Advice on purchasing a laptop

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Originally posted here by Arkimedes

I want to use it to stord data and e-books (and whatnot), music, etc. But I would also like to use it to code, write and calculate extremely complex math problems.

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so you know what you want it for.....

anything can store data, ebooks, music etc. and most of them can code, write and calculate extremly complex math problem, you just need the right program for it.

just buy anything off the shelf.

reading your question and other's reply and your reply, i could make out the following......
1) you know you want a computer
2) its got to be a laptop
3) you want a brand name

what is confusing is......
do you want to show it off or you just want to get work done?

these are two different things

make up your mind on that...


cheers

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"So my friends and I, being the betting coders we are, have agreed to a wager: whoever makes the most novel operating system wins the bet.")
That's how I got the choice of a laptop where money is no problem. I found it to be easier to modify a Linux kernel, and that technically wasn't against the rules of the bet. So I turned in something that resembled SuSe and my friends turned in half working command line interfaces...so I won the bet..

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again....so you modified linux kernel and turned in something that resembled SuSe. and your friend was actually working on command lines trying to actually make something new?

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What can I say, I'm a sporting man

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true, true


let it be known, who copied and who made something.


didnt you guys wanted to make something new?

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true, true

let it be known, who copied and who made something.

didnt you guys wanted to make something new?

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First, I didn't "copy/paste" suse, I "turned in something that resembled SuSe and my friends turned in half working command line interfaces...so I won the bet."

Technically I did "make" something new (inasmuch as Redhat or Suse is different from a Unix kernel)...used different widgets; no seriously I "found it to be easier to modify a Linux kernel", but they started from scratch.

Even then, their scratch was not new, as a lot of their driver interface and booting was taken from DOS.

Lastly, my friends and I are sporting people, we make wacky bets like this all the time; why I bet we make more wacky bets than you and your friends :D

To return to your original question:

Personally, I would go for an Apple Powerbook, but that is only so that I would have an up to date Apple to play with (my current one is at OS 8 :( )

For scientific applications I would guess that there is far more choice of software for a PC, so I guess that is the way for you to go.

I would go for IBM based on the fact that I have not come across one with a problem (apart from battery replacements or upgrades, which I don't count)

Whatever you get I would recommend investing in a cooling pad (I bet you it makes it more stable and last longer :D )

Toshibas are good, but they have had heating issues in the past "the phantom typist syndrome". This may well have been fixed, and it only seems to happen after a couple of years of regular use, so it is hard to tell if this is still a potential issue.

Dells are OK but I have encountered some compatibility problems with data projectors, both old ones and the latest.

I realise that I have no idea of the sample population I am dealing with, but IBMs are quite popular around here, and, as I said, I haven't had any issues with them.

Alienware is far too exotic for this part of the World, and I have always looked on them as a gamer's machine and would suspect that they might be a little too "videocentric" (Hey! I just invented a new word for ya! :cool: ) for a physisist.

Look for a fast processor and fast RAM?

All in all I would suggest IBM

Cheers