Laptop or Desktop?

[Asilynne]

Hey, I need the help of whoever knows computers pretty well. Im going to be starting some online courses soon but I very desperately need a new computer. This one Im on likes to crash webpages, is very slow, and cant do more than 1-2 things at once. It also doesnt have wordpad....so in other words it kinda sucks and it makes me want to throw it across the room.

But Im also not looking to spend a whole lot, Id like a nice cheap computer that can load webpages very fast and maybe even let me listen to music while Im working. Id like a laptop the most, but I dont know much about laptops and how they connect to the internet. I found what looks to be a pretty good laptop, 1gb ram and 160gb harddrive for $300 but it says its refurbished and Im not sure if thats a good idea or not. I dont want it to die after buying it -.- So yeah, Id prefer a laptop but if a desktop would be better Ill go with that. Can anyone recommend anything?

[Knight of Time]

Well, from experience in having a laptop of my own, not to mention some general computer knowledge, you really can't go wrong with either kind of computer, just as long as it's new. I have a preference to Dell computers myself (even though my laptop isn't from Dell, it's an Acer Aspire).

If you're trying to connect to the internet though, I strongly recommend getting a wireless router and creating a network on it for your home, like what I did. I also recommend using a modem with the wireless router, you don't have to use a dial-up or broadband connection if you can get the internet connected through the router, although you may want to look for a professional, like one from your internet service provider, to help you there.

[Telume]

Generally, webpages loading slow have nothing to do with the processor. That has more to do with the internet connection but, anyway.

TBH, if you're a student I recommend more going with a laptop than a desktop. But it all boils down to preference. You also don't need some high-end quadcore processor to do it either. A simple Celeron or a low-end Duo Core might suffice for you, unless you plan on getting into something media-based (like Music or Cinematography) in which case you may need to shell out the cash no matter what.

To make things simpler:

Laptop

Pros:
Portability
Ease of Setup (No bunches of cables.)
Cheaper

Cons:
Can get heavy, especially if you buy a Media laptop
Overheating issues (especially with Toshiba)
Harder to customize (Most of them come with software built-in and if you screw something up you CAN brick it.)

Desktop
Pros:
*GENERALLY* Easy to Customize (some come with built-in stuff like the Dells, but, they are less likely to brick if you try to customize.)
Generally more powerful than Laptop counterparts

Cons:
Not portable
Might not be cheap (depending on what you get.)
Setup ranges from complicated to simple (depending on all the extra hardware you may need.)

[Asilynne]

Well my degree is veterinary science, so I wont have to deal with a lot of media stuff, all Im really looking for media wise is being able to listen to music and work at the same time. I have cable internet right now which normally is fast but is slow as shit on this comp -.-() And my webpages crash with no warning often. Its looking like laptops are better for me though, so would a refurbished one be a good idea?

[Master Rudy]

Its looking like laptops are better for me though, so would a refurbished one be a good idea?

First and formost Brandy there's some questions you need to ask yourself in regards to if you want a laptop or a new desktop.

First is the matter of personal preference. For example I personally HATE laptops. John had one for awhile before he got his new computer and the two of us tried WoW with me on the laptop and him on the desktop I eventually bought from him. Suffice to say without an actual mouse it was a very bad idea on my part. The touchpads on a laptop are usually tempermental at best but that's usually taken care of with a good wireless mouse for a notebook.

Anyway while laptops can be decent once you get used to them there's also the whole issue of battery power. Now most newer laptops running Windows 7 have better power management than XP and Vista and can run longer on a full charge. That being said I do seem to recall you had the occasional bad habit of not charging up your cell phone. I'm by no means an expert on laptops but if I recall most big name brand systems will have 4-6 hours battery life on a full charge (and from what I've seen of user reviews on some computer websites 4 hours is considered a short amount of time)

