Computer Advice Needed
 

Hey fellas, I have some questions and need some recommendations.

My current faptop is on it's last leg. It's an old Dell Studio and it's being used with a monitor because the entire top half of the screen, frame assembly kinda fell off...

I do not consider myself a computer savvy person, and I do not keep up to date with the latest trends or technology. Unfortunately, this is starting to become a pain in the butt for me.

What I really need are some recommendations for a new latptop or even a netbook. Hopefully you guys can lend me a few ideas.

Budget-I'd say roughly 400, but no regards going a bit higher if needed for a nicer model.

What I need out of it:
-Tuning Megasquirt
-Running iTunes or some other small media player
-Cruising the internet

That's about it really. I plan on having a nice desktop built later this year when I get out of basic and get settled in the military. So just having the basics will get me by just fine.

From what I've read so far, I should be able to get away using a netbook. However, I am all open to ideas and suggestions for brands, or whether or not I should get a laptop vs. netbook.

Please and thank you.

Well I have a shitty $300 ACER I just picked up with more than enough power to do what you propose. $400 should be able to get you something decent.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152302
The above would be baller if it was in stock. I'd shoot for something with those specs.

I don't know what those "specs" mean.

I checked a bit on Newegg and it seems I can get a refurbed netbook for like 200 bucks. I budgeted 400 because I thought that was what I going to have to spend. Damn it's been a while..


Thanks for the link, FRT. I'll send them an email.

Do you really want a 10" netbook? I hated mine. 15.6" is as small as I will go.

In your situation, Viper, I would look for a processor a step above an Atom or an AMD E-whatever, and drop a SSD in it.

Something like http://www.officemax.com/technology/...s&siteID=k1971 with a cheap SSD.

I find netbooks are practically unusable for me for tuning (At least my piss-poor attempts at it), so I would stay away from anything smaller than a 14" or 15" if you want to do that and browse the internet.

I'm not sure if I can live it. I think my Dell was a 15.6"

Hey not bad! That seems like a good deal. I'm assuming "ssd" is solid state drive? Why would I need one of those and how would I do about doing that?

I don't PC game. At all. I also have a terabyte external hard drive and several other external drives.

No need for a SSD IMO. They will give a huge boost in speed, but they are expensive for a relatively small amount of space.

Ok thanks for the info.

Would you recommend the computer that Blaen linked?

Looked good to me. It will definitely get the job done. I'm very happy with my ACER so far, and it is almost exactly the same.

I'd recommend you see whatever your going to get in person. My mom and brother both got laptops recently, my brothers laptop has a touch pad that feels weird and my moms laptop has a weird button layout.

Just giving my advice as to what I'd do with your budget ;).

I was not joking in an earlier thread when I said a SSD was the single largest upgrade I have seen in a long time component-wise. I cannot use my laptop anymore if it does not have a SDD.

Pretty much every netbook-class machine presently in existence fits this bill.

On the subject of netbook vs. "real laptop", this has been a bane for me of late. My job requires that I tote around some reasonable processing power, and yet since I fly a lot, I prefer to carry the smallest, lightest thing available.

My previous machine was a Vaio TXN, an 11" laptop with a Core Solo (U1400) processor. When it was finally used up this past year, I found myself in a bit of a quandary- nobody was making a machine this small that didn't have a crappy processor anymore! I finally located a refurbed Dell E4200 (12", Core2duo U9600) which I bought, and although it's a bit on the large side for my preferences, I like it.

Now, here's where things get interesting: Out of random curiosity, I happened to find myself cruising around the passmark.com website of late, where practically every x86-architecture CPU ever made has been benchmarked, and I found something which really surprised the hell out of me. It turns out that the newer N-class Atoms (N47x / N5xx) and C-class AMD processors (C-50/60) slightly outperform the Core Solo processor in my old Vaio, and the AMD E-class processors absolutely blow if out of the water.

Now, of course, we're still talking about chips that pale in comparison to a Core2Duo or i-class processor, but this is still 1.5x to 2x the performance of my old machine on which I ran some pretty heavy database apps and which, apart from being physically destroyed, was still quite a nice computer.

