Looking for a new laptop..?
My laptop’s been beaten up a bit much over the last three years. It’s not the most stable/reliable machine, although it became somewhat less stable in some senses since I deleted Windows and installed kubuntu a few months ago, which has trouble going into “hibernate”, among other useful things. It’s an ugly, heavy, widescreen Dell Inspiron, with a broken hinge to its monitor, and with great troubles at properly sleeping and waking up if I close the computer.
And recently, its battery finally told me it’d carked it. While I can live without it working detached from power, it’s got its obvious advantages. And I’m still in the habit of pulling out the power-cord when it’s not completely shut down, and it doesn’t like that without any other power source to rely on.
I need a computer to rely on, and one I can carry around on my back. For the next three years at least.
Do I keep the laptop and find myself a new battery? Or should I go and buy a new one, and forget all my worries for at least another few months until I’ve damaged it enough? What should I get? What do I do with my old one.
I have no interest in Windows currently, and am enjoying my experiment with Linux, but would be happy with an apparently more reliable, and certainly better-supported, Mac system. But I have little idea about what’s worth purchasing out there… Help! And quick!
Having seen your laptop, maybe you want something like:
http://panasonic.com.au/products/details.cfm?objectID=4802
Shame it costs the earth.
I have a one of http://www.cybershop.net.au/Notebooks/PRO31JC.shtml with 2gb RAM that I’m looking to sell for about $400, but I fear it may not be rugged enough for you
Comment by James — 23 March, 2009 @ 8:27 am
In order to better answer the question, what are the primary uses of your laptop? Programming? Gaming? Writing? Generic web-browsing? Liveblogging Greenpeace protests from a zodiac?
‘cos if it’s that last one, you’d probably want a waterproof model.
Comment by Spencer — 23 March, 2009 @ 9:23 am
This looks worth considering:
http://www.onlinecomputer.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=1824
3 year on-site warranty in case something goes wrong, which is nice.
Depends how important weight/price are… you really need to say what size screen it should had.
—-
Oh, and to clarify, the reason I said “no” to borrowing that laptop for Greece was that if you don’t buy it I’d like to sell it on ebay in relatively pristine condition
– since similar models are going for a fair bit more than $400, you could risk buying it and then selling it yourself if you felt like it.
Comment by James — 24 March, 2009 @ 11:37 am