Computer help?

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Ok, computer people…I’m in the market for a notebook (laptop).

I don’t want to spend *too* much. (much as I love Rand’s PowerBook G4, that’s out of my price range…) I plan to primarily use it for writing, but of course, I’ll also want to be able to use it for email/internet, and I’ll probably want to be able to use iTunes.

What I’m not sure of is how much RAM I need, how big of a hard drive is necessary, and other fun details like that. What I don’t want to do is call and talk to a salesman, because of course they’ll try to sell me more than I actually need.

I appreciate the help!

13 thoughts on “Computer help?”

  1. I know a budget’s a budget, but I wouldn’t spend anything less than about $1000 on a laptop. Any less, and you’re just getting a bare-bones computer that is going to be out of date by the time you sign the UPS delivery confirmation thing.

    So, for $1000, I highly recommend Apple’s iBook, the hard-working little brother of Rand’s PowerBook.
    If this link works…
    http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71601/wo/IX7Le5dgWm4L31iA3192ef7PQQq/1.?p=0

    just click on Add To Cart and you’re good to go.
    -Thomas
    iMac G4 at work, iMac G4 at home.

  5. Obviously, Thomas is in a position to give good advice about these things. Go ahead and get the iBook, I say.

  6. There’s no better computer than the Apple computers, so I agree with Thomas. I guess everyone else does too!

  9. whatever you do, DO NOT get an IBM thinkpad. i had to get one thru school (they supported it and nothing else) and in the 2 years since i’ve had it, i’ve had the motherboard replaced 2x, the hard drive rebuilt (and it’s going again), the dvd drive replaced, and something else but i can’t remember. this thing sucks!

  10. I have a Toshiba Satellite and I’ve been very happy with it. I think anything you get will have a bigger hard drive than you need (I’ve put all my CDs on mine, and still have 1/2 the space left–w/o the CDs, I’d probably be using 5% of the hard drive), but get as much RAM as you can! Also, wireless. I think most have built-in wireless cards now, but it’s something to check. New laptops don’t come with floppy drives, so you’ll probably need to get a USB drive if you don’t already have one.

  11. My brother has used Toshiba laptops for his business for years, and whenever his old one gets a little out-dated, he gets a new Toshiba because they always have low prices, so if brand-loyalty and low prices mean anything, well, there you go. But with computers, if you want a truly happy consumer experience, you can’t shop by price alone. And you already know my brand loyalty!

    As a computer guy, my recommendation is Apple iBook, of course, but here’s the following reasons:
    1) while the iBook may cost $100 more than a similar Toshiba, the iBook will not be an out-of-date paperweight in 2 or 3 years like the Toshiba. if you have to buy a new laptop in 2 years, how much did you really pay for the first one?
    2) while the processor speed of the iBook may not compare well with Windows-based laptops, the Mac OS (operating system) functions more efficiently
    3) get at least 512K of RAM no matter what system you buy. the more you get, the happier you’ll be
    4) if you get a laptop, absolutely get a wireless network card (i.e., AIRPORT) because wi-fi is about to bloom all over the place like mold in New Orleans
    5) don’t bother buying Microsoft Office, there’s a great open-source package (i.e., FREE) you can install from OpenOffice.org that does just about everything you’ll ever need for productivity
    6) hard-drive space isn’t a factor to me when I buy a computer. how much stuff do you want to save, anyway? the smallest standard hard drive offered has always met my needs (of course they keep on increasing the standard sizes), and if you truly need to store huge amounts of files, you would probably be better served with some other means of data storage, such as an external drive or DVD-R/W.
    7) I can’t stress this enough: make backup copies of important files. important files=everything
    8) while Bluetooth is very cool, if you’re looking to cut out options to reduce the total price, I’d start by cutting Bluetooth. on the other hand, if you find extra money in your budget, it’s better to start off with Bluetooth built in than to pay to add it later

  13. I had a Toshiba Satellite, the physical drive of which died quite abruptly after a year. I don’t like them any more.

    My two previous computers were Dells, and both are still functional. I type to you from a Dell Inspiron 1150, which I got for just over $1000 a year ago. Dell’s site is also nice in that you can hand-pick the features you want and don’t want, thus tweaking the cost.

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