Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and travel a lot.
At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a good 4 to 5
years, maybe even 6. Also Who should I look into buying my computer from.
Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as prosser, hard drive and
what ever else. Any help is appreciated.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi,

If you travel a lot and you need to take it with you, then it's a no-brainer
as to the desktop/laptop question. I like Toshiba's, but Medions are nice
too. Basically though, you want to find one that supports what you want to
do with the system. As to spec's, look for >2Ghz for the cpu, 512MB or
better ram, and enough hard drive to house the files you want to create or
keep.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Adam" <Adam@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9FEF79AB-946A-40B2-B0C6-EAEB069C0357@microsoft.com...
> What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and travel a
> lot.
> At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a good 4 to 5
> years, maybe even 6. Also Who should I look into buying my computer from.
> Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as prosser, hard drive
> and
> what ever else. Any help is appreciated.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/pr [...] l=en&s=dhs

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/se [...] hoose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Adam" wrote:

| What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and travel a lot.
| At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a good 4 to 5
| years, maybe even 6. Also Who should I look into buying my computer from.
| Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as prosser, hard drive and
| what ever else. Any help is appreciated.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Buy one of those little square case/boxes with a handle on top.

"Adam" <Adam@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9FEF79AB-946A-40B2-B0C6-EAEB069C0357@microsoft.com...
> What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and travel a
> lot.
> At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a good 4 to 5
> years, maybe even 6. Also Who should I look into buying my computer from.
> Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as prosser, hard drive
> and
> what ever else. Any help is appreciated.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

After sticking his head out from his XP firewall, Adam had this to say:

> What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and travel a
> lot.

Then you've answered your own question, no? Pretty hard to get a
conventional desktop computer into a briefcase.

> At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a good 4
> to 5 years, maybe even 6.

Then think "Thinkpad". But even with a cadillac of laptops, 6 years is a
long time.

> Also Who should I look into buying my computer
> from. Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as prosser, hard
> drive and what ever else. Any help is appreciated.

Duh. Yes a processor would certainly help. As would a hard drive. Maybe
wireless?


--
Still running XP (The Toy Operating System eXPerience)?
Kiddies, don't forget to defrag your hard drive & update your virus
definitions. And NEVER connect to the Internet!
http://w-3productions.com/more.jpg

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Bear in mind, in many cases, you can buy four desktops of equivalent power
to what you will pay for an equal laptop.

If you buy a laptop I can almost guarantee that in four or five years it
will either be very obsolete, or broken.

I tend to get a new laptop every two years and a new desktop or do a major
upgrade every 6 months.

Waiting any longer than that with laptops makes them almost useless when you
try and flip them on ebay to recoup some decent capital.

"Adam" <Adam@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9FEF79AB-946A-40B2-B0C6-EAEB069C0357@microsoft.com...
> What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and travel a
> lot.
> At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a good 4 to 5
> years, maybe even 6. Also Who should I look into buying my computer from.
> Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as prosser, hard drive
> and
> what ever else. Any help is appreciated.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Buy a lap top and keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers. That way you'll
have the best of both worlds. Go for a 3Gig (at least processor), 1 Gig RAM,
that shoud see you through for 4 to 5 maybe even 6 years. Ask for a generic
OEM WinXP Pro disk rather than a BIOS locked one (in case your mates want a
copy too). See if you can haggle them into throwing MS Office in for you
too, for free that is.

- Winux P

"Adam" <Adam@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9FEF79AB-946A-40B2-B0C6-EAEB069C0357@microsoft.com...
| What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and travel a
lot.
| At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a good 4 to 5
| years, maybe even 6. Also Who should I look into buying my computer from.
| Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as prosser, hard drive
and
| what ever else. Any help is appreciated.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

If you travel alot, then this monster is NOT AT ALL what you want. Look at
the weight!

You must determine what is important: How much computing power vs. how much
weight. I decided to have both laptop (2.8 lbs) and desktop for this
reason. There is NO all in one.


"Carey Frisch [MVP]" <cnfrisch@nospamgmail.com> wrote in message
news:uPCP0QBiFHA.3436@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2
> http://www1.us.dell.com/content/pr [...] l=en&s=dhs
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows XP - Shell/User
> Microsoft Newsgroups
>
> Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
> http://www.microsoft.com/athome/se [...] hoose.mspx
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Adam" wrote:
>
> | What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and travel a
> lot.
> | At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a good 4 to
> 5
> | years, maybe even 6. Also Who should I look into buying my computer
> from.
> | Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as prosser, hard drive
> and
> | what ever else. Any help is appreciated.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Adam:

As a general rule, notebooks don't contain the fastest and most powerful
components and cost more than their desktop brethren. There are, however,
several important issues you might want to consider before purchasing a
notebook computer to replace a desktop computer: ergonomics and support and
reliability.

Most notebook computers are ergonomically miserable. This is mostly true if
you're a typist as there is a lot of pressure on the wrists and the fingers
often contort to press the keys and mouse. After awhile, your hands and
fingers can begin to hurt. Being a typist is very helpful with being
productive if your work requires you to do a lot of typing. Secondly, the
screen needs to be large so your eyes don't strain. If this is your work
computer you need a large (15" ), high resolution (min 1280x1024) screen.
Third, if you travel a lot do yourself a favor and keep to the lighter
models.

