I Need a new Notebook...

Astrod00d · #1 11-05-2010, 10:50 AM

...My HP notebook is no more... It suffered a spectacular accident on Sunday and is a write-off...

So I need a new notebook computer. Where do I start? There are so many choices out there, it's confusing.
I guess I start with a 15-16" screen, optical drive, good battery life, a few USB ports. Then work up to things like memory card readers, HDMI video and so on.
...Is Windows 7 practical yet, or should I stay with XP Pro??
...Any suggestions from IIS, based on experience?
It will be nice to have a shiny new notebook... every cloud has a silver lining huh?

Cheers... Rob

Tandum (Robin) · #2 11-05-2010, 12:14 PM

Rob, I think you'll have a problem getting xp onto a modern laptop. The majority of them have AHCI locked on in bios, for comms to the hard drives and that would require you to get an XP driver for it and a floppy drive connected so as to install it during the installation of xp. I just looked up an Acer Aspire 5740 which should be a sub $900 modern laptop and there are no vista or xp drivers available for it, only win7.

I am running win7 32bit without issue, but all new laptops I've seen are coming with 64bit windows installed. I stuck with 32bit windows 7 to get a meade DSI to work and a Stalight camera I had. 64bit may cause an issue eventually with drivers for something or other but you can reinstall with 32bit using the same product key, you'd just need the disk.

Barrykgerdes · #3 12-05-2010, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astrod00d

...My HP notebook is no more... It suffered a spectacular accident on Sunday and is a write-off...

So I need a new notebook computer. Where do I start? There are so many choices out there, it's confusing.
I guess I start with a 15-16" screen, optical drive, good battery life, a few USB ports. Then work up to things like memory card readers, HDMI video and so on.
...Is Windows 7 practical yet, or should I stay with XP Pro??
...Any suggestions from IIS, based on experience?
It will be nice to have a shiny new notebook... every cloud has a silver lining huh?

Cheers... Rob

Hi Rob
If you want to get up and running quickly there are plenty of cheap laptops available now. My biggest priority would be battery life having had the pain many times of running out of power at a critical time.

If you fiddle with programs and try new things avoid Windows 7 like the plague. It will take you weeks to get it to run like you actually own it. There are still laptops around with XP. I have no problem putting XP or Windows 2000 on the latest computers but Windows 98 is no longer an option.

If you can afford it a Mac may be a better proposition with a virtual drive installed (or two or three) to run your old stuff.

If you must have Windows 7 get VMware and install a virtual drive that you can configure and use XP set up as you formally had it.

I do run Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on a multi boot computer that I had got to run quite nicely after about a month of fiddling, with VMware using a virtual XP installation. However the HDD crashed before I had made a proper backup image. I had to reinstall everything from scratch. Took a week. Windows 7 does not have the facility that XP has to repair an existing installation (or at least my copy didn't).

Barry

multiweb (Marc) · #4 12-05-2010, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astrod00d

...My HP notebook is no more... It suffered a spectacular accident on Sunday and is a write-off...

Oh nooo! The super HP with 10h battery life? What happened?

Can't get it fixed?

Astrod00d · #5 12-05-2010, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tandum

Rob, I think you'll have a problem getting xp onto a modern laptop....
I am running win7 32bit without issue, ... 64bit may cause an issue eventually with drivers for something or other but you can reinstall with 32bit using the same product key, you'd just need the disk.

Thanks... I was thinking that the latest notebooks, particularly with the new Intel i-series processors, may have issues with XP...
Although HP are offering the 4520s with choice of XP or Win 7 Pro...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes

Hi Rob
My biggest priority would be battery life having had the pain many times of running out of power at a critical time.

If you fiddle with programs and try new things avoid Windows 7 like the plague.

Barry

Thanks Barry... Yeah, I'm looking for a machine with a choice of Win7 or XP Pro. HP, Lenovo and Toshiba offer that choice on some models... Dual boot might be the go... Long battery life was a big priority when I bought my previous notebook, yes it's something to consider.

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

Oh nooo! The super HP with 10h battery life? What happened?

Can't get it fixed?

