Papageorgio268 Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 So my computer broke, now i'm working on a really old laptop i had just in case I was ever in this situation. I'm looking for a new laptop to work on. I'm going to be going to college in the fall and just wondering if anyone could recommend one/check my ideas. I have been recommended (by a friend who's pretty tech-savvy) the Dell Vostro 1510. Is this a good computer to purchase? I'm kind of in the dark when it comes to purchasing computers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.S. Dylan Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I'll always suggest apple. Have had mine (pwerbook g4 12") going on 5 years with basically no problems. It looks brand new and pretty much runs the same way. No viruses, no headaches, no problem. That goes a long way. If you are on a strict budget you can definitely get a good Dell but it is not going to last as long. Think long-term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC36 Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 i have a gateway that im happy with. your taking the right steps and asking around. you dont wanna just go to the store and pick one out. good luck on the search Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
war ensemble Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I'll always suggest apple. Have had mine (pwerbook g4 12") going on 5 years with basically no problems. It looks brand new and pretty much runs the same way. No viruses, no headaches, no problem. That goes a long way. If you are on a strict budget you can definitely get a good Dell but it is not going to last as long. Think long-term. I don't know how you can pull that one off as fact like that. The home Macbook had three separate problems before even the first bootup. I know Bob on this forum has had several problems. Every electronic, especially something so complicated as a computer, is subject to failing no matter who made it. Apple's are definitely well-created for the most part, but they still can break any time. Just like a Dell. I don't have any numbers here, but I can tell you that your statement is wrong many times over. This isn't something like PS3 vs 360 where you can say that, because of the obvious number discrepancies. Sorry, I just wanted to chip in to avoid possible misinformation. I don't mean to derail this thread to something silly like a Mac vs PC argument. By the way--I'd suggest Acer or Apple. Acer has great specs for the price, so if you can't afford something more expensive I'd go with that. Apple is also solid and reliable for the most part, although at times you can get better specs for the money. Also, if you see a specific model you're really looking into, check cnet.com for their review on the laptop. That should give you a fair impression of the product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jets Babe Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 i'm a diehard mac fan. once you go mac, you never go back. get a macbook or a macbook pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetman_67 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 i'm a diehard mac fan. once you go mac, you never go back. get a macbook or a macbook pro. If you like overspend on over rated and over priced computers, go for it. I have 3 pcs here that always run smoothly. It doesnt matter who made a computer or what operating system you are using, its going to run as good as you take care of it. If you install a bunch of different software that is not tested by Microsoft or Apple in your case, you can and probably will have problems. Too many people get FREE CD ROMS or download shareware then install the stuff and wonder why their computers arent working right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECURB Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 HP/Compaq is all I buy... I have 3 HP/Compaq desktops and 2 laptops between me and the GF and never had a problem with any of them. Tigerdirect.com has some good deals... also check weekly sales at the big box stores... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECURB Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Such as... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3570047&Sku=M975-17004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFSIKH Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 So my computer broke, now i'm working on a really old laptop i had just in case I was ever in this situation. I'm looking for a new laptop to work on. I'm going to be going to college in the fall and just wondering if anyone could recommend one/check my ideas. I have been recommended (by a friend who's pretty tech-savvy) the Dell Vostro 1510. Is this a good computer to purchase? I'm kind of in the dark when it comes to purchasing computers. What is your budget? What do you intend to do with it? Is it going to be solely for school? Or do you want the ability to play some kick ass games as well? Despite LS's claim, Dell makes good reliable computers. Another thing to consider is Vista vs XP. If you plan on going low budget, you might want to ask for XP Pro. I like Vista, but my laptop (Alienware) has enough in it to handle it. I also paid for that. We are being force fed Vista and Office 2007 at work and we have some Dell laptops that are pushing 3-4 years old and it sucks. Even our newer ones which is a standard run of the mill laptop struggle. Anyways, if you are looking for a straight CPU and one that plays basic games, not Crysis, the standard configured Dell/ACER/Sony/Lenovo laptop will get the job done. If you want to play some decent games and not have the laptop slow down or the game to stall, invest some extra cash in a good video card, extra memory and a decent processor. These are real generalization for terms. Remember as soon as you buy it, it will be out of date. So the more you put into it now, the longer it will be relevant. In my own personal opinion, if you do not mind the weight. I like bigger laptops (17'"). Better to see work, lay games and watch movies. If money is no object: http://www.falcon-nw.