more laptop help...

[makakona]

I know your husband is not much of a tech guy so this may not matter but, while I would greatly appreciate the laptop as a gift - especially if it came from my wife - I would prefer to pick something out on my own. I am also a bit of a techno-snob so that may be just me.
it may not be just you, but it's definitely not him, haha. while it's been a while since i've done any computer shopping, he would be totally clueless as to what any of it meant. seriously... we have trouble getting him to work with aol email, he's that bad! he's mr. outdoors and really couldn't care less about anything tech unless it would help him tie flies more efficiently or have a better cast or something. he just wants something to use for work and since i have no clue what exactly he does there, in terms of computers, i'm not much help.

[makakona]

feel free to bump this to whatever forum is more appropriate... i'm looking more for officer input, here, as they'll know better what it is i need to look for.

so, any of you that know my husband, keep your traps shut! but i'm getting him a laptop and am somewhat clueless. i'm partial to gateway, though i'm not sure why, other than our desktop experience. he doesn't play any games or anything like that, it would just be for work only. (and if i wanted to steal it to hang out in the starbucks parking lot, haha.) all i seem to gather from other posts is that the screen should be smaller and that he doesn't need anything fancy? i'm last-minute checking the black friday deals and am officially utterly confused. do i really need the 58 year warranty and accident protection just because he's a cop? i mean, i know his big posse box was obliterated on the freeway, but his laptop shouldn't be seeing that kind of action, right? i'm trying to keep this as cheap as possible because, hey! he's not "doing" this job for the money! ;)

any input? anyone want to just tell me what to get? i HATE making decisions! thanks in advance!

[Welpe]

I know your husband is not much of a tech guy so this may not matter but, while I would greatly appreciate the laptop as a gift - especially if it came from my wife - I would prefer to pick something out on my own. I am also a bit of a techno-snob so that may be just me.

Now I know that you wanted to get him something for work so I will only chime in on some general suggestions. I will say that the extra warranty is a good idea. Check with your insurance company, you might be able to add the laptop onto your homeowner's or another policy for only a few dollars a year. I personally don't need the big software package a lot of them offer as an option, and you can usually find the programs cheaper online.

Some general guidelines: Try to stay away from Celeron processors as they seem to use the battery up quicker. The more RAM the better, I think the standard is either 512 megabytes or 1 gigabyte. I'd say get at least 1 gigabyte. If he will be using CAD or something else for his accident diagrams, you may want to go higher on the RAM. Since he would be taking this to work, a lighter computer is always better.

Lastly, don't let the salesman talk you into a bunch of accessories you're not positive you need, especially pricey software pacakges. I've found that AVG Virus Scanner is free and works very well, I much prefer it over something bulky like Norton, Symantec or McAfee. The newer versions of Microsoft Works seem pretty comprable to Office and usually come free with new machines. Remember if you think you might need it later, you can probably find it online cheaper than in the store. Good luck now hopefully an officer will come along to address his potential needs more specifically. :biggrin:

[Welpe]

You're in good shape then. I think if you stick to my suggestions and try to keep the price down you will find something he is happy with.

I would try to stick to Toshiba, Sony, HP, IBM (now made by Lenovo) or Dell and try to stay away from eMachines and Gateway. These aren't hard and fast rules, more personal preferences on my end.

[Chippysgt]

I pretty much agree with Welpe although if it was me, I would probably be leaning toward Dell, mostly because I have had such good luck with Dell. If you don't want to go the tax free, shipping free business you can get at a lot of on-line stores, than I would seriously be looking at Costco. They had an impressive line-up the other day when I was in their. For under $1000 you can get some dandy lap tops including a couple with 15.4" screens. I would also stick with Pentium.
Amazon is sometimes pretty good and no shipping charge on anything over $25. E-Bay can be good but you have to know what you are doing and who you are dealing with.


Good luck, I am sure he is going to be very happy on Christmas morning.

[makakona]

what about screen size? i thought a 15.4" was small enough, but i found out the 15.4" is as big as i thought the 17" was. eesh, this stuff is a pain. would smaller than 15.4" be better?

[Darth Choke]

Okay, this is my suggestion.

I am kinda "techy" but very practical. I DID NOT want the BEST, FASTEST, COOLEST laptop out there. Those type of laptops are considered "Desktop Replacements" and are HEAVY and not practical for the job.

What kind of laptop does a Chippy need?

needs to run Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc...)
needs to run the report writing program CARS
needs a fair amount of storage for drawings and pictures
must have a DVD player for those OT details
needs to have a CD burner for evidence pictures, etc...

Screen size? Well mine is 14" and sometimes I wish mine was a little smaller. He's gonna want something small/light to set ontop of the car laptop or carry from car to office to home. (NOTE- a GOOD quality protective bag is essential!)

I see Chippies w/ big laptops and some with the widescreen laptops. They are GREAT for movie watching but those are huge and annoying when you need to use them in the patrol car. If movie watching is THAT big a deal, buy a nice portable DVD player.

Other things to look for:

An upgraded screen that deals well in sunlight
Long life battery (I would get TWO if I were you)
a "M" chip processer - it is a "mobile" Microsoft chip that is made specifically for laptops to help the battery last more - less drain on power

Make SURE you don't get Corel's WordPerfect or Microsoft's Works to save a few pennies!! Get Microsoft Word (usually bundled w/ Excel and sometimes PowerPoint)

There is a limit though - don't go too small or it is very expensive and the keyboard will be too hard to use for reports.

I have always used DELL for my laptops and never had any bad experiences.

(by the way Makakona, we just had our second baby (at home of course). NO midwife - I caught him :biggrin: )

[Darth Choke]

Oh yeah STAY AWAY FROM GATEWAY :!: :!:

[makakona]

i was going to say that i was in love with darth... till i saw the "no gateway" post. bummer. i went with a gateway and i'll bet the screen will be too big. ah, well... guess he can hand it down to me and get something more compact. ;) your post is JUST what i was looking for, darth, and i think i did pretty well, especially considering the price. today is his birthday and i left things waaaay too last minute, but at least he got a laptop! oh, and seafood lasagna with accoutrements! mom and dad got the fancy-schmancy case, which i figured would be a must.

congrats on the baby! what brand and how big? did you plan on going unassisted? was your mother-in-law there? (she's your mother-in-law, right?) we're anticipating a seamless hb/wb, but definitely with a mw, and the husband is all too excited to do the catching!

[Darth Choke]

congrats on the baby! what brand and how big? did you plan on going unassisted? was your mother-in-law there? (she's your mother-in-law, right?) we're anticipating a seamless hb/wb, but definitely with a mw, and the husband is all too excited to do the catching!

Well we used a mw up to the birth and at the last second, my wife just decided, "why call her?"
My wife delivered in about 1hr 45 min (compared to 21 hrs) the first time. She was soooo relieved! My wife is convinced (me and my m.i.l. too) that she delivered w/o any problems and so quickly because NO ONE was poking her, checking her, waiting on her. (she never even pushed once - let the contractions do all the work)

It was great!

[Your Mentor]

Very cool Darth. Congradulations.

[dw]

I'm going to chime again to support Lenovo...

You can get an R60 with a 14" screen (plenty big, IMHO) for $800 out the door right now. No games? Get an integrated video system (no separate video card) to save battery life... A T60 series is a little smaller, and more durable, but costs a bit more.

If you're interested, I can help you build a custom system online.

We have a T60 and a Dell Latitude D620... Not even close, the T60 blows the Dell out of the water in every area, the biggest being battery life.


Whoops, just read you already bought one... Oh well, 10-22.