Hi Marc... Yes, that's the one. The HP6710B that had 10 hours battery life with the doorstop battery underneath. When it worked properly. But it was flaky... Kept losing it's WLAN, would lock up for no reason, Firefox just wouldn't run on it (Why I don't know) and the low power, long battery life was iffy. Sometimes I'd get 10 hours, sometimes only 4. Go figure.
Fixing it would cost hundreds, and the HDD is corrupted anyway. (Gee Whiz, thank goodness for backups...) I can get a new HP 4520s with an i3 processor for $848... Or a Lenovo G550 for $699... An Asus K50U for $727...
I'm tempted to just start anew

multiweb (Marc) · #6 12-05-2010, 07:13 PM

If I were you I'd get a second hand Toshiba Satellite and load it with XP pro. They're good and they last. It's just for the field right?

Louwai (Bryan) · #7 13-05-2010, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

If I were you I'd get a second hand Toshiba Satellite and load it with XP pro. They're good and they last. It's just for the field right?

Maybe I got a dud.
My Toshiba Satelite only lasted 2yrs.
Then I got Toshiba Tecra as I was told they are better. The Tecra is now 6yrs old.

In that time;
I've replaced the motherboard once
The original battery has died
The additional long life battery now only lasts about 3hrs.
There's a big 'spot' in the middle of the screen where the mouse knob rubbs on the screen when it's closed.

I now only use it for Astro & run the power through an adaptor from my 12v battery.

I see today that Greys Online have a laptop sale on. Might be worth a look.

multiweb (Marc) · #8 13-05-2010, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louwai

Maybe I got a dud.
My Toshiba Satelite only lasted 2yrs.

2yrs. Wow. That didn't last long indeed. Still using mine going on 5yrs now (touch wood)

I've always had Toshibas since day one. I just find them reliable and there are spare parts all over the place which comes really handy. I dropped one 8yrs ago and rebuilt it with two good halves. No sweat.

Astrod00d · #9 13-05-2010, 01:23 PM

Thanks Guys!

...perhaps we should get an IIS notebook reliability survey going...

This survey from SquareTrade is interesting
http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/S...ility_1109.pdf
According to this, Acer and Toshiba are the most reliable, HP is the worst. I can testify that my HP was dodgy, it's inconsistent performance was a big annoyance.

I might just go for broke and get this Asus... It comes with W7Pro and XPPro optional... 4GB RAM, decent HDD. But apparently short battery life...
http://www.onlinecomputer.com.au/pro...oducts_id=3111

...Or get a replacement LCD screen for $220, a new HDD for about $60, repair the HP myself and re-install everything... lowest cost option, and I already have the high capacity batteries and power adapters..

Cheers... Rob :-)

Tandum (Robin) · #10 13-05-2010, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astrod00d

Thanks... I was thinking that the latest notebooks, particularly with the new Intel i-series processors, may have issues with XP...
Although HP are offering the 4520s with choice of XP or Win 7 Pro...

No the problem isn't new hardware, it's getting drivers to run it from windows. If you can find one with an xp downgrade it may be a custom XP image with the required drivers embedded in the image. That HP you listed mentioned some conditions on line to qualify for the downgrade.

I wouldn't recomend getting a second hand obsolete laptop, it's upwards and onwards for PC's and again, I have no trouble at all with Win7 32 bit. In fact I now dread fixing old xp machines and the required driver search involved. Got one on the bench tonight and it's taken 3 hours to find and install all the stuff that just comes with win 7 ...

mswhin63 (Malcolm) · #11 14-05-2010, 02:54 PM

Just purchaced my laptop today i7 am using it now, I hope to get installation of some software but 3 things make my laptop a decision

1 - speed for image processing which was a pain with my old computer
2 - OpenGL drivers for some programs that need it
3 - XP functionality - Window 7 Pro has that capability.

I am running Home premium but easily upgrade.

Astrod00d · #12 17-05-2010, 01:29 PM

OK...
Well I got my hands on a new SATA HDD and restored the OS from the recovery DVDs. The HP seems tip-top apart from a broken display... Everything else works

So I've ordered a new LCD, it should arrive on Tuesday, and the super HP with 10h battery life should be 100% my Wednesday...
Much cheaper than buying a new notebook, and with the HP being a core 2 duo running XP Pro, all my obscure apps will run...

..What I thought was a write-off, is actually fixable after a bit of thought and research :-)

Update: The new LCD screen arrived overnight... I've fitted the new screen and now the HP is ALIVE again

..Now... Repairing rather than buying new has saved me about $600... That means I have $600 pocket money... What toys can I get now...??