i need a new computer

For the 5% or so of your on-device time when you actually need to touch type.

yuck.

im with hat on this one but sometimes, kinda rarely, i need to type out a message with my dick

it's in situations like these that i really appreciate touchscreen

Even with the keyboard (and I appreciate it - if i had the coin I would get one for school) - it doesn't have the processing power to play games such as TF2 etc. Plus if one is doing any music creation beyond using say a DAW, the iPad is still not in the game, and won't be for a couple more years. Disp kept her old one for 7 years, but in 7 years will a tablet have a larger than 10" display? Of course it will, but at that form factor a tablet is going to be uncomfortable to use.

Plus you're overlooking the key point - she needs a new computer now - not in a couple of years when tablets might have multicore processors, 500GB of storage, discrete graphics etc. etc.

just for the record, i'm HOPING to be in a better financial situation over the next few years and thusly won't need to go 7 years without upgrading.

i def. see yr point analogue but i need a computer right nowabouts, and not a tower, and a tablet's not gonna cut it, so i'm pretty much stuck getting a lappy.

laptops are fucking awesome. don't listen to the haters.

I say go for a dell and build it as you please.

Tablets aren't even close to doing what laptops can do yet so don't bother.

I use Macs so I can't give much advice for you, but my brother and a few other people have told me very good things about Toshiba laptops over the last few years, so I'd give them a look

Sager laptops are awesome and built very strong.

http://www.sagernotebook.com

I had the NP3250 which I bought some 4-5 years ago, and it lasted a very long time until water came through the roof and shorted it

  On 7/24/2011 at 9:58 PM, BCM said:

  On 7/24/2011 at 9:27 PM, disparaissant said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230088

this looks good

is this good

 

i've re-read you posts more thoroughly and still think this would be mostly fine for what you want, but in terms of gaming it's not ideal - got a reasonably slow processor and integrated graphics with shared memory. sure it'd run TF2 OK, but maybe not much more than that (probably handle WoW in lowest settings, if you play WoW...).

 

but if you can find something cheap enough with a Core i3 processor and integrated Intel HD graphics I'd go for that.

I have my doubts that an intel integrated anything could run tf2

and imo about the laptop, my current one is just a c2d 2.2ghz, 4gb ram, 8600m gt nvidia gpu, 320gb hdd, does everything my previous, much faster desktop could do except play games on high settings. I can run tf2 just fine, my only concern with laptops and gaming or what not is cpu heat.

totally right david, integrated chips are awful and make for slideshow gaming

i was in the same boat 2 years ago. ended up getting a decent acer with dedicated gpu for about $600.

so it's doable but i don't think you can find anything remotely worthwhile for under $500

that lenovo looks AOK to me

one thing to consider upgrading over time is memory. every laptop i've seen has only 2 slots for it, and there's 4 gigs in that lenovo. i assume that there's 2 2gb sticks in there, you may want to opt for 2 4gig sticks if you find your lappytoppy a little slow. you can get 2 4gig sticks for about $50

  On 7/25/2011 at 4:10 PM, david said:

  On 7/24/2011 at 9:58 PM, BCM said:

  On 7/24/2011 at 9:27 PM, disparaissant said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230088

this looks good

is this good

 

i've re-read you posts more thoroughly and still think this would be mostly fine for what you want, but in terms of gaming it's not ideal - got a reasonably slow processor and integrated graphics with shared memory. sure it'd run TF2 OK, but maybe not much more than that (probably handle WoW in lowest settings, if you play WoW...).

 

but if you can find something cheap enough with a Core i3 processor and integrated Intel HD graphics I'd go for that.

 

 

 

I have my doubts that an intel integrated anything could run tf2

  On 7/25/2011 at 4:32 PM, fiznuthian said:

totally right david, integrated chips are awful and make for slideshow gaming

actually the new intel integrated HD graphics, as found on a lot of core i3 machines, are surprisingly capable. we're not talking the old intel GMA chipsets here (which were very poor for high-end gaming). ok it's not ideal but you can certainly play a good election of games.

info here

so what about a Mc Mini? http://www.apple.com/macmini/

the new ones get good reviews.. guess you could hold on to your peripherals, might need an adapter for your screen though..

slap Windows on it for gaming and you're set?

  On 7/25/2011 at 8:29 PM, phling said:

so what about a Mc Mini? http://www.apple.com/macmini/

the new ones get good reviews.. guess you could hold on to your peripherals, might need an adapter for your screen though..

slap Windows on it for gaming and you're set?

the new mac minis are shit hot. I really want one...

  On 7/25/2011 at 8:29 PM, phling said:

so what about a Mc Mini? http://www.apple.com/macmini/

the new ones get good reviews.. guess you could hold on to your peripherals, might need an adapter for your screen though..

slap Windows on it for gaming and you're set?

he will need an external Super Drive if he wants any kind of burning/back up ability.

  On 7/25/2011 at 8:41 PM, Rubin Farr said:

  On 7/25/2011 at 8:29 PM, phling said:

so what about a Mc Mini? http://www.apple.com/macmini/

the new ones get good reviews.. guess you could hold on to your peripherals, might need an adapter for your screen though..

slap Windows on it for gaming and you're set?

he will need an external Super Drive if he wants any kind of burning/back up ability.

or a cheap 8GB thumb drive for sharing big files, and a internet for sharing not so big files, and a external hdd for the backup.

aren't optical drives kind of slow, loud and old?

i'd reckon a good peripheral to have would be a Thunderbolt-to-everything multi-hub. basically a box that connects via Thunderbolt to the Mini, and has ports for DVI/HDMI/VGA display(s), usb 3.0, Firewire etc... Does this exist?

hah, apparently not, the 27" Cinema Display is the only one on the market: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/90894-imagine-the-apple-thunderbolt-display-without-the-display

  On 7/25/2011 at 3:57 PM, Coalbucket PI said:

my brother and a few other people have told me very good things about Toshiba laptops over the last few years, so I'd give them a look

Can I chime in, then, and say that my 2004 Toshiba Satellite laptop was a disastrous piece of poorly-crafted poo? And possibly the worst computing experience I've encountered above the Tandy-level?

why does everyone talk about brands of laptop/pc as if it makes a difference. apple doesnt want people to realize it, but the quality of the components might differ slightly, but the main reason laptops/pcs fail is due to poor os maintenance, viruses, and other software issues.

Yes, but laptops have shitty airflows and are very prone to overheating. Some brands can't deal with that heat. I remember HP or Acer had some terrible models and my last laptop was a Samsung and it got too hot all the time. There are some terrible hardware designs out there.

What I really hate about laptops is that your warranty is broken once you open up the case. You can't clean out the fans, you'll have to wait for it to break after your warranty period runs out and buy a new one. Durability is not 21st century.

Yeah, that was precisely the problem with my Toshiba. The air circulation was routed in such a way that the area directly over the cpu became a dust trap, and I couldn't even take a vaccuum to it without voiding the warranty-- I had to take it in for cleaning every 2 weeks. If I didn't, it would do a thermal clapdown on me in the middle of say, a final exam at law school, and I'd loose all kinds of data. And I wasn't using it in a dusty environment at all.

late edit: aside from that, the case build quality was horrifying-- the lightest touch around the keyboard, on on the back of the clamshell/screen, and you'd get a good half inch of flex. And the fan noise-- even before all the thermal issues-- was enough to draw angry looks from 4 rows away in lecture halls.

So yeah, sorry, going from this to apple mbp build quality was night and day.