Need some help...looking for a Laptop

[tristismilitis]

I'm pretty new here, but I think this should be posted elsewhere...

Um.....why?
This is the recruiting-RMC/CMR board. Macknightcr is a an officer recruit who will be attending RMC/CMR

 

[PMedMoe]

Um.....why?
This is the recruiting-RMC/CMR board. Macknightcr is a an officer recruit who will be attending RMC/CMR

And he's asking what kind of laptop to buy, which has nothing to do with going to RMC or being a recruit.  It should have been put in Radio Chatter.

 

[George Wallace]

The question IS:  "Will there be Apple Computers at the RMC Computer Fair?"

 

[PMedMoe]

The question IS:  "Will there be Apple Computers at the RMC Computer Fair?"

I stand corrected.  :-\

 

[Bzzliteyr]

I don't know what the answer is to the computer fair question but I do know that Apple has the student discount available to any student able to provide proof of registration with any recognized education establishment.  It can even be had online.  The result is about a $100 discount on most systems.

Mind you, dell days of deals is on this week and today (day 3) has an excellent laptop at an excellent price:

http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/days_of_deals?c=ca&cs=cabsdt1&l=en&s=bsd

It has the same vid card as the new macbook pros (released yesterday) and very close to the same specs.  Yeah, it's not a mac but on a tight budget (being a student) I am sure it makes more sense.

 

[SupersonicMax]

What do you want to do with your laptop??  Work for School or Entertainment?

 

[QORvanweert]

I think that the most important thing you can do is buy a computer that is at least marginally future proofed. RAM wise, you want DDR3 and 4+ gigabytes minimum. Make sure that you get a x64 bit operating system so that you are able to have more than 3.5 gb of RAM and will be able to run all the software that comes out over the next decade. Ideally you would also have a solid state drive but that can be very expensive and not many manufacturers offer it pre-installed. If you decide to upgrade later, you will need to re-image the drive with a recovery partition. If you have to sacrifice the SSD then you can turn off the page file while gaming and everything will just be cached in your RAM. Obviously you want a really nice GPU. Most higher end laptops come with either the gt330 or radeon 4580 etc. Both will be more than sufficient if coupled with an i7-720qm or even an i5. The i7's have hyper threading so even though the base clock speed is a bit lower you have 4 physical and 4 logical cores. Plus, any of the cores can boost themselves up to 2.8 something. If you are super curious about intel architecture you can check out the 'Ark' on their website. I bought my laptop from The Source and it came out to about 1500 and change. It is the Satellite P500-00T. Google it and use those specs as a value baseline for any of your purchases.

 

[macknightcr]

Thanks for the help, and I, Citizen I am not even going to pretend to know what you are talking about, but I appreciate the help. 

One more question, since I am planning to buy a new laptop and I am not allowed one during FYOP should I buy one before I go to school or wait until I am allowed to have one and order it to be delivered to CMR?

 

[fischer10]

You can always buy a Mac computer and partition your drive and run windows on it, as well as have the Mac part too. What I do and it works great, best of both worlds. Just make sure you buy a large hard drive (I have 500 gig, wish I had bigger). As for performance, listen to I, Citizen.


Edit:  Having the partition with windows on the second half will solve any compatibility issues.

 

[Jotz]

I think that the most important thing you can do is buy a computer that is at least marginally future proofed. RAM wise, you want DDR3 and 4+ gigabytes minimum. Make sure that you get a x64 bit operating system so that you are able to have more than 3.5 gb of RAM and will be able to run all the software that comes out over the next decade. Ideally you would also have a solid state drive but that can be very expensive and not many manufacturers offer it pre-installed. If you decide to upgrade later, you will need to re-image the drive with a recovery partition. If you have to sacrifice the SSD then you can turn off the page file while gaming and everything will just be cached in your RAM. Obviously you want a really nice GPU. Most higher end laptops come with either the gt330 or radeon 4580 etc. Both will be more than sufficient if coupled with an i7-720qm or even an i5. The i7's have hyper threading so even though the base clock speed is a bit lower you have 4 physical and 4 logical cores. Plus, any of the cores can boost themselves up to 2.8 something. If you are super curious about intel architecture you can check out the 'Ark' on their website. I bought my laptop from The Source and it came out to about 1500 and change. It is the Satellite P500-00T. Google it and use those specs as a value baseline for any of your purchases.

All of this information is great if you are buying a high end laptop that will allow for every function including gaming. HOWEVER, all of this is not a necessity for doing common tasks, and to meet those specs will be costly, especially with a Macbook.

When buying ANY computer, you have to ask yourself, "What am I going to use it for?"

That question is EXTREMELY important in deciding what kind of machine you should purchase.

If you are going to be doing common things like typing, surfing the web, watching videos, the odd game and etc, then you may want to look at Windows based laptops instead.

Macbooks really shine because of their ease of use especially with complex software and hardware. I use mine for recording purposes and have never had a single problem with hardware or software installation. HOWEVER, the ease of use is generallly not worth the price tag, especially when you are just going to be doing common tasks.

