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My laptop died. Recommendations for a new one? 
It doesn't have to be top of the line since I don't really play video games anymore. Also, only reason I can think of that I would want a Mac is for Final Cut, and I don't own Final Cut or do that many film projects anymore, but I'm considering the option. What computer brands are good nowadays besides Apple? Considering having Linux as my main OS and dual booting with XP.
inb4 comments advising me to stick with C64, Atari, Apple II, etc.
Get a C64 laptop!
http://benheck.com/04-05-2009/commodore … are-laptop
Srs: I bought a Macbook after years of being a PC user, I was worried I'd miss using Windows but I really haven't. OSX has certain benefits over Windows for audio work as well, CoreAudio (default audio driver on macs) is so solid you don't need other audio drivers like ASIO on Windows to get it useable and in fact pretty much all audio applications on OSX use it for that reason. Audio and MIDI setup and routing is much easier too, and everything still works without restarting even if you accidentally unplug something or need to change your interface, and you can use multiple interfaces simultaneously without resorting to ASIO4ALL which is a bit unstable. Obviously if you're planning on playing games on it there's better options but as a general purpose workhorse it's hard to beat.
a question that is basically "what laptop is good" is a teensy bit too vague to be answered properly
i have a compaq presario c700 and i like it but maybe you wouldn't like it
If I were to ever get another laptop, I'd get the MSI X-Slim which I believe is also this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152193. Amazon had them on sale for I think 599 a while back and it came with a free portable disc drive. But that's just me.
a question that is basically "what laptop is good" is a teensy bit too vague to be answered properly
If you read past the first sentence of my initial post, you'll find some more specific information. I'm just looking for a general use laptop, not a super powerful gaming or media machine, but I want to know what PC brands are reputable these days. I want reliable hardware that will last, even if it's not the latest and greatest in terms of speed.
Srs: I bought a Macbook after years of being a PC user, I was worried I'd miss using Windows but I really haven't. OSX has certain benefits over Windows for audio work as well, CoreAudio (default audio driver on macs) is so solid you don't need other audio drivers like ASIO on Windows to get it useable and in fact pretty much all audio applications on OSX use it for that reason. Audio and MIDI setup and routing is much easier too, and everything still works without restarting even if you accidentally unplug something or need to change your interface, and you can use multiple interfaces simultaneously without resorting to ASIO4ALL which is a bit unstable. Obviously if you're planning on playing games on it there's better options but as a general purpose workhorse it's hard to beat.
I've been thinking about it, and I don't think I can afford a Mac. Don't think I really need one either.
Last edited by Awol (Nov 16, 2010 6:17 pm)
i like hp dv series, but i know people whove had issues with them..in case youre interested, im actually getting rid of one of my laptops, in an attempt to have less buildup of electronics and gear, pm/facebook message if youre curious
ant1 wrote:a question that is basically "what laptop is good" is a teensy bit too vague to be answered properly
If you read past the first sentence of my initial post, you'll find some more specific information. I'm just looking for a general use laptop, not a super powerful gaming or media machine, but I want to know what PC brands are reputable these days. I want reliable hardware that will last, even if it's not the latest and greatest in terms of speed.
If you want reliability and can deal with the obsolete, may I suggest getting a Tandy Model 102. Perhaps the most durable, reliable, and stylish laptop ever to grace the market IMO. Full travel, full size keys, an easy to read (when there is ambient light) 40x8 character LCD display, 40 hours of battery life from a set of AA batteries, and it's 100% solid state. No moving parts, no need to bother with "saving" documents, if it's in RAM it's already saved. Comes with industry standard Microsoft Basic, a text editor, a spreadsheet program, contact list, and a 300 baud modem with optional acoustical couplers for a go-anywhere machine. If you need massive amounts of RAM, no problem, you can upgrade to as much as 32 kilobytes of it. You can choose software from dozens of titles. You can hook up to an optional dot matrix printer for making near letter quality hard copies of your work, and if you need the ultimate in high density data backup, you can add an external floppy drive which also runs on batteries for convenient portability.
I'm serious about this. If you need something small and portable and durable for taking notes in class, writing papers, and playing with Basic, this is it. You can hook this up via serial to a "modern" computer to move your documents around, and this thing is built like a tank. I have dropped mine down 3 flights of stairs, set nearly 100 lbs on top of it by accident, spilled liquids on it, and subjected it to temps of -30 degrees F. And it still runs like a champ. Also has my favorite keyboard ever attached to a laptop. It also makes and excellent portable serial terminal, AND wows the chicks. 
Whatever it is just make sure the in/out take filters arent on the bottom.
Compaq is a company full of retards-_-.
real men work through bad design. A lot of you have seen my rig when I had a 8000 RPM fan cooling my laptop. sometimes you just need the hardware more then the fancy design.
invaderbacca wrote:real men work through bad design. A lot of you have seen my rig when I had a 8000 RPM fan cooling my laptop. sometimes you just need the hardware more then the fancy design.
I see what your saying but i would hardly consider a working fan system to be fancy design.
grab one of these for $15, powered by USB, problem solved
yep, its got intakes on the rear, the fans blow extra cool air into those bottom intakes...keep shit running nice
When it was still under warranty, my laptop had trouble with the graphics card overheating. After a very long and painful technical support procedure, I managed to get them to replace the motherboard. I started using a cooling pad with fans like e.s.c. showed above, and it seemed to help. It broke though, so I started using a metal wire oven rack, which was smaller and seemed to work just as well. Graphics card seems to have finally died again though, despite my cooling efforts.
If you graphics card is getting nuked then the guys over there in the repair shop didn't do the right thing. You didn't need a mobo replacement- you probably only needed a thermal rework. I have done it for people before- clean out the ducting and the sludge that gets into the cooling fins, upgrade the heat sync goop, clean the living daylights out of everything. I bet they just swapped the damaged GPU and left the thermal stuff alone, leading to its untimely demise.
Opinions on HP vs Sony vs Dell in terms of general reliability? And any other brands I should think about?
If your not gonna play games, then buy a smaller computer with good battery life, I guess.
My Dell has been a beast and HP is sweet. I never heard Sony's lasting that long tho.