Big Guns wrote:Dudes.
Bit of help if you could.
Looking to purchase a new laptop in coming weeks. Not posessing a great deal of PC knowledge myself, I have been told that with my requirements, I should be looking at a package empassing the below features .. .
Card reader - you can then put your camera card straight into it to download the pickies.
60-80gb Harddrive (minimum ++)
1024 MB DDR2 D DRAM minimum (this is your most effective/value adding/valuable upgrade)
Dual Layer DVD burner
Centrino (wireless LAN)
Bluetooth
International warranty
Microsoft Office
Consider tablet PC
Can you guys throw me some ideas as to where I should be shopping and what the damage will be ($$$).
Thankyou
Considering that I work with PCs every day, and researching PC hardware is my hobby, i can give you these answers:
1. Card reader: Most laptop card readers DO NOT accept CompactFlash, so be careful what format your camera uses. That being said, Compaq and Acer usually offer 5-in-1 card readers.
2. 60-80GB HDD: True, not bad.
3. 1024MB DDR2: 1 GB of RAM sure helps, but realistically, there's no performance difference between DDR1 and DDR2.
4. Dual-layer DVD burner: Yup, good idea
5. Centrino: Centrino is just a marketing term, which means you're using an Intel Pentium M, an intel chipset on the motherboard, and an Intel wireless LAN card. Be aware that there are MUCH better alternatives out there. Don't fall for the Centrino Hype.
6. Bluetooth: good to have
7. International warranty: All large laptop manufacturers offer this.
8. Microsoft Office: The "standard", though you can get a free office replacement from Sun. It's not as flashy as MS Office, but it's free.
9. Tablet PC: NO NO NO NO!!! This is VERY buggy, and the large touchscreen is very fragile.
My honest recommendation would be to get an Acer laptop based on the AMD Turion 64. Why?
1. The AMD Turion 64 is a 64-bit processor, and as such is more future-proof than the 32-bit only Pentium-M used in the Centrino bundle. microsoft Vista is coming out soon, and will be designed for 64-bit chips.
2. Wi-Fi: Acer uses Broadcom chips for it's wireless, which are far better than the Intel equivalent.
3. Screen: Acer laptops have great, great screens
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I just recently bought a new laptop for myself, and am glad I got an Acer.
"Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
- Terry Pratchett