Also, Macbooks generally fail at gaming. There are a few games that have Mac versions and run great, but it is not a platform that will be readily developed for anytime soon. With the price of the highest end Macbook, you could EASILY buy a simple netbook that can surf, watch videos, type and all that common stuff, AND you could buy a great pc for gaming. (Pc's will always destroy laptops in terms of high end gaming.)

With the release of Windows 7, there are not many things that Mac OSX does and Windows does not. In my own opinion, Macbooks have the most useful and comfortable trackpad out there, and have almost zero harware or software issues, but, are they worth the price if all you are going to be doing is basic, common tasks? Not really.

 

[Pusser]

Having used both platforms, I'm a confirmed and devout Mac user.  Buying one was the best thing I ever did (in the area of computer acquisitions).  I liked the MacBook that I bought before a deployment so much that I bought a desktop one when I got home.  The best thing I can say about a Mac comes from a Mac poster I saw at FutureShop:  "Why a Mac?  Because it just works."  And that's the truth of it.  I have never had some of the nightmarish problems loading software on my Mac that I have experienced with PCs.  It seemed with my PCs that everytime I wanted new software, I had to get my PC upgraded.  I've never had that problem with my Macs.  An important point with Macs is that the folks who make the operating system also make the platform and that is a huge bonus.  Also viruses are virtually non-existent.  Yes.  I'm sold.

Having said all of this, the downside is that the CF will provide a lot of software including Microsoft Office, for free that you are allowed to load onto your personal computer.  Unfortunately, it's only the Windows versions.  Mind you, when I bought my Mac, all PC laptops were only available with Windows Vista, which the CF wasn't using, so the freee software from work would not have done me any good anyway.  That was the main reson I started looking seriously at Macs in the first place.

 

[macknightcr]

I am not a huge gamer, I play some solitare if I am really bored but that's about it.  I have been using the iPhone for a while now and all my friends have Macbooks.  I want a laptop that will work well with school tasks (i.e. typing, researching, occasional youtube, etc.)  and then also last me for a few years after I graduate.  As said you get what you pay for and with microsoft office form apple.ca the MacBook would run a little over $1K, not too crazy.  From what I have read from fellow Apple users on this post I am sold, but are they compatible with RMC/CMR wireless networks?

 

[DexOlesa]

If thats all you want you could easily buy a $200-300 netbook. The downside is no disc drive. From what i understand there isn't actually wireless in the dorms at RMC unless you get a wireless router and pay for an internet connection on your own or as a group from a few rooms. Also compatibility for wireless networks is not an issue mac vs PC. As long as the laptop has a wireless card you will be able to connect to a network.

 

[macknightcr]

I thought I had read somewhere that there is a wireless network in some of the buildings, like the library.  I may be wrong, the only person I have to ask about RMC is my father and he graduated in '81 long before wireless networks haha.  I didn't know that apple and pc's could run on the same network so that's good to know.  And I want a computer to run fast, and from the netbooks I have seen they run really slow especially while mulit-tasking.

 

[DexOlesa]

your macbook or PC would work on any networks they do have (and i think you are right about the library and stuff having networks). Like I said netbook might not be your thing. Maybe you do want a mac, I just find them overpriced. As for slow My friend has an Acer netbook, that thing is ridiculously fast. Bottom line is, figure out what you are gonna use it for, gaming you need an expensive PC, composing music or other artistic things Mac's do have an edge. Just basic functions like essays, spreadsheets, surfing the internet etc. Cheap windows laptop, or netbook. 2-400 for the netbook 5-700 for the laptop vs 1200-2500 for the mac

 

[PMedMoe]

And he's asking what kind of laptop to buy, which has nothing to do with going to RMC or being a recruit.  It should have been put in Radio Chatter.

Seeing where this thread has gone (Mac vs. PC), I stand by my original post.

 

[SupersonicMax]

I am not a huge gamer, I play some solitare if I am really bored but that's about it.  I have been using the iPhone for a while now and all my friends have Macbooks.  I want a laptop that will work well with school tasks (i.e. typing, researching, occasional youtube, etc.)  and then also last me for a few years after I graduate.  As said you get what you pay for and with microsoft office form apple.ca the MacBook would run a little over $1K, not too crazy.  From what I have read from fellow Apple users on this post I am sold, but are they compatible with RMC/CMR wireless networks?

If you are going to do Engineering, I'd suggest a PC since a lot of the software you will use are for PC.  If you're doing the Arts thing, Mac is fine.  I personally have a Sony Vaio and a Macbook Pro and I like both, and use them for different purposes.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

And if you are worried about Office program compatibility then look into Openoffice.org.  That software exists for multiple platform and it's free!

 

[a_majoor]

Google is working on a different way to think about and use computers. Beta version is out now, I expect to see the finished product out sometime in the spring of next year:

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/26882/?p1=A1&a=f

The Browser Takes All
Google's new computer throws out everything but the Web.
By Tom Simonite

This week, Google unveiled a computer like no other: the Cr-48, a notebook that relies on the Web for all its software applications. Yet the Web search giant thinks the notebook can compete with computers that run all kinds of installed software.

