Laptops, Again
 

What features should an adult webmaster look for in a laptop? What are the most important things to remember when buying one? |pimpin |pimpin

CPU : Pentium Mobile Processor
Ram : Minimum 512 MB / Preferably 1GB Ram
Video : Pretty much either NVIDIA or ATI with it's own dedicated ram .

Intergrated Video with shared ram is off my list.

The ATI and NVIDIA Video systems often allow you to run dual monitors at once under Windows XP.
This is a great time saver for me when building sites as you can check updates live without flipping back and forth between pages.

And I look for a Brand that has Good Backup and after sales service, Parts Availability for many years.

I bought this Toshiba Notebook almost 3 years ago and my screen hinges broke recently. Mind you I've lugged this notebook everywhere..used it every day and it's been dropped ,stood on my by 4 year old son so it was not a warranty job :)

They sourced parts and had replaced the whole screen cover,both hinges top cover of laptop base and charged me $176 AUD including Labour. They also Updated the Bios and applied Fresh Thermal paste to my CPU and gave the Notebook a good cleaning.

I got it back as good as new in under 24 Hours |headbang|

So always consider no matter which brand you buy ,where is thier service centere and whats the average turn around time 4 repairs should you need them.

Toshiba keep replacement parts for thier notebook ranges for 7-8 years. Not sure how long others do this for.

Regards,

Wicked1

Thanks, Wicked1.

My computer repair guy also recommended Toshiba.

Keep in mind the dpi capabilities of the monitor. As we're not working in print 96 dpi will do just fine. Running at 200 most web graphics look jagged, and I would assume that's what you will be looking at most.

I've trouble shot this for several friends who bought top of the line Dell laptops without knowing that.

-Preacher

Most any new laptop will do. We're not rocket scientists.

Check the native resoloution of the LCD screen.

Mine is a bit dated by the standards today it's 1024x 768 and my second 17 Inch LCD monitor is 1280x1024.

You need to keep this in mind when building pages for 800x600.

Also if your notebook allows a second monitor you can plug in an older CRT Monitor and run it at 800x600 for testing pages and reviewing at the standard size.

Also the newer notebooks have better brighter clearer screens, be sure to check out the ones with brighter screens as they allow you to work in sunlight better or well lit rooms .

What Usless Warrior said is pretty true ,just about any new notebook will do the job. I sold my desktop to move to a Notebook so I wanted something that was just as capable as my desktop power and feature wise.

Photoshop and Dreamweaver are resource hogs and require lots of ram and cpu speed to make em fly .

Spending a little more now on ram and cpu will save you tons of time in productivity.
More Cpu Power and RAM = Less Waiting :D

The waiting time difference between a entry level notebook and a higher spec unit depending on the apps you use can be like comparing Dialup to Broadband.

I guess I have similar needs to my customers, I want to get online, do what I have to do , get off ( offline that is) and get on with the other stuff in my life :)

Wicked1

I've found the most important factor with any laptop is finding a good way to keep your thighs cool. :D

If you do what I do, and sit on the couch for a couple of hours while working - your balls will have jungle rot. This is, of course, assuming you have balls. Otherwise, you may want to douche to prevent yeast infections/jungle rot.

I find the extra heat generated by my BIG thumping processor keep my thighs at just the right temprature to keep the creative juices flowing :D

Not to mention the laptop sitting on my lap keeps my hands above waist height which makes a physical barrier thus increasing productivity tenfold as well as keeping my credit card bill in check. |thumb

As for what to do with excessive yeast, we Aussies have built a national icon on a yeast extract product , you can see it here vegemite.com.au |shocking|

Wicked1