Please Help With New Computer Specs
 

I'm in the position of needing to purchase a new laptop that must meet the following minimum specs: (1) 512 MB RAM; (2) 56K v 90K modem; (3) 802.11 b/g compliant wireless card; (4) 10/100/1000 Etherneet PC Card; (6) 40+ GB HD; (7) PC card slot; (8) 1 GB MHz processor speed.

While I'm finding that looking for a new laptop is a very educational experience, I'm also a little overwhelmed by the huge number variety of choices available. Would you all help out by guiding me with answers/advice about the following:

1) How important is it to choose a system with IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interface? What exactly is it and how does it work?

2) Is it absolutely necessary to have a digital media reader? 4-in-1 or 6-in-1? What do laptops w/o readers use?

3) What would be the smallest number of 2.0 USB ports
reasonable? Since I know that I will need at least one for (a) parallel port toUSB printer connection) and another for occasional use with (b) external 3.5" 1.44MB floppy drive, should I assume that a system with a total of 3 ports would be adequate?

4) I note that on some laptops video memory is shared DDR (128 MB or 64 MB). Is this good?

5) I also see that the network card in most systems in my price range (+/- $1K) is integrated 10/100. Should I be able to get along with this? It appears that systems with 10/100/1000 are in laptops with faster processors and llarger hard drives; this kicks prices out of my price range.

Any info, advice, and recommendations would be greatly appreciated. TIA

Hi,

If you can afford it, check out an Apple Powerbook . It has almost everything on your list (except 7).
1) Firewire is faster than usb2.0 and most useful when transferring large files frequently.
2) There are many digital media readers that can readily plug into usb ports.
3) You can purchase usb multipliers which can convert 1 usb port into 4 etc. So 2 is probably adequate.
5) You should ask if you can really utilize a 1000 network card, otherwise 100 may be sufficient.

Just my opinion.

Assuming you are looking at a Windows-based system...

1 If you are connecting to a Digital Video Recorder a FireWire port is very useful - if not USB 2.0 (get at least 2, 4 if possible) is fine as almost all accessories will connect via USB.

2 It's helpful, but not necessary. You can puchase a reader that connects via USB for $20.

3 2 at least, 4 if possible.

4 If video memory is shared with main memory it uses some of the total memory for video, so it's not as good as dedicated video memory. With 512 meg of memory, and assuming you'll be doing genral purpose work - email, word processing, etc. it should not make a significant difference. If you are going to do any type of digital photo or video editing, or heavy game playing avoid it.

5 A 10/100 card will be fine. You do not need a 1 gig port in 99% of places.

In my experience the IBM Thinkpad "T" series is the best, but it's probably out of your price range, unless you find a very good sale. I have had good luck with the Dell Inspiron laptops as well - you can find discounts on sites (such as www.techbargains.com) where you can configure a Dell portable at $1,500 or more, and take $750 off with the discount code, so finding a decent system for $1K is doable. I like the 600m for example.

Bruce

All you need is the integrated 10/100. Unless you have a particular need for the 1000, ("Gigabit Ethernet"), you don't need it, and you'll not really see it ever being in use. Most routers and hubs do not support 1000 (I think there's only one or two home products on the market that actually support that speed), 100/10 is the norm.

And, if you use any form of virus protection, then the simple act of copying files across a network will immediately compromise the gigibit speed advantage, because the AV protection will need to process each of the incoming files for problems, and the AV products don't do this nearly as fast as as 1000 (or even 100) Mb speeds.

My current fav:

HP DV1000 series

The advise for "Powerbook" always pops up, but really isn't a viable alternative for someone that a) doesn't ask for it right away and b) has been using Windows all the time.

I wouldn't say "IMPORTANT", but it is convenient to have, and you'll find that most machines have it nowadays.

Not absolutely necessary, but very convenient if you use a PDA or digital camera. Most laptops with a reader can at least read Compact Flash, SD, Memory Stick and one or more other formats. If it doesn't come with a reader built-in you can purchase one for around $20, but it is yet another part to carry.

3 or more is pretty normal nowadays, sadly most sub or ultra notebooks (the really small ones) don't come with more than one or two.

Not good, not bad. It slows things down a little and you lose a little of your main memory for the video card, but unless you plan to play high demand video games you will be just fine.

Gigabit lan is pretty rare and usually reserved for corporate use between servers, it is only slowly making its way into the household. You won't be needing it.

I'm sure the fact that PC Magazine and Consumer Reports just ranked the Powerbook the best in quality and reliability doesn't have anything to do with the recommendation.

