Laptop Computer?

[PIGLEE]

I was just currious about what brand of Laptop everyone is happy with?

[veritas]

For work

or for personal use?

[AZ-Tax]

I bot a Toshiba Satellite....

with an Intel Core 2 and Win 7 home. If it wasnt for my HP laptop with my XP os getting hot on me even with using an external fan cooler, I would have stayed with my XP os. I probably need to get more familiar with Win 7 and there is sure quite a bit of software that currently will not run with Win 7 which I assume there is probably updates which I have not yet got to all of them.

[erchess]

Quosmio

My XP Core Duo started turning itself off after random periods of from five minutes to an hour and the reason turned out to be the motherboard which would have been expensive to fix and besides the computer was four and a half years old so one question was what would give trouble next. I bought a Toshiba Quosmio with Windows 7 Ultimate and an M5 Chip. The M series ranges I think from three to seven and they are all single core 64 bit chips. I love this computer. I use it for work and personal. All the software I currently have is intended for use in XP and a couple of programs actually required me to tell Windows 7 to go into compatibility mode when one of these programs starts. My Drake software going back to 02 runs fine in native 7 mode, The transition was do-able for me even the first week in April. I was down for a week and a half (no returns in that period) and I still did not lose a client or put on extension any client who did not have her or his own reasons for wanting the extension, The comp has two hard drive bays even though it is sold with only one drive installed. I bought another drive and a normal Microsoft Supported copy of Windows 7 Ultimate instead of a cheaper OEM copy that would have been supported only by Toshiba and not necessarily included the full version of the program or a CD at all. I did this because I was going to have the shop I use mirror my old computer's hard drive onto the extra drive and set up the computer so that I could choose to boot it from either drive. For reasons I don't fully understand the shop said the new computer wouldn't boot from a mirror of my old drive and instead I would have needed to buy a copy of XP and install all my software and my data. They also said dual boot systems don't work very well and they said all my software would run in Seven. They transferred all my old data files and logically arranged them all in one folder for me. It took me a day to install the software and data I needed to survive the rest of the season and I am still working on the rest. But I love the computer and while I do think Windows XP was great for its time Seven is much better. I would recommend a 64 bit chip to anyone who gets a computer today but in my opinion unless you are into very demanding video games or hope the computer will last more than four or five years, multiple core 64 bit is an unnecessary expense. The computer I have will let me do a download, run a business application such as Word or Tax Prep, visit a website and have an IM conversation at one time. In the alternative it will let me run a tax prep program, an office suite, a research tool on my hard drive and a research tool on the web all at one time. I'm sure the day is coming when the chip I have won't be able to do all that with the then current software but I think it likely the computer will stop working before that time.

[WhiteOleander]

I got a HP Win 7 64 bit last January. Be advised that Adobe Flash will not run on Win 7 64 bit. No one told me that when I purchased it. Otherwise, I would have chosen something else. So many things require Adobe Flash.

A friend said he heard that the reason it is not being made compatible is because Apple owns Adobe Flash and the two can't make a deal. Don't know if that is true or not.

[taxea]

The Acer Aspire One. Awesome little computer and less than 400. Got it with WIN XP and i love it.

[FEDUKE404]

New Flash player

I got a HP Win 7 64 bit last January. Be advised that Adobe Flash will not run on Win 7 64 bit. No one told me that when I purchased it. Otherwise, I would have chosen something else. So many things require Adobe Flash.

A friend said he heard that the reason it is not being made compatible is because Apple owns Adobe Flash and the two can't make a deal. Don't know if that is true or not.

You may wish to look around here:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/features.html

"Flash Player 10.1 adds support for a broad range of mobile devices, including smartphones, netbooks and other Internet-connected devices, allowing your content to reach your customers wherever they are. ... This release also supports Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 desktop operating systems."

