New Laptop, what to get?

My laptop is a couple years old now and it's seen better days. (Josh has been abusing it for a few months now)  I have a Dell and I do really like them a lot, but I'm wondering what other people have, how they compare.  Is it silly to go Mac when I have been PC forever?  How hard is it to switch everything?  Is it even compatible with PC applications?

Anyway, any tips would help.  Thank you!

i love my dell.  reliable, affordable, good.  i bought in the states.  it's heavy- more a desktop replacement. 

i have a sony for work and i find it a bit more unreliable.

I guess it depends on what you're going to be using it for: email, surfing the net, etc. or serious gaming. Also, do you want to carry it around with you or leave it in one place?

I've just bought a Dell laptop recently and I am very happy with it.

I personally wouldn't recommend switching to a Mac as they can be very expensive (my Dell laptop cost me only £430 in June, but the cheapest Mac laptop with a similar spec I could find was over £1,000) and often programs and/or documents are not easily compatible with PC's (e.g. pictures and symbols in PC Word docs disappear when opened on a Mac and some file types just won't open at all). Having said that, it is possible to switch between PCs and Macs, but it's not always easy or simple and can be a bit of a hassle (I had to switch between a Mac at uni and a PC at home and it just got annoying when things didn't work or display properly).

So people love their Dells!  They are really dependable aren't they!?

I've never been a MAC person, but a friend always raves about hers, so I was curious.  I guess it's silly to think about switching at this point.

Gaming, me?  No, not something I do.  I use it for email, browsing, downloading, burning discs etc.  It stays in one place, though I was thinking of going smaller so easier to take with me.  I really want to start writing more. (Don't laugh, I know I say that all the time!)

I'm thinking of buying the next one in the States since it seems to be cheaper. (Rich built this one for me and bought it in the UK, by built I mean he ordered it on the Dell website)

I had a Dell desktop and loved it, but I remember people advising me against a Dell laptop. I totally can't remember the reasons, but there were some. I'm obviously not an expert. 

Anyway, mine's a Toshiba Qosmio. It's biggish, but I love it. I like big monitors. It was pretty expensive, but I adore it.

I had a Dell desktop and loved it, but I remember people advising me against a Dell laptop. I totally can't remember the reasons, but there were some. I'm obviously not an expert. 

Anyway, mine's a Toshiba Qosmio. It's biggish, but I love it. I like big monitors. It was pretty expensive, but I adore it.

Mine's huge now too, and it was way to expensive.  I don't want to downgrade though persay, but I want smaller and not as much as this one cost.

Mac's are considered to be more reliable (i.e. they rarely crash or have maintenence problems), but they are just so confusing to navigate around!

The 'minimise', maximise' and 'close' buttons are in the other corner of the window, the program icons are on a toolbar along the bottom and if you don't minimise a window, you can't find it again (unless you press F9 which shrinks all the windows so you can see what you have open - they don't show up on the toolbar along the bottom unless they are minimised first) - When I first used one at uni, it took me ages to work out how to get on the internet or find Word/Excel etc. on there!

The only good thing I've found about using a Mac is that the programs I've been using for my project this year have only been written for Macs and use UNIX commands, so in that respect, it's frustrating not being able to do the same things on my home Dell laptop.

I had a Dell desktop and loved it, but I remember people advising me against a Dell laptop. I totally can't remember the reasons, but there were some. I'm obviously not an expert. 

I have both a Dell PC and laptop and have little problem with either so far (the laptop is only 4 months old though). Any problems I've had with the laptop have been more to do with small Vista issues and McAfee updates slowing the computer down rather than the laptop itself. Three of my friends have also just bought the same laptop (Dell 6400) and seem pleased with them so far.

I'm thinking of buying the next one in the States since it seems to be cheaper. (Rich built this one for me and bought it in the UK, by built I mean he ordered it on the Dell website)

It might be an idea to check build prices on both the UK and US sites, because I found that mine was cheaper on the UK site even though the US site is usually the cheapest. The UK one had various offers on, including a free 3-year McAfee subscription, money off and free memory upgrade and cost less than £500, while exactly the same spec on the US site (including memory and McAfee subscription) was almost $1,400!!

