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Anyone have a recommendation on a laptop that is good for traveling...i.e. durable, small, light, etc.? Oh..and under $1000.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Q&A
Recommendations on travel laptop...anybody?
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Brewmaster
Portland, OR
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Check the apple store on Tuesday mornings and grab a refurbished macbook (with apple warranty). Gotta be quick though. You should be able to get a pretty well equipped one for around $900-1000.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nclm=CertifiedMac
Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
512MB memory
60GB hard drive
SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Weight 5.2 pounds (2.36 kg)
Your price: $849.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
Free Shipping
Posted 4 years ago # -
Brewmaster
Portland, OR
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^ I think that one is already gone, or they changed the superdrive to a combo drive. I'd actually go with this one for the 1GB of memory...
Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
80GB hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
$949
Or upgrade to one with a SuperDrive for $50 more.
Posted 4 years ago # -
scottlitch
Southwest Hilltop, Columbus
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Get a mac. They run better than PC's. Plus if you want to run Windows, you can create a partition on the Mac. If you buy a PC you don't have the option of running OSX. IMO OSX is way easier to use. Windows has things in 3 different places sometimes where it is in one place on the Mac. I've used PC's since I was 8. I switched in 2005 to mac and won't go back. They all come with built in webcams, microphone, and a remote control so when you hook it up to a TV or stereo you can sit on the couch to control iTunes through Apple's Front Row software. iPhoto is a great photo browser that is included in iLife along with iMovie to import and edit home movies from your camera. There is no reason to not get one.
P.S. You can run PowerPoint for Mac which comes with MS Office Mac or use Apple's iWork suite to open PowerPoint files.
Posted 4 years ago # -
scottlitch
Southwest Hilltop, Columbus
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You'll enjoy it.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Honestly in this day and age, there's hardly anything that you can't do on a Mac that you can do on a PC and vice versa.
So yeah... don't believe what those dumb Apple commercials tell you. It's toally possible to do office applications on a Mac, and it's totally possible to burn dvds of family videos on a PC.
:roll:
Posted 4 years ago # -
scottlitch
Southwest Hilltop, Columbus
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The difference between a PC and a Mac right now, is the Mac comes ready to use out of the box. You really don't need to load any additional software to do what you want to do. PCs can do the same things for sure, but you will probably need to set up the software, install hardware specific drivers, etc... There is little to no maintenance for Macs.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Billionaire_Bot
Short North
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Just buy a cheap laptop from craigslist and throw linux on it.
Posted 4 years ago # -
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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If you're looking to spend just under $1000, I got this for right about $900 from Dell.
Inspiron 1501 AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-53
LCD panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display
MEMORY 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 DIMM
VIDEO CARD ATI RADEON® Xpress1150 256MB HyperMemory™ (Integrated)
HARD DRIVES Size: 120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
OPERATING SYSTEM(s) Windows Vista Home Basic
NIT CARD: Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card
I've had Macs/PCs in the past, but honestly I like PCs after all is said and done.
Posted 4 years ago # -
scottlitch
Southwest Hilltop, Columbus
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PC is not a good choice based on what you are going to use the system to do.
Posted 4 years ago # -
vestanpance
Harrison West/at work OSU
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scottlitch wrote The difference between a PC and a Mac right now, is the Mac comes ready to use out of the box. You really don't need to load any additional software to do what you want to do. PCs can do the same things for sure, but you will probably need to set up the software, install hardware specific drivers, etc... There is little to no maintenance for Macs.
you buy any major brand PC and it's good to go out of the box just as much as a MAC is. MAC has done such a great job getting people to think that they are sooo much easier than a PC. It simply isn't true. All newer PCs come with DVD playing/burning software, built in wireless, photo organizer.. ect. Itunes runs on PCs also. Neither the MAC or the PC will come loaded with Power point, you'll have to buy that after
I use both a G5 at work, and a Windows machine at my house and really it's all about the software not the OS. If you can't figure out either the MAC OS or the windows OS then you shouldn't buy a computer.
Posted 4 years ago # -
vestanpance
Harrison West/at work OSU
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scottlitch wrote PC is not a good choice based on what you are going to use the system to do.
why?
Posted 4 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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For the average user, I think it's probably a HAIR easiler to learn how to do things on OSX instead of Windows XP. I've not touched Vista yet, so I can't comment on that.
I'd also give OSX the edge over WinXP on keeping the average user from running into problems with viruses, spyware, and other malicious junk. I think this is something easily overlooked by more tech-savvy people who know how to avoid those problems, but it can be pretty critical for the average user who may not realize what they're doing when they click on that big shiny INSTALL button that pops up while surfing the net. And again, I can't comment on Vista as far as this goes, but I'm hoping it's an improvement.
So yeah... for computer pros... both systems will give you pretty much the same results... but for computer novices... they're probably more suited for learning on a mac than they are a pc.
And for the record, I grew up using PCs. My first was a 286 and I've built enough of them myself to have a pretty intimate knowledge of them. I started using macs in school around 2000, and while I was skeptical at first, I have to admit that I was impressed enough by the improvements made with OSX over the last few years to start buying them for home use from now on.
Posted 4 years ago # -
JimL2
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For travelling, get a Thinkpad. You already have a computer at home, and you already know how to use a computer. What you need is something that's built to travel. Sadly, a lot of laptops seem to be constructed rather shoddily anymore... be especially wary of models that seek to be desktop replacements, they tend to be the most fragile. If you can, put your hands on a model before you buy it. Shake it around a little bit, push in on the plastic, try to flex it from the corners.
Toughbooks look cool, but I don't imagine they're cheap enough to fit into your budget.
Posted 4 years ago # -
JimL2
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I've edited this post to make it less angry, and also coincidentally less funny.
Get a mac. They run better than PC's
Better = faster? Quieter? Cooler? Are we averaging the continuum of macs and PCs throughout all time? Are we taking the best-performing machine from each category? Are you defining a PC as simply "not a macintosh?" Can you show me a Macintosh that runs "better" than IBM's Blue Gene/L?
If you buy a PC you don't have the option of running OSX
This is 100% inaccurate. In fact, it's absolutely backwards. Windows won't (currently) run on a PowerPC architecture, but OSX will now run on an x86 architecture. Exercise for the reader: guess what architecture PCs tend to have inside them!
The difference between a PC and a Mac right now, is the Mac comes ready to use out of the box. You really don't need to load any additional software to do what you want to do.
It all really depends on what you want to do, doesn't it?
The difference between a PC and a Mac right now is the operating system you get, the color of the metal the chassis is made out of, and about $800.
Posted 4 years ago #
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