I need a laptop - Srijiva needs suggestions

My home computer is beyond hope and now I need to get a new computer. I think I am going to go for a lap top. I am very neophite when it comes to computers.

My needs, use wise, are pretty basic.
I would use it to write, surf, burn the occasional CD, and my wife wants something we can install Coral and Adobe photo shop for art/work purposes. We don't play games and we want reliability.

any and all suggestions are more than welcome...but since I won't be at work till monday morning, I won't get them till then....

edited note:
we are looking to spend no more than about $750-850----(after rebate, even...)

Check out gateway or dell... both have laptops in your $$ range. Just make sure to pay for the extended 3 yr warranty. Always worth every penny.

yes, been to BEST BUY (at Circuit City right now) and so far like the Gateway the best. The warranty is a good idea too...my mother in laws HP's Harddrive crashed beyond repair after just two years.

Thanks.... be back monday..... Radhe! Radhe!

I can only give a whole-hearted endorsement to IBM, especially the T40 a/k/a/ the Bentley. The service and quality is excellent but you might have trouble getting something new in that price range. And, ah, they might be moving to China.

Dell is also very good with their service. The other notebooks I've worked on or purchased for others always disappointed--including HP, Toshiba & Sony.

Non-chain places I have bought from with decent service and prices:

http://www.techdepot.com/ (an Office Depot company)
http://www.newegg.com/
http://www.tigerdirect.com/ (have seen complaints about them but never had any trouble myself)
http://www.buy.com

Laptops need two more years to get perfect in price and quality, what you buy now is either bad quality or too expensive compared with multi-media home computer. Get a Pentium 4 home computer for 300-500 USD, good graphic chip and a lot of working cache. And what many dont know everything you have to replace in your laptop costs double as much as home pc parts. Or you change your job and like Tapati dd get the brand new latest Apple laptop ( 2000 USD )from the company

Oh, I did not get a laptop from the company.

At work I use a Mac cube. I love it so I haven't asked for a newer Mac even though it cannot burn cds.

At home, my husband bought me an ibook for a good price used. (I forget what he paid. But he got a deal that amazed him, I remember.) He's always wheeling and dealing computer stuff on the internet. I will ask him to look for good deals and pass them on.

I work for a local internet service provider, not a large, rich one.

Thats why the best thing you can do is get the warrenty. Dell is excellent. My screen got a little washed out spot on it, 2.5 yrs on & they replaced the whole screen for free. Ditto on a power supply.

I have a Sony Vaio and if you get one, get some extra memory from the get go. At the time I got this, I was wanting something cheap as before, all I ever had was Macs. Now I really understand what the rave is about Macs and don't think I would ever get anything else.

That's because everything connected with Microsoft is a memory hog, including its OS. So yes, you need memory, memory, and more memory.

I started out on Windows, by the way, all the way back at 3.0. (Unix before that, actually.) But being forced, grumbling at first, to work on a Mac made a believer out of me.

Once you go Mac, you never go back.

Oh, wait, I am supposed to relate this back to bhakti somehow.

Hmmm, help me out here...can we compare Krishna to the ultimate operating system? And where do programmers fit in?

That is true. My iBook G4 has served me excellently. I cannot imagine going back to Windows at this point. I do not know much about buying computers, but I get the impression that if you want a really good PC laptop, the price range approaches that of a Mac laptop.

Tripurari, who uses a Mac, once said with a smile that Macs are sattvaguNa and PCs are rajoguNa and tamoguNa. This recollection is sort of related to bhakti

KRSNa as the ultimate operating system? Why not

A programmer once said: "Living in this world would be a lot easier if we had its source code."

HAIKU

In Japan, they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful
Microsoft error messages with Haiku poetry messages.
They're used to communicate a timeless message, often achieving
a wistful, yearning and powerful insight through extreme brevity.
Here are 16 actual error messages from Japan, enjoy.