Wow, OK, I will check out both then. 

OK, Vista question now.  Do you like it?  Is it much different then XP?  Can you opt out of the Vista and get XP?

Wow, OK, I will check out both then. 

OK, Vista question now.  Do you like it?  Is it much different then XP?  Can you opt out of the Vista and get XP?

Vista is OK - it looks snazzier than XP and the folder navigation is a little different, but apart from that, it's fairly similar to XP. Comparing my laptop (Vista) and my PC (XP), I think I have a little more faith in XP, simply because it's been around longer and has fewer bugs to be fixed.

Although Vista is currently the default system offered, you should be able to have it built with XP if you wanted. The UK site is only offering XP with certain models at the moment, but if you called Dell in person, they could probably build it with XP for you.

If you go with Vista though, I'd definitely recommend getting at least Vista Home Premium rather than Vista Basic (apparently Basic is just not worth it for features) - but Home Premium will require at least 80GB hard drive and 1 GB RAM (which is what I have), anything less and it won't have sufficient memory to run.

I have a Dell laptop for work and I hate the stupid thing.  It is only 6 months old and it crashes constantly.  But, I am a stauch hater of Dells.  Every single one I have owned/used has had some sort of major problem that rendered it useless.

I was anti-Mac for years.  Then I moved to New England and my friend's husband gave me his old G4 desktop because my Dell (grrrrr) literally caught fire (it was 8 months old).  I was uncomfortable with the Mac for about a week or two.  As I got used to it, I felt it was more intuitive and awesome for the creative types.  I dabble in photography in my spare time and the Mac is awesome for that. I also have made some albums and calendars and such.  After the movers dropped my beloved G4 down the stairs, it ran for another 6 months and then I replaced it with a G5 (desktop).  However, my friend who gave it to me took it back and it is still running (two and a half years after its tumble).  They didn't do a thing to it, but, it is still running.  It just gets confused at times because its little computer brain got scrambled.  Then I wanted a laptop to take with me when I went on my photo field trips so I got a MacBook Pro with my tax return.  On my MacBook, I have an intel chip and dual processers, it is insanely fast, and I run both Windows and OSX (partioned drive).  Windows runs better on the Mac than it does on a PC.  Odd but true.

I just passed on my G5, which is two years old but still running like new, to a friend of mine (no need to move it to the UK).  The Macs last forever and can be upgraded.  Are they more expensive?  Yes, but, if you add the same software to a base PC, you are going to end up with a similar, if not higher, price.  The Mac comes with a lot of the software bundled.  I had the ability to 'try the Mac for free" but, honestly, my Macs have never crashed, never had a virus, never had any issue (the one that the movers dropped doesn't count).  I love them! And I complain that I have to use a PC at work mostly because the stupid thing crashes daily.

Mac's are considered to be more reliable (i.e. they rarely crash or have maintenence problems), but they are just so confusing to navigate around!

I must disagree.  I find that my Mac is easier to navigate around and stays a bit more organised when I have several things going on at once.  The difference is getting used to the way the operating system works.  If you really decide to consider a Mac, Stacey, you can play with mine for a bit before you buy.  

Totally up to you, but, I will never go back to a PC.

I must disagree.  I find that my Mac is easier to navigate around and stays a bit more organised when I have several things going on at once.  The difference is getting used to the way the operating system works.  If you really decide to consider a Mac, Stacey, you can play with mine for a bit before you buy.  

Totally up to you, but, I will never go back to a PC.

Everyone has their own preference - our computer tech guy at uni is an avid Mac lover and I can understand why people like them so much, but I've always been a PC user and I probably always will be at heart.

I did look at the possiblility of getting a Mac, but I just couldn't afford to pay that much for a computer. I have got used to using Macs but they aren't my first choice for computer systems - I just feel more comfortable using a PC.

