Laptop help.

[chargirlgenius]

I’m in the market for a new laptop, for work and for play. It’ll be my personal laptop (purchased by me), but it has to perform well enough to handle being a work laptop twice a week as well. I get a bit of a deal on Dell systems from work, so I’ve been looking in that directions. Don’t know exactly what kind of discount yet.

All of the cheaper, home-use Dells have glossy screens, and after using the glossy on the Vaio, I’ve realized that I hate it. I’d like to be able to work outside or at the kitchen table, and glare is a big problem there.

We don’t do a lot of heavy gaming, really, Jeff just plays a lot of Mafia Wars and the like, but that’s about it. I don’t game at all. I know myself and don’t want to get addicted. :-D

Some video editing capabilities would be nice, but it doesn’t have to be high end. We’re talking home movies stuff.

I tend to have lots of windows open at once. Our current laptop acts like a dinosaur in that regard, though it’s only a couple of years old. I’m thinking I want 4GB of RAM. What kind of performance difference am I going to see between, say, 2.26GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, and 2.53GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB? If I’m not gaming, does that matter more, or memory matter more?

Can you tell I’m a computer moron?

Integrated mobile wireless with Verizon is a nice-to-have, but not necessary. If it’s not included, I’ll probably just tether my crackberry to it.

I won’t be carrying it back and forth to work, but I don’t want a brick either. Can’t afford a Macbook Air. :-D I want a decent sized screen, though I’ll eventually get a second monitor and dock it. Needs to be able to dock. Can all laptops dock?

So, recommendations? I'm open to Mac, but price is a consideration. I’ve been leaning towards a Dell Latitude E6500, with XP instead of Vista, upgraded to 4GB RAM, and the Verizon built-in Mobile Broadband (they have a rebate so it’s free).

ETA: For that matter, is Vista really that bad?

Comments

[aeddie.livejournal.com]

If you don't have a 64-bit operating system, either XP or Vista the OS can't take advantage of the 4GB of memory.

If your CrackBerry is from Verizon (or possibly other carriers) using it as a tethered modem would be cheaper than a mobile card in the notebook.

I've got a 17" screen on my HP but I think that for most people a 15.4" would work better. However on this size screen you don't usually get a number pad.

Almost all notebooks have some way to dock, either through a docking port or a universal dock through the USB port.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

That's very helpful - thank you! I don't really care about a number pad - I was annoyed the first time I didn't have one, but I've gotten used to it. I might still think about a bigger screen though.

[aeddie.livejournal.com]

A 17" screen, while looking good sucks down battery life and makes it much heavier.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the crackberry tethering is $15/month, but it's kind of a pain to not be able to use my phone at the same time as I'm online. For all day use, it might be worth it to have the mobile card. We use a mobile card on the other laptop, and it's such a PAIN, because the connection tends to go south just after a few months. It's just a USB, so it's sticking out and not very reliable.

Then again, we're considering satellite as a backup, or maybe primary with my crackberry as backup. Satellite has slow upload, so I'm not willing to go 100% with that.