Make no mistake, there are still some limitations. Microsoft licensing agreements stipulate that machines which are OEM-licensed for the "lite" version of the operating system have certain hardware limitations, such as a cap on total RAM capacity. So be cognizant of such things, but don't let the "netbook" term scare you completely away. They have evolved into a surprisingly capable class of machines, nearly un-noticed.


Long story short: I wouldn't hesitate to buy a $300 netbook as an "everyday" computer. Gearhead has given the best advice of this thread so far- go and physically lay hands on the machines, and make your purchase decision based on that. We have gotten to the point where keyboard/touchpad layout is pretty much the only determining factor worth giving a crap about.

I just got this
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+...&skuId=4602027

It was $400 and should last me at least the next 2yrs until I need something bigger/better for school. Pentium i3, 4g ddr3 ram, 15.6 led/lcd screen, and 320gb hard drive Came with word and eccel unlocked, haven't had time to see what else. Got it Friday due to my last one dying last week, has worked well over the weekend. Touch pad takes some getting used to, my last one was recessed down a bit. Plus has a ten key which is a bonus for me in math so much. Also the RAM is expandable to 8g later. Speakers do alright as long as it isn't to loud in the room already. 2usb slots, don't really need more and a splitter is cheap.

EDIT: "We have gotten to the point where keyboard/touchpad layout is pretty much the only determining factor worth giving a crap about."-Joe Perez
-----The touch pad is a little to the left vs center like my last one. A weekend of use and it doesn't bother me anymore. Short of the fact it is 2finger sensitive. Cool feature but keep resting another finger on it accidently and zooming in/out on accident

If anyone thinks it was a bad purchase let me know. Not a big geek but seamed the best for the price.

Geeks.com has the Dell E4300 (13.3" screen instead of 12" like the E4200") for under $300.

http://www.geeks.com/products_sc.asp?Cat=957

What I mean by that is this:

When I was laptop-shopping, I actually found a couple of other machines which, on paper, beat my Dell in terms of the specs. One was some Asus or Acer machine (can't remember which) and the other was an HP. Fry's had both in stock, and I went down there ready to buy. I'm glad I played with them first.

The Asus/Acer had an i7 processor, a decent display, great battery, etc. But the surface of the touchpad was textured with a sort of horizontal grain pattern which did a great job of aesthetically matching the rest of the case, but made it really difficult for me to accurately use the damn thing. I also had a lot of frustration with the side-scroll section of the pad. The target area was extremely narrow and, unlike most machines, if you strayed out of the zone at all while scrolling, it exited scroll mode. Lose.

The HP was similarly well-endowed, however its touchpad, while quite large and nicely sensitive, didn't have physical buttons. They'd gone the Apple route and simply defined two little zones at the bottom to be "clickable", and while they were visually recognizable as buttons, there was no tactile sense that you were in a button zone. Using this machine also made me aware of the fact that I tend to rest my thumb on the left button of the pad while operating the pad with my finger. This pad interpreted that as a multi-touch gesture! I played with that machine for about 20 minutes and just couldn't get comfortable with it.


Too big.

I see that the E4200s are gone, but that D430 they have ain't bad. It lacks the ability to take the optional 9-cell MegaBattery, but aside from that is a pretty good machine.

Or, like I said, the higher-end Netbook machines are actually pretty capable computers these days, if you can deal with the Microsoft-imposed 2GB RAM limit.


This machine is kind of interesting: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...052-DT&cat=NBB My gut feeling is that I'd probably despise owning it, but kudos for innovatively
copying the interface paradigm of a popular handheld videogame.

That's a great idea. Unfortunately I live in a horrible, horrible place; so it's not likely I will be able to see the computer before I buy it.

As far as the budget goes, I just said 400 because that was what I thought netbooks would end up costing. I had no idea quality laptops/netbooks could be had for so little money.

I'm also getting parts for a coolant reroute, so what's left over from the new computer will go to that, lol.

Thank you for the insight, Joe. I will take that all into consideration.

That seems a bit too much for my needs. USB ports, I only need one. I don't even really need a CD/DVD drive. I normally keep all my stuff on external hard drives or in online storage.