There is also the issue of what you want this thing to do. Granted you say the main purpose is school work and perhaps using WMP to listen to your CD's and MP3's and perhaps watch the occasional DVD or BRD if the computer is equipped with either of those (and if it's a Win7 system then you best make sure it has a DVD player in the event you got to reinstall). However I know you. You may not have been a huge gamer but even you got to admit some of the games you did play were close to taxing on your old HP with it's crappy little intergrated chip. If you look to play either The Sims 2 or Civ4 on either a laptop or a PC then I'd have to imagine any newer system made in the last year or two should be able to run them fine by now with little to no issues. However if you have plans to move on to The Sims 3 in your spare time I'd seriously look at specs. There's also the issue of if you only look to do school work on your computer. If you honestly don't see yourself lugging that thing around day in and day out then just get a desktop. Desktop PC's that are the same price as laptop PC's tend to be a bit more powerful in what they can do. Also if you absolutely need to do your classwork on a school computer then simply invest in a 32 GB flash drive. Not only will you have a decent amount of space but if the school allows it you could also plug in your headphones to the school computer and store a good amount of music on 32 Gigs.

Finally in regards to used or refurbished systems. Granted these can save you money but there is considerable risk in both. Think of the times you've been shopping for used cars. You see something promising but when you look at it up close you know there is no way in hell you'll buy the damn thing. With a used computer it's not so easy. This is by no means a knock at you but do bear in mind that your own computer knowledge is somewhat limited. As a result you may not know some of the warning signs to look out for. In some cases you may have no clue how old the system and parts actually are and how much they are actually worth. Perfect example was my mom. Two years ago she got suckered into buying a used computer that originally ran Windows 98. Somehow before sellling it to them they managed to get WinXP running on the damn thing but it seriously bogged down the system. This was a computer with 128 MB of RAM, an 8 GB hard drive and a burned out CD-ROM drive. Never mind how slow it was.....the real question is how in the blue fuck did XP run on the son of a bitch. She paid $500 for it ~_~()

There's also the matter of used systems and the browsing habits of the people who originally used them. First off the majority of people are not going to take the time to do a clean install before giving it to you (never mind the fact that most are willing to sell you a computer without wiping out their personal data ~_~() )
In some cases what you may potentially find on the computer prior to a reformat can be scary. True story: in a computer class I took in high school a student bought a used system and donated it to the class so the teacher could show us how to do a clean install of Windows, where certain program files were, ect. To the surprise and horror of the class, hidden away deep in some of the folders that were suppose to be system files we found the porn stash of the previous owner.....and we're not talking the arousing type. We're talking about the creepy shit ~_~()
You'd also be surprised at how often people don't keep virus software, drivers, ect up to date. There's also the sheer number of people that don't run even the most basic of mantainence utilities such as disk defragmenter. Finally don't forget people like your mom with horrendous internet browsing habits that believe EVERYTHING they see on the internet:
Victim-Well of course there's a virus on it! The little thingy on the top of that one webpage gave me a virus warning and said I wasn't protected and had to click it now!
Repair guy-And yet you didn't notice the horrible Engrish or the fact that the icon on the taskbar for your actual scanner were showing everything was ok?
V-What's the taskbar?
RG-*Picard facepalm*

As for the refurbished systems most are usually revered to a "factory fresh" state. However the sheer fact that a system had to be refurbished in the first place is a major red flag in my book. It's my personal believe that if the thing had to be refurbished then something must have been seriously wrong with it. Granted it can be argued that many used cars are also "refurbished" but think about it. If you had the choice of anything and the money was no object would you honestly be buying a used car that wasn't a classic with entirely brand new parts? When if comes to a computer I say that that if it failed once then it'll fail again. Your now 4 year, 10 month old HP has proven that time and again. Refresh my memory......is this disc boot error #3 or #4? :confused:


Bottom line is this Brandy: those of us on TPM with varying degrees of computer knowledge can all tell you what to get. In the end it's nothing more than the opinion of that person. You can look at those opinions but at the end of it all you need to ask yourself more than anyone what it is that you are looking for. Sure the laptop may be nice but do you really see it traveling with you everywhere? Do you see yourself potentially bringing it with you and then lamenting over the fact that you forgot to charge it in a critical moment? Is your desire for a simple office system eventually going to have you wishing you got a media center/gaming model instead?

