Is it worth getting a laptop?

  • Thread starter Thread starter zalzon
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zalzon

I've been planning on getting a desktop working out system specs and
such. Been wondering lately if its worth getting a laptop?

I will be able to move away from this chair all over the house and lie
on the bed..etc.

The only problem is that laptops cost more than twice as much as
desktops of a similar spec.

Any of you struggling with the same decision?
 
| I've been planning on getting a desktop working out system specs and
| such. Been wondering lately if its worth getting a laptop?
|
| I will be able to move away from this chair all over the house and lie
| on the bed..etc.
|
| The only problem is that laptops cost more than twice as much as
| desktops of a similar spec.
|
| Any of you struggling with the same decision?

I have a laptop for use in places that I don't have access to a desktop. It has
really been convenient for working in places that I wouldn't have been able to
otherwise. But there has never been a time that I didn't prefer my desktop when
I had a choice. Other than the portability feature, there's nothing about my
laptop that's better or easier to use than my desktop. Also, one huge laptop
minus for me is not being able to upgrade it to any meaningful degree. Once
you've added memory and installed a bigger and faster hard drive, that's about
it.

If you have a serious laptop itch, see if you can borrow or rent one for a month
to help you decide if you really want to scratch that itch. ;-)

Larc



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zalzon said:
I've been planning on getting a desktop working out system specs and
such. Been wondering lately if its worth getting a laptop?

I will be able to move away from this chair all over the house and lie
on the bed..etc.

The only problem is that laptops cost more than twice as much as
desktops of a similar spec.

Any of you struggling with the same decision?
Click to expand...

If I had a laptop, I would NEVER get out of bed. It's bad enough getting
out of this chair.
http://www.ourstrangeworld.com
 
Hi Larc!

Isn't a problem with laptops the need to recharge the battery frequently,
(what is it ? after 4 to 6 hours of use?)?

How much life do you actually get from the original battery?

What does it cost for a replacement for the original battery?
 
| Hi Larc!
|
| Isn't a problem with laptops the need to recharge the battery frequently,
| (what is it ? after 4 to 6 hours of use?)?

Alvin, I'd be in heaven if I could get that much time on a single charge! About
2½ hours is the max for my Toshiba. Fortunately, most use of my laptop is in
areas where I can plug it in.

| How much life do you actually get from the original battery?

Not sure since I'm still on my original battery pack.

| What does it cost for a replacement for the original battery?

About $150 from one of the discounters.

One useful accessory is a power adapter for use in a car. The laptop can be
used or the battery charged that way.

Larc



§§§ - Please raise temperature of mail to reply by e-mail - §§§
 
I've been planning on getting a desktop working out system specs and
such. Been wondering lately if its worth getting a laptop?

I will be able to move away from this chair all over the house and lie
on the bed..etc.

The only problem is that laptops cost more than twice as much as
desktops of a similar spec.

Any of you struggling with the same decision?
Click to expand...

Get a lower end (possibly used or refurbished) laptop to use for the
applications you'd use portably. Get a desktop for power use where
you'd require a high end system.
 
alvin said:
Isn't a problem with laptops the need to recharge the battery frequently,
(what is it ? after 4 to 6 hours of use?)?
Click to expand...

It's not a problem if you keep it plugged in -- and, even if you keep it
plugged in all the time, it's still a lot more portable than a desktop
machine. You can move it anywhere around the house where you have a
spare power outlet.

- Brooks
 
zalzon said:
I've been planning on getting a desktop working out system specs and
such. Been wondering lately if its worth getting a laptop? [...]
Any of you struggling with the same decision?
Click to expand...

A few years ago, my wife was trying to answer that question....

The solution we came up with was to spend $250 on a used laptop. That
doesn't buy especially much, but even three years ago it bought
something that would quite easily do email and MS Word and all of that
sort of thing; it had a small and slightly faded screen, and was a bit
heavy, but it worked fine. And so she used that for a good while, and
came to the conclusion that a new laptop really would be better for her
than a desktop would. So we bought one, and she's been happy with it
since.

Now, when we got the new laptop, I inherited the old one. I used it
occasionally, when I went on trips, but other than that I found that I
much prefer having an ergonomic keyboard and a 21" CRT about four feet
away, so as a result I'm fairly sure that a new laptop really wouldn't
be much use to me.