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFSIKH Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 If you do buy a MAC, make sure you ask the MAC lovers for the MAC emulation software. It is a Microsoft world and people seem to want a lot of software that is not available with MAC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
war ensemble Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 [quote name='Jetman67 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papageorgio268 Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 What is your budget? What do you intend to do with it? Is it going to be solely for school? Or do you want the ability to play some kick ass games as well? Despite LS's claim, Dell makes good reliable computers. Another thing to consider is Vista vs XP. If you plan on going low budget, you might want to ask for XP Pro. I like Vista, but my laptop (Alienware) has enough in it to handle it. I also paid for that. We are being force fed Vista and Office 2007 at work and we have some Dell laptops that are pushing 3-4 years old and it sucks. Even our newer ones which is a standard run of the mill laptop struggle. Anyways, if you are looking for a straight CPU and one that plays basic games, not Crysis, the standard configured Dell/ACER/Sony/Lenovo laptop will get the job done. If you want to play some decent games and not have the laptop slow down or the game to stall, invest some extra cash in a good video card, extra memory and a decent processor. These are real generalization for terms. Remember as soon as you buy it, it will be out of date. So the more you put into it now, the longer it will be relevant. In my own personal opinion, if you do not mind the weight. I like bigger laptops (17'"). Better to see work, lay games and watch movies. If money is no object: http://www.falcon-nw.com/ I'm not really looking to spend more than $1000, but i could shell out a little more if i found it necessary. In terms of use, nothing too much more serious than school work or a little online gaming if i'm bored. To everyone who posted in this, thanks a lot. To those who suggested Mac, is it really that much better? Is it worth the extra 600-something dollars it would cost me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.S. Dylan Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I don't know how you can pull that one off as fact like that. The home Macbook had three separate problems before even the first bootup. I know Bob on this forum has had several problems. Every electronic, especially something so complicated as a computer, is subject to failing no matter who made it. Apple's are definitely well-created for the most part, but they still can break any time. Just like a Dell. I don't have any numbers here, but I can tell you that your statement is wrong many times over. This isn't something like PS3 vs 360 where you can say that, because of the obvious number discrepancies. Sorry, let me clarify- I'm just going by personal experience. Live I've said, my comp is 5 years old and it runs awesome. How many college kids can really say that? This thing has lasted all of college and I am not even close to needing a new one. It is more difficult to find programs for it but I manage. Like some say, they are going to run as well as you take care of them. I take pretty good care of mine but I don't really worry about viruses so I do download whatever I want. I'll admit I do push the limits and probably jinx myself when I talk about how awesome my comp is. Vista vs any Mac OS 10.4 and higher, I'm choosing mac. Bob's like the only guy I've heard have problems. Expensive? hell yes over rated? no. I'm not really looking to spend more than $1000, but i could shell out a little more if i found it necessary. In terms of use, nothing too much more serious than school work or a little online gaming if i'm bored. To everyone who posted in this, thanks a lot. To those who suggested Mac, is it really that much better? Is it worth the extra 600-something dollars it would cost me? Apple really does screw you with the price. You have to buy word too. Macs pretty much start at 1000 so add the warranty and tax you are looking at 1300. Sucks I know so I can understand why you would go elsewhere. Honestly if it's going to break your bank I would just get the one your friend suggested. There are good windows comps that you can get way cheaper but you really have to take good care of them. Macs you can kind of beat up. People I've talked to don't really like vista but I haven't had much experience with it. It doesn't look that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jets Babe Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 If you do buy a MAC, make sure you ask the MAC lovers for the MAC emulation software. It is a Microsoft world and people seem to want a lot of software that is not available with MAC. like what? i don't have any problems...neither do my parents.