Getting a laptop...

Dkong

Long story short, I need to get a laptop, desired specs at the bottom of this post. Continue reading if you want the backstory behind this (which could change your advice...)

First and foremost, if you guys don't know, I'm 17 and currently a junior in HS....and I have a freshmen sister. My parents (well, mainly my mom) have never let me get my own computer, because they think I'll go on porn sites (because I can't get porn on a shared computer when I'm home alone, right guys?)...

We have 2 laptops, in addition to my mom's PC, so I use one of the two to get online on a day to day basis. Typically, since my mom will use hers when she wants, and my dad usually doesn't go on the computers very often when he gets home from work, me and my sister have been freely able to get online whenever the hell we want, because there's always an available laptop.
Recently, one of them just took a dive. Thus now me and my sister are back to fighting over getting online. Being the little baby sister, she can get away with telling me that I can't get one, yet when she asks, I have to get off. No questions asked.

Well, geeknights forumers, I've had enough of my motherfucking sister on the motherfucking laptop (such a shitty quote, sorry guys ). I now have a job, so I'm now strongly considering getting my own laptop.


Price range: $200-700. I have more money than that saved up, but I really don't wanna blow it all on one thing.
HD space: don't give a shit. I have a damn near empty 120gb external harddrive if the recommended laptop has crap for hard drive space.
stuff I need it to do: run firefox, play anime (aka vlc and/or mplayer), play music (ok, what laptop can't?), run Pidgin, download torrents. Nothing too bad, as far as I'm concerned.
OS: preferable xp, vista, or ubuntu. The eee's OS is ok, but it's limited...
RAM: I guess it depends on the OS. If vista, I'd like at least 1.5 or 2gb. If xp, 512mb is probably enough (yes, one of my current laptops is an xp machine with 512mb ram....<_<)
brand: Just not a Dell, please...for the love of computing.
Screen Size: Preferably nothing lower than 9" (taking EEE into consideration, here...)
webcam: don't care.
if I missed anything that you think is important: ask me, I'll answer.


Final note: Yes, I have done research on my own. I just want to know what some of the more intelligent techies on the net think about laptops...

Sail

First of all, do you really need it to be a laptop? You could make a much better desktop for that money if it doesn't absolutely need to be a laptop.

Second of all, those Eee PCs are really sweet and will fit your needs perfectly, though you may have a problem with the screen size, as you said. Look into them, but be sure to physically touch one before you commit to it.

That's all I got.

...

play anime (aka vlc and/or mplayer)

I don't have any other relevant input though.

kiwi_bird

I got an ASUS Laptop for about 700$ with 2 Gigs of memory, 256 MB graphic card and 250 gigs of hard drive space. It's lasted me for one year now without any real problems, and it runs Ubuntu absolutely fine. The only problem is that its quite heavy and big for a 15,4" Laptop.

Apreche

You're 17. Ask for a MacBook, and say that it will take the place of your graduation present, and you'll take it to college with you.

Barring that, just get the new eee PC. It may be limited, but it will get you online to do the web stuffs, and the new one just came out with a bigger screen. It is the cheapest option that will get you to graduation, when you can then ask for a real machine for colleges.

Jain7th

Viga

Wow...I feel sad for him. When I went to communi barely anyone had laptops.

Anyway I'm getting a new laptop too soon. Most of the things Dkong said applies to myself in looking for a laptop.

...

Holy crap, that's pretty much the exact opposite of here. 99% have pen and paper and 1% has a laptop. And yes, that one person has a Mac laptop.

Wow...I feel sad for him.

*hits Viga on the head* How can you feel sad? He's the one most likely to be paying attention to the professors. Heck, I'll even say he's the coolest person in that room, screw laptops.

Diagoras

At the university I attend, even the library's computer lab is filled with people browsing MySpace or Facebook. I have even seen people watching porn. And my fellow classmates wonder why most professors ban laptops?

