I plan on buying a new laptop?

Question

I need something that can store a lot, so what should I look for? Does it have to do with the hardrive or RAM? See, the one I am interested in says:
1GB DDR2 SDRAM
160GB Hard Drive
Is that good? What is a good range in RAM and Hard Drive to have if you plan on storing a lot. Also, what do I need to buy so that I can transfer my files from this computer onto my new laptop?

Thanks so much.

I just don't want something that will slow down on me, because I work on the computer and if I have to store my work stuff, and my fun stuff, then I just want something that can handle it. But I'm not storing a whole whole lot. But a good amount.

I will just store photos off the internet, and word documents mostly.

Answer 1

New laptop will come with Vista. If your going to run Vista the minimum memory should be 2Gb.

Storage of data occurs on the hard drive. If your going to store a lot of pictures or music or video - 160Gb would be the minimum I would look for. Typical music file is around 3.3Mb, 1Gb of hard drive will hold around 300 music files. A movie is around 2Gb, so your 160Gb drive could hold maybe 50 movies after you back out 60Gb or so for the space consumed by the O/S and other applications. Pictures, it's tough to pick a typical, they can be in the 100Kbyte range or they could several mega bytes - depends on your camera and camera settings.

The applications you plan on running will influence the amount of memory (RAM) you have more than what you want to store. I would say 2Gb min, 4Gb max.

Hard drive, 160Gb would be the minimum, I'd get as large a one as you can afford.

If you don't need to access the stored info all the time, get an external USB hard drive, if for no other reason than to back up the internal hard drive on the laptop. Nothing sucks worse than losing your entire picture collection to hard drive crash.

Get a DVD read write drive too, you can store up to 4 Gb of data on DVD. Again for back-up. Hard disks are mechanical, spinning devices - they break. It will happen, it's happened to me multiple times.

Answer 2

If you want to store a lot you need a large hard drive. Memory has to do with how fast your computer will perform (opening programs, files, etc.) Raw storage however, only has to do with the size of the hard drive. Laptop hard drives are difficult to replace so its usually better to err on the large side. 160 GB is a pretty good sized hard drive but it all depends on what you plan on storing. If it's going to be hours of video then a 250 GB HDD might be better but 160GB is usually a good size.

To transfer your files a large USB flash drive is usually best. 1 GB to 2GB flash drives will run you $30 maybe and you can transfer files back and forth from computer to computer. Remember though, you can only transfer files (word documents, songs, pictures, videos) not programs.

Answer 3

Those are good specs for a laptop but also look into a cooling unit for them. They overheat easily and some laptop can cool the cpu better than others. I had a top of the line Dell XPS than didnt cool well and eventually burned out on me after only a yr or so.

To transfer files, you'll need a Jumpdrive that connects to the usb port. It will most likely need to be at least 2gb in size, so expect to spend over 100$ USD for one.

Answer 4

I would max out ram if I were you but only if you wanna run vista. If your gonna run xp all you need is 2 Gb. I would get the biggest laptop hard drive you can get which is 250 Gb sata.

Answer 5

27k wont convey a gud recent laptop for u; 35-40k ought to get u one u can get in 27 happy with elementary config yet its consistently greater desirable to purchase what's recent otherwise it is going to become previous quickly. although the comparable value can get u a robust laptop. chk on web pages of for laptops:dell, lenovo, hp, acer chk on web pages of for laptop: compaq, lenovo, hp, or u can consistently get an assembled one with the config u want

Answer 6

It's ok, I have the same specs. and 1Gb is pretty good for a laptop. (Y)

Answer 7

I would consult with consumerreports.org and pcmag.com for some excellent advice and user reviews.