Reliability varies dramatically among notebook computer brands. Notebooks
generally don't last over 4 years, although my son has my 7 year old Gateway
notebook computer (it mostly works but I'd never use it for business). To
get reliability you'll have to pay more and stay away from "low cost"
brands...there is not a lot of "value" in those value machines. :-)
However, the machines built these days are better than they used to be.

Support is a must for a notebook computer. If you use it often, as a
desktop replacement, there is a high probability it __WILL__ break down at
some point. When they do, you want good support. I can only emphasize this
can be the most important consideration in purchasing a notebook computer.
Only purchase "next business day onsite" support from a top tier company.
It is the best investment you can make. Thinkpads and Apples seem to be the
very best in this regard. I'm personally familiar with Dell's dramatic
decline in support quality over the last few years. So, pay attention to
this issue.

My most recent purchase was:

IBM (Lenovo) Thinkpad T42
15" UVGA screen
1GB Ram
60Gb 7200 rpm disk
128Mb graphics card
CD/DVD multi-burner
Intel wireless B/G adapter

It comes standard with builtin:
Megabit network adapter
sound card
56K fax/modem

Hope this helps.

Bill

> "Adam" <Adam@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:9FEF79AB-946A-40B2-B0C6-EAEB069C0357@microsoft.com...
>> What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and travel a
>> lot.
>> At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a good 4 to 5
>> years, maybe even 6. Also Who should I look into buying my computer from.
>> Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as prosser, hard drive
>> and
>> what ever else. Any help is appreciated.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

In news:9FEF79AB-946A-40B2-B0C6-EAEB069C0357@microsoft.com,
Adam <Adam@discussions.microsoft.com> typed:

> What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and
> travel
> a lot.


You have to answer that question for yourself. Do you need a
computer when you travel? If so, you need at least a laptop;
traveling with a desktop isn't very practical.

Be aware that laptops cost considerably more than desktops of
equal power, so if you don't *have to* have one when you travel,
a desktop may be a better choice.

Also be aware that laptops are both more likely to be broken and
are more easily stolen than desktops. For those reasons, I would
never want to have a laptop as my only computer. I think you
should consider a laptop only as a second computer.


> At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a
> good 4 to 5 years, maybe even 6.


I understand that that's what you want, but I don't think it's
very practical to expect that. A computer that old will be a
dinosaur and probably be inadequate to run the operating systems
and software that will be available then. Moreover, if it's a
laptop with which you travel, the likelihood that it will
*physically* last that long is poor.


> Also Who should I look into buying
> my computer from.


If it's a desktop, I'd look to have a local independent builder
build one for you. For a laptop, I'll let others make a
recommendation.


> Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as
> prosser, hard drive and what ever else.


Both a processor and a hard drive are good things to have in a
computer. <vbg>

If you're asking about speed and size, you should get the
biggest, fastest you can afford of everything, especially if
you're trying to make the system last 4-5-6 years.


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

"Ken Blake" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
news:uoDwcBMiFHA.2852@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> In news:9FEF79AB-946A-40B2-B0C6-EAEB069C0357@microsoft.com,
> Adam <Adam@discussions.microsoft.com> typed:
>
> > What should I buy. A laptop or a desktop. I am on the move and
> > travel
> > a lot.
>
>
> You have to answer that question for yourself. Do you need a
> computer when you travel? If so, you need at least a laptop;
> traveling with a desktop isn't very practical.
>
> Be aware that laptops cost considerably more than desktops of
> equal power, so if you don't *have to* have one when you travel,
> a desktop may be a better choice.
>
> Also be aware that laptops are both more likely to be broken and
> are more easily stolen than desktops. For those reasons, I would
> never want to have a laptop as my only computer. I think you
> should consider a laptop only as a second computer.
>
>
> > At the same time I want a computer that is going to last me a
> > good 4 to 5 years, maybe even 6.
>
>
> I understand that that's what you want, but I don't think it's
> very practical to expect that. A computer that old will be a
> dinosaur and probably be inadequate to run the operating systems
> and software that will be available then. Moreover, if it's a
> laptop with which you travel, the likelihood that it will
> *physically* last that long is poor.
>
>
> > Also Who should I look into buying
> > my computer from.
>
>
> If it's a desktop, I'd look to have a local independent builder
> build one for you. For a laptop, I'll let others make a
> recommendation.
>
>
> > Also What sould I have put in the computer. Such as
> > prosser, hard drive and what ever else.
>
>
> Both a processor and a hard drive are good things to have in a
> computer. <vbg>
>
> If you're asking about speed and size, you should get the
> biggest, fastest you can afford of everything, especially if
> you're trying to make the system last 4-5-6 years.
>
>
> --
> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup
>


Another consideration that was almost mentioned - but not
quite -- is upgradeability -- typically there is not much you
can do to a laptop to upgrade it. With a desktop, you can
put more ram in, adapter cards, new video cards with current
drivers, bigger hard drives etc. Our system in the living room,
while not the fastest is still a good machine, HOWEVER, I
had to get a new video card since the matrox card that was
in there was no longer supported for XP - good card, just
not supported. New video card with good features, $80.
On the other hand, as others have pointed out, if you need to
travel with it, a desktop is a bit unwieldy (although I still
remember the old Osborne and others ... )

mikey