On a side note, I do have a laptop for school, and I sometimes fool around when I am done with my schoolwork. But I must say I much prefer to take notes by hand. If I need them on a computer for some reason, I'll just type it up later on. I just don't understand why so many of these people waste time.

Starfox

Ban laptops? Why do the professors care whether or not the kids pay attention?

Andrew

My CS professor told us to bring laptops so we could IM each other instead of whispering during his lectures.

Apreche

Ban laptops? Why do the professors care whether or not the kids pay attention?

Imagine if you were standing on the street, and you met an old lady. She needed to get to the other side of the street, but she couldn't do it without help. To top it all off, she paid you to do it! You tried to refuse the money, but she insisted. The light turns green and you finally start to help her cross the street. However, instead of walking she just stands there reading the newspaper and ignoring you. She's going to miss her doctor's appointment across the street very soon, but she just won't move.

That is the frustration of a college professor when the class isn't paying attention.

Dkong

Not sure if this is a joke or if it's serious.
Serious: Did you even read what I wanted to use it for? No where did I say "for taking notes in college". Next year I'm gonna be a senior in HS. My school currently doesn't allow laptops (not many HSes I know of do, honestly. I know a few, but not many). When I'm about to head off to college, I don't think it'll be a problem convincing my parents to get me a laptop. For now, though, they ain't budging.

Joking: ...thanks for answering my question, I guess...

First of all, do you really need it to be a laptop? You could make a much better desktop for that money if it doesn't absolutely need to be a laptop.

True...The biggest issue is size. It would be hard to conceal a desktop in my bedroom. It would be easy to hide a laptop, though. Plus my room is small and has little desk space...


All in all, I'll probably look into getting an EEE PC, fixing the laptop that went down (Cause it's not 100% down, it's just in the "holy shit, this is gonna be a pain in the fucking ass...." stage), or doing nothing.

...

It would be easyier to hide a laptop

Now, why do you need to hide a laptop? If your parents don't want you to have a laptop, don't bother buying one. It will only cause trouble, more than it's worth.

EDIT: Also, there's no need to have two blank lines between paragraphs.

Funfetus

Now, why do you need tohidea laptop? If your parents don't want you to have a laptop, don't bother buying one. It will only cause trouble, more than it's worth.

I strongly disagree. If your parents are ridiculous, it's your responsibility to defy them.

...

Now, why do you need tohidea laptop? If your parents don't want you to have a laptop, don't bother buying one. It will only cause trouble, more than it's worth.

I strongly disagree. If your parents are ridiculous, it's your responsibility to defy them.

That is if his parents are ridiculous. There might be a very good and reasonable explanation for not wanting to have a laptop in the house. Like not wanting to set up a wireless router due to the potential intrusion, or because they do not want their child to fuck up in school because he no longer pays attention to the teacher, but instead to the laptop.

And besides, imho no person really needs a laptop.

Rym

And besides, imho no person really needs a laptop.

I do feel, however, that pretty-much everyone in the modern, industrialized world needs a computer of some kind, or at least trivial access to one.

Funfetus

That is if his parents are ridiculous. There might be a very good and reasonable explanation for not wanting to have a laptop in the house. Like not wanting to set up a wireless router due to the potential intrusion, or because they do not want their child to fuck up in school because he no longer pays attention to the teacher, but instead to the laptop.

He wrote earlier that it's because they're afraid he'll look at porn.

lackofcheese

Alright, we have the "ridiculous" down.

...

That is if his parents are ridiculous. There might be a very good and reasonable explanation for not wanting to have a laptop in the house. Like not wanting to set up a wireless router due to the potential intrusion, or because they do not want their child to fuck up in school because he no longer pays attention to the teacher, but instead to the laptop.

He wrote earlier that it's because they're afraid he'll look at porn.

Oh? My apologies, I missed that. I do see it now, he edited his first post with more information, sue me for only reading new posts. Either way, why are parents who want to keep their children from looking at all sorts of porn ridiculous? Strange, yes, overprotective, also, ridiculous? Not at all.

