Pink Poogle Toy Forum

My mom wants to get me a laptop for a graduation present so she told me to find one I like. The problem is I know next to nothing about laptops. I know my friend got an external floppy disc drive for hers and thats about it.

My plan is to bring both my laptop and my desktop to college. So I have some questions about laptops. Do I need to get an external drive since I'm going to keep the bulk of my documents and stuff on my desktop? What about internet access? Can I go wireless? What models are best?

I have a Dell computer and I've always been happy with Dells, so I was thinking that is where I would get my laptop, but I really don't know.

I'm not a computer programer or an engineer so I don't need a super expensive or complicated one.

I was just wonder if you guys could fill me in about laptops. Thanks.

ALSO, I was wondering if there is a way to make it so a laptop can record voices? Like a tape recorder? I saw something about a laptop that could record speeches and lectures and I was wondering how that would work.

If this is in the wrong spot I'm sorry, I figured computing would be the best spot to put this.

I'd suggest getting a MAC iBook or Powerbook. They rock!!! And a USB drive if you want to transfer documents to and fro.

Yes, iMacs are pretty good, but Dells aren't bad either.

I know that Dells can have WiFi cards put into them, and usually have a place to plug in the internet, or at least an adaptor for it. They can usually hold about 20 gig nowadays, so you shouldn't need an external drive. There are some programs you can buy that record voices, but you'll probably need to by the microphone and various other things as well to do so. My experience with computer microphones is that they don't work too well with distance, but you could try it for recording classes.

Have a look at Acer laptops if you're looking for maximum quality for non extreme prices. I have a top of the range laptop from them that outperforms 95% of other laptops and it only cost £1000 =) (Plays top games like HL2 and Doom3 at high quality with no problems). They're the 3rd biggest laptop company worldwide and because they're German they are built to last. Mine has a 60gig HD so no need for extra especially with a desktop, and a USB key is definitely a good idea for transferring =)

Acer quailty is beyond excellent

I recommend IBM or Toshiba. I strongly do not recommend Dell, HP or Compaq. They simply do not last because of the cheap parts used.

Thank you everyone for your input, I'm keeping it all in mind. On another note, how do Sony VAIO's compare for a laptop? Times like these I wish I knew more about computers, but I'm a bit computer challenged at times.

-nod- My current laptop is HP and I hated it after a week.

Sony Vaio's are pretty good in general, just quite expensive for what you get compared to other laptop brands.

Example: my friend has a Sony Laptop worth around £1500 and it doesn't have as good specs as mine does. Also in my experience they do tend to be a bit more breakable when it comes to their disk drives but other than that they're good performance wise =)

My sister has one of those. No problems and she's been using it for over a year

I strongly suggest an iBook, or if you have the money; a Powerbook. I had an iBook G3 that lasted three & a half years without <i>any</i> problems. Wonderful hard-wearing laptop. It doesn't take more than a week or so to get used to the new operating system. It's quite simple.