The matte black Cr-48 won't be sold to the public, but thousands are being sent to consumers and businesses who have volunteered to test it. It introduces a new kind of operating system, called Chrome OS, that turns to the Web for almost everything. Google is pitching Chrome OS as its vision for a new form of computing—one that shifts the data, functionality and almost everything else you would expect from your desktop computer into the cloud. Chrome OS will get its biggest test when Acer and Samsung start selling notebook computers customized to run the software in mid-2011.

Google's Chrome OS vision is perhaps best understood by examining the differences between Chrome OS and the operating systems commonly used today, says Sundar Pichai, the vice president of product management for Chrome OS (and the related Chrome Web browser). Those differences come from a single design decision about the relationship between a person and his computer, Pichai says.

"Operating systems today are centered on the idea that applications can be trusted to modify the system, and that users can be trusted to install applications that are trustworthy," he says, "it turns out those are bad assumptions."

In contrast, Chrome OS assumes that applications and users can't be trusted. And it has just one application: the browser. "There's a cascade of things that happen when you make this core assumption," says Linus Upson, a Google VP of engineering working on the project, from making it easier to protect against malware, to reducing the need for users to act as administrator for their own system.

Chrome OS—based on a pared-down version of the Linux operating system—automatically downloads and installs its own updates. Any data downloaded in the course of using the Web is kept carefully in a secure place, separate from the OS.

Google still needs to prove that the simplicity of Chrome OS doesn't undo its usefulness. To this end, it has built a Web "app store" to encourage developers to create Web-based software that will match the diversity and functionality of the applications that can be installed on the hard drive of a Windows or Mac computer. These apps are basically advanced websites that offer similar functionality to desktop apps software.

Users of Chrome OS—as well as the Chrome browser on a conventional computer—can search or browse the Chrome Web Store and with a single click install apps. The store has far fewer software applications than are available for a conventional machine. But some Chrome apps can compete with more traditional, desktop applications, for example a Photoshop-like image editor, Aviary.

Pichai says the fact the app store takes payments—either one off or subscriptions—should stimulate the creation of apps that otherwise wouldn't exist because developers couldn't make them profitable. "I wouldn't find a random game on a website and give them my credit card details to pay $3.99. It's not worth the time or the risk."

Somewhat surprisingly, given Google's claimed commitment to the open Web, Google's app store is not compatible with other Web browsers. But it is possible to easily modify apps developed for Chrome's store for other "modern" browsers, says Pichai, since they use HTML5 and other web standards designed to enable advanced functionality, including working while offline. The latest versions of Internet Explorer, and other browsers, support those standards. However some features of Chrome apps remain exclusive to Chrome, such as 3-D effects that tap into a machine's graphics processor. "We need to make sure that apps can do everything that apps can do on the desktop today," Pichai explains. He expects other browsers to catch up as HTML5 and other new Web standards become more common.

Google has some way to go to prove that Chrome OS, and its Web app store, can compete with existing personal computers and software, says Michael Gartenberg, a research director at Gartner specializing in consumer technology. "The store today feels unfinished and even a little confused—some things appear to be just bookmarks while others are full apps."

Google hopes Web developers will soon change that, and also looks to be investigating ways to offer access to existing desktop apps on Chrome OS, says Glenn Weinstein, CTO of cloud app provider Appirio, whose employees will soon start using Cr-48s for work. Apporio notes that Citrix has developed a Chrome OS version of its widely-used software that allows desktop applications to be hosted on a server for access through a Web browser. "I think we'll see other major application providers appear that have worked with Google on this," he adds.

Whether this adds up to a product that can succeed will be easier to judge after Google's hardware partners, Acer and Samsung, unveil their devices, and pricing for those devices, next year, says Gartenberg. He expects the hardware to be low cost, but points out that Google's decision to bundle Chrome notebooks with 100 megabytes of "free" 3G data every month from Verizon for two years will work against that. "I'm paying for that data one way or the other," says Gartenberg.

With a reliance on constant connectivity and no hard drive, a Chrome notebook could be described as an overgrown smart phone with a keyboard. That raises the question of whether Chrome OS could appear on phones and tablet devices, competing with Google's other operating system, Android, which is developed by a separate team within the company.

"As a core experience Chrome OS lends itself to a number of form factors," acknowledges Pichai, "although the work needed to offer it on a touch interface is not done yet." For now Chrome OS is about introducing users and developers to a completely different kind of computing, he says. "It's not good to have just one model."

This choice could confuse some consumers, says Gartenberg, and that could hinder efforts to sell a radical new product. "Eventually they will have to figure out why these two things need to both exist and tell a cohesive story," he says.

Google's vision has momentum, though. Earlier this year a survey of over 900 tech experts on the Internet's future by the Pew Internet Project found that a clear majority thought cloud computing will become more dominant than the desktop in the next decade. "Several respondents to the survey mentioned the Chrome OS as an example, and they saw such a method as being a primary interface to nearly all small, smart devices," says Janna Anderson at Elon University, who coordinated the report.

 

[a_majoor]

How to look at different products  ;D