Well damn, that looks pretty good. Thanks for the link.

I can live with a larger computer, I'm not dead set on screen size. I honestly am only really looking into completing the tasks that I listed above.

Thanks again to everyone who has posted in here. I'll be making my choice tomorrow. I will let you know if I have anymore questions.

But please, keep posting things that you think would be helpful.

I love you.

Threadjack, move if you want mods:

My coolant reroute on my 1.6 ran me the cost of the GM hose, (originally) some heater hose, and either some wire extensions or two NPT fittings depending on which of the two first reroutes I did (No fab work necessary.).

What're you planning to do for a reroute? Or are you going with the full M-Tuned/BEGi/etc. kit?

Hey guys, check this out. This is from Vash's Ebay deals thread.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspiro...68660.m2000037

I seriously think that might cover everything. Even has a webcam.
Thoughts and opinions would be great.


PM

I personally hate the netbook form factor. Have you used netbooks at length at all, Viper?

If you have and have no issue, it's definitely a decent deal for the cash. But I detest the netbook layout personally - but that's just a personal bias.

And everything has a webcam now.

Agreed. About the only problem with the class as a whole is a tendency on the part of the designers to undersize the right shift key, or place it in in ackward location (eg: to the right of the up-arrow key.) The better keyboards I have seen provide a full-sized right shift key, and drop the arrow keys down a bit to fit below it.

Or their absolute hatred for placement of the ]} key, or their hatred of the \| key, or even the [{ key...And let's not get into delete and backspace....Or ~`...

Actually, if the keys that Joe outlined and the above keys aren't well-placed, a keyboard is unusable for me :(. I've never used a netbook that had good placement of the keys for my uses. Plus I've never used a netbook keyboard that I've liked, and the ridiculously low resolution and size screens drove me batty (In certain programs, it made me wish for the old 80 line terminals again over that...)

But it boils down to "Have you used it before?" I guess. The netbook form factor is not for everyone - but for some people, it's amazing.

Yes I have. I've used my friend's Acer netbook for tuning his turbo E30.
Turbo pr0n:
Attachment 186090

Thanks. I love you too.

That should not be a problem.
I can't make it any clearer that this will NOT be used for work or extended periods of time. Internet (MT, fapping) and tuning. That's about it.

Anymore comments/remarks about this? I'll probably buy it in the morning if I read some good things.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspiro...68660.m2000037

If you've used one before bro and have no issues, go for it!

Buying now. Speak now or forever hold your piece (lol)

Some one please comment on the specs.

Is the N450 proc significantly faster than the N270? I found the N270 to be pretty sluggish in my Lenovo S10 netbook. 5+ tabs on a browser gets irritating.

I have no idea what those are. I'm asking you guys the questions, not the other way around.

Dance monkeys!

Oh, and any intensive Flash stuff, even decent quality Youtube vids, kills it.

Survey says the difference isn't dramatic.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=132498

Honestly, I was unsatisfied with my netbook, even for web browsing. There's just too much embedded flash, large images, etc. It's little annoyances, like sluggish response to scrolling a web page, but it wears on you over time.

Passmark says:

U1400: 275 (my old, "High-end" Core Solo laptop)
N270: 304
N450: 318
N550: 568
N570: 633
E350: 728 (AMD's higher-end netbook chip)
U9400: 965 (Intel Core2Duo found in low-end Dell E4200)
U9600: 1129 (Intel Core2Duo found in high-end Dell E4200)

So not a massive difference between the N2xx and N4xx processors. Pretty big leap to the N5xx series.

Avoid the Z-series Atoms. They are shite.

The C-50/60 AMD chips are between the N450 and N550 Atoms. Avoid the C-30, it is also shite.

However, what blew me away when I first started looking at these number a year ago was the fact that even the lowly N270 is measurably faster than the CPU in my previous laptop, and while that machine wasn't exactly a barn-burner, it was no slouch.

I actually run an E-350 in my home server/media player/etc., so I can personally vouch for it.

The n2xx atoms were dogs at best.

Post specs plz. Whenever I click on an egay link it isn't around anymore.

Okay, I emailed that guy from the listing and he's waiting for more.

