Just bought a laptop for school

[ZooTech]

This one, from TigerDirect. Came to $822.18 after UPS Second Day Blue shipping was tacked on.

Anyway, anyone have one of these? This will be my first laptop (well, unless you count the AT&T Globalist 130 I had while obtaining my first degree. DOS 6.22 and Win 3.11 - BooYaa!!!).

I originally wanted a Dell Inspiron 1100, which came to $728.00 after I added my only option, an upgraded battery. But after going through the entire checkout proceedure Dell tacked on $50.00 for tax at the very last moment! Coming so close to $800.00, I decided to hold off and shop around a bit more. The Compaq's specs smoke the Dell, and for only $45.00 more. I am a bit weary about the "Refurbished" aspect and the pathetic 3-month warranty, but I have a NET-30 account set up through TigerDirect via the Zoo and therefore I have a "connection", if you will, should anything go wrong.

Comparison:

Dell vs. Compaq

Celery 2.4 --> Athlon XP 2400 (w/ 512kb L2 cache)
14.1" XGA --> 15" XGA
256MB DDR --> 512MB DDR
20GB HDD --> 40GB HDD
DVD-ROM --> DVD/CD-RW Combo
XP Home --> XP Pro
56k/LAN --> 56k/LAN/Integrated 802.11G
Unknown Graphics --> 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon
Unknown Weight --> 7.25lbs.
(NONE) --> IEEE 1394 FireWire
(NONE) --> S-Video Out
$778.00 --> $822.00

This is a major purchase for me. I just hope I made a good one.

Thoughts???

[the_silver_bullet24]

Looks good!

[JediNinjaWizards]

The specs sound awesome!! Not to scare you or anything but we have compaq laptops where I work, and they are absolute crap, we replace them constantly......not sure if the high end ones are better,

[mattsteg]

Sounds like a decent machine if you don't mind the size. Personally I would have looked for something smaller at the same price point (used, almost certainly), but that's pretty much my generic laptop advice.

[LicketySplit]

Damned good lookin machine for the price...im sure you'll have it posting in no time

[ZooTech]

The specs sound awesome!! Not to scare you or anything but we have compaq laptops where I work, and they are absolute crap, we replace them constantly......not sure if the high end ones are better,

You're setting off a severe case of buyer's remorse!

Sounds like a decent machine if you don't mind the size. Personally I would have looked for something smaller at the same price point (used, almost certainly), but that's pretty much my generic laptop advice.

I took the weight aspect into consideration, but considering what all they crammed into the thing, for $822.00, there really was nothing else at that price point worth looking at. I've contemplated a used one from eBay (don't know where else to go for used), but as much as I love eBay I cannot bring myself to make a laptop purchase there. Besides, I'm 5'10" and 210lbs, so a 7.5lb laptop really isn't much of a burden, and if it is I can probably use the exercise!

Damned good lookin machine for the price...im sure you'll have it posting in no time

Not until I hit you guys up for some advice and how-to as far as a 4-port router and wireless bridge go. Currently my XBOX runs through my PC via a crossover cable and ICS, but I want to be able to use the laptop from anywhere in my apartment, use XBOX Live!, and use my PC without unplugging/replugging anything.

So, what's this stuff gonna cost me? The laptop has integrated 802.11G, is that decent? Some links to all the necessary equipment from NewEgg would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[FroBozz_Inc]

Damned good lookin machine for the price...im sure you'll have it posting in no time

Not until I hit you guys up for some advice and how-to as far as a 4-port router and wireless bridge go. Currently my XBOX runs through my PC via a crossover cable and ICS, but I want to be able to use the laptop from anywhere in my apartment, use XBOX Live!, and use my PC without unplugging/replugging anything.

So, what's this stuff gonna cost me? The laptop has integrated 802.11G, is that decent? Some links to all the necessary equipment from NewEgg would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Here's a nice router:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 005&depa=1


Here's a thread:

viewtopic.php?t=13959&highlight=

That laptop looks great for the money. Do you know how much video RAM it has, and do you knwo what kind of warrenty it comes with?

[mattsteg]

I took the weight aspect into consideration, but considering what all they crammed into the thing, for $822.00, there really was nothing else at that price point worth looking at. I've contemplated a used one from eBay (don't know where else to go for used), but as much as I love eBay I cannot bring myself to make a laptop purchase there. Besides, I'm 5'10" and 210lbs, so a 7.5lb laptop really isn't much of a burden, and if it is I can probably use the exercise!

It just comes down to taking it along being something that's effort or no effort at all. Personally I like a small one that I can just grab and go with no second thoughts, and fit into a small corner of my other crap I haul. Smaller means nicer on the lap as well. I don't ask much performance wise out of laptops, so I don't mind sacrificing features for size.

Not until I hit you guys up for some advice and how-to as far as a 4-port router and wireless bridge go. Currently my XBOX runs through my PC via a crossover cable and ICS, but I want to be able to use the laptop from anywhere in my apartment, use XBOX Live!, and use my PC without unplugging/replugging anything.

