Laptop

[Dai the Socket]

http://www.apple.com/getamac

[Krisboats]

http://www.apple.com/getamac

He's on a budget though, and those overly-complicated doorstops don't come cheap.

[Dai the Socket]

He's on a budget though, and those overly-complicated doorstops don't come cheap.

Haha. £500 is a bit tight for a Mac. I think for £600 Education Price you'll get one which is like 2ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB Ram, 13.3" Widescreen, Webcam built-in, Remote, 667MHz Frontside bus, 80GB HDD, CD R/W DVD/R.

Pretty average lol.

[Charlie Jennings]

Like the halfords of the computing world sometimes you'll find a member of staff who know what they're on about, most of the time its just some spotty teen who'll try and flog you something to get rid of you. Prices, again like halfords, are on par or just slightly more than most other places. And again, like halfords... their service centre is a complete joke and far too expensive for what it is.

lol. They sell mac's you dont need them servicing

[Krisboats]

lol. They sell mac's you dont need them servicing

Halfords sell middleburns, you don't need them servicing

Besides, you don't service a mac... you have to have it sent off to mac HQ

[Charlie Jennings]

How about this

Item Specifics - Apple Laptops

Product Family:

PowerBook

Hard Drive Capacity:

80 GB

Processor Type:

PowerPC G4

Operating System:

Mac OS 10.3, Panther

Processor Speed:

1,330 MHz

Screen Size:

12 inches

Memory (RAM):

768 MB

Condition:

Used

Item Specifics - PC Laptops

Brand:

--

Condition:

Used

Processor Speed:

1.33 GHz

Processor Type:

1.33GHz G4

Hard Drive Capacity:

80 GB

Memory (RAM):

768 MB

Screen Size:

12 inches

Primary Drive:

DVD+/-RW

Features:

10/100 LAN Card, Firewire, Modem, Operating System, USB, WiFi Enabled

Starting bid £349.00

Besides, you don't service a mac... you have to have it sent off to mac HQ

When do you have to do that?

I've done that once. My screen went in my iMac. They got it back to me in 3 days. Free of charge. The phone center's aren't foreign and they dont speak to you like crap.

Edited September 4, 2007 by cjskate

[Nick Garland]

Visual effects... Even on the old athlon 64's and XP x64 there was a noteable difference in speed. Though driver support was virtually non-existant. Turning on visual effects in vista won't reduce the speed of the processor, the visual effects are handled by the graphics card...

I never said it would slow the processor, I said on budget/mid range hardware it would run slightly slower (missed the word run before)

I am still sticking with what I said, a lot of people will agree (maybe not on this forum) but it is time to jump to x64.

[mavic]

Ah lads lol, im reading this and thinking, that there are soo many taptops around and have not come to a

real conclusion yet. i am thinking the £399 Acer aspire, its got everything i need, its and all round ok comp?.

[Nick Garland]

Check out the £400 dell thats floating around the bottom of the first page, its good for the money.

[mavic]

Check out the £400 dell thats floating around the bottom of the first page, its good for the money.

Thanks man looking now .

£399 dell

Right the link that, Rowan put up the £399 dell in that looks nice, good memory, vista, and stuff, this lap top stuff is making some sort of sence lol.

Erm this may sound bit silly but will this come with microsoft office?.

Edited September 4, 2007 by mavic

[Krisboats]

I never said it would slow the processor, I said on budget/mid range hardware it would run slightly slower (missed the word run before)

I am still sticking with what I said, a lot of people will agree (maybe not on this forum) but it is time to jump to x64.

Depends really. The only real visual effect that would slow a computer down in vista is the Windows+tab function. But this requires a capable processor especially when handling multiple real-time video windows. Everything else is easy work, and should be easily manageable by something like the old celeron M processors and a standard grahics solution like the offerings by SiS.

As for switching to 64-bit. Well... this was written two weeks ago.

Is the Time Right for 64-bit Computing?

The answer to this question is both yes and no. The industry is reaching the limits of 32-bit computing for much of the higher end computer market such as enterprise and power users. If computers are to increase in speeds and processing power, it is necessary to make the jump to the next generation of processors. These are systems that generally require much more memory and large number calculations that will get the direct benefits of a 64-bit platform.

