Laptop suggestions?

I did have a Toshiba back in the day, loved it. Got a Mac back in May, won't go back to Windows. Ever.

 

I bought a Dell laptop with Vista (damnit!) soon after leaving my last job, thinking I'd have a ton of free-lance work that would require having a laptop in press boxes and other remote places. The shortage of work is another story for another thread, and here I am with a laptop with which I am at a crossroads.

A few weeks ago I was all set to give up on Vista and try to put XP in its place. I was warned that Dell would no longer honor its warranty, so I did some reading. I bought two books about Vista (tricks, tips, simplifying it for a dummy like me, etc.) and vowed to move forward, not backward. My PC is seven years old, and although I have no problems with it and love XP, I decided to embrace the future.

Well, while gearing up for what I thought was a job coming my way, I spent a few days working with the laptop and Vista. I became a little more familiar with it, and I was ready to press forward, but I discovered some frustrating realities:

-- Like BYH described, my Olympus recorder's software is incompatible with Vista. I need to be able to download audio, and I cannot. I spent a lot of money on that recorder, and I don't think I'd be happy about having to buy a new one.

-- Vista is also incompatible with the type of Bluetooth dial-up networking I tried to install through my BlackBerry, which prompted me to try out an AT&T Laptop Connect Card.

-- I am having all kinds of problems with the air card.

Last night I received instructions from Dell on how to remove Vista and install XP on my laptop. I just can't decide which way to go. I realize it's mostly a matter of preference, and if my Olympus recorder dies soon, I'll need to buy a new one anyway. It's frustrating. No idea what I'll do.

Dell says it will still support hardware issues if I remove Vista, but not software. I'm not sure what this means in totality. If I have a problem, will I not even be able to contact support to find out whether a problem I am having is with the software or the hardware? I have a good warranty and support plan, and I'd hate to see that expense flushed.

Damnit. I love XP. I tolerate Vista. No idea what I'll do.

Also, I'm curious: 21, what did you do? Did you buy something?

 

Here's my two cents worth. Do. Not. Buy. Toshiba. Those things are hunks of crap. My other half has one that's had problems since we have had it. Thanks to my loud mouth bitching at Best Buy, I saved him alot of money in repairs on the damn thing. I bought a Sony Vaio last year and I absolutely love it. I got it for just over a grand and it included a free digital camera which I really needed. I have learned to navigate through Vista and find that I like it more than XP.

 

Shit. I ordered a Dell netbook with the Linux Ubuntu OS on Friday. I have never bought from them. I hope I don't hate this thing.

 

JD--I bought a Dell Latitude 6400, with XP. Every salesperson at Dell said to get XP, my computer guy said XP. I actually have a Dell desktop with Vista, and I rarely use it because it's just so clunky. There should be a class action suit against Microsoft for foisting Vista on innocent people.

I find Dell techs to be very helpful and supportive, I would go back to XP.

 

Thanks. Look for my PMs in a couple of weeks when my computer comes out.

 

After years of Dells, count me as another never-go-back Mac convert.

Better reliability and speed, much better battery life, minimal virus issues. Mine came with Office and has never had a compatibility issue with Windows machines. Works with my Olympus to do audio as well.

You really don't know how much better the Macs are until you've got one.

 

Which model of Olympus recorder?

More importantly, which version of the Olympus software?

??? The fuck?

 

Gateway for me. M-Series now, when the HD on my 1450 Solo finally crashed/burned after six years of hard use. I'm okay with Vista on this one, but only because I stuffed as much RAM into it as I could, and had them put XP Pro on the new HD in the Solo. (My ancient desktop gathers dust, but I will never be without a backup laptop again.) And for me, OpenOffice is the only way to go.

J_D, your Olympus recorder must be older than my VN-4100PC? No compatibility issues to report there.

My only problem? It took just six months for the paint to begin wearing off the letters on the keyboard on this one. It always happens eventually, but six months? That's a little quick. Good thing I'm past the hunt-and-peck stage, I guess.

 

My Olympus is a DS-3000. It's better than anything I've ever seen, and I have several storage cards that allow me to go forever on road trips without having to delete (remember, I can't download onto the laptop). On one storage card there are 22 hours of recording time. I've used it for four years, including more than three years with a company-provided laptop on which they would not allow me to download the Olympus software.

Speaking of that, the version I have is Olympus DSS Player Software version 3.3. I have a disc with 4.3 on it, but it was bought by someone else for their recorder, and without the license number I can't install it on any computer.

And as for going back to XP, I'm guessing it wouldn't matter at that point whether the Dell technical support people are helpful and supportive. The tech person from Dell I chatted with Friday night said if I removed Vista and added XP, "It will not void the hardware warranty, however if there are any software issues, that would not be supported by us."

Because I'm not computer-savvy enough to know the difference when a problem arises, I would rely upon tech support to troubleshoot. What I don't know is whether they would even help me troubleshoot. I paid for support coverage that allows me online chats and other options that cost extra when I bought the laptop, and I wonder if that all goes out the window if I put XP on the laptop and dump Vista.

 

http://www.targus.com/us/product_Details.asp?SKU=pa248u



Somewhere I mentioned modern laptops' dual-core processors and how much hotter they run than earlier models, and how that higher level of heat ends up being fatal to your laptop. PM, post ... don't remember, but anyhoo ...

Buy one.

My laptop with that mat's fans running and me actively working on stuff turns in a processor temp of about 99 degrees. Same tasks without the fans? About 138 degrees, two shy of the point when the laptop's built-in processor cooling fan turns on. With the laptop's internal temperature sitting just short of that point, the processor and motherboard bits are literally being slow-cooked. This is a laptop I can't use on my lap because it's too hot (not that anybody does) and can't use on a lapdesk by itself because it runs so hot I start sweating due to the proximity.

At rest, computer doing nothing but automatically checking e-mail and RSS feeds every few minutes: 82 degrees with the fans, 118 degrees without.

It's USB-powered and the underside is shaped so cooler outside air is able to flow underneath it. The two fans in the middle pull cooler air up from underneath. I have four Powerade bottle tops (they're black and unobtrusive) sitting underneath it at the corners to improve airflow.

It costs about $30 at retail, including tax, but if it adds another couple of years to your laptop's lifetime how much is it worth?

 

How's this for coincidence? I saw your post, then was chatting with a Dell person a few minutes later to find out how to solve a constant clicking sound on my laptop. He gave me instructions (which I am about to follow) and also suggested I buy what you recommended: a cooling mat.

So I ordered one.

Are you Shaun_163832?