Laptop Shopping - Suggestions?

[Cleo]

Originally posted by AcidMaX
Cleo: on my laptop I hook my monitor up and it mirrors the laptop on the monitor but, on the F keys there is a little monitor looking icon. If you hit the fn key and that f-button (ie., on mine I hit fn button and F5). It iwll turn off the monitor on the laptop and just use the monitor.

Actually I wanted to use both monitors with her Dell laptop. This is what my desktop looks like with both my internal and external on. http://www.cleoslinks.com/crap/deskt...al-monitor.jpg

[Opti]

Originally posted by Cleo
On my Mac laptop I just have to put the laptop to sleep before plugging in or unplugging the external monitor and I have a choice of mirroring the built in display or having two different displays which is what I normally do so that I can keep all my palettes on one screen and my work on another screen.

I like the sound of that feature... Do you know if all mac laptops do that Cleo?

My sister has one she bought a little over 12 months ago and has no use for.. I am starting to get interested in buying it now. Dont know the model number at the moment though.

[wicked1]

Similar features on the Toshiba 2450 I have, one button switches between built in screen and rgb port or both at once.

Most notebooks have almost identical features these days,it is very difficult to make a decision ...

I hope to get 3 years use out of this unit at the very least... I know people that have models from 6-8 years ago that are still working fine . This is actually thier problem because they want the old one to die so they have an excuse to get a flash new one


I say whatever one you choose make sure you get an extended warranty becasue parts and service on notebooks are very pricey compared to desktops.

Regards,

Wicked1

[Cleo]

Originally posted by Opti
I like the sound of that feature... Do you know if all mac laptops do that Cleo?

All the Powerbooks do, but the iBooks only support video mirroring.

On the Powerbooks with the 15" and 17" have a DIV monitor connector and come with a DIV to VGA cable. The 12" has a special monitor connector but does come with both a VGA and DIV adaptor.

The iBooks have, at least the newer ones, also have a special connector and come with a VGA adaptor for video mirroring only.


Powerbook Video and graphics support
http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 graphics processor with AGP 4X support and 64MB of DDR SDRAM video memory (12-inch models)

Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports up to 1024 by 768 pixels on the built-in display and up to 2048 by 1536 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors (7)

ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics processor with AGP 4X support and 64MB of DDR SDRAM video memory, optional 128MB of video memory on 1.5GHz (15- and 17-inch models)

Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports up to 1280 by 854 pixels on the built-in display and up to 2048 by 1536 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors (7)

ADC output using optional Apple DVI to ADC Adapter (6)

Mini-DVI port (12-inch models)

DVI output using included mini-DVI to DVI adapter (12-inch models)

VGA output using included mini-DVI to VGA adapter (12-inch models)

S-video and composite video output using mini-DVI to video adapter (sold separately) (12-inch models)

DVI output port (15-inch and 17-inch models)

VGA output using included DVI to VGA adapter (15-inch and 17-inch models)

S-video output port (15-inch and 17-inch models)

Composite video output using included S-video to composite adapter (15-inch and 17-inch models)


iBook Video support
http://www.apple.com/ibook/specs.html
VGA video output for video mirroring on an external display or projector (24-bit color) with included Apple VGA Display Adapter.

S-video and composite video output to TV or projector (requires Apple Video Adapter, sold separately)

[Opti]

thnx Cleo... glad you are here to ask about macs instead of having to rely on some dumbass store rep ;-)

I'll be back... when I have the model number

[Ramster]

You guys ever take a look at the Laptops on eBay? There are a lot of them on there. Seems to be a feeding ground maybe for wholesalers and whoever as many are brand new in the box.

I've only bought one thing on eBay so I'd have concerns but I guess people do it every day. I could buy a much better machine for the same dollars as it would cost me here in Canada or buy the same thing and save several hundred easily. What do you all think about that?

[wicked1]

Macs have always been cutting edge technology compared to IBM clone PC's.