Consumers are a different matter. Much of the tasks that the average consumer does on the computer are more than adequately covered by the existing 32-bit architecture. Eventually, users will get to the point where the switch to 64-bit computing will make sense, but currently it does not. How many consumers out there will likely even have 4 gigabytes of memory in a computer system even in the next two years?

The real benefits of 64-bit computing will eventually trickle down to the consumers. Manufacturers and software developers like to limit the variety of products that they have to support to try and reduce costs. Because of this, they will eventually focus solely on the production of 64-bit hardware and software. Until that time, it is going to be a bumpy ride for those who choose to be early adopters.

This one, wirtten august 3rd.

Virus Bulletin security certification body tested a number of antivirus software solutions for 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and discovered that security firms are struggling to provide satisfactory protection for the operating system and users.

Here’s how an article on vnunet.com describes the situation:

Here’s yet another reason why 64-bit (at least a Microsoft 64-bit solution) is just not worth considering for desktop systems. The operating system itself as a stand-alone product might be ready (and I use the word might pretty loosely here) but the hardware and software ecosystem that’s needed turn a PC from a paperweight into a tool are far from ready. 64-bit is a rocky road of hardware issues, software issues, driver issues and now security worries, all for little upside in the end. Unless your needs are pretty specific, it’s unlikely that you need to switch to Vista 64-bit.

Microsoft might want us all to gradually abandon 32-bit for 64-bit, but before this happens the road has to be made easier and far less uncertain that it is currently. Will 64-bit Windows be ready for prime-time come Windows 7? You know, given the slow adoption of Vista 64-bit on the desktop and the lack on enthusiasm on the part of vendors to support it, I’m starting to doubt that the next version of Windows will be 64-bit only. If consumers and businesses find the migration to Vista tricky when there are the two flavors to choose from, Windows 7 is going to be a total nightmare if it’s 64-bit only.

Unless your a business looking for cutting edge hardware, a hardcore gamer or wanting the most from encoding media then vista 64 is not for you. Hell, in august iTunes didn't support vista 64-bit, so any users of the iPhones or iPods can't get songs on their little pieces of consumer marketing. I'm pretty sure its been/being fixed now though.

For most people vistax64 isn't a good choice at the minute, and most people would only see the problems and not the benefits.

[Nick Garland]

iTunes deffinately fixed as I updated my shuffle other day.

I would not say I am a hardcore gamer or such but I do run a lot of media applications and such, also do some programming here and there. I do not really need 64 bit but its deffinately faster than 32bit vista, got 64 on pc and 32 on laptop. So far only 4 programs I use are still not x64. Firefox, uTorrent, VLC and MSN Messenger. Firefox does have a 64 bit version but I chose not to use it as its not official and is more from the community, not totally into trusting it yet.

As you said for average joe, such as my dad, a computer n00b, 32bit is better, but for people who know what they are doing 64 seems good.

Came across my first problem with it today though, my DV cam doesnt do USB streaming anymore, nothing major seeing as I use the 1394 connection anyway.

As for the laptop coming with office I highly doubt it as office alone is something like £100. Look in the right places on the net and you may find it very cheap/free. You will probaboly get microsoft works though.

[Krisboats]

Look in the right places on the net and you may find it very cheap/free. You will probaboly get microsoft works though.

I bought my copy of office 2003 off ebay for £6 a good 3 years ago now. I think ebay may have clamped down on sales now though , i don't reckon mine was original.

[Nick Garland]

Its not the cheapest out there, but still not a bad price for office 2007 OCUK#

I was fortunate enough for my friend to give me a copy, his dads worked ordered too many and were selling the enterprise edition for £20 a piece .

[mavic]

Its not the cheapest out there, but still not a bad price for office 2007 OCUK#

I was fortunate enough for my friend to give me a copy, his dads worked ordered too many and were selling the enterprise edition for £20 a piece .

would u be kind enough, to pop it in the post and when i send it back with a bit of money would that be acceptable :Px.

[mavic]

Dear computer people i am going for this:dell £399

Team war rider i think knows whats hes on about lol, thanks to everyone who put input into this thread and helped

Danx.