OK, I'll shut up now
Posted on 04/24/2007 7:14:38 PM PDT by Blogger
Pardon the vanity, but the laptop I am working on right now has an LCD Screen that keeps getting horizontal lines across it and three or four times tonight has had the entire bottom half of the screen go white on me. This laptop is a D**l, and contrary to how "America voted" my experience with their customer service has not been very good. So, considering a new LCD screen for the laptop will be very expensive, I figured why not go for a new laptop?
I like to listen to music, do some graphics work and web work, do genealogy, surf, do email, and occasionally will play cards on the computer. I use the computer each Sunday when I teach a Sunday school class.
I've been leaning HP, because I have had good experiences with HP and Compaq products in the past, but was wondering what everyone else would recommend for the type usage I have?
My D**l is only around 2-3 years old and gets heavy usage.
Please ping me too if anyone knows a great laptop for a writer. All I need is a large screen, MS Word, and the ability to use email. I want to be able to store and recover files on a CD but don’t give a darn about music, videos, entertainment stuff. I just need a little workhorse. Used would be OK, I think. Or would it?
Thanks,
Ms. Veto
My Toshiba Satellite will be 4 years old in a few months. I have had ZERO problems with it.
FWIW.
I’ve got a Compaq V5000 with a wide screen that has been trouble free. It is heavy on the battery consumpion tho...
Do you move it around much.... There is a mother of all laptops to date... 17 lb with a 20.1 inch screen and mirrored drives. Very much a portable desktop replacement. Add a couple of raid5 USB drives and you are pretty well immune from hardware failure if you do regular backups.
I move it a lot.
I bought an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC (laptop). It has a 14.1” widescreen, brightscreen display. The widescreen format is really worth its weight because it gives just enough lateral real estate to manage and see multiple windows (plus new Vista gadgets). I don’t understand the technology behind the brightscreen display, but it really is crisp and bright.
My laptop runs Vista and given the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Office 2007 is perfect!
Good luck!
spend some time at the following reading the latest reviews
http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,9,00.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/product/reviewfinder.html?id=6
http://reviews.cnet.com/Notebooks/2001-3121_7-0.html?tag=promo.lt
My son has an HP and he loves it.
I thought about Ebay. I have had this screen apart before, and don’t think it would be horribly difficult to replace. But, can I be sure that is the problem? I don’t know if it is a cable, if it is the screen, or what. Since I posted this article the screen has turned half-white twice again. If I move the screen, it turns white. But, if I press on the frame of the laptop the white goes away for a little while. Frankly, I’ve had other troubles with this laptop, so as much as I use it a new one might be in order.
I know some of my friends swear by Macs, but they are awfully pricey. I would want at least a 15 inch screen.
Everything I have ever read says that total cost of operation comes out to being equal or Macs being cheaper. But you are right, they do need a consumer level laptop with more than a 13in screen.
OK, I'll shut up now
I had a bad habit of moving the machine around by grasping the screen and I think that's what caused the problem initially. I've avoided doing that since then, and haven't had any more trouble.
That being said, this happened during our slow season (we have a somewhat seasonal business) and I just couldn't see asking my dh for a whole new machine at that point.
I’ve used the new Compaq (HP) laptops a few times recently and have been very impressed with the hardware, the fit and finish as well as the price. Check ‘em out.
It can do all the other stuff you mention, too, even run Windows if that is what you need. But you don't.
-ccm
Actually, the size of the screen is the size of the laptop, and I returned a 15-inch Dell in favor of a 14-inch HP because as a sometimes teacher, constant Emailer, and frequent recorder of notes and minutes, as well as occasional student, portability and battery life are primary considerations for me. the size and weight difference is really significant. However, the “truebright” screen is almost impossible to see in sunlight.
I use Mozilla for web and Email, and the home and student-teacher edition of MS Office. It includes Word, PowerPoint, and ExCel, but not the Access database, but it is LEGALLY installable on three machines, which is exactly what I need - and for only about $100 at Sam’s Club. I get a free upgrade to Vista Home Premium, but I am in no hurry to do it.
One other thing - I DETEST the touchpad! I came from an IBM with the trackpoint (eraserhead) in the keyboard, and it behaved itself, but the touchpad is so sensitive to a “tap” that I have activated things I did not want DOZENS of times. Buy a mouse for it, instead!
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