Looking for Laptop Suggestions

[Mark Phillips]

Thanks for all the advice! My take away so far:
1. Buy a Mac - all problems solved, but I have no idea how to use it or
support it, and probably the most expensive choice.

2. Get a dual boot system - inconvenient, but I can support it for her long
distance

3. Netbook vs laptop - I agree the portability is important, but a
comfortable keyboard is a necessity. Definitely worth looking into. CNET
picked the Eee PC 1000HE as the top netbook....but it is black! (See #4
below).

4. Have her pick a different major.....I am not overly worried as she is
smart and has a year or two to explore before she chooses something..;-) She
is a whiz at math and science, so maybe she will return from the dark side
(her mom was poly sci/journalism major) before she graduates...;-)

4. Lisa picked up on a good point - my daughter is deathly afraid I will get
her a "black box" computer for college. I mean a real black box - square
corners, matte black. We don't agree on shoes, and we don't agree on the
need for a fashionable laptop....so I have to through in that as a
requirement as well....no square corners and matte/shiny black finish. Must
have color...I suggested spray paint, but didn't get very far.;-)

No one mentioned a VM solution - boot Linux and run Windows with some form
of vmware for ITunes. Am I looking at yet more expense for high end hardware
(lots of RAM and dual core)? I have tried vmware on my P4 2 GHz laptop and
it works but a little too slow. Also, the fan sounds like a blender on max,
so it kind of defeats the quiet aspect of a laptop.

I have also had great experiences with older Dell hardware, but I have heard
that their quality is falling.

Thanks for all the input - any vmware/other vm solutions on Linux fans out
there with recommendations for good laptop hardware?

Mark

On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 9:33 AM, Eric Cope <eric.cope at gmail.com> wrote:

> thats a good point. Let your kid buy themselves something so they value it
> enough not to close a lid on a pen.
>
> I bought my own IBM laptop and never closed the lid on a pen because I knew
> I counldn't afford to replace it!
>
> On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 9:27 AM, Charles Jones <
> charles.jones at ciscolearning.org> wrote:
>
>>  AppleCare doesn't replace broken LCDs (know from experience). And this
>> often happens with students, usually from having a pen laying on the
>> keyboard and closing the lid....*crunch*  :-)
>>
>> -Charles
>>
>> Eric Cope wrote:
>>
>> Get her an Apple (with AppleCare if you want the 2 years of extended
>> warranty).
>> Great hardware. Its light, it works with iTunes, Office or OpenOffice.
>> The best deal is refurbed from Apple's site.
>>
>> 13.3" Macbook white - $849.
>> http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB402LL/A?mco=MjE0NDk5Mw
>>
>> Don't curse her with Windows...
>>
>> Eric
>>
>> On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 9:09 AM, Charles Jones <
>> charles.jones at ciscolearning.org> wrote:
>>
>>> If you never want to have to worry about problems with it. Get a Dell
>>> and the "Complete Care" warranty. You can literally throw your laptop
>>> against a wall and they will fix it good as new. Things I have seen them
>>> fix, while having to support some employee laptops.
>>> * Replaced shattered LCD - multiple times
>>> * Replaced smashed keyboard from someone pounding it with their fist,
>>> multiple times
>>> * Replaced outer casing to fix drop damage
>>> * Replace hard disk
>>> * Replace motherboard
>>> * Replace onboard trackpad and/or mouse buttons
>>> * Replace broken USB ports
>>>
>>> Basically they fix anything wrong with it, and they come to wherever
>>> you/she is to do it. All of the damage above was from abuse, and they
>>> still made it just like new.
>>>
>>> -Charles
>>>
>>> Mark Phillips wrote:
>>> > My oldest is heading off to college in the Fall, and she needs to take
>>> > a laptop with her. She has used Linux all her life, but only from
>>> > Gnome, so Windows, Mac, Linux are all "the same" to her. She is a
>>> > journalist, not a computer geek. Anyway, one significant requirement
>>> > is for iTunes to work with her iTouch (i.e. buy music and download to
>>> > her iTouch). I have not been able to get Wine/iTunes to work with
>>> > Debian, so I have resorted to a single Windows computer just for a few
>>> > games and iTunes at home.
>>> >
>>> > Any recommendations (1) for laptops and (2) how to keep her using
>>> > Linux and not shelling out extra bucks for a Mac, or heaven forbid, a
>>> > Windows machine?
>>> >
>>> > Thanks!
>>> >
>>> > Mark
>>>
>>
>>
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