I do feel, however, that pretty-much everyone in the modern, industrialized world needs a computer of some kind, or at least trivial access to one.

I do agree with that statement, but where in the modern, industrialized world does it still happen that someone does not have trivial access to a computer?

Funfetus

Either way, why are parents who want to keep their children from looking at all sorts of porn ridiculous? Strange, yes, overprotective, also, ridiculous? Not at all.

Teenage boys are either going to look at porn, or they're not. If they're going to (and really, they are) you can't stop them. So all it really comes down to is that they're denying him a useful tool.

Now, certainly there are reasons why a parent should be concerned about their child watching porn. I think the best solution is to educate them. Statements like "that's not what sex is really like", and "women don't really look like that", and "most women don't actually like getting money shotted" would be useful. Expecting them to just not watch porn is like abstinence-only sex education.

On the other hand, I'm assuming there's some religion at work here, in which case there would be no reasoning with them.

lackofcheese

I do feel, however, that pretty-much everyone in the modern, industrialized world needs a computer of some kind, or at least trivial access to one.

I do agree with that statement, but where in the modern, industrialized world does it still happen that someone does not have trivial access to a computer?

I'd say having to fight his sister for access is not at all "trivial" in Dkong's case.

...

I do feel, however, that pretty-much everyone in the modern, industrialized world needs a computer of some kind, or at least trivial access to one.

I do agree with that statement, but where in the modern, industrialized world does it still happen that someone does not have trivial access to a computer?

I'd say having to fight his sister for access is not at all "trivial" in Dkong's case.

I doubt his parents are that unreasonable that they won't make his sister stop using the laptop when he needs it. To write essays for example. Everything else is merely entertainment, not a need in the sense meant here. And that can even be done with a timer. First the sister an hour, then he, then she again, then he again, etc...

Look at the comment Rym reacted to at the top of that quote. My comment on the need for laptops. Nobody needs a laptop. Having a laptop is merely a convenience to, say, finish the presentation you have to give at your job later that morning. It is trivial to get access to a computer these days in the modern, western world when you need one.

Dkong

First the sister an hour, then he, then she again, then he again, etc...

Tried it, but it still managed to get fucked up.

On the other hand, I'm assuming there's some religion at work here, in which case there would be no reasoning with them.

You'd be surprised, actually. My mom's essentially an atheist (church on Christmas and Easter only) and my dad isn't the one who gives a shit [about whether or not I should get my own laptop] in this situation (he's religious, though). The biggest reason is that he doesn't want to pay for another computer or laptop. So I'm assuming that he won't care if I pay.

Like not wanting to set up a wireless router due to the potential intrusion, or because they do not want their child to fuck up in school because he no longer pays attention to the teacher, but instead to the laptop.

Well, we already have a wireless network set up. That's how we have the other laptops on the internet in the first place.
Though, my mom has always expressed some concern about me having a computer interfering with my schoolwork. But in the past few months when my sister's had volleyball, I've had almost unrestricted access to the laptop(s), and my schoolwork's been fine.

But again, as I said before, I'm looking at fixing the other laptop...so we'll see how it goes (it'll be a weekend project) and I'll get back to you guys about it.

Thanks for you help so far.

...

(church on Christmas and Easter only)

If you think that makes her an atheist you have no fricking clue what the hell religion is. You can practice your religion without going to the prayer house often. My mother too only goes to church a few times in the year, and she's highly religious.

Well, we already have a wireless network set up. That's how we have the other laptops on the internet in the first place.

True, I hadn't read the information about the other laptops when I wrote that. Should've edited it.

Thanks for you help so far.

Good luck.

Dkong

If you think that makes her an atheist you have no fricking clue what the hell religion is. You can practice your religion without going to the prayer house often. My mother too only goes to church a few times in the year, and she's highly religious.

There's a lot more behind it than just going to church twice a year, but I kinda figured that you and the rest of the people reading this thread couldn't really give a shit about my mom's life story, so I decided to not mention it.