Wolfey
April 11th, 2007, 03:42 AM
Wow...I haven't posted here in awhile - been busy with work and such :p
Anyway, I've recently decided to purchase some more equipment for my laptop and desktop. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding a good brand/model for some of these things, so if you have any particular recommendations (or products to avoid), please tell me. Also, the laptop I have is a LinuxCertified model 2464 (http://www.linuxcertified.com/linux-laptop-lc2464.html), which is set up to dual-boot both Windows (XP) and Linux (Ubuntu, and I'll probably have upgraded to 7.04 before I get some of these things), in case you wanted to know what I have before making suggestions for these products.
Three things I want to try and get before the end of the month (for my birthday) are a:
[Keyboard]
Full-size/109-key, wired connection (I'm a little wary of wireless keyboards), and can be folded/rolled up, so it can be stored in my laptop case when necessary.
[Monitor]
LCD, with a screen size equivalent to that of a 19" CRT monitor, to replace my desktop CRT monitor. It's developed a few problems (things are a little compressed on the left side, it's getting blurry at the corners, and black/gray are hard to tell apart but brightness is as high as it will go), and I want to replace it before it gets any worse. Plus, it'll free up quite a bit of space on my desk ;)
[External Hard Drive]
At least 80 GB, so I can use it to back up the contents of my desktop's hard drive. If these work pretty good - and are cheap enough - I may also get a second one (again, at least 80 GB) for my laptop as well.Some other things I've been looking at are the following, and I've managed to find a few specific items for these:
[Expansion Dock]
This would help give me a better viewing angle, and make it easier to get to some of the ports. One type I've found is Kensington Model 60702 (http://us.kensington.com/html/10678.html), but I'm not sure if the seven rubber "feet" on my laptop might keep it from fitting in there properly.
[USB Hub]
I'm going to be using a separate keyboard and mouse most of the time, and I'm limited in the number of ports available - I don't want to have to constantly unplug devices due to being one port short. Is there a particular number of ports I should look for (that is, not too few, but not too many)? Also, for the hubs that require power (for the USB devices that need it), can a separate adapter be used to avoid having to drain power from the laptop? Some of the ones I've found are the Targus Super Mini USB 2.0 4-Port Hub (http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=ACH63US) or Travel USB 2.0 4- Port Hub with Built-in Cable (http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=ACH75US); USB hubs I found which would be more for long-term use are the Desktop USB 2.0 4-Port Hub w/Audio Pass-Through (http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=ACH80US) or Desktop USB 2.0 7-Port Hub w/Audio Pass-Through (http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=ACH81US).
[Notebook Lock]
I'm not too familiar with these, and haven't really needed them yet (the laptop's only been taken between relative's houses at this time), but I might as well be prepared for when I would need one. Is there a particular type of lock I should look for, and are there any I should avoid?Thank you very much for any suggestions you can give me in regards to these products :)
Anyway, I've recently decided to purchase some more equipment for my laptop and desktop. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding a good brand/model for some of these things, so if you have any particular recommendations (or products to avoid), please tell me. Also, the laptop I have is a LinuxCertified model 2464 (http://www.linuxcertified.com/linux-laptop-lc2464.html), which is set up to dual-boot both Windows (XP) and Linux (Ubuntu, and I'll probably have upgraded to 7.04 before I get some of these things), in case you wanted to know what I have before making suggestions for these products.
Three things I want to try and get before the end of the month (for my birthday) are a:
[Keyboard]
Full-size/109-key, wired connection (I'm a little wary of wireless keyboards), and can be folded/rolled up, so it can be stored in my laptop case when necessary.
[Monitor]
LCD, with a screen size equivalent to that of a 19" CRT monitor, to replace my desktop CRT monitor. It's developed a few problems (things are a little compressed on the left side, it's getting blurry at the corners, and black/gray are hard to tell apart but brightness is as high as it will go), and I want to replace it before it gets any worse. Plus, it'll free up quite a bit of space on my desk ;)
[External Hard Drive]
At least 80 GB, so I can use it to back up the contents of my desktop's hard drive. If these work pretty good - and are cheap enough - I may also get a second one (again, at least 80 GB) for my laptop as well.Some other things I've been looking at are the following, and I've managed to find a few specific items for these:
[Expansion Dock]
This would help give me a better viewing angle, and make it easier to get to some of the ports. One type I've found is Kensington Model 60702 (http://us.kensington.com/html/10678.html), but I'm not sure if the seven rubber "feet" on my laptop might keep it from fitting in there properly.
[USB Hub]
I'm going to be using a separate keyboard and mouse most of the time, and I'm limited in the number of ports available - I don't want to have to constantly unplug devices due to being one port short. Is there a particular number of ports I should look for (that is, not too few, but not too many)? Also, for the hubs that require power (for the USB devices that need it), can a separate adapter be used to avoid having to drain power from the laptop? Some of the ones I've found are the Targus Super Mini USB 2.0 4-Port Hub (http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=ACH63US) or Travel USB 2.0 4- Port Hub with Built-in Cable (http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=ACH75US); USB hubs I found which would be more for long-term use are the Desktop USB 2.0 4-Port Hub w/Audio Pass-Through (http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=ACH80US) or Desktop USB 2.0 7-Port Hub w/Audio Pass-Through (http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=ACH81US).
[Notebook Lock]
I'm not too familiar with these, and haven't really needed them yet (the laptop's only been taken between relative's houses at this time), but I might as well be prepared for when I would need one. Is there a particular type of lock I should look for, and are there any I should avoid?Thank you very much for any suggestions you can give me in regards to these products :)