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gryphon
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Reged: 01/01/03
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Loc: Sambar ground/Victoria/Austral...
Laptop ideas/wanted to buy etc
      #254901 - 09/10/14 09:37 AM

Hey internet gurus can anyone suggest a decent L/top computer with reasonable grunt /ram/speed and a few usb ports etc to plug in card readers etc all so i can wifi use it?

I cannot even get satellite net at home atm and the best way it seems is to use a wifi unit in my truck,high on a hill ..even that I need to drive 7 k`s to get reception but at least it would be better than using this public library computer.

Price range..say to $1200 AUD or so.

And a reputable place in Oz that is safe to deal with,thanks.

--------------------
Get off the chair away from the desk and get out in the bush and enjoy life.


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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
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Re: Laptop ideas/wanted to buy etc [Re: gryphon]
      #254935 - 09/10/14 09:56 PM

JG,

In the past I have purchased a number of different brands, for a company and more recently for myself.

At present I use a HP laptop, a large one with a very large screen. Quite few years old now. Still works quite reasonably, well I think the DVD drive doesn't work anymore, some buttons have fallen off, and it can be slow, so should replace it, but $$$ are needed for other stuff.

I more recently purchased a Sony Ultrabook for travelling, smallish and thin. It does not have enough USB ports, only two. To use a "wireless" mouse I need to use blue-ray and it is not that reliable. It doesn't have an integral DVD drive, one must be plugged in to it to use. Hard disk is only 500 Mb but OK as a email machine and for travelling. Battery time is really good, about eleven or twelve hours. It works really well. I don't think you would want one like this though. Was the same price range you specified though.

I have been buying mine from Harvey Norman as they have a good range. Also sometimes you can get a long term replacement warranty of three or four years if something goes wrong with it. Costs a bit but sometimes worth it. HN is probably not the cheapest place to buy and maybe not the most current models.

I find Sony's quite reliable. Had one before the HP and also bought some for the winery I used to buy for.

A key thing with PCs is to make sure the brand or selling company has a repairs and maintenance service. Some brands sold by the internet or mail order, in the past had ZERO backup if anything went wrong.

PCs, laptops etc change so much that info on models probably changes at least every six months. One always has to research what is current, in terms of features and performance, ram, chips, etc and competitive prices everytime one buys. The stuff from USA is also not available in Australia for a year or more, and Japan is ahead of the USA, so research needs to be limited to what we have in Oz.



PS One doesn't see Toshibas much these days. I used to buy some top of the range models for work. Then had trouble and found out Toshiba used to recondition used laptops from Japan and resell them in Australia as new. Had trouble time and time again with my bosses Toshiba, and asked in the end for supplier to replace it. They refused. I found out why. Threw his one year laptop away and bought an IBM to replace it. Never purchased any from Toshiba again. For a small company probably ten to twenty laptops missed out for them over the years.



--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39059
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Re: Laptop ideas/wanted to buy etc [Re: NitroX]
      #254936 - 09/10/14 10:05 PM

You've probably considered this but ...

Have you tried wi-fi aerials? Some wi-fi units can have an aerial plugged into them. These improve reception a lot. If your house has a tower aerial, to get TV reception in a difficult location, perhaps such an aerial could be located on the tower. You would need an expert to advise you, as I don't know the limitations of how long cables etc can be.

Can you get TV?

If you still need to drive to another location, rigging an aerial such as this to your vehicle will also help speeds. Also being able to power the laptop from your vehicle from the 12v power using an inverter or something like that would be a good idea. Many modern laptops are not that transportable and battery time can be quite low, ie as low as an hour to ninety minutes. A deep cell battery too is good.

Unusual not to be able to get satellite either. I imagine you are in a valley and the surrounding hills are causing the problems. Or distance to mobile network towers. Or both. But I would have thought satellite access is now pretty possible anywhere in Aust? What is the problem with it?

It must be a pain not to get the internet for you. I know how you like to read all the internet news services as well. Good luck mate.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39059
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: Laptop ideas/wanted to buy etc [Re: NitroX]
      #254937 - 09/10/14 10:24 PM

Another thing, which I am sure you have considered, is which ISP company you are using for connecting. Can be tremendous differences in country areas between them in terms of access.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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gryphon
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Reged: 01/01/03
Posts: 5487
Loc: Sambar ground/Victoria/Austral...
Re: Laptop ideas/wanted to buy etc [Re: NitroX]
      #254966 - 10/10/14 09:36 AM

QU: I imagine you are in a valley and the surrounding hills are causing the problems EQ:

The above says it all John, wifi is intermittent,the tower is 5 k`s away and aboove us but we are shielded by hills and thus in a 'shadow'

I am having a tv guru install a yagi antenna for the tv.FTA tv is abysmal and pixilates out..always when something decent is on. I do have Sat tv (austar) but that is effing ridiculous now with the amount of advertising that was once a 'never'

The previous sat dish for the net on the roof here is corrupt and I have a $2100 quote to fix it..ouch! Thus I am better off buying a LT as I can at least take it with me when my tenancy lease is over..not so with the new guts for the Sat dish.

Feedback as yours is important as the only time I have ever used a LT was in Eire and I hated it ha ha.

Usb ports are important as I want to plug in a full sized keyboard as well.
I do have a few ext HD`s to plug in also.

--------------------
Get off the chair away from the desk and get out in the bush and enjoy life.


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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39059
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: Laptop ideas/wanted to buy etc [Re: gryphon]
      #254975 - 10/10/14 06:43 PM

My large HP laptop has a large screen, will measure it. Has four USB ports. And a full size keyboard.

From your comments I think you will want a larger laptop which has these sorts of features. I intended to plug in a keyboard into it, but have never bothered. I do use a full sized wireless mouse as I hate using the scroll pad except when necessary.

The negatives of a extra large laptop are weight and size of course if travelling. I needed a larger cabin bag to carry it on aircraft. The only daypack I could get was a specialist camera Lowenpro back pack. The airline stewardists used to give me badlooks sometimes when bringing it on the plane but it was supposedly within size limits. Sometimes it was impossible to get into overhead lockers though, and hard to fit under seats in front.of me. Depending on the aircraft model and design. Many are designed for less than the minimum cabin bag size limits. And the weight of course, combined with other stuff definitely over weight, so that could be a problem. This probably isn't a problem for you though. But therefore I purchased the ultabook for travelling, meetings etc, easier to carry around. The ultrabook means I don't need a silly, to me, useless tablet.

The second negative is battery time. It last less than two hours, probably sixty to ninety minutes. A second battery might be an option. If you can power yours from a car or deep cell battery, again not really a problem.

Third issue for you, is they are probably above the price range you mention. They are good though in they are much like a desktop, but you can move it easily around the house from office, to in front of the TV or out on the verandah as you like. As long as you have power.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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NitroXAdministrator
.700 member


Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39059
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: Laptop ideas/wanted to buy etc [Re: NitroX]
      #255742 - 26/10/14 09:52 PM

Spoke too soon. My HP laptop isn't working now. The C drive is failing to start up. Various tests of it show it is failing, after working perfectly on the Friday night, Saturday night no good. BTW the last thing the PC did was a auto s/w upgrade ... Tests on the data drive - D drive - show it is working fine, so hopefully no real data lost, but possibly all the programmes.

Using my travel Sony Ultrabook in the meantime.

Got some more fixes and restores to try before giving up on the C drive ... if not will have lots of hours to reload all the crap.

October is a month that is really sucking.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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