Laptops

[binaryterror]

Whenever you connect to the internet, carbonite is running.

And if the internet is down...SOL?

You also don't have to worry about connecting and making sure your back ups are done.

Sure you do...gotta verify online backups just as often as local ones. Carbonites software does this for you, but so do most free and Windows Vista and newer included software programs.

To be honest, the ONLY way to back up is both external (USB or I prefer NAS drives) and an online such as Carbonite. I happen to use my own domain and software to get even lower pricing, but I happen to get the software below the standard user can get it for.

 

[jsowens]

I agree on backing up, but personally would choose carbonite over using an external this day and age.

Definitely agree with you. Any kind of backing up is better than using internal drive space, I think. There are a ton of cloud storage options now, along with super inexpensive external drives.

 

[TexasSP]

And if the internet is down...SOL?



Sure you do...gotta verify online backups just as often as local ones. Carbonites software does this for you, but so do most free and Windows Vista and newer included software programs.

To be honest, the ONLY way to back up is both external (USB or I prefer NAS drives) and an online such as Carbonite. I happen to use my own domain and software to get even lower pricing, but I happen to get the software below the standard user can get it for.

True to all, but I was trying to keep it simple. Most people are screwed without the internet period these days. With all the options though, it's becoming less of a concern. Plus, most places college students hang out will have internet service anyway.

There are advantages and disadvantages for everything. If he sounded more tech savvy, I would have recommended storage craft doing both types. It's certainly cheap enough and works very well.

As far as connecting, I was referring more to the USB cable to the external drive is all. Hey, we all know how much sleep college students get and how easy it is to forget the little things.

 

[RCGecko]

thanks for all the advice guys. im definately pulling out some pennies from the paycheck and buying a laptop. and since i only will be using the laptop, 400gb is a little overkill. 300gb is plenty. now as for brand, its iffy. i might get a dell. my older sister has an HP (say what you want about that company) and hers works great. shes going for a sculpture major and she has a lot of art programs on her laptop plus she plays the sims 3 that i got for her every now and then. i will definately look into getting an external hard drive. might come in handy for youtube videos i make. plus i have 2 4gb flash drives for on the go.

 

[losikid]

Thats funny, I'm typing on my brand new aluminum cased HP and it smells just fine.

It's because HP puts some perfume on it that only lasts a little while. It doesn't take long before they turn into this

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/crUpaXB3iLQ?version=3&feature=player_detailpage"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/crUpaXB3iLQ?version=3&feature=player_detailpage" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>

and then they start to get diabeties, and w/out the proper maintenance they have a painful death and your left with a huge pile of shit and HP wants to put their fist where the sun don't shine to fix it. Or, if you decline to have your anal cavity raped, they'll tell you to go F^&* off

 

[losikid]

We've had many HP's that took a massive dump on our door step, but we have a dell thats at least 8 years old and its still running strong. 256mb of ddr ram and intel celron 2.4ghz processor on XP and it runs faster than the HP, quad core, 8gb ram, 1gb graphics, POS that had a psu failure, then a hd failure, and then a mobo failure.

100% worthless piles of garbage in my honest opinion.

 

[RCGecko]

what the hell kind of forum did i join, just kidding... lol that link was funny. but hey that's just an opinion. thanks for your honest thoughts on HP's. i even got so pissed off at my old xbox and smashed it with a sledge hammer and posted it on youtube because it red ringed.

 

[Krakker]

It's because HP puts some perfume on it that only lasts a little while. and then they start to get diabeties, and w/out the proper maintenance they have a painful death and your left with a huge pile of shit and HP wants to put their fist where the sun don't shine to fix it. Or, if you decline to have your anal cavity raped, they'll tell you to go F^&* off

That sounds more like personal experience than actual truth. LOL

That's why you get the "special" warranty, for 2 years if I even pour my Monster through the fan and it fries,,,,, Staples sends me a gift card for the full purchase price and I buy what ever is newer. OOPPPS, I left in my Jeep again while rock crawling. Sorry, I'll be more careful this time.:mrgreen:
Not saying this mindset is right or that I'd actually condone this type of behavior, BUT, this is what the Tech at the store is telling me for each one I buy. Say's it happens all the time, that's why they make money on the warranties by writing off the claim.

 

[RCGecko]

well said krakker. getting the warranty is always a good thing. And I am more of a NOS energy drink fan. No monster for me. :mrgreen:

 

[binaryterror]

True to all, but I was trying to keep it simple.

Yeah I often over complicate things with my answers. I just hate to see people not willing to do their own research I guess.

I agree, USB backups are one the edge of useless anymore. Luckily NAS drives are getting so cheap now...and they do more than just store files. Mine can handle torrenting and remote file access (think google docs or Carbonite) without any other devices on at home. Kind of nice when you live in a PC and Mac home to have 1 happy location all by itself free from being all PC or all Mac.

 

[neillarson]

Everybody is going to have opinions on laptops, some based on real experience some based on he said/she said. There are always haters that have no reasoning behind their hate, as evidenced by your hate of all things Apple. I am an Electrical Engineer and Mechanical Engineer and work all day on Lenovos The last 15 years I have been in IT and hold certifications on AIX and Solaris, have worked with SGI, SUN, HP and IBM. I have an MCSE +I and would not own a PC if I didn't have to. t personally do a lot of photography and video editing along with multichannel digital sound recording and editing and there is not a PC on the market that that can handle what I do on my iMac for close to the price. I have tried. I also prefer to turn mine on and leave it alone for a few months at a time, not reboot every time I add a piece of software or when the MS weekly security patches come out (OK, maybe monthly). I also like not having to have 1/2 my resources go south everytime a virus checker kicks in.

All of that said, if you need a typical college PC, Word, Excel, DVD Player, good broadband and wireless access, any of the big manufactures systems will work, I personally prefer the Samsung and Toshiba line, but HP and Lenovo make quality machines. Insist in an i3, or i5 chip set, 6GB memory min and the biggest screen you feel comfortable lugging around. If you are not downloading and saving 100s of movies, a 320GB HDD is all you need, if you are into keeping movies, then look for a good external. You do not want to be streaming video or audio form a private/public cloud especially when a TB external drive is so cheap.