Bearing these questions in mind I offer several suggestions. Two desktops, two laptops. One for each class. These will mainly be HP systems I'm suggesting. You may need to forgive my HP bias as I love their systems. With the exception of Brandy's computer (which was a floor model, hence it was on in full power mode for a good 8-12 hours a day, 7 days a week for god knows how long) I have never personally had a problem that wasn't caused by human error in 10+ years of using them (seriously the only things that aren't HP on my system are my Logitech MX518 gaming mouse and my monitor.....and the monitor is off to the scrap heap in about two weeks when I get the cash for my 23 inch HD HP monitor :P)

Even if you don't go with HP this'll give you a decent idea at what kind of specs you'd be looking for at each price point. As a final bit of advice always stay away from Dell. They always seem to be far overpriced for what's in them :P

Office systems:
HP Pavilion Laptop: Model #dv6-2044dx (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+with+AMD+Turion%26%23153%3B+II+Du al-Core+Mobile+Processor+-+Espresso+Black/9641083.p?id=1218135732197&skuId=9641083)
Sells for $619, comes with Win7 Home Premium 64 bit, Microsoft Works, 4 GB of RAM and a 250 GB hard drive.

HP Pavilion Slimline Desktop: Model #s5212y (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Slimline+Desktop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+ Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor/9548297.p?id=1218122577318&skuId=9548297)
Sells for $399, comes with Win7 Home Premium 64 bit, Microsoft Works, 60 day free trial of Microsoft Office 2007 Student Edition, 3 GB of RAM and a 320 GB hard drive.

Gaming systems:
Samsung Laptop: Model # NP-R780-JS01US (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5 +Processor+-+Black/Red/9728443.p?id=1218161511080&skuId=9728443)
Sells for $799, comes with Win7 Home Premium 64 bit, 60 day free trial of Microsoft Office 2007, built in webcam, 4 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive and a Nvidia GeForce GT 330M graphics card with 1 GB of graphics memory.

HP Pavilion Elite Destop: Model #HPE-110F (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883147087&cm_re=pavilion_elite-_-83-147-087-_-Product)
Sells for $809 on New Egg, Win7 Home Premium 64 bit, 8 GB of RAM, 1 TB hard drive and an ATI Radeon 4350 HD graphics card with 512 MB of graphics memory and HDMI support (for a HD monitor ^_~)


Now granted those computers are all just the specs at a quick glance. If you want to know more then click on them. If you need what everything means translated into layman's terms I can do it somewhat but would recommend someone with a little more knowledge than myself. Now if you do decide to do a desktop instead of a laptop but don't need so much power behind it then really there's no choice: go with the HP Slim. It still manages to be more powerful than your old HP, takes up almost no space on the table and if you can somehow get a decent graphics card into that compact frame then you'll have a halfway decent and cheap PC that'll play the games you have and last you a little while. Mind you I doubt it'll play newer games like The Sims 3 or Dragon Age so don't even try. You don't want that Oblivion fiasco again......

Finally if your willing shell out the money for Windows 7 at a later date I also found a clearence item. If could be an absolute gem for you if you can get around it's one glaring weakness:
HP Pavilion Elite: Model #E9120F (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883147078&cm_re=pavilion_elite-_-83-147-078-_-Product)
Almost the same exact specs as the Elite above. The big difference is it comes with a Blu-Ray player and is only $600! :eek:
Of course that glaring weakness you ask of? Windows Vista......either shell out another $120 for the Win7 disc or find an extremely nice friend who hasn't put their copy on three computers yet :P


Anyway I hope all the info I provided gives you a little bit of help in the matter Bran. If I was you I'd personally go with the Elite E9120F and buy Seven. Cheaper than the other Elite and it's got a damn Blu-Ray player to boot! ^_~

Of course you ain't me and the choice is all yours in the end so carry on :heh:

[Telume]

Well my degree is veterinary science, so I wont have to deal with a lot of media stuff, all Im really looking for media wise is being able to listen to music and work at the same time. I have cable internet right now which normally is fast but is slow as shit on this comp -.-() And my webpages crash with no warning often. Its looking like laptops are better for me though, so would a refurbished one be a good idea?

Coming from a guy who has experiences with refurbished computers, if you get it get it from a reputable dealer. If you buy from eBay, always get it from someone with over 5000 ratings, those people with 100-500 are good but they're never straight-up with the shit that happens with the comp.

Personally, I would get it brand new, that way I KNOW it's in good condition. There are brand new comps for cheap, I got my Toshiba Satellite for 400 bucks, and it's a recent model considering it had Vista.