I used to own Commodore Amigas before they went broke,they had better inbuilt sound and video than pc's at the time,had a better operating system and true multitasking well before the PC.

Apples have pretty much been a Professional niche market machine and are very well developed for graphics and video work and a whole lot more. I think the days of cross platform compatability are pretty much behind us with better emulation if it is even required these days.

I'm yet to meet a person that bought one that does not love it .

Unfortunately I lost touch with most Apple users a long time ago.

If you ask a few more questions to people that seem to be "anti apple" you will soon see they are simply ignorant and afraid of what they don't understand and actually have little or no real world experience with them.
And you need to understand that you cannot compare an Apple to a PC on CPU clock speed because they more often than not well outperform PC's of much higher clock speeds due to better cpu design and software developement.


I stuck with a PC Notebook because I'm more familiar with the operating system and how to fix it and already have a lot of software I can use on it.

Regards,

Wicked1

[Cleo]

Actually Apple is gone.

When Jobs left Apple in 1985 after getting fired by Apple he started up NeXT Computers which ran a flavor of *nix and was a really great, but extremely expensive computers. NeXT didn't make it as a hardware company and the OS was ported to run on Intel chips.

Apple needed a replacement for their system which dated from back from 1984. Their own attempts at writing a replacement OS had failed and the company was going broke.

Jobs offered to sell Apple his NeXT os which included all the NeXT software developers coming to Apple. Also Jobs would come back to Apple as a consultant. He soon "fired" the president of Apple and took over running Apple unofficial.

Apple is now run by Jobs, at Apple NeXT engineers took over all development of software and hardware. A few years ago Apple went on a buying spree and bought the rights to a bunch of software that became their Video and iApps.

So what was Apple is gone. Like the Borg from Star Trek the NeXT people run by King Jobs himself took over Apple and turned it into what Jobs wanted before he got fired from the company he started.

It doesn't hurt that Jobs also owns Pixar who just happen to need very powerful computers running a flavor of *nix, Mac OS X these days, to bring us their animated feature films. Must be nice owning a computer company to fill your other company's computer needs. LOL

Basically Macs are an UNIX platform now that has a built in emulator for the old Mac software just so that they can still call it a Mac I guess. Most people never use this as just about all the old Mac software has been ported to run under Mac OS X.

Macs since 1992 have used a RSIC processor and IBM is now making Apple's high end chips. Ironic that Apple refereed to IBM as the evil empire back in the eighties.

So Apple is dead, NeXT comes Apple.

[dunkin]

Hey gang,
I have been using a Dell laptop for about a year or so. I use it as my main computer. I have had absolutely no problems with it. Love it. Went wireless right away and do my work sitting on the front porch Very cool.
I havent heard anyone address support. Although I havent had any problems with the Dell, I have on ocassion had a few questions about this or that and called Dell. They actually answer the phone. They could not have been nicier and answered my questions with no problem or attitude.

Also, you can build your new laptop online, get an idea what it will cost. They run specials every week. Just check out what they are giving away that week and if it sounds good, go for it. I put together 2 laptops online, one I could afford and one that I wished I could afford and printed each version. Then I called Dell to order over the phone. It is like buying a car. You can haggle over prices and get extra options. Just have all your info on hand and talk yourself a good deal. I managed to get an upgraded monitor, an upgraded video card and a carrying case. All above what they were giving away that week. Hope this helps.

(Christ, does it sound like I work for Dell or what) LOL Just like to see everyone get good deals is all.
Dunkin

[wicked1]

Wow A lot has happened with Apple since I last kept up.

Sadly throughout the history of technology we see evidence that the best designed and engineered products are often outsold by lesser products with better sales and marketing campaigns.

If we look back at history of video tapes, And the VHS VS BETAMAX battle that was fought.
VHS also won out in the end due to better sales and marketing despite having somewhat lower quality sound and video and being almost twice the physical size of it's competitor.

If IBM did not take the turn toward using " open architecture " shortly after it's PC begining's , I'm sure things would be very different now.

Regards,

Wicked1

[Opti]

unfortunately my sister turned out to have a compaq, not an apple..

