PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

Rick Miley · #6 05-02-2003, 03:07 PM

Now you're talking my language - I've been programming computers for over 20 years.

For the desktop/laptop thing, definitely go laptop. Yes, you'll get a little less bang for the buck, but the portability more than makes up for it. Any of today's laptops, even the lower end ones, will meet the requirements you specified with ease.

In the balancing act of spending money on a faster processor, bigger disk, or more memory, always go for more memory - 512MB is a good target. If you still have money left over, get the bigger hard drive.

For brand selection, I'm going to pick two important criteria and you can report back if I'm off base. First is pointing device. The choice between touchpad and pointing stick is highly personal and you really need to try both in order to decide. Some models from IBM and Toshiba (which I recommend) only have the stick and some people hate it. Personally, I can't stand the touchpad. Second criteria is ruggedness. You've said you're a college student and your parents are buying this thing, so I will assume that you're young and bang stuff around a lot. IBM and Toshiba make most rugged computers in the business, with Dell probably being third.

So here are my recommendations
1. Toshiba - tough as nails, and good value for the money
2. IBM - very rugged, but also very expensive
3. Dell - great value, pretty good support, a little less durable
4. Gateway - good value, but sometimes quirky machines

Not recommended
Sony - great machines, but very expensive and poor support
Compaq - quirky machines often having lots of proprietary hardware and questionable support.

Now some things you didn't ask for: Get the longest extended warranty they offer, especially if you go with the laptop, But DO NOT pay extra for on-site service. Quick story: my office mate had a Dell laptop that went belly up so he called for on-site service. Appointment scheduled 2 days later. Tech arrives, has no parts. Parts ordered and tech comes back 2 days later. Tech unable to fix the problem, so the PC must be sent in. PC sent in next day, fixed at depot and sent back overnight. If he had just opted for depot service, the whole ordeal could have been over in 2 days.

And the other thing is to look for USB 2.0 support. This is only just becoming available on laptops, but will be a very handy feature to have and will be your signal that it is a newer laptop model/design. Most everything you want to connect to it will be USB 2.0 within a couple years.

Happy Hunting