So, what's this stuff gonna cost me? The laptop has integrated 802.11G, is that decent? Some links to all the necessary equipment from NewEgg would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

802.11g is as good as it gets. It's fast, and backwards compatible with 802.11b as well, which is what a lot of places have deployed. Unless you have a reason to separate your router and wireless access point, just get a wireless router and save money versus buyng discrete components. Personally, I use a linksys WAP11 for my wireless access and run it into my FreeBSD firewall. Their wireless stuff is decent, but to be honest unless you're operating at the limits of wireless range, anyone's stuff will likely be fine.

[ZooTech]

That laptop looks great for the money. Do you know how much video RAM it has, and do you know what kind of warrenty it comes with?

It says 64MB for the video RAM, but I'm certain they mean "shared". The warranty is only three months, because it's refurbed.

It just comes down to taking it along being something that's effort or no effort at all. Personally I like a small one that I can just grab and go with no second thoughts, and fit into a small corner of my other crap I haul. Smaller means nicer on the lap as well. I don't ask much performance wise out of laptops, so I don't mind sacrificing features for size.

DeVry has network jacks built-in to the desks, and wireless if you can't get to one of those. I don't think the laptop will actually spend too much time on my lap, especially since I don't fly or anything. I was just hoping to get something a little future-proof, since laptop components are difficult or impossible to upgrade.

802.11g is as good as it gets. It's fast, and backwards compatible with 802.11b as well, which is what a lot of places have deployed. Unless you have a reason to separate your router and wireless access point, just get a wireless router and save money versus buyng discrete components. Personally, I use a linksys WAP11 for my wireless access and run it into my FreeBSD firewall. Their wireless stuff is decent, but to be honest unless you're operating at the limits of wireless range, anyone's stuff will likely be fine.

No, I have no reason to separate them, I just didn't know they came as one nice little package like that. Networking is not my thing, so I'm a n00b to the umpteenth degree!

So, is it essentially a five port router, with four hard line ports (RJ45) and the wireless port? Can more than one wireless device access the "antenna", or does it count as one connection? (see, I don't know anything about this stuff!).

Also, don't I need to take the XBOX Live! thing into consideration? I heard only certain routers work with it, one of them being Linksys.

Thanks again for the info!

[FroBozz_Inc]

Also, don't I need to take the XBOX Live! thing into consideration? I heard only certain routers work with it, one of them being Linksys.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDe ... 102&depa=1

[ZooTech]

Also, don't I need to take the XBOX Live! thing into consideration? I heard only certain routers work with it, one of them being Linksys.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDe ... 102&depa=1

Sorry, I should have been more specific... the XBOX is connected now via a 20' crossover cable. I'll be replacing that with a regular CAT-5. Since I'm using real wires (not wireless) is the brand of router not important? Perhaps the compatibility issue I'm thinking of only has to do with the wireless link.

Sorry for any confusion.

[FroBozz_Inc]

Also, don't I need to take the XBOX Live! thing into consideration? I heard only certain routers work with it, one of them being Linksys.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDe ... 102&depa=1

Sorry, I should have been more specific... the XBOX is connected now via a 20' crossover cable. I'll be replacing that with a regular CAT-5. Since I'm using real wires (not wireless) is the brand of router not important? Perhaps the compatibility issue I'm thinking of only has to do with the wireless link.

Sorry for any confusion.

Hmm I don't see why it would matter, but I don't know for sure.

[mattsteg]

So, is it essentially a five port router, with four hard line ports (RJ45) and the wireless port? Can more than one wireless device access the "antenna", or does it count as one connection? (see, I don't know anything about this stuff!).

Yeah, think of a wireless access point as a hub with essentially unlimited ports, but shared bandwidth among them.

Also, don't I need to take the XBOX Live! thing into consideration? I heard only certain routers work with it, one of them being Linksys.

Thanks again for the info!

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/live/start/co ... outers.htm found this on google, looked useful My best guess is it's somewhat pessimistic, but if they say something works, it probeably does.

[FroBozz_Inc]

nice find there....

good info.

[ZooTech]

Also, don't I need to take the XBOX Live! thing into consideration? I heard only certain routers work with it, one of them being Linksys.

Thanks again for the info!

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/live/start/co ... outers.htm found this on google, looked useful My best guess is it's somewhat pessimistic, but if they say something works, it probeably does.

Great link! Thanks for the info!

This one is not on the "official" list of approved routers, but I think it's the one I'll buy. It looks to be essentially the same thing as this one, which is on the list.

Is that sound logic, or do you think I'm asking for trouble and a non-functional XBOX Live! subscription? I'm going to send Linksys an e-mail and ask them if they know whether the one I want will work, that's the only thing XBOX recommends.

[the_silver_bullet24]

I have the Dlink 604 and I like it quite a bit. Plug in your stuff, connect to it, run the wizard and consider yourself on Live. I run all my devices in DMZ so I have the router giving my switch the IP that is in the DMZ and everything else connected to the switch. It even gives my a faster download/upload rate then my computer did when I had my modem directly to my computer (mind you my computer IS a piece of ****)

Add me if you want: Sofa King Cdn and maybe join http://www.xblevolved.com/? Maybe I'm pushing it...