But, I found this:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspiro...ht_2635wt_1010

Please please please review this. Looks to be the same, but with a few extras and a larger hard drive.

Not too concerned with the Windows 7 starter, I plan on trying out Ubuntu soon.

1 gig of ram is weaksauce, I'm trying to find what its upgradeable to.

Not really worried about that. MS and internet.

You're not going to enjoy Flash videos much with those specs.

That might be irrelevant. Remember, this is going to be a tuning laptop for now. I have 2 other computers to use for high speed interneting and I will have an uber desktop built later this year.

I just need to know if this (the one I listed) is going to be good for MS tuning on the go interneting.

That would be more than adequate for both tuning and sitting-on-the-couch web surfing.

Folks don't seem to recognize just how little computing power it takes to tune a Megasquirt. My old tuning machine was a Fujitsu Stylistic 3400, which had a 400 Mhz Pentium 3 and 128 megabytes of RAM.

+1.

I have an old, ancient Via Epia 800mhz tuning it atm with 128mb of RAM in WinXP.

For those just tuning in, an 800mhz Via Epia is as fast as a 400mhz P3 on a good day.

On the other hand, pr0n surfing may take up a lot of hardware if he's into videos. /Uh oh, did the topic just drift to what porn he surfs?

For what it's worth I had one of those Dell Minis die after 6 or so months of moderate usage. It was quite a while ago though I'm sure by now it's different hardware.

I still say don't go with a minibook/netbook/etc.. Get a 15.6" laptop so you actually have a decent resolution. I hate looking at webpages or tuning the MS on anything smaller. Might as well just use a smart phone or something.

As for power required to tune, I used a PIII ancient Dell for a bit just fine ;)

A 10-12" machine is not only perfectly adequate for tuning and web surfing, but far easier to deal with inside a small car. I'm typing this on one right now while watching Big Bang Theory and drinking rum & coke, and I can honestly say that at no point during the evening have I thought to myself "gee, I wish I had something several inches larger and several pounds heavier sitting on my lap."


Once TunerStudio (or something like it) is available on any tablet platform, I will immediately buy one.

It's the resolution, not really the screen size, that I found to be irritating.

Check the max resolution on your potential purchase, then set your current laptop to the closest setting. See if you really want to live with that.

No comment on pr0n. You probably couldn't handle it ;)

I had a brand new laptop die after starting it for the first time. I'm just that cool.

I'm not really concerned with screen size or resolution. Like I said earlier, I have other computers, just none I can take with me in the car anymore. At this point I don't think it's worth shelling out the extra cash for screen size.

agree 100% It sucked balls trying to lug around my IBM thinkpad (1998?) in the car. That thing was a beast though. Still have it. Too bad it needs an aircard to get internet, lol!

As soon as Android phones/tablets can do Tunerstudio.......I would get one immediately.

Pretty much irrelevant for my interests with the netbook. I have a nice monitor on my main computer.

That's fine...I'm just saying that my Lenovo netbook screen resolution was irritating even during web browsing and in the AEM tuning software.

Josh, you can always go to bestbuy and check out their laptops and see what you think of the various screen sizes.

If you are okay with 10-12" that is fine. I had a nice netbook with a 10" screen and could not stand it for tuning. It had a 95% full size keyboard but still felt off every time I used it. After it died on me I switched back to a 15.6" and realized how much better it was. Never really had issues it's size while in the miata. In fact I had more issues with the smaller netbook which didn't fit very well anywhere I put it. I could set my laptop in the seat next to me and very easily see everything. Or even on my lap if need be. The netbook kept falling off me since it didn't have much surface area and didn't balance well. And setting it on the passenger seat meant it was hard to glance quick and see.

But in the end it's all preferences.

I LOL'd. Look where I live.

Do you not have a bestbuy or hhgregg there? Danym.

I didn't have issues with that when I was tuning any of my friend's car. I'm far from being a tech guy so I doubt I'll ever really notice the differences.

It's hard justifying the price difference at this now that I know that the netbook will cover everything I need perfectly fine. But I do understand your point, even though I had more problems with a larger laptop when previously tuning.

