- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
oooooo I didn't even know that existed! *hug tackles blue dog*
Laptop woes...
- Thread starter Tonichelle
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2006
Don't worry about it, Toni. I think you and Lad will be very happy with the fact that computer companies made TOO MANY laptops with XP--and are now having to get rid of, or destroy those models.
Then of course, there's good-old bizrate.com:
http://www.bizrate.com/laptopcomput...44/compareprices__keyword--laptop+xp+pro.html
Two are at your price level, but are refurbs.
This one isn't bad, but is Compaq, and is a tanker:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/series/category/notebooks/V6000TX_series/3/computer_store?
Then of course, there's good-old bizrate.com:
http://www.bizrate.com/laptopcomput...44/compareprices__keyword--laptop+xp+pro.html
Two are at your price level, but are refurbs.
This one isn't bad, but is Compaq, and is a tanker:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/series/category/notebooks/V6000TX_series/3/computer_store?
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
well I'm willing to go up in price if nessecery...
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2006
Try to buy a toughbook cf-29 or cf-18 ( convertible Tablet PC) on ebay, they are hard-rugged computers, with touchscreen. If you are lucky, you can have it for these prices.
Honestly, once you have one, you can never turn back. My brother and my mother have one. They are silent,light, don't heat, have a touchscreen. You can jump on it, make it fall, spill your coffee and everything work perfectly !
Honestly, once you have one, you can never turn back. My brother and my mother have one. They are silent,light, don't heat, have a touchscreen. You can jump on it, make it fall, spill your coffee and everything work perfectly !
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2006
:agree: Big fan of Matsushita regardless of what OS yo pick. Their media drives have always been second to none.
I guess it comes down to what you can afford Toni, but what about the future of this machine? Paying for what you can't do without is also a consideration. I know you love Windows, nothing wrong with that, just put more importance hardware and pay more now for the machine.
I have a friend who has the Other kind from a "referb site" of Mac, and he is extremely pleased (with the cost and performance). That is a great way to get a "warranted" deal - from referb sites.
btw, you don't have to be a fan of something to use something. Macs have always set the "esthetics / entertainment" media standards in the computer world, so it is just more of a surprise to some that you - a person in the field and good at it - don't use what a majority of the "best in your business" normally prefer. SO that is why people suggest Macs to you IMO.
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- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
If Mac were the best the big companies would always swear by them - they don't. So I don't buy that they are that much better.
That being said - I can do much better on something I know enough about than I can with a completely new system. I don't have the time to learn, even if I wanted to switch.
Mac is all well and good, but at the end of the day I still feel much more comfortable on an HP, and I don't see THAT much of a difference...
That being said - I can do much better on something I know enough about than I can with a completely new system. I don't have the time to learn, even if I wanted to switch.
Mac is all well and good, but at the end of the day I still feel much more comfortable on an HP, and I don't see THAT much of a difference...
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
Toni:
I have been seeing the MAC vs. PC advertisements on tv too much lately - the MAC is starting to appeal to me, although my hubby tells me all of our software is for the PC so would cause some problems for me. I would have to purchase new software for the MAC. I have also heard the MAC has fewer virus problems than the PC. My husband and I swear by our PC and have always been happy with it; however, it does have its problems from time to time. Of course nothing is fullproof I am sure. Computers are what they are.
I am going to hold out until Xmas time - there will be some better deals then. Meanwhile I will take my time and study what is available out there and what I really want. Let me know what you decide.
It's like being a kid in a candy store - too many choices!!!
Good luck.
We're given refurbished ThinkPads in the school district where I work. I love mine and it runs on XP. My son last spring bought an HP Pavillion with all the bells and whistles. He ended up paying, after purchasing a 3 year warranty and Microsoft Office, over $2,200 for it. After one week, the motherboard went out on it. He was "dead in the water" with a power point presentation due in one week for one of his history classes. CompUSA replaced the computer and we had the techs there check out the motherboard and all the drives before we took it home. My son loves Vista, by the way. Toni, good luck on your computer hunt. The credit union in our area was offering low interest loans for students who wanted to purchase computers. I think their interest rate was 3.9 percent.......not bad.....42
New Laptop
Tonichelle - People have given you some great advice..... so I won't bore you with more detail.
I just wanted to share with you I purchased an HP Vista Premium desktop from Fry's here in LA and I am completely satisfied. I was looking at all the HP laptops and just finally decided on a desktop.
Don't let the talk about Vista scare you - I have had ZERO problems with Vista Premium including easy networking (well, faily easy - networking is always a bit tricky) and excellent execution - I've had the desktop now for 4 months and I've never had the blue screen of death. There were about 3 things I could not load because those companies didn't have Vista drivers, and I certainely can live without those 3 programs: 2 silly games and a cheapo bluetooth stereo headset.
Don't try to find Dells backloaded with XP ---- I think there are some Mac people out there who just must turn up their noses at Microsoft (funny how Microsoft bailed Apple out years ago); when I did have a small glitch, HP customer service was actually very good.
Yes, the operators were probably in India but their attitude was excellent and you could tell they had accent reduction training so it was easy for me to understand them.
Good luck! Tenorguy
Tonichelle - People have given you some great advice..... so I won't bore you with more detail.
I just wanted to share with you I purchased an HP Vista Premium desktop from Fry's here in LA and I am completely satisfied. I was looking at all the HP laptops and just finally decided on a desktop.