Eventually I think we sold the old laptop, and got a fair bit of our
money back out of it. So it was certainly a good investment.

- Brooks
 
Brooks said:
I've been planning on getting a desktop working out system specs and
such. Been wondering lately if its worth getting a laptop? [...]
Any of you struggling with the same decision?
Click to expand...

A few years ago, my wife was trying to answer that question....

The solution we came up with was to spend $250 on a used laptop.
Click to expand...

That's what I am doing, but just for fun I'm buying my buddy's old Mac
laptop. I need a laptop for the most basic things: email, downloading,
web browsing. Why not an alternative OS laptop, just for giggles?
 
ToolPackinMama said:
That's what I am doing, but just for fun I'm buying my buddy's old Mac
laptop. I need a laptop for the most basic things: email, downloading,
web browsing. Why not an alternative OS laptop, just for giggles?
Click to expand...

Sounds like an excellent plan!

A lot of my friends have Mac laptops, and seem to have been quite happy
with them -- although two of them recently had system failures after
about about four years apiece of heavy use, and had to buy new ones. (I
suspect that's still quite good life out of a laptop; they both used
them quite a lot.)

- Brooks
 
Brooks said:
Sounds like an excellent plan!

A lot of my friends have Mac laptops, and seem to have been quite happy
with them
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's great. :)

Here's my thinking: I want to experience the Mac experience anyway, and
a laptop is kind of a "black box" that I wouldn't mess with too much
anyway, so why not have both in one package? I need a laptop for BASIC
things, and I could use a Mac to do basic things, so, why not both in
one package?

Anyway, my buddy has a Mac laptop he wants to get rid of, at a time when
I want a cheap laptop, so there you go. :)
 
| Hi Larc!
|
| Isn't a problem with laptops the need to recharge the battery frequently,
| (what is it ? after 4 to 6 hours of use?)?

Alvin, I'd be in heaven if I could get that much time on a single charge! About
2½ hours is the max for my Toshiba. Fortunately, most use of my laptop is in
areas where I can plug it in.
Click to expand...

Toshiba has a new battery that they say does 9 hours.
 
Gary said:
Get a lower end (possibly used or refurbished) laptop to use for the
applications you'd use portably. Get a desktop for power use where
you'd require a high end system.
Click to expand...


If you have legitimate (as defined by your own user reuirments) mobile
computing needs, then a laptop is "worth it".

Some have offered the suggestion to buy a used one, which is not a bad
option. Also viable is buying the best new onw you can affort....and
these days very capable laptops are available in the $1000 range (and
less, with rebates).

Since, except for memory, laptops generally are not easy to upgrade,
spend the $ today to get the performance you want. If I were in the
market today, this would include the Centrino mobile processor
(increased battery life with a small trade off in processor clock
speed), integrated wireless (but with wireless PCMCIA/USB adapters
selling for less than $50, I wouldn;t sweat this too mych), 512 MB RAM
and 40 GB hard drive.

The biggest issues with laptop have always been upgradability, repair
costs (it doesn't take too much skill to swap out bad parts in a
desktop....similar fooling around inside a laptop is a recipie for
disaster..stuff is crammed inside in puzzling ways) and --for the gaming
crowd-- high end video peformance.

Every user experience is different, but for my limited $, we've enjoyed
excellent service from Toshiba products. Like with cars, any
manufacturer can ship a lemon.

Bottom line: I didn't own a laptop until my travel load become
long/frequent enough to make the decision for me. Of course, the
shopping part was fun:-)
 
|
| >On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 09:27:58 -0400, alvin york pondered exceedingly, then took
| >quill in hand and carefully composed...
| >
| >| Hi Larc!
| >|
| >| Isn't a problem with laptops the need to recharge the battery frequently,
| >| (what is it ? after 4 to 6 hours of use?)?
| >
| >Alvin, I'd be in heaven if I could get that much time on a single charge! About
| >2½ hours is the max for my Toshiba. Fortunately, most use of my laptop is in
| >areas where I can plug it in.
|
| Toshiba has a new battery that they say does 9 hours.

Thanks John, I'll look into that.

Larc



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