Im gonna get a laptop this week, im asking for suggestions, I really dont want to spend a lot of money, and people are telling me the Vista package has a lot of glitches in it. I saw this Acer with 1g ram 160hard drive , 512mb shared memory. But its comes with Vista Home Premium, is there anyway to have the outlet remove vista and install XP to save memory? Is that a good idea, also if not is it possible to use external or add memory? Thanks anyone

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What I really need is the Laptop from Hell...that comes attached to an exercise bicycle as its only means of power...

That would probably be a great business venture. 30 of those with wi-fi in a gym.

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I ordered an OLPC a few days ago on the G!G! program. They say it should arrive b4 December.

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This is a rather interesting tho somewhat techy presentation about the OLPC.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-42855685185382...ype=search&plindex=2

Of course if it wasn't techy I probably wouldn't say it was interesting.

OK, I'm biased. Get off my back!

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I am entering this on my OLPC.

It finally showed up. Had to YELL at their service dept.

It found my D-Link wireless connection with no problem. I just had to enter the security code.

Some functions seem kind of slow. Maybe its Python and maybe they just put in too much graphics for a processor this slow. Evaluation in progress. The keyboard is annoyingly small but that is probably fine for a kid.

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Okay FINE!!!!

UMBRA!!! I was waiting on you to help me! I figured it out all by my lonesome anywhoo...

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Originally posted by Khalliqa:
Okay FINE!!!!

UMBRA!!! I was waiting on you to help me! I figured it out all by my lonesome anywhoo...

WHAT?!?

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quote:

Originally posted by umbrarchist:

quote:

Originally posted by Khalliqa:
Okay FINE!!!!

UMBRA!!! I was waiting on you to help me! I figured it out all by my lonesome anywhoo...

WHAT?!?

I was waiting on you to answer a question... and I got impatient! :-) I figured it out though... I needed a home use only laptop... for business... that could be quickly stored away out of sight... even the very slim attractive imac cannot be put away ... and I didn't want something stationary within the house... a laptop it would have to be...


Instead of a Mac Laptop I might need to get a Dell with some really super virus protection...

The Mac I want is $3000 !!!!


( I REALLY WANT I TOO!)... MacPro 17"



But there is a Dell XPS laptop that may be what I need...
DELL M2010




It's heavier than most laptops... its like a hybrid.. but that's really want I want... I don't want a PC... but I also don't want the itty bitty screens that come with many laptops...

Someone's going to buy it for me! So to be nice I figured I'd go for the cheaper *tee hee* The only drawback is that the Dell looks manly...


is it possible to get protection against spyware?

quote:

Originally posted by Khalliqa:

quote:

Originally posted by umbrarchist:

quote:

Originally posted by Khalliqa:
Okay FINE!!!!

UMBRA!!! I was waiting on you to help me! I figured it out all by my lonesome anywhoo...

WHAT?!?

I was waiting on you to answer a question... and I got impatient! :-) I figured it out though... I needed a home use only laptop... for business... that could be quickly stored away out of sight... even the very slim attractive imac cannot be put away ... and I didn't want something stationary within the house... a laptop it would have to be...


Instead of a Mac Laptop I might need to get a Dell with some really super virus protection...

The Mac I want is $3000 !!!!


( I REALLY WANT I TOO!)... MacPro 17"



But there is a Dell XPS laptop that may be what I need...
DELL M2010




It's heavier than most laptops... its like a hybrid.. but that's really want I want... I don't want a PC... but I also don't want the itty bitty screens that come with many laptops...

Someone's going to buy it for me! So to be nice I figured I'd go for the cheaper *tee hee* The only drawback is that the Dell looks manly...


is it possible to get protection against spyware?

What are you running for virus detection? I run Trend Micro PC-cillin which also has good spyware protection. I supplement this with freeware like Spybot Search and Destroy, AdAware 2007, and Spyware Blaster.

Finally, the network at school has Cisco NAC, so all personal computers that connect to it must run Cisco Clean Access.

I do not have any problems with spyware or viruses.

Thank you Kresge! I am NOT technologically savvy AT ALL... So all I had was Norton... and that worked just oookay... but then I let other people use my computer too... grrr...

I'll check the programs you listed... If I'm going to purchase a Mac I want the EXACT one... in the meantime I need a laptop with a big screen (for watching movies), excellent performance (business apps not gaming), easy to use and relatively inexpensive...

what do you think about the Dell? It's kind of klunky and built for gaming... but eh.. it's got a big screen... a nice size keyboard... and cheaper than a mac...

oh.. I guess I should look into their customer service rep... (I'm reading that even with an extended warranty, companies can not be very helpful)

Sorry, I don't pay much attention to laptops.

They are stylish and flimsy and too expensive.

This OLPC is the FIRST new laptop I have ever purchased. Other than that I have an old Panasonic Toughbook that I got off ebay. Looking at specs on equipment isn't good enough for me, I want to get my hands on it otherwise I can't evaluate it.

I would barely think about spending more than $500 on a computer these days. Used ones are too powerful. Just put in a new hard drive.

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Okay I'm going for the Macbook Pro 15" or either HP 8710p base series... :-), I went to Notebook Review and got a LOT of help...

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Notebook Review

Thanks for the link, I had never heard of it before.

This was in one of the reviews:

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In the very beginning I didn't see a big difference between consumer and business laptops. I was lucky enough to receive comments from people explaining that, as the laptop is my business tool, I should concentrate on business lines of HP, Dell and Lenovo. The last brand was not an option as good Lenovo ThinkPad laptops are above my budget (£1,300) in the UK.

http://www.dellreview.net/2008/02/precision-m6300.html

This is the kind of crap that pi$$es me off. As someone who has messed with electronics for 36 years and computers for 30 years this distinction between consumer and business is a totally artificial marketing strategy providing an excuse to charge more for the business/pro stuff. Making fewer models with fewer changes could give higher quality with lower prices.

Of course neither the computer industry nor economists emphasize the depreciation of this stuff.

I am really not into the desktop replacement philosophy. This man says he is going to use it mostly at home. I haven't used a laptop that has a keyboard as good as a desktop's and I like to get the old keyboards from the early 90's. That is what I am using now.

Plus how do you back up that desktop replacement? You can put two BIG drives into a desktop machine and use one as a mirrored backup. The second drive could backup the desktop and the laptop. I have a hard time not laughing at people when they use computer for years and their drive crashes and then they run around in circles wondering what to do. 200 gigabyte drives cost 1/3rd as much as I payed for my first TWENTY MEGABYTE DRIVE but people will risk data that will cost them thousands of dollars to replace.

It reminds me of reviews of stereo equipment back in the day.

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A thought just occurred to me for the proper product for the use you describe.

A wireless server stuck in a closet somewhere so it was always out of sight and a thin client notebook that you run your applications on the server from. So the notebook would not need to be all that powerful or expensive and the server could be built of totally generic parts to be powerful but inexpensive.

I haven't tested the range on this OLPC yet but it reached farther than a DELL Inspiron 4150. They once cost $1777. My apartment is on the 4th floor and the OLPC could communicate with my access point from the first floor but the DELL could not do it.

The OLPC with a better keyboard could be the perfect wireless thin client. One source said the range was more than one kilometer.

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