recommendation needed for new laptop

[jiarby]

It's not all about processor, RAM and hard drive specs... it's how the CPU is optimized to perform more efficiently with the hardware installed.

It is always the guys with little peckers that claim size doesn't matter....

The #1 thing is processor power, then RAM, then HDD space.

I use a kitchen analogy when describing how these three things interact to deliver power.

The CPU/Processor is your stove burner. More BTU's means a hotter fire faster.
The RAM is your skillet. A bigger skillet means you can cook more food at once.
The HDD is your fridge. It is where you store your food.

If you need to cook scrambled eggs for 40 poeple but you only have a 2 egg skillet and a coleman propane camp stove then it is going to take a while...

If you have a 45,000 BTU Camp Chef Stove and a 20" Griswold Skillet then you can cook all 40 at once and be done in a jiffy.

Power Matters
Size Matters
Storage Matters, but not as much.

But until you have worked on both Mac and PC regularly, you simply don't know what you are talking about

I know exactly what I am talking about.

My loyalty is not to a hardware platform... it is to my ability to perform a job to the best of my ability as fast and efficiently as possible. There is no difference between a banner designed using a PC versus one with a Mac. In fact, I prefer Corel to Illy... so for me a PC is actually better (no MAC version)

If Macs are so great then why does everyone want to run Windows on them!? LOL! You never hear of PC guys trying to run MAC O/S in a Windows Virtual Machine do you. Of course not... why would you!? There IS, however, a small subculture of the Mac Fan Boy Club that likes to take PC Hardware and build their own Macs to run Snow Leopard. They call it a "Hackintosh". Why do they do it? Because they can build the same machine from off the shelf parts for half the price.

Macs are nice. A wallet full of $100 bills WITH a shiny new Asus laptop is nicer.

 

[greglauter]

Yay more linux guys! Its a shame that I haven't worked more with it in the last couple years, but it was the only thing we were even allowed to run while in the School of Engineering at Kansas University. We used Fedora linux there and I have been very impressed with it from day one. Not only do you have a solid operating system (that runs like a dream even on the most simple computer!) but it comes pre-installed (or direct access to download for free) any piece of software you could dream of wanting or needing. Would you like a professional-grade video editing software to rival Adobe Premiere CS3? How about a database, spreadsheet, or document editor? Maybe Inkscape and GIMP to use for all your image editing and design needs? Sure, all you need for free! By the by, the biggest triumphs that Apple enjoys with their operating system is because it is, in fact, completely based on a UNIX kernel. Get linux and you can get that same kernel for free on any computer imaginable.

However, linux does have its place, and unfortunately there are enough
differences that make it unable to break into the mainstream consumer market yet. However, I feel that is 100% because of instruction. People aren't learning how to use a computer on Linux, they're learning on either PC or Mac or both, but never is linux thrown in unless you're in a specialized industry or education. It really is a shame because it can be so simple and easy to work with and many flavors of linux today, such as Fedora and Ubuntu, are so very similar in layout as other familiar operating systems like Windows and OSX.

Linux was definately the original, no question. There would be no Mac or PC without Linux

 

[high impact]

Going to stick with PC so I don't have to deal with software issues and the learning curve. Now I just have to decide which lap top to go with. Asus is looking pretty good.

 

[Rick]

Going to stick with PC so I don't have to deal with software issues and the learning curve. Now I just have to decide which lap top to go with. Asus is looking pretty good.

I think you are making a good choice, but for odd reasons. There are no software issues because the Mac has the capability of running PC just as well as any PC out there and you can run Apples OS (or Ubantu, or various version of Windows)... and what learning curve? It's not like you type out commands...

If you said it's too much moolah, or you did want to be assimilated, then I get it...

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I think you are making a good choice, but for odd reasons. There are no software issues because the Mac has the capability of running PC just as well as any PC out there and you can run Apples OS (or Ubantu, or various version of Windows)... and what learning curve? It's not like you type out commands...

There is a little bit of a different GUI if you are coming from a PC software to it's Mac version of the same software or Mac's own version of a type of PC software(office v. iWorks). I would say that there is a learning curve there. How steep depends on the person.

I miss DOS.

If you said it's too much moolah, or you did want to be assimilated, then I get it...

Certainly a lot of Cybermen fans around here.

 

[high impact]

Rick, I already shared about the budget limitations in the original post and didn't think that would NEED to be restated for understanding. ;-p LOL

The learning curve may be minimal but when your schedule is already bulging at the seams the extra time required is a substantial issue (simply going back to school has been a mountainous adjustment in itself). I also have no desire to learn the nuances of another operating system or utilize separate operating systems for me to jump back and forth to use Office and Flexi.

I don't believe that resistance is futile. Send the cybermats

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I don't believe that resistance is futile. Send the cybermats

Now, what happens if he sends in the Daleks?

 

[Rick]

I have your coordinance, I'm sending the Borg... I have already entered it into my Captains Log... is there anything else I need to enter with my log?

(waiting for a "that's what she said")

 

[Bly]

I use laptops at home, and sometimes do graphics manipulation on them.

I had a Dell and had nothing but problems with it - the battery and charging system was rubbish.

Now I use an i5 Asus with 4g ram which is more than adequate and was fairly priced. It's so good I got another one for my wife.

 

[high impact]

Daleks and cybermen; together we can upgrade the universe.

 

[choucove]

I have your coordinance, I'm sending the Borg... I have already entered it into my Captains Log... is there anything else I need to enter with my log?

(waiting for a "that's what she said")

...That's what she said...

 

[high impact]

What are your thoughts between the Asus or Sony Vaio F series i7 at least 4 GB, 1GB dedicated graphics, 500GB HD, 16" screen, blue ray/dvd, bluetooth, backlit keys, usb 3.0?

I can find these via amazon or logicbuy for 899 to 1200. They both seem like really great machines. The Asus seems to be a little more power for the money. Is the Sony THAT much better?

 

[choucove]

There's only a couple little details difference that I can really see which give one machine a lead over the other.

First with the Vaio F, one thing to consider is while this computer does have a native quad-core processor, it is rather low clock speed. That means there is a big trade-off here. On the one hand if you are constantly using applications that utilize multithreading such as exporting large video formats, AutoCAD, etc. then you have more cores to be able to handle this multithreading. However, with a low clock speed the overall system speed will be less. Just think of it this way though; if you are online typing up a report or viewing webpages, you're probably only going to use a single core and it's going to be running at slightly more than 1.7 Ghz compared to on a notebook with a Core i5 dual-core processor running at upwards of 2.4 Ghz or more. It does make a difference! In the end, my personal opinion, would be stick with the faster dual-core processors if possible.

Second, the Vaio F only comes with a 5,400rpm hard drive compared to most all the ASUS models that come with 7,200rpm. It may not seem like much but the slowest part of your entire computer system is the storage speed. In other words, if you can increase your storage speed even by a little bit, you're going to notice the speed change quite easily.

Finally, all of the Sony Vaio models that I have looked at (unless you customize directly through the Sony Outlet) only come with a 1 year standard warranty. Most of the ASUS models today come with up to 2 year standard warranty as well as 1 year of accidental-damage warranty which is a wonderful addition to have just in case, especially if you'd be traveling with this computer.