Laptop Shopping Need advice

[Jessi]

So it's come to my attention that my little HP DV2700 laptop has gotten... OLD.
The power fuse is broken and it refuses to take power of any kind. I have not gotten an estimate on how much it would cost to fix, but from what I read it could come up to as much as 150 dollars.


Seeing as my laptop is so 4 and a half years old, it's at the end of its life cycle anyway. I would hate to spend that much on it just for something else to show its age and go bad... making me pay more money to fix it. I was hoping to get another year and a half out of it, at least but I'm not sure if it's worth it if I'm going to keep having hardware repairs. I already replaced the battery and charger. The keyboard and built-in mouse are starting to ware out... I just feel like at its age something could happen that would be too costly to repair at any moment and I'd rather spend a lot of money on something reliable than spend 150 on something that will break within the next 6 months to a year.


At the same time, I don't have much money to buy something nice right now. I'm working on starting my small, local web design business on top of being a student. The majority of money I use for this sort of thing will be borrowed money and I don't want to borrow too much.

There's one problem though: I'm a heavy computer user. I put my computers through the mill. I don't just use facebook and write papers... I make websites, modify Linux and code in C++. If I just wanted networking, I'd get a nook color e-reader and an android boot card for 300.

So I require a few things:
1. Specs greater than or equal to my old laptop. My old laptop had 3 GB of ram, 250 GB of hard disk, a lousy graphics card, and a 1280 by 800 display. I was perfectly ok with this.
2. MUST MUST MUST be linux compatible. I heard windows 7 blocks Linux installs... and I've possibly seen proof first hand since my boyfriends windows 7 computer won't take Ubuntu 10.10. So I either want it to come pre-installed with XP, Vista or Linux... or maybe even a blank computer. I'm open to a cheap mac if such a thing exist. I can always boot camp it and use both OSes. If you can prove me wrong on Windows 7, let me know... as much as I hate to say it, it would be nice to duel boot it for video games and a handful of other applications.
3. Should be a good looking computer. Since I'm starting a business that involves design, I have to see clients and show demos of websites for the clients. This will be done on my laptop. My laptop should be relatively good looking. It's not the most important thing, but I don't want to carry something that looks dated or ugly.
4. I don't want to pay more than 600 dollars. I am willing to buy a refurbished or gently used laptop if it has good specs and if I buy it from someone reputable. I'd rather pay 400 dollars for a gently used computer than 600 for a brand new one of the same caliber. Warranties are useless. They usually expire when something goes wrong, and I'm putting Linux on the computer so they probably won't cover it anyway.

If I did buy a new computer, I'd probably pawn off my old one to someone for parts or light use for 200 dollars. They'd need to pay for the fuse to be fixed if they want to use it, but even at that they're still getting a cheap laptop that can write documents, surf the web, and anything else they need to do until all the parts go bad.

My third option would be to buy that nook for regular use (facebook, surfing, studying, reading books, chatting) and use the family PC for heavy use (designing, writing papers, programming) until I can afford to get a really nice fancy asus, alienware, or even one of those custom built linux laptops.


Advice from the computer savvy? I'll be shopping around while I get estimates for the repairs.

[Rasa1111]

I recently picked up a sweet refurbished IBM ThinkPad Z61t , with 2GB RAM. for $250.
Actually ended up only paying $50 in the end, as work I'd done previously apparently made up for the other $200.. lol

Got it from a friends brother whose been refurbishing and selling them for years.

It was a $2,000 laptop when it was new (about 5 years ago)..
List price now is about $700..
and this thing honestly works better/faster/harder than any one else's laptop i know, many of which were only bought a few months ago.
Sturdier than all of them to.

Ive always loved Thinkpads, (also have a 13 year old still going)
and Ive been talking it (my "new" one) up a bit here the past few weeks since Ive gotten this one... lol (probably too much).

But if you can find a nice Thinkpad for a decent price, I would recommend it.

Havent done any actual computer shopping in a handful of years..
But I think I remember tigerdirect.com having good stuff.

good luck in your venture. :)

oh, nook is great!
Have the original nook now, but the nook color is an awesome device , that Ive play with a bit.

Peace

[collisionystm]

Toshiba laptops are nice. You can get a lot for what you pay. Like this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+AMD+Turion%26%23153%3B+II+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Helios+Black/1446192.p?id=1218259763872&skuId=1446192http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+AMD+Turion%26%23153%3B+II+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Helios+Black/1446192.p?id=1218259763872&skuId=1446192


Were you trying to do a Wubi install of ubuntu? I see no other way windows 7 would have prevented you from installing linux. I have never experienced that kind of issue and I have done all kinds of crazy things with computers.

