Lots of stupid laptop questions

[gingerj]

1) What sorta spec laptop should I be looking at to maintain a fairly good state for the foreseeable future?
2) Wireless networking err How? What do I need? I did a module on this in my computing degree Instead of teaching us useful stuff I know the IEE standard specs and that's it so it's crap :P

I've got a box in the loft hooked up to a telewest broadband modem, how do I make a wireless network so I can walk around the house (all 3 floors) googling?

[mid]

1) what do you plan on doing? 3D stuff looks to continue its headlong rush to ever more ludicrously powerful (and power-hungry) chips, so games is going to be a case of "spend all the money you can and hope". Personally I'd like a Core Duo on the CPU front, because they're so shiny, but you can probably manage without if you're not desperate for speed.

2) I'd recommend you buy a broadband router - the Linksys WRT54G is what I have hooked up to my NTL STB in the living room. Telewest is Cable, not ADSL, yes? If it's ADSL you'll want a model with built-in modem.

[andrewfee]

Does the modem have an Ethernet port? If so, then you just need to buy a wireless router such as a Linksys WRT54GL, plug it in, and then configure it via the web-based setup. ( http://192.168.1.1 by default)

As for laptops; I've got what was (and virtually still is) a top of the range 17" Powerbook from Apple from last year. The screen is beautiful, the machine is very quick... but I now wish I had something more portable.

It's very light compared to most PC laptops (3.4kgs - a lot of 15" PC ones are heavier) but the way I use it now is that I'm barely ever at a desk. Initially I thought I would just be using it to go from one desk to the other, so I wanted as big a screen as possible.

As it is now, I'm looking into an ultra-portable with a 12" 1024x768 screen, at least half the weight and twice the battery life. (I get 2-3 hours) I'm pretty much set on an IBM/Lenovo X41T.

I would not recommend buying a laptop with great specs to use as a portable gaming machine etc - if you want to play games, buy a desktop that provides the same or better power at half the price and is fully upgradeable.

With a laptop I'd prioritise battery life and portability first, power second. (of course it'd need enough to be usable for the tasks you do)

[gingerj]

What I plan on doing is web development... Eventually I'll be loading Ubuntu Linux on it... So I dont need a super fast 64bit processor But something that'll hold up for the next 12-18 months comfortably.

[andrewfee]

Ah; web development doesn't really need much at all. I have no problems doing anything on my 1.7GHz Powerbook, and I hear a Pentium M around that clockspeed is the same/faster.

Web development is all just text really anyway, unless you're using WYSIWYG editors.

I'd probably lean towards an IBM/Lenovo machine, as they're supposed to last forever. A lot of the "PC" laptops I've seen don't seem built to stand up to much.

[spagmasterswift]

This seems to be the current Laptop thread so I thought I would jump in.

Got around ?600 to spend on a laptop that will mostly sit on a table plugged into the mains (so size/weight and battery life aren't that important). Bought WHAT LAPTOP mag yesterday and they reckon the ACER Aspire 5002WLMi is a great budget Laptop (?565) let down by a poor ability to run 3D Graphics, which means gaming on it would be a no no!
That's cool though as I plan to take my consoles on line and have no interest in PC gaming.

Bored yet?

Anyways, if anybody has one can they let me know how they're getting on with it and if anybody has a better model around ?600 can they let me know so I can check it?

Sorry for the hijack...any advise/feedback would be great!

[gingerj]

According to someone at work some dell Insprion 1300 is good on the cheap i'm looking to purchase it. just i've gotta be careful cos i'm planning on running fedora core 5 on it so i gotta check if the hardware is cool and wont cause any problems.

[Jei]

I bought a Inspiron 1300 not so long back and it's a neat little machine, I never bought it for games but thought what the hell and tested a few older titles, Quake 3 Arena runs maxed out perfect, no slowdown at all......and I'm currently using it to play Guildwars in bed

It's by no means a gaming back and I recommend you up the to 512, oh and buy the bigger battery.

Other than that it's quite neat, Comes with Wireless enabled too. Let me know if there's anything else you wanna know about the machine

[gingerj]

How long does the battery last for?

[Jei]

The standard one that comes with it, i'm not sure, I paid the extra for the 6 cell one.

The 6 cell one playing Guild Wars is around 2 1/2 hours before it recommends charging, As for internet surfing etc i'm not sure. BTW that's using the wireless too.

[recipher]

As it is now, I'm looking into an ultra-portable with a 12" 1024x768 screen, at least half the weight and twice the battery life. (I get 2-3 hours) I'm pretty much set on an IBM/Lenovo X41T.

The X41 has been replaced by the X60 - much the same but with all the speed and battery life advantages of the Core Duo. The tablet edition isn't announced yet but it's defo coming.