Seeking laptop suggestions from you wise DISers!

disneyfan551 · May 12, 2004

Hi all! I'm looking at getting a laptop, mainly for downloading my digital camera at night, when we go on vacation. I have no idea what to look for when it comes to system requirements! If anyone would be willing to give me some advice, I would GREATLY appreciate it!

We just got back from Disney 2 weeks ago, and it was a total pain running to get my photos downloaded to a cd daily! I had started off with TWO 256mb cards, but one crashed in the middle of MGM, and I can't use it, or even get the photos off!

Does anyone know if it costs alot more to get a cd burner on a laptop?

Lastly, any recommendations on where to buy this would be wonderful too!

Thanks so much! ::yes::

crz4mm2 · May 12, 2004

I bought a HP Pavilion ZE 4500. I like it very much. Have had it for about 8 months. No problems thus far. I wanted something to take with me, but to use wireless at home as DH has become EBAY crazed and is on the family desktop most of the time. I also wanted to download pics in it but the internet access was probably most important. also wanted to be able to do power point with it.
It was on sale when I bought it. Got it at best buy. Had rebate too and I ended up getting about 400 bucks back. Nice. Brought the price down quite a bit. They had interest free financing too

Best of luck whatever you decide. I think you will get many different recommendations.
I did use it when we were at the Dolphin a few weeks ago. Even sent pics home with it

worked great.

gallaj0 · May 12, 2004

we just bought a nice toshiba, A45-S151; built in wireless access, cd burner/dvd drive, Pentium4, faster than either of our desktops at home, more memory. I've been told toshiba makes a better laptop than HP, they've been at it longer.

Very happy with it, wife is using it right now fro Ohio.

AZKathy · May 12, 2004

Originally posted by gallaj0
we just bought a nice toshiba, A45-S151; built in wireless access, cd burner/dvd drive, Pentium4, faster than either of our desktops at home, more memory. I've been told toshiba makes a better laptop than HP, they've been at it longer.

Very happy with it, wife is using it right now fro Ohio.

We heard the same thing about Toshiba. We have a Toshiba satellite that has a DVD burner. It has been a great laptop for us for the year we have had it.

disneyfan551 · May 12, 2004

Thanks so much for the replies! Where did you guys buy your Toshiba's? I've never heard that about them, but I haven't really started trying to research yet either. We were thinking of maybe waiting until July/August, when computer prices tend to drop due to school sales.

Thanks everybody!!! :wave:

oogieboogie · May 12, 2004

My preferences on laptop:

1. Toshiba
2. Micron
3. Dell
4. Sony
5. Compaq/HP

Why? Toshiba was one of the first to enter the laptop business, they're always top rated and their product is well known for it's quality.

You should look for ones that come with

- DVD/CD-RW burner
- 256 mb or 512 mb memory
- Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 2000+ processor
- Windows XP (Pro if possible)
- Built in wireless 802.11b or g compliant (if possible).. If not don't sweat it, you can buy a wireless network card

This are the very basic requirements. Check to see what the battery life is. Make sure you get one that has a good battery life.

You can buy Toshibas from Best Buy, Circuit City or through their website. They are sometimes pricier than other laptop/notebook, but quality wise they're the best.

disneyfan551 · May 12, 2004

Thanks oogieboogie! Great info! That stuff is really Greek to me! :rolleyes:

Regarding the memory, I'm a little concerned. So, if I download my 256mb SD card from my digicam, then all my computer memory would be full? YIKES! :earseek:

AZKathy · May 12, 2004

Originally posted by disneyfan551
Thanks oogieboogie! Great info! That stuff is really Greek to me!

Regarding the memory, I'm a little concerned. So, if I download my 256mb SD card from my digicam, then all my computer memory would be full? YIKES!

I don't know how it works, but we downloaded close to 1000 pictures from our trip and we did not touch our memory on our laptop. Your computer memory will not be full from downloading your pictures.

We got our Toshiba from Circuit City. You also probably want to get an extended warrantee with the purchase because I hear it is expensive to repair the laptops if something happens.

oogieboogie · May 12, 2004

Originally posted by disneyfan551
Thanks oogieboogie! Great info! That stuff is really Greek to me!

