laptop suggestions?

I wish to buy a laptop somewhere in the near future...but I have no clue what I want. All I need it for, basically, is digital photography, downloading music + cdburning and the internet. I'm not a big gamer kid or anything, although downloading and watching videos and other things would be good. I want wireless internet access as well...

I was thinking of possibly an Ibook. Because all the cool kids who are into editing photos and such seem to have them, and I used the mac system in Switzerland and it was pretty nice...but I've used PC's and windows for the rest of my life; how different/expensive is Apple stuff versus window stuff...?

Any advice would be super

i switched from a PC (after a decade+ of use) to an apple this fall. the learning curve was maybe .... 4 weeks? four weeks and i was doing everything i ever did on my PC, only easier. i have much love for my powerbook; it connects to the wireless network on campus and at home with nary a problem. its tough - showing little signs of wear despite being dragged back and forth on a daily basis. and it's solid - much fewer problems and everything seems so simple to accomplish.

Mac is great, you do get what you pay for.

But the WinTel stuff is cheap. And nasty. I wouldn't use it if I didn't have to.

what is WinTel?

and as for Mac and wireless networks....can you use normal wireless routers at all or do you need the Airport Base things...?

Windows + Intel.

comprendo.

Ah, sorry. WinTel = Win(dows running on In)tel (processor). Windows XP, that sort of thing. If you do decide to buy a Windows PC, make sure you spend the extra few $$ on XP Pro (rather than XP Home).
(I'd still buy a Mac.)

Macs are great for photo/video editing, definately worth looking at. A word of warning is that the iBooks are about due for a product refresh soon, which means newer, updated hardware. Roumor says to expect it within a month.

On the PC side, When I was lappy shopping a few months back I had narrowed it down to an iBook or a Dell 700m. I went with the Dell because my schoolwork, work and hobbies all lean towards needing Windows. At any rate, I mention it because I've found it to be an excelent machine. Its small and lightweight (smaller than a 5 subject notebook, less than 6lbs even with the larger extended battery), has a nice high-resolution screen (12.1" 1280x800 widescreen) which is sharper and blacker than any LCD I've seen, easily the best LCD I've seen period... The standard battery gets about 3-3.5 hours of use depending on if the wifi is on, extended battery gets 5-6 hours also depending on wifi use. It may be a bit small for some people, but thats what I was looking for (its a little wider than the 12.1 inch iBooks.) I got mine through a seller on Ebay for $1000 that was brand new, sealed and under dell warranty. Look there to save some cash, saved me $300+. Deal with someone reputable and be patient rather than just throwing money at the first setup that suits you.

If its a little on the small side for you, Dell's new 9300 seems to be very nice as well, kind of a larger, more powerfull and feature-rich version.

I'm not a Dell rep or anything, but as someone who generally has put together my own hardware, I've been really pleased with the quality of my 2 dells. Though, as a computer buff, I can't say anything about their support because I've never had to use it.

Oh wow, thanks!

I've looked at bit at the Apple site versus the London Drugs thing (where I saw an ad for them) and the one thing I noticed is that off the Apple store they come with Tiger, as opposed to the OS X thing. And I would get Tiger. But new hardware and such...hmm. I will keep eye out I guess though

As for Dell...I dunno. I'm a bit iffy on it, because I've heard stories from people that if you DO need to deal with customer service its CRAP...so. I'm not sure. I will look around though.

So in regards to ghz...the Mac I'm looking at has 1.33...should I be aiming higher or...?

I'm attacking this thing with questions: built in media-card slots. Apple appears to have...none. Versus like, a Toshiba notebook which has tons. My camera runs an SD card, though I have a USB cable for it...My current desktop has the media slots and they rock.

Thoughts on media slots versus old fashioned cables...?

Its a matter of preference and convenience. As far as one being functionally better than the other theres not usually any difference, often times the internal readers hook up to internal USB connections anyhow, particularly on laptops.