If you go with Vista though, I'd definitely recommend getting at least Vista Home Premium rather than Vista Basic (apparently Basic is just not worth it for features) - but Home Premium will require at least 80GB hard drive and 1 GB RAM (which is what I have), anything less and it won't have sufficient memory to run.

OK, thank you for that.  I want to have at least 80 GB  HD and 1 GB of RAM, so that is perfect. 


Dar, wow, that is bad luck.  I've had mine crash a bit, but it's not been horrific.  I don't blame you for hating them.

I will have to have a bit of a play on yours though, I have not used a MAC in at least 10 years, maybe longer.

Everyone has their own preference - our computer tech guy at uni is an avid Mac lover and I can understand why people like them so much, but I've always been a PC user and I probably always will be at heart.

I did look at the possiblility of getting a Mac, but I just couldn't afford to pay that much for a computer. I have got used to using Macs but they aren't my first choice for computer systems - I just feel more comfortable using a PC.

True.  Everyone does have their own preferences.  I was very anti-Mac for a very, very, long time.  It took really using one to change my mind.  That and all my problems with PC's probably pushed me over to the Mac group a bit faster.  Macs are more expensive in some respects, but, they last much longer, and are much more upgradable.  That is my personal opinion based completely on my own experiences.  Ok, I totally sound like a Mac geek, I should stop now.  

Dar, wow, that is bad luck.  I've had mine crash a bit, but it's not been horrific.  I don't blame you for hating them.

I will have to have a bit of a play on yours though, I have not used a MAC in at least 10 years, maybe longer.

Yeah, they are really different from what they were 10 years ago.  I'll be in the country in about 25 days, and my Mac is at your disposal. 

Computers are tools, kind of like screwdrivers.  What's the difference between a flat screwdriver, a hex head, and a phillips head screwdriver?  Not much, unless you are dealing with a specific type of screw. 

I think the real question is what are you doing with your laptop (what kind of screw)? 

Email
Web
Word Processing
Digital Photos

Ok, if just that, then Mac or Windows--totally up to you.  Whatever you find easier, cheaper, etc.

CITRIX connections to the office system
Propreitary software for work
Games

If some of those features, you need to look at what operating system is supported by those programs (and it will probably be XP).  There are Mac substitutes for most major programs, but there are some small proprietary software programs that are XP only and if that is related to your job, well then the answer is pretty clear.

But something you might not be aware of is the fact that the Mac can run the Mac OSX operating system and the Windows XP or Vista systems AT THE SAME TIME.  Using Parallels, you can switch back and forth between operating systems as needed.  One of my Macs is hooked up with OSX, XP, and Ubuntu Linux, and I can switch between all as needed.  You can't do that on a Dell.

I think you'll find a lot of people agree with Dar.  They went through some growing pains switching to OSX, but after awhile things just were far more intuitive on the Mac then they were on XP or Vista.  Little things just started to make sense, and doing other things like connecting a digital camera or installing new software were just simpler, easier, and somewhat more elegant.

"It just works" is often a phrase associated with Mac users.  I can tell you it doesn't always 'just work' (but then again I do some pretty intense stuff on my machines) but if you are doing some basic computing needs,  you might want to see what the Mac can offer.

There is also the issue of security. While no system is safe, the majority of virus and spyware is written for the XP world.  There are also some things done on OSX that help minimize damage should a virus come out (such as root disabled by default).  Do a search for OSX XP switch and you'll see some interesting stories.

(I have 10 computers at home:  seven Macs (three with XP on Parallels), 1 XP computer, 1 Centos/Linux server, and 1 tiny embedded linux box). 

p.s. if you haven't used a Mac in 10 years, then you haven't used OSX.  It's a world of difference from the OS8/OS9 you probably used before.  Worth seeing at the Apple store if you get a chance.

p.p.s.  My other word is 'why a laptop?'  If you travel a great deal and need to be online, then I can understand it in that situation, but by and large laptops are lower powered, more expensive, and far more likely to break than their desktop cousins.  Depends on your needs.