Regarding the memory, I'm a little concerned. So, if I download my 256mb SD card from my digicam, then all my computer memory would be full? YIKES!

Ha..ha.. No.. that's not how it works.

The memory in your computer/laptop controls how much your computer can do at one time. So a bigger memory means you can run a DVD, edit photos, send email, browse the internet, etc all at the same time. 256 mb memory will let you run most of your needs, but if you can go for the 512mb. New programs tend to guzzle up memory space. Windows XP alone needs 128mb minimum to run.

When you download photos from your SD card, you are putting it in the hard drive. 256 mb SD card equals 256 mb of hard drive space that you will need. Laptops come with anywhere from 30 gb (gigabyte = 1000 mb) on up. The bigger the hard drive the more space you have to put stuff. If you find you're running out of space, then you can either buy an external hard drive or dump stuff on to your CD via the CD-RW.

I have a 30gb hard drive on my current laptop, and I have well over 3000 pictures in it, and tons of other software programs, and I've only used up 5gb of my drive space.

Aimeedyan · May 12, 2004

I'm typing on my brand new Dell Inspiron 5100 right now, and I LOVE IT! Bought it directly from Dell, and chose what options I wanted on it... =)

shelbyjosh · May 12, 2004

Ditto the last post. I have a Dell 5100 and I love it. I have had it since last August and paired it up with Comcast internet. Makes me wonder how I managed with dial-up ATT. I also customized mine. I added more SD RAM, got the better monitor, better video card, and the extended warranty. I know several people that have HP desktops and they have had a lot of problems with them. I went with Dell because they were rated #1 and because we are shareholders! Have not had any problems. I do a fair amount of photo editing and it has done fine for me.

MICKEY88 · May 12, 2004

if you want a less expensive and more compact solution check this out..SmartDisk - 20GB HDD Multimedia Player/Viewer

barbeml · May 12, 2004

Another happy Dell customer here.

I am writing this on my Dell Inspiron 5100. I have had it for a year and it has been flawless. It is like one of the family.

Can't believe I ever lived without it!

DSNY FN · May 12, 2004

You can't go wrong with Toshiba
1. Toshiba
2. Acer travelmate
3. Sony
4. HP/Compaq
5. Dell

The best bang for the buck is the Acer you can pick up an Acer with Intel Centrino in it with 512 and CDRW/DVDRW for around 1500-1900 Canadian try that with any other one of these manufacturers it willnot happen. The Acer also has an 80 gig hard drive etc so it is very well equiped and they have a great service dept and very friendly staff even if you just have questions about the laptop. I have owned everything from Toshiba to Fujitsu and by far I like the Acer and Toshiba head and shoulders above the rest. I had a Del Inspiron 8100 and it fell apart after 2 weeks. I was never so disatisfied with it I have never thought about getting another one and especially after paying 5 grand for it.l

gallaj0 · May 12, 2004

We bought our Toshiba at CompUsa; it was on sale (last week). The Toshiba and Dell we looked at were very comparable in trems of features, but the Toshiba, even before the sale, was very much less expensive.

crazelion · May 12, 2004

http://www.buyerzone.com/computers/notebooks/buyers_guide1.html

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7602_7-1016082-1.html?tag=dir.nbg

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,3483,00.asp

http://www.pcworld.com/resource/browse/0,cat,1012,sortIdx,1,clk,hot,00.asp

Dan Murphy · May 12, 2004

Dell laptop user. Had since last May. 512 memory (with low memory costs, I would not suggest less), 40 gig drive, 3 year in-house warranty, including their 'Complete care', a wonderful option, IMO, on a laptop. It has been perfect, other than a noisy DVD drive a couple weeks back. I called at 8 PM to their service, had a new one at my door, FEDEX (including a prepaid return FEDEX for back to them), by 4 the next afternoon, 20 hour service. Hard to beat Dell today, they put out good hardware, great service.

disneyfan551 · May 13, 2004

Thanks so much for all of the replies! Now, I've got to buckle down and research! It's best to hear personal comments though, so I really appreciate it!

Seeking laptop suggestions from you wise DISers!

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