[LowSky]

1. Do your own shopping. If you want to run your own business get used to doing your own research.

2. Every computer is Linux compatible. And Windows 7 and Ubuntu can live in harmony. They are doing so in my PC and countless others. Side note dont us Wubi.

3. The most professional PC you can use is a Lenovo ThinkPad (here's my suggestion for your shopping). They are not pretty but probably the most well respected laptop in any IT department. In business Pretty doesn't matter. It is all about it working.
If you will be showing things to clients, get a projector and screen, don't make them crowd around your tiny laptop to see the work you are doing. It is all about professionalism.

4.Yes you do want to pay more than $600. You will be starting a business, not something you will use for just reading e-mail or playing farmville. You are making an investment in your future. Don't skimp. There is an old saying, "Use the right tools for the job."


More advice

5. Keep work life separate from home life. If you must use the same machine. create separate user profiles. that also means having a bank account for your business and one for your personal finances.

6. dont use your personal cell phone number with clients. having two phonse is ridiculous so the best thing to do is go over to Google Voice. get a free number, tie it to your cell phone's current number. that way the call are routed to you. You also have options for custom messages and for setting up calling hours too.

[Supergoo]

I recommend Lenovo Thinkpads.. I love mine and man they are built like a mac truck. You can get them New if you look around pretty cheap. Mine is now over a year old and it is still faster then some of the new ones. Also they have very nice keyboards and mine has worked well with every Linux Distro I have tried. I am testing Fedora right now, waiting for the next release of Ubuntu.

[Jessi]

1. Do your own shopping. If you want to run your own business get used to doing your own research.

2. Every computer is Linux compatible. And Windows 7 and Ubuntu can live in harmony. They are doing so in my PC and countless others. Side note dont us Wubi.

3. The most professional PC you can use is a Lenovo ThinkPad (here's my suggestion for your shopping). They are not pretty but probably the most well respected laptop in any IT department. In business Pretty doesn't matter. It is all about it working.
If you will be showing things to clients, get a projector and screen, don't make them crowd around your tiny laptop to see the work you are doing. It is all about professionalism.

4.Yes you do want to pay more than $600. You will be starting a business, not something you will use for just reading e-mail or playing farmville. You are making an investment in your future. Don't skimp. There is an old saying, "Use the right tools for the job."


More advice

5. Keep work life separate from home life. If you must use the same machine. create separate user profiles. that also means having a bank account for your business and one for your personal finances.

6. dont use your personal cell phone number with clients. having two phonse is ridiculous so the best thing to do is go over to Google Voice. get a free number, tie it to your cell phone's current number. that way the call are routed to you. You also have options for custom messages and for setting up calling hours too.

Hey LowSky, thank you for the advice. I understand what you're saying about the shopping, but if I've learned anything about shopping for electronics is that you can never have too many opinions from experienced people who aren't just trying to sell you something. And who better to ask than a community of fellow Linux users? I've looked around and found a few really nice computers, but it never hurts to think outside of the box. I had never even heard of these Lenovo Thinkpads until you and Supergoo brought them up.

I also see what you mean by "getting the right tools". I've only started taking clients recently, and I've already done a handful of websites. My plan was to keep going on my old computer until I could save up for something really high-end and nice, such as the higher end lenovos you're speaking of... however, I don't have much time to make a decision or pull money together as people are waiting on me and I have some college projects due as well. Which means whatever I buy will have to be financed or put on the dreaded credit card... which means interest. I can pay off about 300 up front, but the rest will have to wait and paid off in small increments. And I'm weary of putting 800- 1200 dollars on a card.

By the way, those Lenovos are not bad as looking as you said. It would aesthetically due just fine. I just don't want something that weighs a ton and looks like its from 1998... a plain black is just fine.

On windows 7... I do not do wubi installs and neither do any of my friends who use linux. I know of two people who have tried to install Ubuntu on brand new computers and it just wouldn't boot. This would be a nightmare for me, I can not stand using Windows for heavy lifting.

[PhilGil]

You didn't put your location in your profile, so I'm going to assume you're from the US. The best laptop deals I see online are posted to the Fat Wallet hot deals forum: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/computers-laptop/ . The buys these folks turn up are impressive.

As far as compatibility... You're probably better off buying a model that's a year or two old than something brand new. Chances are better that the Linux community has had an opportunity to write drivers. One advantage of Ubuntu's quick development cycle is you usually don't have to wait too long for device support.

[Rasa1111]

I had never even heard of these Lenovo Thinkpads until you and Supergoo brought them up.