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

The Web site you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.

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

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.

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

Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.

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

Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.

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

Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.

--------------------------------------------
Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

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

Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.

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

A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.

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

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

--------------------------------------------
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

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

Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.

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

Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.

--------------------------------------------
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

It's not actually true but tis cute nevertheless.

No, of course these haikus are not true in the usual sense of the word...

Thanks for the link, Braja -- therein another existentialist haiku has been found:

Something you entered
transcended parameters.
So much is unknown.

The snow starts to melt
but the word "enjoy"
reveals the falsity.

Sometimes a good illusion is just as pleasurable as reality.

the farmer threw
the pc over the fence
some hay

wow. Thank you for all the replies.

The computer I have in the shop is still salvagable, save it has a virus or something that is preventing it from going online. Aside from that it'll serve good function for the graphics and storage, and we'll get a laptop for online use & mobility, seeing as my wife is going back to school soon.

we're going to go look at some Mac options today & i'll check out some Dells as well......

Personally, I like Macs. I think they are a better overall value. They age better than PCs ever will - both laptop and desktop.

I have purchased computers for individuals, universites and small corporations, and if you insist on getting a PC, this is my preference in order.

Laptops

- IBM
- Dell
- Sony

Desktops

- Dell
- HP/Compaq

The Dell Outlet is a good source for cheap computers. There is only one difference between the warranties between new Dells and the refurbs - instead of a 30 day money back gaurantee I think it's 15 days on the refurbs. You may want to double check that, but I believe that is still the case. I have bought several computers (desktop and laptop) fromt there with good results.

I run Linux on my Dell laptop, so this puts me where exactly? Actually, with the BSD core, OSX is a lot closer to Linux than it use to be.. I think Linux has actually transcended the three modes...

Could I ask why Dell comes so highly recommended? It is an American thing, perhaps? The reason I ask is that Dell is seen as being rather average in the UK, with people preferring to go more for Sony Vaios and Hewlett-Packards and such. I just wondered if perhaps more features are added to the US-architecture than the British one, which accounts for its seeming popularity over there?

I'm thinking of getting myself a laptop soon so I am interested. It seems that Macs are looked down upon here too, but that's probably because more innovate software is predominantly coded for PCs rather than Macs?

It could be an American thing. Dell, while a global company now, has it's main roots in the US. From my experience on the PC side, Dell was by far the easiest to deal with and had the best support. In the rare instance that I had a bad computer, they rectified the situation quickly and politely. Their staff would take the time to listen to my needs and what I wanted, where as HP, for example, didn't put in such an effort or at least not my salesperson. I also deal mainly on the business/corporate side of things, but I think the regular consumer situation is along the same lines.

I just remembered that one of my friends bought a Dell, though I can't remember if it was a laptop or desktop. Something wrong occurred and they were not very keen on giving her the required support. In the end she either had to lie or threaten to take them to a consumers affairs authority before the Dell people came round and fixed her PC. Too bad that Dell support doesn't work here like it does in America.

I'm actually using a Mac (eMac) desktop right now at university for the first time. Apart from the usual disorientation and navigation problems it actually seems pretty neat!

Now you're talking! Make the switch!

A few months ago I used a friend's Mac and was impressed at the level of control one has over functions as compared to Windows. I am concerned if I switch I will have difficulty in interacting with the university here which is MS all the way. Obviously I'm not real compter savvy, as this may be a silly question, but should this be a concern?

I just looked at the link provided and got some answers, thanks!

Mac... great stuff, still too expensive. Their Macmini looks promising. And it uses standard components! You can actually buy off the shelf memory & put it in yourself!

I'm a big Linux fan, but I'm thinking of picking a Macmini up to try out...

Radhe!

I have a G5 Titanium Desktop and HP Media Center Desktop (HPM470N), with no monitors, which I would also be willing to sell if anyone is interested. I won them in work related contests.

Rasaraja dasa