I am looking to purchase a laptop..what is the best and how do you use it away from home?

Answer 1

It depends what you want to use it for. I would recommend a Tier 1 supplier (IBM, Dell, HP, Compaz, Gateway). The quality will be much better.

First, decide what you'll use it for. If you are only going to use it for internet access, emailing and some lite word processing, then get a scaled down laptop. When they are scaled down (no floppy drive, no CD drive, nothing extra), they can get very small. I love my IBM X31. Because it's so small, I can bring it anywhere very easily. It can be a pain in the butt loading software because it doesn't have a CD drive, but 99% of anything you need can be downloaded anyway.

If you need something to play DVD's, CD's, etc . . then get something built for multi-media (larger screen, includes a DVD player).

It really depends on what you are looking to do with the laptop. Once you figure that out, visit the various vendor websites. If you're up for a refurbished unit, try www.tigerdirect.com . They usually have some really good deals and they've been around long enough that they'll stand by their name.

Whatever you do, don't buy a mac. They suck.

Good luck.

Answer 2

On a Budget: Dell, HP, Gateway or Any Other

No Budget: Alienware.

Using a laptop away from home is easy, it's exactly like using any other computer... just make sure you have your recharger and maybe a car adapter.

Nowadays, wireless internet access is ubiquitous and plentiful, many hotels have hi-speed.

There are no easy answers as to "which laptop you should buy". My only advice is that for a capable machine, look at spending no less than $1500. Anything below that and you're really just going budget.

For decent laptop, I reccommend the $2000 range. Laptops are usually very hard to upgrade, so the more you spend now, the longer your system will be usefull.

Getting into processor specs right now is difficult, find dual core if you can afford it... I'm pretty sure they're available.

Get as much Memory as you can. At least 1 Gb, preferably 2. Laptops tend to use your system memory for graphics cards (although this could have changed in the past 4 years), so that's a big hit on your system. Get as much memory as you can.

Hard drive space is less important. Still, in today's market go with a minimum of, say, 80GB?

PS:
Macs Rock. I don't use them, but that's because I'm a gamer, and mac software is more limited in the Macintosh arena. That should be changing soon, though.

Answer 3

I like Dells, but my fave right now is my HP pavillion. It just works, doesn't give me any problems and is really sturdy. I use mine for work and play, at home and when I'm travelling. Make sure you get one with a dvd player for flights and hotels (cheap entertainment) and also have a wireless modem. :) Love my notebook, I just don't see the point of desktops anymore as fast as these are now. :)

Answer 4

I have a dell b-130 and happier than a pig in a barnyard, does evertying i need to do at home and away. been dropped 3 times and still ticking.

Answer 5

i agree, dell is the best and cheapest. call them and talk with them. our last one we bought came equipped with wireless access and we can get online almost everywhere. sometimes if we're just in a random place it can be a little slow, if we're in a hotspot (barnes and noble, some mcdonald's, starbucks, most motels) it's quite fast. all free.

Answer 6

dell have the most reliable, and cheapest ones to choose from. http://www.dell.com. to use it away from home, you need to go to a hotspot, like a coffee shop. go to the wireless settings in the bottom right corner on the screen, and choose whom you want to connect to.

Answer 7

just got a great new dell penitum 4 for 550.00 off of ebay..refurbished but works perfectly.