Long time desktop user wanting to jump with a laptop...

  • Thread starter MugenVTEC
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MugenVTEC

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Well, In all my computing experience, I've been using desktops, and barely touched laptops. Today I'm at a point where I feel like I would love having a laptop instead of a desktop due to the facts that it is mobile and I can go all around my house with it, bring it with me if I go elsewhere, etc... Unfortunately, due to my inexperience with those laptops, I have doubts. If you guys could answer a couple of questions of mine, that'll help me to take a decision.

Is it as reliable as a desktop ?
Does hardware like the processor, harddrive and such breaks (or overheat and burn) easily ?
Does mobile hardware is expensive ? (RAM, HDD)
Does refurbished laptops are trustable ?
Is it worth it ???

Due to my lack of budget, I can't go with something new or highly performant, but I'm looking on something that has about the specs of my desktop.

Specs of my desktop
  • Processor: P4 S478 1.7Ghz
  • RAM: Kingston 2 x 512MB = 1GB
  • HDD: WD 80GB
  • Optical: DVD
  • Video: Radeon 7000 64MB (I'm not such of a gamer)
  • OS: XP PRO

Of course I would get rid of the desktop for a laptop if its worth it...

I have found one that is interesting, refurbished. It's XP HOME and only 512MB of RAM but I would get another bar to get 1GB. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1644464&Sku=G153-6520GZ



Thanks for answering my questions computer maniacs :)
 
A good laptop is just a reliable as a desktop. Because of the smaller size, it is more sensitive to poor cooling design than a desktop. Components are slightly more expensive and hard to find than their desktop counterparts. basically all you can upgrade is the RAM, and usually the HD as well.

I would highly suggest getting an IBM (Lenovo) T-series laptop. They are very durable, and the design is almost trendy in a utilitarian sort of way.

EDIT: also, if you are buying used, I would buy from someone you know rather than a large online retailer

EDIT: IBM = Lenovo now, I keep forgetting that....
 
I still have an old Dell Latitude 840 something. P4 1.6Ghz, 512Mb and a GeForceGo440 card.. Still works like it's supposed to and hasn't failed me once**. Batt. life is diminishing by the hour though :-|

So I'd say they're no more fragile than stationary.. Less actually.. Mine has taken more than one beating during it's 4+ years...

** Once - When I forgot to plug the fans back in after taking it apart :asshat:
 
skip0110
A good laptop is just a reliable as a desktop. Because of the smaller size, it is more sensitive to poor cooling design than a desktop. Components are slightly more expensive and hard to find than their desktop counterparts. basically all you can upgrade is the RAM, and usually the HD as well.

I would highly suggest getting an IBM (Lenovo) T-series laptop. They are very durable, and the design is almost trendy in a utilitarian sort of way.

EDIT: also, if you are buying used, I would buy from someone you know rather than a large online retailer

EDIT: IBM = Lenovo now, I keep forgetting that....
Click to expand...

If there is something that I hate the most in the computer industry, it's IBM...

Anyway what would be wrong with getting a refurbished from Tiger Direct, I only hear/see good stuff about them. None of the people I know has a laptop anyway...
 
I have an old (old 300mhz, 256mb ram, 20gb hdd) IBM Thinkpad and I can vouch for their durability and reliability. This thing runs XP Pro like a champ. 👍 It's never given me a single problem and if I wanted another Windows machine, I would definately consider an IBM (Lenovo...when did this happen?) 👍
 
Me personally, I'd never get a refurbished laptop. I'm looking into buying one myself (alothough I just a new desktop) but the laptop is going to be considered right before I graduate high school. If you want a good reliable laptop, you're going to have to spend a little more than $800. I've built one off Dell, Core2 Duo 1.86GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, 256mb nVidia video card. Seems good to me. About $1,200 though :(
 
Keep in mind when purchasing a laptop a few key things:

Performance: Hardware performance is never as good as a desktop.
Battery: Battery life is generally pretty poor. You usually will get better battery life if you aren't leaving the battery in when on AC power.
Size and weight: The smaller the better. This generally leads to a smaller overall weight. I have a 17 inch widescreen Inspiron 9300 and I regret purchasing it sometimes. It weighs a like a brick!
Reliability: My laptop has generally been pretty reliable. It did have its original harddrive die within the first six months of purchase, but Dell's tech support shipped me all the necessary materials to get it running within a week of failure.
Pricing: Laptops can be expensive depending on the configuration you want. My laptop would have cost well over $2,500 if it were for discounts that we had at the time.

