happy with IBM Thinkpad's and Toshiba's laptops. I can't stand touchpads so laptops with those are out. I prefer using trackpoints instead. A few friends have HP laptops and they've liked them so far though they have touchpads. lister
Post #154,492 by pwhysall 5/10/04 11:57:39 AM Reply	iBook. Peter [link\|http://www.debian.org\|Shill For Hire] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Blog]
Post #154,536 by folkert 5/10/04 4:57:55 PM Reply	There are some Athlon64 Mobiles Hanging around at extremely good prices. I saw a REALLY sooper-dewper one for ~$1400. Widescreen and all. I also saw a "budget minded one" for $899 after mfg and store rebates. I was dinking around with one at Best Buy, it was tween the two. I liked it alot. Moreso than the pentium4 m next to it at $500 more than it was. Same Manufacturer too. These happen to be HP laptops. But others are around. BTW, I am NOT talking about the AthlonXP Mobile. I am on about the Athlon64 Mobile. -- [link\|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net\|greg], [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ *i_wethey* Give a man a match, he'll be warm for a minute. Set him on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life!
Post #154,539 by jbrabeck 5/10/04 5:10:56 PM Reply	Ifn I got that, I'd keep it and give her my old Dell CPi 233. :-)
Post #154,546 by altmann 5/10/04 5:59:33 PM Reply	Not Gateway Out of three recent model Gateway laptops I'm familiar with, one has had it's screen and/or chassis replaced twice withing 6 months of purchase and the other (my brother's) had a broken solder joint that caused it to semi-randomly lock up if you looked at it funny. It took a while to convince them that it wasn't software related and to take it in for repair (got it back just before they closed the retail stores). Not a good thing to happen in your first year of law school. The third has exhibited no problems so far. Still, I'm not at all confident in their QC at this point. -- Chris Altmann

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