Its kind of a bonus. Less cable(s) to carry around, but its not going to do anything extra/better/faster in all likelyhood. Personal;y, if I made a lot of use of such media cards I'd give it a few points for having the reader, but I'd tally that up after having made the Mac/Intel decision.

Also, the 700m I mentioned has an integrated SD slot.


As for the Mhz issue, a 1.33Ghz G4 is a pretty speedy mac, as PowerPC processors are generally more efficient than x86 chips from intel, and to a lesser extent, AMD Mhz-for-Mhz. Also, the vector processing unit on the PowerPC chips, called altivec (also known as VMX, and "Velocity Engine") is much more robust and feature-rich than the x86 equivilant SSE. Thats an important consideration as vector processing is used primarily to speed up multi-media processing applications. Without going into further technical detail, PowerPC CPUs are generally better and more efficient than x86 based CPUs.

[Edited on May 23, 2005 by Ravyne]

Sometimes integrated media-card slots can be a pain in the ass. ie. you need to install some sort of software before you can use them. I'd still stick with a Mac, and using USB cables

Tiger is just the new version of OSX. and better, i'm told. as soon as i have a reason to buy it, i will.

i'd say go with, although it depends on your funds, a mac. i may be biased towards macs, but that's bc i've NEVER had a problem with my mac (except it finally pooped out after 9 months of use without a reimage...easily fixed by reinstalling)

i think whichever kind of mac you pick, whether it's the 1.33 ghz, or something smaller and easier to carry around, you're getting a good computer. and with the media readers, just get the usb cables for them. they work well, i use the usb to connect my oly camera with my 2 ibooks.

lol, looking at the rest of the thread, i think mac wins handsdown.

not surprising, of course, but still a little weird. considering mac only has about a 10% market share, i thought i'd see a lot more pc people in here.

Powerbook or go home. Yep.

Lemonkid is not wrong

IBM Thinkpad T43. Rugged, Light, and Powerful.

1.86 ghz pentium m (this chip flies), and conserves power.
Has exceptional battery life
512mb ram
64mb mobility Radeon 9600
14.1 inch screen
60gb 7200rpm hard drive
4.5 lbs.
Accidental fall protection is best on market.
Greatest keyboard one will ever use
SXGA screen

Suprisingly,a good gaming machine
Apps launch faster. Powerbooks don't even use 7200rpm hard drives. Also Powerbooks still have overheating problems.

I just got it yesterday, and am working on setting up dual boot Linux and XP pro. I love it.

(edit to add specs)

[Edited on May 24, 2005 by rubber_bandit]

not that i don't love powerbooks, i'm just saying...

[Edited on May 24, 2005 by d20]

Check out Dell's Latitude X1. It 's extremely light weight (2.5lbs) and powerful. I just received one and it's pretty amazing. I also have an Inpsiron 6000 and a Latitude D505. Both a powerful and fairly inexpensive. I've yet to have any problems with them but managing these little bastards is what I do for a living.

I'm backing the Apple Powerbook.

Ugh. Powerbook this, powerbook that. For FUCK'S SAKE!












iBooks are cool, too.

I bought an iBook 12" in December. I was choosing a laptop for light use, and I got down to IBM Thinkpad T42 ($1700) or Apple of some sort. IBM and Apple were the only brands I trusted to get a laptop that was reliable and nice to use (comfortable keyboard, etc.) I ended up with the Apple because it was going to be a secondary computer, for light use, so the extra $700 didn't make sense to me.

Macs come with really nice software for organizing photos, making DVD slideshows of your photos, etc.

That said, I haven't been converted to the Mac cult, and I may eventually give my laptop to my girlfriend and go buy that Thinkpad.

Apple Powerbook definitely. We use them in our photography program in college and I'm hooked.

Powerbooks are out of my price range. 14" IBook is the most I could afford, so lets stick with that as a max? =/

Yes, go with the iBook. Powerbooks can bend you over the table. They're cool and all, but an iBook with some extra RAM will kick serious ass.