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Laptop ideas ?

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by bhinikhanna

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I am looking forward to buy a new laptop in some time and I am really confused. My old laptop was Dell Vostro 1500 with 1GB RAM and I must say..It SUCKS !! I had to format it several times and it is not that light weight. Can someone please suggest me something that is fast, light weight and affordable.
Thank you in advance for your help.

10 replies

by robo_dev

that has more to do with what OS you use, and what you do with/to the OS.

The Vostro is a Core2 Duo 1.8Ghz machine, and with 1GB of ram should run XP or Linux pretty well. It weighs 7 lbs, which is pretty average for a standard laptop.

If you want something light, get a netbook, but don't expect a netbook to be useful for any heavy-duty applications.

Most netbook processors are around 2GHZ and they are not dual-core, so it will be slower than what you have. They are a lot lighter, as a Dell Mini 12 weighs around 3lbs and costs around $400. I own a mini9 which weighs around a pound and cost less than $300.

by dpalsen

You may want to try a Panasonic Toughbook if you're perpetually having problems with the hard drive. They're more expensive, but they hold up pretty well against pretty much anything you can throw at them. If you're perpetually having to reformat, my guess is that your hard drive may be toast, which is often due to abuse.

by robo_dev

which can withstand a lot more abuse, obviously.

by nashtech

I don't think it's the laptop itself, if you had to format all the time. Did you ever check the hard drive, as they go out often on laptops due to them being portable.

If all you do is surf the web and check email, you probably don't need a new laptop! Get your hard drive scanned. Also, don't format every time you have an issues, without troubleshooting why it failed!

by older mycroft

[b][u]Fast[/b][/u] tends to be a larger laptop (to accommodate all the necessary hardware components)

[b][u]Lightweight[/b][/u] tends to be more and more expensive due to the manufacturer charging for everything being miniaturised

[b][u]Affordable[/b][/u] is an unanswerable question since no-one knows how much you want to spend

by oh smeg

A Dell Vostro is Fast and affordable if it is running some form of Linux like Ubuntu.

Anything that runs Windows will be slow, Insecure and expensive. Sorry by them are the facts of the matter as the faster the Hardware becomes the Slower the Code that they run becomes when you use Windows. M$ Suffers badly from Code Bloat and they are currently boasting that they have Windows 7 to run on a 15 GIG Space on your HDD.

Have you looked at just how much room that your current version of Windows actually uses? I'm guessing not. ;)

But for a decent priced and relatively good Performance a Benq R58 NB running Ubuntu 9.04 flies.

Col

Col

by mamies

I have a toshiba NB 200 with the latest Ubuntu and boy does it work well. I also had windows 7 on that machine and it ran well. I did spend an extra $40 on RAM for a total of $500.

The only problem is that it doesnt have a DVD Drive.

by mcazes

Your question reminds me a outdoor at a shoemaker repair shop. It says:
- Fast
- Inexpensive
- Good
Please choose two....

As far as your question goes, you should think about the value of your time (reformating and reinstaling all software in your laptop) and the extra cost of buying a real top quality laptop.

I made my decision years ago and I don't regret it a bit. I go for the top-of-the-line of a top brand, pay a few hundred bucks more and save time and money for years, considering that you will keep the laptop for at least 3 years.

I have a VAIO VGN-Z590 and it is a beautiful machine: Fast, Very Good, AND inexpensive if you consider the TCO (Total Cost of Ownershiip).

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