FE

[Peachie]

Acer Aspire

I purchased an Acer Aspire in November and really like it. It has Windows 7, 4GB memory, and a 500GB hard drive. I was blowing dust out of it and blew the back key off. Other than that, I really like that I can take it every where and use it. I bought a wireless printer to go with it.

Peachie

[WhiteOleander]

You may wish to look around here:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/features.html

"Flash Player 10.1 adds support for a broad range of mobile devices, including smartphones, netbooks and other Internet-connected devices, allowing your content to reach your customers wherever they are. ... This release also supports Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 desktop operating systems."

FE

Thanks. I will definately check it out.

[PIGLEE]

Thanks for your input. I had just bought a Toshiba, my first and last Toshiba, and after 3 weeks of getting it set up, it froze and would not restart. I was told to send it in, but could not because all my tax returns & other things were still on the computer. So while it was working I deleted everything off of it, and sent it into repair (after two more freezes). They replaced the hard drive. After 3 weeks of getting everything put back on it it froze again, and could not restart it, until 4 days later, it did restart, so I am again pulling everything off of it. I called Toshiba and requested a new replacement. NO!!!! Why I asked, she said because it is working, there is nothing wrong. I said but it turns its self off for 3 to 4 days, then it works again. This has hapened 4 times since I received the computer on March 4th. So when it stops again, I can send it into repair. But I but when they plug it in it will work again.

So I purchased an Acer AS5740-6025. I had never heard of this brand before, but did some research on it. NOT a bad price either.

Thanks for your input and suggestions.

Jan

[Roberts]

Sony

I own a Sony laptop and haven't had any problems. IMO, if you buy a basic laptop, they are all pretty similar and any will pretty much get the job done unless you are also handling a lot of graphics work.

JMO but do NOT buy a 64 bit system at this time as WhiteOleander sort of figured out. I looked at them and my tax software provider said they were not compatible so I went with a 32 bit version. A guy in my office bought a 64-bit HP computer and it was a massive nightmare. Even now, 6 months later, it's still a headache. Older scanners / printers aren't fully compatible, a lot of software is only partially compatible.

[Peachie]

My computer is a 64 bit

I own a Sony laptop and haven't had any problems. IMO, if you buy a basic laptop, they are all pretty similar and any will pretty much get the job done unless you are also handling a lot of graphics work.

JMO but do NOT buy a 64 bit system at this time as WhiteOleander sort of figured out. I looked at them and my tax software provider said they were not compatible so I went with a 32 bit version. A guy in my office bought a 64-bit HP computer and it was a massive nightmare. Even now, 6 months later, it's still a headache. Older scanners / printers aren't fully compatible, a lot of software is only partially compatible.

and I have had no problems with my software, printers, etc. Perhaps, because it came loaded with W7, it makes a difference. However, no problems here. All of my flash products work perfectly and I have upgraded all that I use. I know conflicts happen, maybe someone's looking out for me (smile).

Peachie

[Roberts]

and I have had no problems with my software, printers, etc. Perhaps, because it came loaded with W7, it makes a difference. However, no problems here. All of my flash products work perfectly and I have upgraded all that I use. I know conflicts happen, maybe someone's looking out for me (smile).

Peachie

Their biggest problem was an HP problem with Vista and their 64-bit processing. Might be completely different with another brand and as you said W7. We upgraded it to W7 and it helped.

I took their first computer back to Best Buy and took the replacement back to their Geek Squad to fix the problem. They had a disk from HP to fix the problem and install software that didn't come loaded properly. Still to this day, things like AVG, AOL, Adobe and their scanner all don't work at 100%. When they want an Adobe update we load it onto a flash drive from my computer and I install it onto theirs. For some reason - auto installs don't work on their computer for many products. It's a nightmare. Glad it's working for you.

[PIGLEE]

I ordered my Acer computer yesterday for 599.99. I tend to put things off a day or two, this time I did not. I checked on Amazon today, and discovered the same computer now costs 799.99. Wow, I got quite a savings.