Don't let the talk about Vista scare you - I have had ZERO problems with Vista Premium including easy networking (well, faily easy - networking is always a bit tricky) and excellent execution - I've had the desktop now for 4 months and I've never had the blue screen of death. There were about 3 things I could not load because those companies didn't have Vista drivers, and I certainely can live without those 3 programs: 2 silly games and a cheapo bluetooth stereo headset.
Don't try to find Dells backloaded with XP ---- I think there are some Mac people out there who just must turn up their noses at Microsoft (funny how Microsoft bailed Apple out years ago); when I did have a small glitch, HP customer service was actually very good.
Yes, the operators were probably in India but their attitude was excellent and you could tell they had accent reduction training so it was easy for me to understand them.
Good luck! Tenorguy
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
TG - I work with Vista and hate it lol... it's probably just because it's different but still...
we'll see how it goes... I'm not going to be purchasing one until probably next month anyway
we'll see how it goes... I'm not going to be purchasing one until probably next month anyway
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2006
Hehehe...I know you said you don't get along with Macs earlier in the thread, but them's fightin words! ;-) One of the reasons big companies don't use Macs is because their systems are set up on PCs and the cost makes it impractical to switch over. Also, depending on the kind of software applications you need for your job, you may be locked into running a Windows PC because the software isn't available for Mac. That said, it's kind of a chicken and egg debate - what came first, the OS or the software for it?
Last year Apple gave out directives on how to split the Mac's hard drive in order to run Windows on it alongside the Mac OS. Then Microsoft came out and said that they wouldn't allow it or something like that. So I'm not sure if you can still run Windows on a Mac in a totally above-board way, but certainly it can be done although if you run into problems you may not be able to get tech support from Microsoft.
Macs also cost about twice or even three times as much as a lower-end PC to start out with, so although you need to pay for fewer updates for software etc the base price is a LOT more.
A lot of software developers and programmers do prefer Mac, however. They suffer from fewer virus problems too. The OS doesn't look really different on the surface, it's like British English vs. American English if you compare it to Windows. I think it really depends what you want to use the computer for. I run a Mac basically by coincidence - it was a choice between an iBook and a ThinkPad and I just decided to give Mac a try - but I could have done just as well with a PC. That said, the PCs at work now drive me crazy because I find them counterintuitive.
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OMG I can't believe how much my Mac-worshipping bf has affected me...I actually waded into the Mac vs. PC debate...how did I accidentally walk into the Steve Jobs reality distortion field?!?!
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
not trying to start up a debate, just explaining where I'm coming from HP kinda rules the roost in hollywood as far as the CGI groups are concerned... Pixar, ILM both use HP....
that being said, I have no desire to switch to an entirely new system just because Mac is 'better' they both have their moments where they are the best and when they're completely useless (We used mac in school and I know I am not compatable with mac, simple as that lol)
at the end of the day, it's probably not the computer's limitations but my own that will get in the way of what I want to do.
that being said, I have no desire to switch to an entirely new system just because Mac is 'better' they both have their moments where they are the best and when they're completely useless (We used mac in school and I know I am not compatable with mac, simple as that lol)
at the end of the day, it's probably not the computer's limitations but my own that will get in the way of what I want to do.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2006
Yes for office work
And to inform from previous post Toni, the reasons they use Windows operating machines more frequently is because it is more cost effective on an annual report. Soon you may understand, it is not a "Mac vs PC thing" it is a better product vs a more used product - there is more "paper pushing" than there is "photos and graphics" in the work world - hence more staplers and Band-Aids than drafting tables. When they need a win a race they buy a "Porsche" when they need to commute they get a "Geo."
and btw, I have never heard of a company "swearing by" Windows - most dread any updates to it. But I have heard it from exactly those in which you stated earlier using HP (for their paper pushing)and some HPs are built to allow Mac OS as well.
See:grin: there is perfect harmony, each achieving a green pasture no matter their direction. And It can't hurt to know 2 OS either.
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- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
I don't think I ever said they swore by Microsoft/Windows - I can't stand it most of the time
that being said. I'm not going Mac. If that makes me a bad photographer, then I don't know the first thing about photography because I thought photography was about more than the technology behind it...
that being said. I'm not going Mac. If that makes me a bad photographer, then I don't know the first thing about photography because I thought photography was about more than the technology behind it...
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2006
Well, Toni, since you say you don't want to use a Mac, the next best choice is HP. HP has similar quality with graphics and their printers...none are better.
I work around numbers and proposals, so the Thinkpad is the perfect choice for me.
Best of luck with finding the best deal--do you have military friends? I think the Navy Bases, for the most part, have good prices.
I work around numbers and proposals, so the Thinkpad is the perfect choice for me.
Best of luck with finding the best deal--do you have military friends? I think the Navy Bases, for the most part, have good prices.
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
I do have a couple of people who can get on base... so maybe that'd be an option too...
and thank you for this, not so much saying HP, but understanding that when I say Mac isn't for me that doesn't mean 'let's debate' hee hee... I really wasn't looking for a campaign for or against Microsoft. I just want a laptop I can afford and is good for what I need...
and thank you for this, not so much saying HP, but understanding that when I say Mac isn't for me that doesn't mean 'let's debate' hee hee... I really wasn't looking for a campaign for or against Microsoft. I just want a laptop I can afford and is good for what I need...
