What Specs Do I Need...

I'd like a computer that lets me do several things at once: surf the web, listen to music, watch videos etc. without slowing down and crashing. I'd like it to be able to fill up and still not slow down. And i'd like to watch videos (streaming plus ones I've downloaded) seamlessly. What components do I need to look at for these things?

 

Fill the What Should I Buy_FAQ, and post under What Notebook Should I Buy? forum.

Just to give you a quick idea, your requirements are what most ordinary users have; therefore any new Core 2 Duo notebook (2.0GHz or faster) with 2GB or more RAM, 200GB HDD with other standard stuff (i.e : WiFi, DVDRW etc..) would do just fine.

 

It's not too good an idea to ask what specs you need without filling out the FAQ. Someone may suggest you buy some uber-powerful computer that has way more than what you need and will cost you an arm and a leg. However, from looking at what you want to be able to do, you should look into a Dell Inspiron 1525.

 

General Questions

1) What is your budget?
Up to $1500 Canadian dollars, so about $1200 American
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
I'd say 15'' and up, but if there is a much better model available at a smaller size I might be willing to go smaller.

3) Where will you buying this notebook? Canada

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

a. Like:Apple, I'd like to get an Apple, but would like any input as to whether or not you'd reccomend a PC model for this price/these uses.
b. Dislike:ACER

5) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
School work, internet browsing (watching videos, chatting, posibly some other internet activities like online guitar tuners, things like that), watching movies/tv shows, recording music, listening to music

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
I'd say it will be at home for 95% of the time.
I usually use it on my lap.

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games or types of games?
I have no plans to at the moment, except maybe poker or games like that. I'm not a 'gamer'.

8) How many hours of battery life do you need?
I'm usually at home so it's not a big deal. But having around 1:30 would be nice.

9) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
I'd like to see it.

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Mac OS, but I'm not very well versed in either that or Windows. But from working with Mac OS at my job over the summer I found that I really like the interface.

Screen Specifics

11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?

c. WSXGA+ – 1680x1050; The middle ground. Again, text and icons are smaller than WXGA+, and more stuff fits onto the screen. Good for having applications open side by side, like a web browser while playing a video.
Althought I haven't compared any of these. Like I said I'll be using it primarily for reading/writing things online and watching videos, so I suppose this seems appropriate.

12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Not a big deal, if I had the choice I'd prefer glossy.

Build Quality and Design

13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
To some degree, I like nice looking toys, but it's not of the highest priority. Then again I don't want it to be made out of wood

14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
I'll be buying it in the next few weeks, unless someone reccomends waiting for a new model coming out soon.

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you want; 80GB to 500GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
Don't need a huge amount, but I'd like enough that I can download programs and movies without it slowing down. I don't plan on storing more than maybe 10 GBs of movies at a time, and I don't store very much music on it. But I don't want it to slow down.

16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
Yes, I'd like a CD/DVD drive that can also burn both.


Here you go, I posted this in the What laptop should I buy a couple of days ago, but I was hoping to learn a bit more about the hardware in particular.

If I get an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz will I notice the difference compared to if I'd gotten the 2.4 ghz? Maybe in a year or two I will?

Also what does T8100 or T8300 after the processor name refer to?

Thanks!

 

Also quick question about the storage capacity. It's not really a concern for me because I don't plan to put too much stuff on it. But will laptops slow down as a larger percentage of the hard drive gets filled up? If that's the case then it's better to get a larger one because the same amount of data would take up a smaller percentage right? Or is this not how it works.

 

sounds like you just described the baseline macbook... however you may not get that high of screen res and the brick style chasis may heat up yuor lap, not sure about that but i've heard complaints about the mbp.

of course if you went PC you could spend have as much for those specs...

 

u will only notice a small decrease in spead while loading really b/c the circumfrance is smaller the closer you get to the middle of the disc and it will spin at the same speed... nothing to worry about in your criteria i wouldn't think...

 

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/21/apple-quietly-updates-999-white-macbook-with-unibody-specs/ Is an interesting read, and around your price point.

 

hmm when you say heat up my lap, does that mean it's more likely to overheat and crash?

 

no. it will get physically hot because the metal chasis will conduct heat much better than plastic. this is good and bad. it will suck heat from the internal components/good, but it will the place it directly onto your lap/bad...

 

That's in reference to 2.0 instead of 2.4?

 

no that's in reference to you bigger hard drive=faster hardrive question. data density will also play a part in hdd speed the more data u pack into a small area the less distance the arm has to move to get to it...

 

So you're actually saying that a smaller HD would be slightly faster?
I'm asking because with the laptop I have right now (an old one), once it gets around 33% full it slows down quite a bit.

 

you will notice a speed increase in CPUs if you go from 2.0ghz-2.4ghz in cpu intensive tasks, but things you mentioned you want to do weren't really cpu intensive...

 

depending on how many disks it uses and rpms a smaller harddrive can potentially be faster than a larger. i'm sorry i seem to be confusing you. i'm at work and jsut typing bits of info at a time trying to help but i may not be giving you adequate explanation :/

 

THIS should help you understand HDD's