Same as the IBM Thinkpads..
Only bought by Lenovo.

i personally liked the quality better when they were IBM..
but Lenovo is still great.

[racie]

On windows 7... I do not do wubi installs and neither do any of my friends who use linux. I know of two people who have tried to install Ubuntu on brand new computers and it just wouldn't boot. This would be a nightmare for me, I can not stand using Windows for heavy lifting.

The fact that Ubuntu does not boot on a certain computer has NOTHING to do with the operating system installed on the hard disk. Normally, you have to change the boot order in the BIOS or it's just that the hardware is incompatible. Rest assured, Windows 7 will not block you from installing Ubuntu.

Anyways... have you looked at System76 (http://www.system76.com/index.php?cPath=28)? They're a small company that sells computers with Ubuntu pre-installed.

Also, I think these charts may interest you:
http://smidgenpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/squaretrade.bmp
http://smidgenpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/squaretrade2.jpg

Granted, they're a few years old and they might not be totally accurate, but it's just something to think about.

[LowSky]

racie: i've seen graphs that show very different malfunction rates depending on what company does the results.

Jessi: Thinkpads have look nearly the same for their entire existence. They really do look like they came from 1990's

dont believe me here is two from the 1990's
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a5/IBMThinkpads1.JPG

Classics never go out of style.

[NightwishFan]

I recommend Asus, it has been smooth sailing using Debian and Ubuntu on my k50ij.

[d3v1150m471c]

Toshiba laptops are nice.
+1, toshiba owns

[Zlatan]

So it's come to my attention that my little HP DV2700 laptop has gotten... OLD.
The power fuse is broken and it refuses to take power of any kind. I have not gotten an estimate on how much it would cost to fix, but from what I read it could come up to as much as 150 dollars.


Seeing as my laptop is so 4 and a half years old, it's at the end of its life cycle anyway. I would hate to spend that much on it just for something else to show its age and go bad... making me pay more money to fix it. I was hoping to get another year and a half out of it, at least but I'm not sure if it's worth it if I'm going to keep having hardware repairs. I already replaced the battery and charger. The keyboard and built-in mouse are starting to ware out... I just feel like at its age something could happen that would be too costly to repair at any moment and I'd rather spend a lot of money on something reliable than spend 150 on something that will break within the next 6 months to a year.


At the same time, I don't have much money to buy something nice right now. I'm working on starting my small, local web design business on top of being a student. The majority of money I use for this sort of thing will be borrowed money and I don't want to borrow too much.

There's one problem though: I'm a heavy computer user. I put my computers through the mill. I don't just use facebook and write papers... I make websites, modify Linux and code in C++. If I just wanted networking, I'd get a nook color e-reader and an android boot card for 300.

So I require a few things:
1. Specs greater than or equal to my old laptop. My old laptop had 3 GB of ram, 250 GB of hard disk, a lousy graphics card, and a 1280 by 800 display. I was perfectly ok with this.
2. MUST MUST MUST be linux compatible. I heard windows 7 blocks Linux installs... and I've possibly seen proof first hand since my boyfriends windows 7 computer won't take Ubuntu 10.10. So I either want it to come pre-installed with XP, Vista or Linux... or maybe even a blank computer. I'm open to a cheap mac if such a thing exist. I can always boot camp it and use both OSes. If you can prove me wrong on Windows 7, let me know... as much as I hate to say it, it would be nice to duel boot it for video games and a handful of other applications.
3. Should be a good looking computer. Since I'm starting a business that involves design, I have to see clients and show demos of websites for the clients. This will be done on my laptop. My laptop should be relatively good looking. It's not the most important thing, but I don't want to carry something that looks dated or ugly.
4. I don't want to pay more than 600 dollars. I am willing to buy a refurbished or gently used laptop if it has good specs and if I buy it from someone reputable. I'd rather pay 400 dollars for a gently used computer than 600 for a brand new one of the same caliber. Warranties are useless. They usually expire when something goes wrong, and I'm putting Linux on the computer so they probably won't cover it anyway.

If I did buy a new computer, I'd probably pawn off my old one to someone for parts or light use for 200 dollars. They'd need to pay for the fuse to be fixed if they want to use it, but even at that they're still getting a cheap laptop that can write documents, surf the web, and anything else they need to do until all the parts go bad.

My third option would be to buy that nook for regular use (facebook, surfing, studying, reading books, chatting) and use the family PC for heavy use (designing, writing papers, programming) until I can afford to get a really nice fancy asus, alienware, or even one of those custom built linux laptops.


Advice from the computer savvy? I'll be shopping around while I get estimates for the repairs.

here you go mate (http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/)