Shady,

You don't mention the age of your laptop. There are some really cheap ones out there. Yeah, they are somewhat "low-end" but from your comments about using your laptop as a "secondary" computer, I'd think the low end option would answer for you. BTW, even low end ones have 120 gigs of disc space, 1 gig of RAM, and a bunch of other specs you may (or may not!) need.

Bottom line, if a repair costs you more than a hundred bucks, it'd probably be worth pursuing a new machine. My opinion, for what it's worth. I'm shopping for a laptop, myself, right now. It'll be a first for me and (for now, anyhow) my plans are to use it very much like yours--primarily when I'm away from my desk top, and I don't really plan to put a whole lot of stuff on it.

Cheers,

Rob

Mac or PC?

(My Mac is very valuable ;) )

OK, enough smart ass. Dump it and get a new one. Since you're considering dumping it, it must be older. Not worth the expense to repair! Technology is making slightly older machines obsolete, and prices are dropping. Get a nice new young sweet Macbook. Mmmm, yummy!

Carolyn

buy mine off me so I feel less guilty splurging on a mac!

If it's just the harddrive, why not just replace that? That's a cheap and easy fix.

And wow, talk about a Mac following!

Stacy wrote:
>>And wow, talk about a Mac following!>>

Not this boy! Having said that, though, I know the ppl who have them, love their Macs. I think it depends on what you want a computer for. Macs do some things much better than PCs do. However, Shady isn't looking for something with all sorts of nifty features (if I read & interpret his post correctly). Remember Macs are also more expensive.

Rob

Good luck on making the right decision! I thought I had when yesterday I purchased a new desktop with VISTA on it. I am considering taking it back tomorrow. Neither one of my printers will work on it and it does not accept the newer downloaded drivers. I have worked on it for hours today and will sleep on the decision. I would not recommend Vista to anyone. I needed a faster computer.
Good Luck on your decision, jonelle

Jonelle,

You're not from that Mac v PC ad are you? Why didn't you just buy a new printer ?

(says evil Carolyn)

bahhh mac =P... if it is tie a chain around it and practice your hammer throw ... just my thoughts.

ont the other hand if it is just the HD then get a new one. i still have, a spare key for XP heheh any ways yah.. macs are bad mm'kay?

Gaston

Haha, to scurto. I got a new laptop that was supposed to be Vista ready, and half of the hardware wasn't supported. I had to strip mine and go geek on its ass. No longer is it PC and it's definitely not a Mac.

You're right, Rob -- Macs are loved by their owners and they're definitely more expensive. I was just surprised to see such an outcry for them. :)

Stacy

A guy in my OS, who is very computer savvy, *DETESTS* Vista and strongly advised me, if I do get a laptop to get them to install XP on it, instead. So, I'm not surprised to see the similar comments about it here.

Rob

Vista - ick. I'm very happy with XP.

I said "splurge" on a Mac not only because of the price but because I'd be getting it purely for photo and graphics - I hate those things otherwise.

The laptop is probably at least six years old. Fortunately I see if I go with a Dell again I can still get it with XP. I brought it in the office today to let the IT guy look at it. He was also able to recommend a repair place if I just decide to get it fixed. My partner told me if I replace the hard drive, though, I'll have to purchase a whole new operating system if I can't find the original discs. I didn't think about that. I suppose all the applications would need to be installed again too.

You can pick up a new internal HD for peanuts but even if you find the original install disks you may not be able to install the OS on anything other than the original HD. This is one of the issues that makes me HATE PCs. I had to reformat my drive last summer and had to take out the new video card in order to install the original OS.

Why do I prefer Macs? Simple, they just work. There is none of this Vista crap where peripherals no longer work, needing to update drivers etc. I can't tell you how many PCs we've had to throw out or replace parts but we've got 15 year old Macs that still run fine. Of course, they don't take enough RAM to be usable anymore but they still work. One of these days when I feel the urge to give myself a migraine I'm going to turn one of the original Bondi blue iMacs into a server for the PCs. Try doing that with a PC.

And Vista, don't even get me started on that. Ever since peripherals began to be AC/DC when it comes to PCs or Macs I've only bought that which can be used on both. There is no way I'm letting an OS dictate what gadgets I can use. The next computer is an iBook running Parallels so I can use it for work.

My rant for the day. I feel better already.

Oh, yeah, Macs aren't really more expensive than PCs if you compare the standard features of a Mac versus the add ons you need for a PC.

Anyone notice how profanity is clearing recently?

Open source is working out for me pretty well. Just about every Mac and PC application has been copied. A bit buggier, of course, but that just gives it character. Something about a working wireless card makes me happy.

At six years old, getting a new laptop might be a better option, unless you're really attached to the one you have. The hinges start falling off at five, usually, don't they?

Stacy

Well, the latch is loose. I suppose the hinges are next.

I'm now millimeters from getting a new machine. Now the decision is to get a basic one to just do the basic stuff I've been doing or to get one that can handle the "game" stuff that my partner says is messing up our desktop machine. (Which I'm not convinced is the case but could be true)

Getting a laptop that handles games is quite a bit more expensive than a desktop that handles that stuff, isn't it?

Yes, Stacy, I noticed.

With my previous notebook, I somehow jammed a disc in the drive. Couldn't get it open for anything. I know it cost over $100 to get that little problem fixed and then about a month later the whole machine blue screened on me.

Moral of story: If you smudge your computer, toss it and get a new one. That sucks.

Vista. is.bad.

Ah...but I can't go mac as my quilting software doesn't work on Macs. Although, I bought a used machine since my stuff was simple, and it was a real da#d move. I didn't want vista and I thought this was going to be ok...the guy has been promising me a new battery since Nov. 3. I'm not happy.

Lis, check if your quilting software will run using Parallels, I don't recall if it's specific to the processors or the OS. If the OS, it should work using Parallels. Bootcamp on a Mac is specific to the processor and not the OS, although I might be completely confused as to why these programs run PC native software on Macs. I'm only interested in if Word for Windows, which I have to use for work, runs on a Mac. You might be able to free yourself from MS. Well, the dual core Intel processors have allowed for the development of Bootcamp on a Mac which lets you use PC native programs, whether Parallels is specific to the processor or not...

This doesn't even make sense to me but I know what I'm trying to get at. I think.