First world problems, lol.

Dude. You don't even know.

I've heard that about several tuning programs, not just AEM. We're fortunate in that the software available for the MS works very well at low screen resolutions. My old Fuji tablet was 800x600, and MegaTune worked flawlessly at that resolution, as did the tuning software for the Greddy EMU which I had before the MS. Since you can't buy any machine with a resolution that low anymore, I consider this a non-issue for MS tuning.

For general use, I agree that 800x600 is too small. Both of my subcomact laptops, fortunately, have good displays. The 11" Sony Vaio TXN was 1366x768, and my 12.5" Dell E4200 is 1280x800. When I am on the road (which is usually for weeks or months at a time) I honestly don't feel deprived by this. And the keyboards? Admittedly, some of the Netbooks have crappy keyboards, but it's more about key placement (especially right-shift) than size. I have fairly large hands (I wear an XL in motorcycle gloves) and don't have any problem at all with them.

The 1024x600 displays on the $200 machines would fall into the range of "acceptable" for general-purpose use (eg: sitting on the couch), although we're starting to see 1366x768 displays on some of the better netbooks.



It is all about preferences, I suppose.

For the first 9 years that I worked for Harris (1999-2008) I always had company-issued Dell laptops in the 15" class. In 2008 I bought my first "small" laptop (the aforementioned 11" Sony Vaio) and was immediately hooked. I'm now on my second "small" laptop (the aforementioned Dell) and have decided that I will never buy a laptop larger than 11-12" class again. And again, remember that when I'm away from home and living in a hotel, often for a month or two at a time, this is my primary computer. At home, I have a 28" monitor on my "big" computer, and yet I just don't want anything larger than 11-12" when I'm using a laptop.

You've never been to the Florida keys, have you? It's basically a third-world country connected to Homestead (which is pictured in the dictionary under "Hick town") via a rather long and inconvenient bridge. :D

I'm stuck in this hotel for 5 weeks and I would kill myself if I had anything smaller than my 15.6". Browsing webpages and having to scroll forever is so annoying. I like my desktop space. I often have two screens side by side as well for super efficient multitasking.

I've considered hooking the laptop up to the 32" TV (the hotel room actually provides you with a decent VGA cable and they have a nice input on the desk for it). But I won't be able to increase the resolution this way any so not much of a point.

Thanks for the sig. Now I won't have to try and explain to people why Taco Bell and Walmart are considered delicacies.

First world problems bro.

Yo Bro,

1280x800 or 1366x768 or bust. Browsing the web on my 10" Acer EeePC netbook at 1024x600 is not very optimal.

12" screen size minimum 14-16" preferred, I believe this will exclude the above resolution limitation.

Processor: Aim for at least 2ghz dual core. My Acer netbook, even with the best 1.5ghz dual core processor, can make internet browsing a waiting game.

HP and Acer are my current favorites. I should mention the Dell Vostro 1000 I purchased many years ago is still going strong without any sort of design flaws. The battery has needed replacement and I had to clean a quilt of dirt off the heat sinks, but that is to be expected every few years.

Last note: Screen finish can have an effect on visibility for tuning in the miata. I much prefer the matte finish on my vostro 1000 vs the glossy finish of my sager np8690.

Here, have some vodka.

Haha. Well, y'all did secede from the US and declare war on it, after all.


Bit of a slight sidebar as it's probably outside of the target price range, but I just came across the new Asus Zenbook/Ultrabook, and from the specs alone, it looks like a hell of a nice machine. If my Dell were to kick the bucket anytime soon, I expect I'd probably grab one of these:

http://usa.asus.com/Notebooks/Superi...specifications
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+U...8#BVRRWidgetID

11.6" display, 1366x768, 128 gig SSD, and available with any of the Core i-series processors.

^That looks fairly baller. 11.6 is probably a nice compromise for a large enough screen, but uber portable.

I bought the Dell that I last posted (250gb) and after talking to Lars (shuiend) I am going to install Ubuntu on it and have a good setup for car tuning and internet on the go.

I'm actually really excited to try Ubuntu. If I like it enough I'll install it on my frankestein desktop/laptop.