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jets Babe Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I'm not really looking to spend more than $1000, but i could shell out a little more if i found it necessary. In terms of use, nothing too much more serious than school work or a little online gaming if i'm bored. To everyone who posted in this, thanks a lot. To those who suggested Mac, is it really that much better? Is it worth the extra 600-something dollars it would cost me? you can get a quality notebook from apple for $1000 bucks. http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MzM you get a free printer and, if they're doing that promo, a free ipod touch. work for a school or are you a student? $100 bucks off. i think it's "that much better" because i love how my computer only takes a couple of seconds to boot up. it's just as fast as the day i got it 2, almost 3 years ago. updating my OS from mac tiger to mac leopard was easy as pie. i have had no compatibility issues whatsoever. favorite part? everything's so much easier on a mac. photos, music, downloads, wifi...and CUSTOMER SERVICE. my god, apple has the best customer service. if i have any problem at all, i just go to the apple store (name me where you can find a dell or hp store with dell or hp specialists: you can't.) and a "genius" helps me out. never had to pay a dime. if you have any questions about apple i would suggest going to the apple store and tell an associate you're thinking about switching from mac to pc...they'll help you out. if you buy a mac, they even offer free classes on how to use the apple os. (although i didn't need any classes...it was very easy to figure out) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jets Babe Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Sorry, let me clarify- I'm just going by personal experience. Live I've said, my comp is 5 years old and it runs awesome. How many college kids can really say that? This thing has lasted all of college and I am not even close to needing a new one. It is more difficult to find programs for it but I manage. Like some say, they are going to run as well as you take care of them. I take pretty good care of mine but I don't really worry about viruses so I do download whatever I want. I'll admit I do push the limits and probably jinx myself when I talk about how awesome my comp is. Vista vs any Mac OS 10.4 and higher, I'm choosing mac. Bob's like the only guy I've heard have problems. Expensive? hell yes over rated? no. Apple really does screw you with the price. You have to buy word too. Macs pretty much start at 1000 so add the warranty and tax you are looking at 1300. Sucks I know so I can understand why you would go elsewhere. Honestly if it's going to break your bank I would just get the one your friend suggested. There are good windows comps that you can get way cheaper but you really have to take good care of them. Macs you can kind of beat up. People I've talked to don't really like vista but I haven't had much experience with it. It doesn't look that bad. or you can just have iWork software which comes included on your computer, which is 100% compatible with microsoft office. if you don't want it though, you can get word for free because it's a mail-in rebate...and the warranty comes included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.S. Dylan Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 or you can just have iWork software which comes included on your computer, which is 100% compatible with microsoft office. if you don't want it though, you can get word for free because it's a mail-in rebate...and the warranty comes included. does that include text edit? I had Office but used to use text edit anyway. I know a bunch of cool apps for mac if PapaG does end up purchasing one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jets Babe Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 does that include text edit? I had Office but used to use text edit anyway. I know a bunch of cool apps for mac if PapaG does end up purchasing one. yeah, textedit is included... what cool apps do you know, btw? i'm always up for some new stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I've had four different Macs at work and hated them all. The current one is a MacBook Pro. It seizes up for no apparent reason. My boss, who has the same machine, had a crash that wiped out everything. My home laptop is a four-year-old HP Pavilion that has never given me any trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jets Babe Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I've had four different Macs at work and hated them all. The current one is a MacBook Pro. It seizes up for no apparent reason. My boss, who has the same machine, had a crash that wiped out everything. My home laptop is a four-year-old HP Pavilion that has never given me any trouble. LOL, bob, you're the only guy who i've heard of that has had countless problems