The fact that Apple has scored far better in support than any other company (Web, email and phone) for five years running in Consumer Reports' studies is not relevant either. (The lead has grown year-over-year, btw.)

Having complimentary in-store support and free user workshops within a 30 minute drive of 80+% of the US population definitely hinders any viability, as shown by the doubling marketshare in the past year.

Wall Street has no faith in the viability of the product either, as we see when we look at the stock price today, which is up over 5% to another all-time high.

:D

All these things are great, but if you've been using a Windows PC for the past 15 years then a Mac is simply not a viable alternative. It is a terribly steep learning curve, proven by the recent requests for support here in this forum.

Everything you said is true, but you are still not seeing masses of people flocking to buy a Mac. As far as the stock price goes, don't you think that might have a tiny bit to do with the iPod, the only real success product left?

I don't want yet another Apple VS Windows discussion; I just grow a little tired of mac fans trying to push THEIR platform to anyone asking for regular PC purchasing advise, I guess I can't blame them for trying...

The biggest problem Apple faces in the computer biz is the assumption that a "regular PC" has to run Windows. I see nothing in the original request for assistance that implies a Windows requirement. Even the current (Sept. 20) issue of PC Magazine, hardly a hotbed of Mac enthusiasts, suggests that Apple's lead in the quality race is so large that Windows users might well consider switching. Why shouldn't FTers make the same helpful suggestion?

Because no matter how awesome their quality may be, or how amazing their customer service is; a Mac is still a Mac. And you simply can not deny a steep learning curve for anyone that is not used to them. Moving from Windows to a Mac never has been easy, and never will be. No amount of customer service can make up for a totally different operating system. I know of several Linux variations with awesome customer service and a super-easy GUI, but you'll never see me advising people to move to that instead of Windows.

Face it; the biggest problem with the Mac is that it isn't Windows. And I'm willing to bet that when the Powerbook finally runs on Intel chips that people will buy them for the looks and quality, and install Windows on them.

in my price range (+/- $1K)

I dont see where a powerbook will meet this criteria, on the Apple website the 12 inch PB is $1499
just my 2 cents

You can get a 12" iBook for $999. Still not as good a value as others, but fits the budget nevertheless.

It would be pretty hard to get a laptop that doesn't meet your minimum requrements.

I'm partial to the Dell Insprion 600m. (Configured with SXGA+ 64M graphics).

Check the current deals on it from both Dell Home and Dell SB published on any of the deal sites, like www.dealcatcher.com (or Bens Bargains, or whatever your favorite deal site is.)

Shared memory graphics is the cheapest graphics solution you can get. It''s better to get a separate graphics chip with dedicated graphics memory. All things being equal, if you're choosing between one that uses onboard shared memory graphics vs one that uses dedicated graphics chip and memory, choose the dedicated one.

-David

My 63 year-old mother used Windows for 10+ years and switched to a Mac 5 years ago. Since then, she migrated from OS 9 to OS X and can now do more on her Mac by herself than she would have ever been able to accomplish on a Windows box. This is someone who has trouble operating the washing machine. She has written a book, maintains a web site, uploads photos, etc.

This is a subjective point, but I disagree that the learning curve is steep. There is a curve, yes, but it's less steep and a great deal shorter than the equivalent for Windows. I think a lot of people are able to use their macs for more than the same people would manage to learn to do on Windows, primarily due to the consistent UI and integrated structure of the iApps.


Last quarter, when 7 million iPods were sold in 3 months, the iPods accounted for about a third of revenue. Profit margin on them is, of course, significantly less than the margin on CPUs. CPU sales increased more than 50% year-over-year (compared to, I think, 17% for the industry). The quarter before was much the same, as was the quarter before that. Yes, the iPod is boosting revenue and to a lesser extent profit, but Mac sales are also going through the roof and ultimately contribute much more to the bottom line.


They're doing the same thing you're doing by mentioning your favorite HP machine. --And, if the Consumer Reports, PC Magazine and other studies are to be believed, perhaps with more basis. :)

I'm not disputing the learning curve, though I happen to agree with swise that it's easier to go Windows->Mac than the other way. My basic problem is with the underlying assumption that a personal computer has to run Windows or it's not a "regular" computer. It's the same dominant-majority mindset one finds in lots of other places: religion or ethnic background in many countries or parts of the U.S., sexual orientation, politics in my heavily Democratic area ... you name it. Most of us are in at least one minority and are very sensitive to the majority mindset in that situation, but we tend to forget it when we're on the other side. Operating systems are less of a life issue (no matter how emotional bigots in favor of any OS can get) than some of the others, but it's still the same human tendency to subconsciously marginalize small minorities.