Laptops

[threemonkeys]

Following on from yesterday's post. The hard disk on my computer made a bunch of strange noises on startup. Last time that happened, it was a precursor to failure. Well, after doing backups in a panic, the noise stopped. Huh?!

Well I did load a bunch of security updates the night before and the noise wasn't so much the screech of heads gouging platter as prolonged excessive seeking. And it wasn't so much panic as hurried caution. And a little reflection that backups should be done *before* applying operating system updates.

But it did remind me that last year I was looking at getting a portable device - a laptop or something similar. That plan got subverted into a media player purchase instead. But now I'm seriously looking to re-visit it. As well as being a travel device, the laptop also becomes a backup for basic computer functions.

All of which is a long winded way of asking for any of your thoughts out there as to the right sort of machine to get. Given the basic condition that it is cheapish and has wireless connectivity and an optical drive. Any bad experiences? Any really good ones?

Why yes, I am using you as an information resource. You got a problem with that then?

Comments

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

It does help. An eee of some sort is certainly an option I was thinking about. The only thing is that there now seem to be something like 23 different models (http://event.asus.com/eeepc/comparison/eeepc_comparison.htm).

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

My stepfather had an XP one and it wasn't nearly as fast or convenient as the Linux (and it was a memory pig), but it interfaces better with Microsoft stuff.

I'd also be careful of the heavier ones. They have a bunch more capacity etc, but are just not nearly as easy to lug round. The lighter end with the bigger keyboards are the ones I'd be looking at, if I wanted to replace my own.

The biggest inconvenience of mine is the battery life. It's suppsoed to be 2 hours or so, but will work up to 3.5, depending on what programs I use. It's too little though.

Those are the things I'd use to make my choice, but I may not use the same programs as you. In fact, I most use it for net (and even use webmail on it, so I don't tangle up my files) and for Word. It's my travel computer, simply.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

When I was thinking last year I was looking pretty much at lightweight travel with some media playing capability - that made the eee a very strong contender. But now with this "backup" role, it really has to be windows and hard disk. That means an eee is still an option since even the largest is still pretty small (which is a factor) but it has more competition.

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

It depends on how much you need to backup. I can fit all my backup on 6 gigs, so I use a stickthingie (it also means I can keep working on a novel wihtout complicated manouevres). My cousin needed 80 gigs and so he had to rethink the eeepc.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

I have external USB hard disks which will (and currently do) handle my data backups. Application function backup is something I need to size - some of the software I need is pretty fat.

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

Those 23 choices are dropping like flies...

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Yes, although fat applications is a relative term. The whole of MS office occupies about the same space as say one episode of BSG or Dollhouse.

[clockworkflight.livejournal.com]

If the optical drive's not a dealbreaker, I have a 901 which I'm very happy with. Wireless is good.

I have Xandros which is great if (like me) it's not your main computer and just want to use the web/word process and it's great if you want to do a lot of tweaking to get it how you want, but if you're in between I'm not sure I'd recommend though I know someone who's got something which looks like Ubuntu (I think it's called easy squeezy) installed as the OS which seems to take care of that.

I wouldn't get older than the 901, personally, because the horizontal scrolling would drive me mad. And I think testing the keyboard is a good plan - I have friends who find it too small.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about the necessity of the optical drive actually in the machine. I do need one but I'm thinking that as long as I can network share one or plug in one externally then that would do the trick for my requirements.

Good point about horizontal scrolling - I hadn't thought about that and it would certainly drive me mad too. Yes, testing keyboards is always a good plan.