RealTown's RealTalk

Al,

I have to agree to a point. I spent 13 years in IT as a Sr. network engineer
and webmaster. For 7 years straight I used exclusively Dell laptops. Keep in
mind that Dell has/had 2-3 major lines of laptops. One for Business, One for
personal and one for entertainment. The business grade laptops are far
better in performance and durability than the other line(s). I use a
Latitude D-800 currently and have had it for 2+ years. It runs all of the
Real Estate specific software and beyond just fine.

After that stretch of Dell Only, I introduced IBM ThinkPad's into the mix.
Some of the high-end ThinkPad's were as good as the Dell's. One thing my
users liked better about IBM in the latter days was the ability to have
smaller (12 inch) screens and still have internal optical drives (CD/DVD).
Dell went away from internal optical drives (But may have come back now) on
anything with a screen smaller than 14 inches.

Either way you go, just make sure that it has all the options you want
(Laptops are near impossible to upgrade) installed from the beginning, and
you may find that a docking station is a must. Smaller laptops have smaller
keyboards, and if you will be on it all day, a docking station with a 20
inch monitor and a full size keyboard will save your hands and eyes in the
long run. Also look into warranties. 3 years is the life expectancy of IT
equipment, so get a three year warranty and replace it when the warranty is
up. Dell offers accidental damage with their warranty, and if you drop one
and break a $600 lcd screen, you'll wish you had the $100 warranty.

This IMHO is good advice. I supported 100's of laptops in my 13 years in IT.

Al Napier said:

>>>brand name they're willing to share?>>> I've had EPS, Gateway,
Dell....But my HP laptop(s) were head & shoulders above them in the machine,
the service and the price was better too............ Al in CT, JIM

I puchased a MacBook Pro a couple of months ago to replace an older iMac. I could not be happier and I will not bore you with all the details other than to say that I also run Windows XP on it using the Parallels program. Nothing short of fantastic. The best of both worlds in one great package. As for a dock, I just recycled my wireles keyboard and USB hub. Works quite well.

I returned a Sony notebook to Sam's Club a year ago and purchased a MacBook. I use an HP Desktop in the office and am very pleased with both. I have owned Compaq, Dell, HP and Sony Notebooks over the years. The MacBook cost me about $2000 with all the software (MS Word, Excel and PP for Mac and Parallels to run Windows only when absolutey necessary) and upgraded to 1.0 gig of RAM. I will NEVER go back to Windows voluntarily and plan to be able to replace my desktop with a Mac the next time I change machines.

--- Bob Pisa <bob@livenaples.com> wrote:
>> However, when looking for a smaller, lighter weight
notebook tocarry all the time (the HP was just too big
and heavy) I ordered anew Lenovo (ex-IBM) tablet. It 
has a 5-6 week lead time.

I think they are the best tablets out there.HP, Dell,
Gateway, while they may be fine they are not
thesmallest/lightest. I've used "IBM" laptops in the
past and HP andIBM are tops...Toshiba is right up
there too. <<

Bob, I think the Sony VAIO TX series might be smaller
- about 2.5 pounds (UX series are smaller but lacks in
memory and other features). Also, I think Fujitsu
makes some pretty small laptops.

Regards,
John

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Bob, Interested in what you purchased (off line if you prefer). I just ordered a Motion Computing tablet - expensive but light and powerful. Still have time to change my mind... Scott --- Bob Pisa <bob@livenaples.com> wrote: >> However, when looking for a smaller, lighter weight notebook tocarry all the time (the HP was just too big and heavy) I ordered anew Lenovo (ex-IBM) tablet. It� has a 5-6 week lead time. I think they are the best tablets out there.HP, Dell, Gateway, while they may be fine they are not thesmallest/lightest. I've used "IBM" laptops in the past and HP andIBM are tops...Toshiba is right up there too. << Bob, I think the Sony VAIO TX series might be smaller - about 2.5 pounds (UX series are smaller but lacks in memory and other features). Also, I think Fujitsu makes some pretty small laptops.