Re: Off topic: Need cheap new laptop, any suggestions?

[J R FOX jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Just a few quick comments on the previous comments:

I know someone who maintains that the only really good keyboards
are the ones on the ThinkPads / Lenovos. (But I don't think they
are in the budget category, and I don't know if their quality is
still comparable with what it was in the IBM days.)

Flash wrote:
> everything else must be attached via a USB hub to the one
> on-board USB port, or reachable via wireless LAN. So make a
> quick inventory what external devices a new laptop must be
> able to communicate with, and check that any prospective new
> machine has the necessary port(s).

Another factor (especially if you had only one USB connection)
is that some USB devices won't work through a hub. External
hard drives like the WD Passport of Seagate FreeAgent are
examples of this; although self-powered, they must still have
a direct connection.

Bill Troop wrote:
> I have always also bought a 3-4 year onsite service warranty.
> That is de rigeur with any laptop, I think. Even with that,
> you're not out of the woods.

This is something that always gave me pause about laptops.
They tend to be more fragile, more difficult and costly to
repair, and they may not last all that long. I have a desktop
system that has been in heavy service for 5 years now. (That's
not such a great achievement either, but this one has not yet run
into a significant "CPU deficit", in terms of becoming
underpowered for what it is normally called upon to do.) I have
the feeling that 5 years would be exceptional longevity for a
laptop, with most of them having serious issues long before then.


 Jordan