Infoseek: Laptops
Mar. 29th, 2003 08:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cherryAs I know a great many of you are more knowledgeable on the subject than I am: I am quite possibly getting a laptop for grad, and I was wondering if there were any words of wisdom -- or suggestions, or recommendations, or just plain anything I need to know.
It's going to have to last me four or five years. University, of course. I'd like to be able to use it to take notes in class, as I type so much less slowly than I write. A burner would be nice, but I can always get an external and hook it up -- With my music addiction, I'm going to be saving money in the long run. I don't know what I'm going to need for power, for RAM or anything. As far as I know, all laptops are fully compatible with printers, so that shouldn't be much of a concern.
I'm comfortable working with both Mac and IBM compatibles, and I really don't have a preference for either one.
Any thoughts/suggestions/pointers/warnings/funny stories involving laptops hurtling through fifth story windows?
It's going to have to last me four or five years. University, of course. I'd like to be able to use it to take notes in class, as I type so much less slowly than I write. A burner would be nice, but I can always get an external and hook it up -- With my music addiction, I'm going to be saving money in the long run. I don't know what I'm going to need for power, for RAM or anything. As far as I know, all laptops are fully compatible with printers, so that shouldn't be much of a concern.
I'm comfortable working with both Mac and IBM compatibles, and I really don't have a preference for either one.
Any thoughts/suggestions/pointers/warnings/funny stories involving laptops hurtling through fifth story windows?
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Date: 2003-03-29 11:46 pm (UTC)The two big things to consider about a laptop are weight and battery life. A smaller, lighter laptop is much easier to lug around, but will have a smaller battery and therefore less battery life. Ultralight laptops also often only have space for one hard drive, and only one drive bay, which means you have to swap out the CD/DVD drive for the floppy drive, if you need to use it. (That's how mine is.) I'd suggest getting one with at least 3-4 hours of battery life. Mine has two, and that's really not enough. I'd also make sure that it has at least two USB ports, so you can hook up both the printer and an external mouse/keyboard if you need one. (You probably won't need the keyboard, but you probably will want the external mouse sometimes.) Also go for the internal modem/network card combo, as opposed to a cardbus one, and get one with a wireless networking card as well if you can. I'd also get the internal burner... they're worth it. You can never have too much RAM, and I'd get more hard drive space than you think you're going to need, because you always need more ;-)