with macs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.S. Dylan Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 yeah, textedit is included... what cool apps do you know, btw? i'm always up for some new stuff. One is JDarkroom. It basically turns your comp into a typerwriter. Mac came out with one called Whiteroom but JDarkroom is free so I went with that, plus it's kinda cooler. Both get rid of all distractions (screen goes white with whiteroom and with darkroom you can adjust the colors to your prefererence.. just you and your words). I posted a thread in this forum a few months ago with the link for the download. Pretty sure no one cared haha Adium is another. Similar to AIM but cooler and way more customizable. There's a few others but those are the two that I use most often. Edit: ok that thread is long gone. here's the link http://www.codealchemists.com/jdarkroom/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rillo Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 If you can afford it, get a Mac. I've had my MBP for 2 years and I love it. It gets hot, but still works like a charm. For those few times you need Windows, you can always reboot into bootcamp or you can use a virtualization program like (VMware, or Virtualbox) to run both OS'es side by side. Virtualbox is free BTW. If you strickly want PC I would go with a Dell laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rillo Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I've had four different Macs at work and hated them all. The current one is a MacBook Pro. It seizes up for no apparent reason. My boss, who has the same machine, had a crash that wiped out everything. My home laptop is a four-year-old HP Pavilion that has never given me any trouble. Man, you're still having problems with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verde Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I've used a pc for years and always had to rely on my geek brother to help me out when things went wrong. I hated that. I just bought a macbook pro with the hope that it will be more dummy friendly and so far I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I've used a pc for years and always had to rely on my geek brother to help me out when things went wrong. I hated that. I just bought a macbook pro with the hope that it will be more dummy friendly and so far I love it. Don't tell Bob the Jets Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Don't tell Bob the Jets Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 No, I expect somebody in Verde's line of work to need a good machine for that purpose. The latest episode that pissed me off with the Mac was when I tried to use it to edit a corporate video I produced. I thought the IMovie program looked promising, so I tried using it. I couldn't even upload the video from the camcorder. The pinwheel of death spun for about an hour before I said "Screw it" and made my video with Windows Movie Maker. Bob, you crack me up. I'm just picturing this guy in a kilt holding a pint of Guinness with a maniacal look on his face staring angrily at a Macbook pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Bob, you crack me up. I'm just picturing this guy in a kilt holding a pint of Guinness with a maniacal look on his face staring angrily at a Macbook pro. I don't drink Guinness or wear a kilt to work, you silly goose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I don't drink Guinness or wear a kilt to work, you silly goose. I didn't say you did, but I just can't get that picture out of my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KudosForND Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 My mom has a Sony Vaio, pretty exspenive one too, it sucks i dont like it. I told her to get a mac around the time it was $150 more. so it was around 850-900. Vaio is really slow for the price she paid and for some reason it still power from my router so i lose connection to my 360,pc when she signs on it. I want to get a mac i probably will after this computer blows up. EDIT: also Vista is bad XP>Vista Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
war ensemble Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 or you can just have iWork software which comes included on your computer, which is 100% compatible with microsoft office. if you don't want it though, you can get word for free because it's a mail-in rebate...and the warranty comes included. I suggest OpenOffice.org. For the most part, it works just as well as Word, but with more codec support. (I think for the codecs part at least.) I don't have any experience with iWork but there are definitely a few alternatives instead of paying for Office, unless you need the mail client. Which you shouldn't, as gmail and others work just as well. (This message is to no one in particular, I just quoted the last relevant Office alternative, lol.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
war ensemble Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 My mom has a Sony Vaio, pretty exspenive one too, it sucks i dont like it. I told her to get a mac around the time it was $150 more. so it was around 850-900. Vaio is really slow for the price she paid and for some reason it still power from my router so i lose connection to my 360,pc when she signs on it. I want to get a mac i probably will after this computer blows up. EDIT: also Vista is bad XP>Vista Just curious: what are the specs of that Vaio? Sounds like the under-powered system meets vista I was mentioning earlier... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
