Re: Laptop Question (off topic? I don't know)

["Rob Hudson" <caveatrob -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I've always had good luck replacing hard drives in my Dell laptop with
cheaper, bigger, faster versions. Maybe that's one part that is
standardized.

I figure with laptops that parts aren't going to be universal in general.

On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 10:15 AM, John Hedtke <john -at- hedtke -dot- com> wrote:
> I don't know if it's true about their laptops, but I've run into the
>  problem on Dell desktops that you need Dell parts and not just
>  anybody's parts.  For some odd reason, Dell parts always cost
>  more.  It's like the old joke about putting the words "marine" or
>  "Mac" in front of a part name and the price doubles for no apparent
>  reason.  You may care to add "Dell" to that list.
>
>  (Having probably irked all the Mac users--which wasn't the point; I'm
>  just repeating the joke--I'm going back to work.)
>
>  Yours truly,
>
>  John Hedtke
>
>
>
>  At 07:07 AM 5/13/2008, Collin Turner wrote:
>  >Windows XP Pro supports up to 4GB.
>  >http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/features.mspx
>  >
>  >I would *always* recommend the 7200 RPM hard drive and as much RAM (up
>  >to 4GB) as you can afford.
>  >
>  >Go with the advice about separate memory for graphics.
>  >
>  >Dell is a good brand, but I've had several of them require service. I
>  >have been hearing good things about Gateways recently and will
>  >probably be buying one myself, soon.
>  >
>  >When buying a laptop consider this:
>  >1. Always get the most memory you can afford/the laptop or OS will
>  >support (seriously!)
>  >2. Large, fast HD's will only add to the useful lifespan of your
>  >laptop (fewer upgrades down the road...software isn't getting smaller
>  >or less hungry)
>  >3. If you're traveling, or will be traveling? THINK LIGHT and smaller.
>  >You can always connect a laptop to external keyboards, mice and
>  >monitors.
>  >4. Put your money on your use. What is the main purpose? Concentrate
>  >on that...don't waste money on features you'll never use.
>  >5. Buy a REALLY good bag.
>  >6. Personal preference...I hate the shiny screens.
>  >
>  >-Collin
>  >  ________________________________
>  >  collinturner.com
>  >  The unofficial words of a Tech Writer
>  >
>  >
>  >On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 7:38 AM, Al Geist
>  ><al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com> wrote:
>  > > John made a good point about graphics RAM. My Gateway was configured with
>  > > 512 MB of dedicated video RAM for the ATI Radeon interface. When I was
>  > > researching laptops, I also discovered that many stated they had 2 GB of
>  > > RAM, but 0 RAM for the video. Instead, they used shared RAM...so a
>  > > percentage of your system memory would be gobbled up by the video card and
>  > > the amount gobbled would be determined by whatever action you were doing at
>  > > the time. For most Word Processing, the amount would be minimal and the
>  > > affect on system performance marginal. For heavy graphics applications, the
>  > > laptop could slow to a crawl. When you add Vista (a known memory
>  > hog) to the
>  > > picture, the speed reduction would be impossible to bear.
>  > >
>  > >
>  > > Al Geist
>  > > Technical Communicator, Help, Web Design, Video, Photography
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