buying a laptop - RV-Dreams Community Forum

dream reachers · RV-Dreams Family Member

buying a laptop

Howard · Host

Well, I'm probably not the best one to ask this question. But I'll give you some of my thoughts. Then I'll give you a link to another thread on this topic within this Forum.

I will assume you will use the laptop mostly for internet browsing and email. If that's the case, almost all new laptops come equipped with what you will need - internal wireless card for access to Wi-Fi and plenty of software.

Many machines come equipped with basic word processing software like Microsoft Word and other Microsoft products. Some, however, don't. Most folks can get by with a basic Microsoft Office suite of products, but if you are doing a "build your own" like Dell rather than purchasing off the shelf, you need to be sure the software you want is included.

Most Mac users LOVE their machines. And I considered going with a Mac before I purchased our 17-inch Toshiba. But they are expensive when you compare the same features to a comparably equipped Wndows-based laptop. smile

Just about any new name brand laptop will serve your needs. The thing to be careful about now is the operating system. Windows XP is a tried and true operating system, but Microsoft has introduced Windows Vista and Vista is now included on almost all new PCs and Windows-based laptops.

Vista still has a lot of bugs and is not compatible with many older programs. Some will tell you to dig around and find a machine with XP to avoid problems. I considered that as well, but chose to go with Vista Home Premium as I prefer to have the recent operating system.

I only tell you that because you will need much more memory if you get a machine with Vista - 2GB minimum. So be careful buying off the shelf with memory of less than that.

Decide what size screen you want. Of course you will pay more for 15-inch or 17-inch. I like our new 17-inch with its full-size keyboard. The portability of the laptop is not that big an issue for us, so I don't mind that it is huge. smile

Our other laptop is a 13-inch Dell. We purchased it with a docking station so we use it like a desktop. It plugs into a port and we have a regular 17-inch flat screen monitor, a wirless full size mouse, and a wireless full size keyboard. So if you have a desk area and prefer the feel of a desktop with the flexibility of having the laptop as well, you might consider that option.

Here is the link to the laptop we purchased.

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6337 17-inch

So far, so good. But Vista does freeze up on me once in awhile. I have learned that there are some tricks and default settings that can be tweaked to curb some of that, but I still think Vista has bugs to work out.

Dell, Sony, HP, Toshiba, IBM, and Mac - You'll pretty much be fine with any of those. It's going to be more the operating system than the machine itself if you have problems.

Here is the link to the other thread as promised.

Laptop Thread

Good luck! biggrin

-- Edited by Howard at 11:42, 2007-07-10