war ensemble Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 you can get a quality notebook from apple for $1000 bucks. http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MzM you get a free printer and, if they're doing that promo, a free ipod touch. work for a school or are you a student? $100 bucks off. Just a note about that whole "back to school" thing... My sister used that to get a Macbook with a free printer, iPod Touch, and free RAM upgrade (at the time, that was instead of the 100$ I guess) through the school. If you do it like that and you experience problems, they might make you send it back through the school to get it fixed. Her Macbook had one defective RAM chip (those "Geniuses" took forever to figure out what I was already telling them) and she had to send it back to BU to get replaced because it was ordered through the school. That's a pretty big pain in the ass when you live in New York and it's the summer before college starts. I just took the defective chip out and she got that replaced when she went in for classes, but it was a somewhat minor inconvenience. I don't know if that would happen for everyone or not though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 So my computer broke, now i'm working on a really old laptop i had just in case I was ever in this situation. I'm looking for a new laptop to work on. I'm going to be going to college in the fall and just wondering if anyone could recommend one/check my ideas. I have been recommended (by a friend who's pretty tech-savvy) the Dell Vostro 1510. Is this a good computer to purchase? I'm kind of in the dark when it comes to purchasing computers. This is good. Get it with XP though, not Vista. Vista is a ridiculous resource hog and you'll need a minimum of 2GB for it to function with minimal acceptance (3GB is best; more than 3GB is a waste on 32-bit Vista. 64-bit is potentially better, but if you're on a message board asking "is this one good?" then the 64-bit is going to cause you more headache than convenience). The only thing better about Vista over XP is the indexing (if you search your computer for a file, it pulls it up very quickly, as opposed to a couple of minutes on XP if you have a lot of stuff on your hard drive). Other than that, go with XP; your computer will run faster, particularly on a laptop. Don't worry about processor speed (1.8 vs 2.0 vs 2.1 vs 2.5 GHz) unless you do a sick amount of graphics programs or gaming. The bang-for-the-buck is crap if you're mostly doing MS Office stuff, email, and browsing on the internet. Just load up your RAM to 2 or 3GB and you'll be good. RAM is very cheap now anyway. Also, go with the lightest-weight virus-scan. So stay away from a Norton 360 type program or whatever the name of the all-inclusive McAfee program is. McAfee in particular will just infuriate you with its automatic scanning every time you start up your web browser that bogs you down for the first 5-10 minutes every time you turn it on. Good protection from either one, but it's really obnoxious. Go with a lightweight one like NOD32. It'll protect your computer and won't bother you or eat up all your resources. Macs are excellent machines (Bob's unfortunate - and repeated - bad experiences notwithstanding). He's had Jets-fan luck with them, which we all know is as bad as bad can be. Beyond that...anecdotally, you don't need an antivirus program because cyber-terrorists target Windows users (#1 because they're more common than Apples, and #2 because of Microsoft-hate). The machines are not cheap, but they generally don't use the cheapest hardware money can buy (which is sometimes true of Dell). Ultimately, that doesn't matter too much for most people. Internal components of equal "measurables" will generally function equally well, like a light-switch (it works or it doesn't ike a light is on or off; not kind-of-on, or on-but-not-that-great). 99% of the Mac users swear by them and wouldn't get anything else, so that has to count for something. You'll still want to download a free browser like Firefox instead of their crappola Safari browser if you go the Mac route. Even diehard Mac loyalists admit this much. The Vostro's are good because you can get them with XP and aren't forced into getting Vista. Though upon looking now, for their cheapest model, they'll hit you up for another $99 to get XP instead of Vista. Well worth it if you ask me, particularly on a laptop. If you do get one with Vista, disable your sidebar (useless & huge resource hog) and aero (it's not THAT cool-looking to justify eating up your RAM). Best of luck in whatever you choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papageorgio268 Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 Wow, thanks guys. I'm not sure i'll be able to make a decision on this right now. I cleaned out the laptop i have now, so that'll do until i go to college and need a better one. Add that to the fact that i probably won't be able to shell out $1000 buck for a little while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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