Easy mistake to make she thinks, apple-mac == com-pac |rasta|

[JanTM]

Originally posted by Opti
unfortunately my sister turned out to have a compaq, not an apple..

Easy mistake to make she thinks, apple-mac == com-pac |rasta|

Hahaha

[Cleo]

There is a difference?

Don't they both do mail and web and was invented by Bill Gates?






I was at a printer today and one of the press operators there is trying to get into the pre-press part of the business so he has been asking me lots of computer questions. Today he wanted to know what the difference is between a search engine and Internet Explorer. I spent about 5 minutes trying to explain it to him but all he knows is Google is inside Internet Explorer so it must be Google that he uses to surf the web. He still doesn't understand that Internet Explorer is a web browser and got really confused when I tried to explain what a web browser is.

Ducks and wood both float so ducks must be made out of wood.

[wicked1]

Opti,

If you decide to follow up the Compaq notebook be sure to get the model number and do a search for updates here http://h18000.www1.hp.com/support/files/

Many models are shipped to OZ and sit in boxes for months,meanwhile Compaq/HP discover problems with them and update new release models Drivers and BIOS to fix them.

End result is Aussies end up buying a new Notebook or Desktop with inherent problems

I've seen a few of them that go into hybernation/sleep mode and don't come back resulting in data loss. They Often fail to boot the next time round requiring a format and system reinstall to recover

Once you update them they are fine but don't find this out the hard way in the middle of a trip when you are relying on it.

I was about to buy one and decided to do some searches on the model number, I was shocked by the search results.

Another reason why I chose Toshiba, they have better support and updates in my experience.

From what I've seen once they are updated they work fine tho.

Regards,
Wicked1

[Opti]

Thanks Wicked1... but I wasnt considering it. Its a celeron system... and I have a bad impression of compaq laptops anyway... I was a certified Compaq "pc engineer" at one time... at the time their 16Mhz 386 was the blistering speedster on the market. I liked Compaqs then though ;-)

[wicked1]

Originally posted by Opti
Thanks Wicked1... but I wasnt considering it. Its a celeron system... and I have a bad impression of compaq laptops anyway...

Ahh the Celeron alone is enough to turn me off regardless of brand.

I was a certified Compaq "pc engineer" at one time... at the time their 16Mhz 386 was the blistering speedster on the market. I liked Compaqs then though ;-)

Well I'm glad you found your place in life as a Pimp cause I was beging to lose respect for you when you told me about you being a Compaq certified tech

Good to see you were able to "re-abilitate" and turn over a new leaf and earn a "respectable living" LOL

Regards,

Wicked1

[Tart]

I just got a toshiba satellite A45.. has worked great for me so far. I've used it for around an hour before it dims a bit to conserve the battery (thought I'd broke something at first... I didn't realize why it did it until later) but most of the time I have it somewhere I can plug it in so it's not a big deal. Everything for the wireless is built in so I only had to muddle through setting up a router and now I can surf anywhere in the house.

You'll like XP.. I was surprised when I finally switched. I nursed my old computer along for quite a bit once I had the bugs worked out of 98, didn't think I would like XP at all. No more blue screens

[erehwon]

OK, if its not too late to toss a few more ideas into the ring!

I love my Thinkpad, its got the best keyboard one could ask for, keep that in mind if you are going to be spending quality time with it.

I love Apple Powerbooks, for another non-adult project I want the 12 inch Powerbook, high speed, low drag! it does everything I want it to do and more.

However keeping with M$ Windows, since I have all the software, have you looked into the Alienware Area 51 notebooks?

They are overbuilt for graphics and gaming, I'd really love to have that as my dedicated Window$ laptop.

[Ramster]

THANKS for all the replys but I got a laptop. A Toshiba P4 2.0 with 512 RAM, 40Gig, 15" screen, CD-RW/DVD Drive and Windows XP and all internext connection options.

Bought it on eBay so I should (better, LOL) get it in a couple of days.