Advice from a computer boffin please?

[Justin]

I'll be the devil's advocate here and ask if your son truly needs a laptop, or is he just buying it because it's cool to have ? If he really needs the mobility (for school etc) then fair enough, otherwise for your $1k you can get heaps more bang for your buck in a desktop system.

Every thing in a laptop is a compromise to portability and power consumption. A desktop on the other hand, is full of components that've been designed based on performance (within a price) as the first priority.

Consider the upgrade path as well - it's a lot easier to upgrade a desktop after some time has passed, whereas a laptop usually has proprietary components that become very hard to get after a few new models have come and gone.

Just my 2 cents.


Cheers,


Justin.

[Poppa]

I've got two Dells. A desktop that I've had since about 2000 and a laptop that I've had for about 2 years. I've had several issues with the hardware components in them (this is not unusual - hardware in computers fails), and Dell has always provided quite good support. Mind you, I'm very computer literate, so when they tell me to re-install Windows XP to see if that fixes the problem I tell them to go jump. I can also swap out a DVD drive in my laptop and replace it (which was one of the hardware problems).

So I've been pretty happy with my Dells. When I bought my laptop I tried to use one of the local businesses to buy through (I like to support local businesses), and I was preparing to buy a new server and a games desktop machine as well - all from the same firm, all at the same time. They were so bad with their service and communication that they convinced me to go back to Dell again.

I'm due for a replacement laptop now. I might approach another local firm (I like local blokes who can help me out if ever I have a problem I can't fix - which is unlikely but possible), but they'd want to be on the ball. The last lot didn't even know what shape a ball was.....

I would suggest that you get the most bang for your buck that you can find. If he genuinely needs a laptop, then go for one that has at least 1Gb of RAM (more comes at a cost, but it is the single best component to spend money on). Wireless is built in. If he genuinely won't play games on it (maybe he already has a PS2) then one with shared graphics will be fine. If he wants to play games or watch movies on it, go for at least 128Mb of dedicated graphics memory on a recent graphics chip (Dell typically don't offer a lot of choice in this area, but their offerings are normally at the more recent end of the spectrum and are acceptable without being stellar and thus expensive).

Screen size can impact price a bit. There are good deals on 14.1 inch widescreens at the moment, and even better deals on older 15 inch non-widescreens. But Dell probably won't have anything available that isn't a widescreen. Other retailers will, and if you can find a local guy that is good he can look at this as well. Also the resolution on the screen can impact price - unless your son wants to play the top level games (in which case he will need more money anyway), he doesn't need flash resolution.

Get the biggest harddrive you can. It will fill up anyway.... Don't bother going for fast speed harddrives or other such stuff - it rarely affects performance. Get a dual layer DVD burner built in if you think he'll use it. Otherwise, just get a CD burner/DVD player - this will again save a small amount of money.

A wireless router for your internet connection will set you back in the region of $200 (probably get one for as little as $120 these days). Buy one that your ISP supports so that they will help you in the event of an internet problem (mine is not supported by Telstra, but I can support it myself so I don't care). If your house interferes with the wireless connectivity, you can also buy wireless network boosters that will fix this problem when strategically placed. But an even better option might be to investigate the in-house networking solutions that use your internal power grid. NetComm market one of these in Australia and they are reasonably priced. It means that you absolutely need surge protection on your power board, but you should have that anyway (if you haven't I'd seriously advise it - this has saved us thousands of dollars on more than one occasion). Just by the way, you can also buy wireless adaptors that are easily installed in desktop machines. They are very cheap.

If your son will accept a desktop machine then you can improve the size of the harddrive above (to probably 250Gb without impacting cost much), and double the memory and improve the graphics card, and still stay within budget. And as Justin points out, desktops are much more easily upgradable (both to improve their performance but also to add things like DVD burners).

I would also look carefully at what operating system you choose to have installed. I personally would get Windows XP installed rather than Vista. It will be a little cheaper to go with XP, but I also never install the newest operating system until it has been around for at least 1 year. I stayed on Windows 98 for much more than that (and I wasn't Robinson Crusoe there either!). XP also requires less system resources, so it will run more easily on a lesser configured machine. You might eventually need to upgrade to Vista, but not for a while yet.

As well as Dell, I'd recommend ACER or LG as good brands that can be had for a reasonable price. If I had unlimited funds I like ASUS and Toshiba. Or even a Mac!

I'd be happy to provide more advice if required - just PM me.

Oh sorry, I also meant to mention that second hand laptops can be had reasonably cheaply. This is an area to be careful with because of the mongrel thieves out there, but worth exploring. It can be hard to know whether you're getting a bargain though if your knowledge levels aren't high.

[Howdya do that]

Thanks everybody for your input.

Its quiet weird but it appears that Dell change their prices everyday because the price that was there Sunday night was $280 dearer on Monday night.

So here's what I did. Went to Harvey Norman and told the guy my son wanted a notebook and I wanted at least 2 years warranty. He asked what it for going to be used for etc and the price was $105 more than the Dell. After we had conpleted the purchase I showed the salesman the Dell specs and he went through it with me. We ended up with 40GB more hard drive than the Dell. Wether 40gb for $105 was a good deal I dont know
But atleast there is a shop front I can walk into if I have a problem. Not like the piece of shyte drill bits I bought off the internet and 3 e-mails and 2 phone calls have still given no satisfaction.

[Cliff Rogers]

As far as laptops go, I will only sell Toshiba but beware, there are 2 different build standards in them.
One range is available through 'value add' resellers & then there is a bulk consumer range only available through the chain stores.
The chain store range is the cheaper range & ends up at the repair centre more often.