Calling All Computer Experts
Laredo, TX: After a pre-dawn delivery this morning, I have a bit of time to myself while The Lovely Mrs. Carter is in a Wal-Mart Supercenter presumably purchasing controlling stock. So, I have a favor to ask of you please.
I finally have the wherewithal to purchase a new laptop, but I'd like some advice on what to purchase. My needs are fairly simple in this regard:
1. A large screen, as I have great distance vision but have to use reading glasses for everything else.
2. Sufficient memory for copious amounts of research and reference.
3. Ability to write to disk or otherwise store data, as I have a book or two in me that I'd like to get rolling on.
4. At least three USB ports; for wireless mouse, printer, and to tether my smart phone for internet access.
5. Comfortable and durable keyboard, as I normally clip along at about 80 wpm.
6. Two or three hours battery life minimum.
7. I don't know if one computer is better with Skype than another, but I need that capability as well for podcasts and related adventures.
Like I said, it will be mainly for writing and reading, with very few media requirements except to play music while I'm reading and writing. I've talked at length with my friend Bob Lee and he is extraordinarily knowledgeable about computers. I on the other hand am not. I remember once when Bob suggested I get a "check up from the neck up." When I told him I wanted a second opinion, he shot back, "Okay, I think you're ugly too." He was right of course, but I want to benefit from the assembled wisdom of Ricochet as well (on computers, not my various aesthetic challenges).
Presently, I'm leaning toward HP, or Dell. I'd like to keep this under $700 as well. Ideas anyone?
Incidentally, I'll be behind the wheel again soon, so please pardon my long stretches of silence.
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Jul '10
Re: Calling All Computer Experts
Dave, since you have decided on a Windows based unit, I strongly support the choice of Toshiba. I owned a couple of them prior to purchasing my MacBook. I am very happy with the plain 13" Macbook. I tether my Droid X to it when needed. It is simple and straight forward. However, no question you pay a premium for a Mac. Consider that your Mac comes pretty much complete. You don't have to buy any additional software, and you don't have clean off all of the gratuitous crap that comes attached to the Windows operating system. There are very few viruses that affect Macs, so virus software is unneeded. If you want it, and I do, it can be gotten free on the web. Of course, there is excellent free virus software and antispyware, etc. available for Windows as well. If you buy a Toshiba which I would recommend, I would try to get a 32 Bit OS rather than the 64. Even though the 64 is a touch faster and allows you to use about twice the RAM, there is a serious question as to overkill, and free programs compatible contn.
Jul '10
Re: Calling All Computer Experts
contn. with the 64 Bit OS are more difficult to find. The Tether program for the Droid is free, BTW.
Toshiba makes a very solid unit. My first was a Techra which cost about $3000. That was quite some time ago. I had it a month and the hard drive died. Toshiba replaced the drive but didn't provide backup software for the drivers. I had to pay someone a good deal of money to get things back to factory specs. I wrote a very long and bitter note to Toshiba which I think they must have taken seriously because when I got my second Toshiba laptop a few years later their warranty and customer service was the best I have ever experienced. Their computers are solid, well built, and consistent (unlike Dell for which there is no model consistency, drivers for the same model are listed on their webpage showing as many as a dozen variation in the same model). Windows 7 is the best OS that MS has come up with. It is solid and stable. Ultimately, whatever you buy, you will be happy with. But a Toshiba or a Mac will make you happier.
Jul '10
Re: Calling All Computer Experts
One more consideration in terms of the Mac. Mac OS has a thing called Time Machine. It is a back-up system that protects your stuff like none I have yet found. It is built into the OS, so all you need to make it work is an external drive on which to back up your stuff. I have a 750GB external hard drive that I got at Costco for under $100. I run Time Machine once a week which is sufficient for my needs. When I bought my new iMac earlier this year. I simply connected my Time Machine back up to my new machine and it put everything from my previous machine on to the new one. The process took about an hour. Rebuilding a Windows operating system which I do about 3 times a week takes most of a day, sometimes longer. I can fully restore a Mac to the condition it was in prior to a break down in two hours. Just something to consider.
Re: Calling All Computer Experts
Eugene, thanks so much for all the information. A Mac sounds splendid, but it's bumping up against economic realities on the order that the 111th Congress refused to acknowledge. I have to govern my own affairs considerably more intelligently than my would-be masters in DC. If Lord Keynes had been right, I'd print my own money.