Having a laptop is definately useful. Before I purchased my laptop, I found myself always having to go to a lab or home to access a desktop computer to do something. Now I can do whatever I want on my own computer throughout the day at school. Another plus is that you aren't tied to a physical location and can move freely if you have a wireless network implemented at home, work, or school.

I hope that helps. I probably didn't address your specific questions, but these are things I've noticed since I purchased my laptop.
 
I don't know anybody who is a repeat Gateway customer. . . . .


HP, Toshiba, also make excellent laptops, but there is a differnce in their business lines and their consumer lines, and I'm more familiar with their business lines. Generally, if it comes with XP Pro, it's a better-made device than if it comes with Home, and by better made, I mean better processor, more memory, bigger disk, etc.

I've been carrying a refurb Compaq EVO laptop since before HP bought them, and it's still 100%. It's a 1.8 GHz Mobile P4, with Mobile Radeon 7500 has USB, Firewire, S-Video, DVI, DVD-ROM/CD-writer, and it's fast enough for my video work, with Premiere Pro.

As for comparison with desktops, as mentioned earlier you are MUCH more locked in to your hardware setup. Memory for laptops is usually specific to that model, or at least that line, and bigger sticks may not be available. Mine can only carry 512MB, for example. You might be able to replace the HD with a bigger one, but the new one won't have the laptop's hardware drivers on it, and that can be a real pain for installing. Changing out a CD burner for a DVD burner may not be possible. Upgrading the video card is not possible. If something you want to use doesn't have a USB connection, you probably can't use it with your laptop.

Lastly, if it comes with a restore CD or DVD, great. DO NOT LOSE IT!!!!!! If it comes with a utility to make your own restore media, do that FIRST THING!!!!!! You'd be amazed how many times I've been given a laptop to reload, but they never got around to generating the media.
 
Matrixhasu77
You usually will get better battery life if you aren't leaving the battery in when on AC power.
Click to expand...

I was always under the impression that you should never plug it into AC power without the battery in?
 
ĝOoSe;2429347
I was always under the impression that you should never plug it into AC power without the battery in?
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter. The Power Supply makes sure your laptop is fed the correct voltage - This may have been through in the old days perhaps...

(OT - Never unplug your battery while your car / motorcycle is running OTOH !...)
 
I'll vouch for Toshiba - my sister is on her second one now. Small, slick, and reasonably well built. The big thing is, she's only had them from the business products line - not the ones meant for home users. They cost a touch more, but the build quality is worth it.

I'm on my 2nd IBM, but my experience has been mixed. The first one was an R series and the lease lasted 2 years and I had to swap the hdd once for a failure, 3 mobo swaps due to defective components, a cracked shell, dead battery by the end of the first 8 months, and buttloads of faded pixels everywhere. The second one however is a T series - not one problem in the past year and the battery still gets me a good 3.5 hours.

Personally, I wouldn't get anything other than IBM/Lenovo, Dell, or Toshiba (business models only)
 
I'm not totally sure I can recommend getting a laptop in your situation. I've had three laptops and about a dozen desktops at this point and I can tell you that you want to do a laptop the RIGHT way.

You need to think carefully about how you'll use the laptop to figure out how important weight and size are. If you want to watch movies and don't plan on carrying it around much, by all means get a heavy one. If you plan on carrying it around you don't want to go over 5 lbs if you can help it.

My first laptop weighed 8 or 9 lbs and I never used it as a laptop because I never wanted to carry it around. I also had a lot of things to plug in to it (internet, printer, speakers, zip drive) and I hated unplugging everything and plugging it back in. As a result my laptop sat on my desk, never earning it's extra cost and reduced performance.

That experience caused me to invest in a desktop, which I loved.

The next two laptops I got were quite small, both had 12 inch screens and weighed 4.3 and 3.4 lbs respectively. I loved both but the performance got on my nerves. Battery life will suck no matter what you do. When I first purchased my 3rd laptop it would last over 6 hours on battery. Within two years it wouldn't last 1. The same thing happened to my first laptop (though it was more like 2 hours and half an hour). I've seen the same thing with cell phone batteries and anything that uses Lithium Ion. So don't count on batteries, and they're difficult to find and expensive ($150) to replace. Buying a used laptop will only exacerbate the the battery issue.

For what you want to spend, I wouldn't recommend buying a laptop at all unless you really don't plan on carrying it around much (and as a result, don't mind an 8 lb laptop). But then if you're not going to carry it around much, do you really need one?
 

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