Buying Laptops 101

One of the top things I have received phone calls about lately is purchasing a laptop. Although I do offer consultation on walking you through purchasing a laptop via phone for a small fee, it is really easy to find out what you need on your own by doing a little research. A good site that rates laptops based on user ratings is Eopinions (http://www.epinions.com/cmhd-Notebooks-All/show_~top_sellers). If price is no object, also check out PC World's Top 15 list at http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,118253,00.asp.

What do I need to look for when buying a laptop, you ask? I answer that you should pay attention to Speed, Memory, and Hard Drive Space as the primary things. There are plenty of other options, but I will explain those later.

Speed
If the processor is Intel, choose Pentium 4 over Celeron for the processor speed. In lamens terms, a Pentium 4 is like a V8 vehicle, and the Celeron is like a 4 cylinder vehicle. The both will get you to the same place, but in a crunch when you want the power you will notice the difference. As far as processor speed, anything in the 1.5 - 2.5 GHZ range is good for the average person. Unless you are running some serious programs, having a processor over 3 GHZ not necessary. Instead, spend the extra money on some additional memory, which is discussed in the next section. The AMD Athelon is also a good processor.

Memory
The standard memory that comes on newer laptops is between 256 megs and 512 megs. I would recommend ABSOLUTELY not going any lower than 256 megs. If you are going to be doing multiple things at the same time (i.e. playing music, cruising the web, and burning a CD), you will need more memory. However, when buying a laptop it may be cheaper to buy your memory from an aftermarket company and have a professional technical (such as me) install it. Like how I slipped that in there?

Space
HD Space is essential to being able to store all your programs and files. The standard right now is between 20 - 40 gigs of space. If you have a lot of music (or plan on having a lot), have a digital camera and take a lot of pictures, and find yourself being a packrat of email attachments (I am guilty of this), then you might want to consider more space. In my opinion, the more space you get from the start, the less likely you will have to deal with backing everything up or starting over when you run out of space and have to get a bigger hard drive later.

Other Options
If you use your laptop on the run, definitely consider buying an extra battery. Most laptops only come with a battery life of 1-3 hrs, which goes by quickly when you don't have a plug around. Also take into consideration that your battery life will go twice as fast if you are doing things such as burning CD's or playing DVDs.

Laptop screen sizes are averaging from 13" to 15" right now. There are the big 17" screens, but keep in mind the bigger the screen, the heavier the laptop is to carry (my 17" Toshiba weighs just over 10 lbs.) Also note that the smaller the laptop is, the more expensive they become and the more accessories that you will probably have to carry around externally. For example, there are some really small laptops that require you to have to hook up the CD-ROM on the outside with a USB cord.

Other options that are nice (but not necessary) are things like an internal wireless card. This will allow you connect at places like Kinko's, Starbucks, libraries, and other places with "hotspots." You can order external wireless cards later, but then you have to plug and unplug them everytime you want to use them.

Personal Preferences

Now, for my personal opinions. Stay away from Gateway, and definitely stay away from Compaq. I repair these two types of computers the most often. In my opinion two of the top laptop companies right now are Toshiba and Dell. I use to be a diehard Dell fan until about six months ago when they lost my order a few times (but that is another story.) However, Dell has the best balance of cost vs. features, as well as the best customer support for laptops. If you can afford to spend a tad bit more, I prefer Toshiba's Satellite series. I currently have a Toshiba Satellite P25 Series laptop, and I love it. With the 3.0 GHZ Processor, 17" wide screen and 512 megs of RAM, it can handle pretty much anything you can throw at it. I added additional memory to bump it up to 1.256 gigs, but that is because I run software that absorbs a lot of memory. Toshiba's are also a little more durable than Dell's, but their stylish metal casing makes them a little heavier.

Have more questions? Email me and I will do my best to answer them. Want me to walk you through purchasing a laptop? I can do so for a small consultation fee. Call me toll-free at 888-386-7706.

Read more!

Netflix vs. Blockbuster Online

Since I love technology, I like to try new things that are considered to be on the cutting edge of technology. When Netflix launched its mail-based DVD rental service back in 1999, I heard about it and was interested. I was one of the first people I know of to try it in 2001, and was a member up until about a year ago. I loved the service, in fact I turned a lot of people that were notorious for paying a large amount in late fees onto using it instead of the local movie store. Actually, the only reason that I stopped using the service is that I began to travel more for my business, and my MBA was taking up the remainder of the spare time I had left.

About 2-3 months ago I heard about Blockbuster launching a similar service. This really didn't peak my interest, mainly because they were advertising at the same price as Netflix and didn't have as big of a selection. However, I did notice an advertisement that told me that they dropped the monthly price to and introductory rate of 14.99 per month for the first 3 months, with a recurring rate of $17.49 (for the 3 at a time plan.) This is cheaper than what I was paying when I was with Netflix (at the time around $20 per month.) Plus, I saw that they expanded their selection, and in addition they give you two in store rentals per month for free! So I gave it a try. Guess what? I love it. Even though they don't have as powerful of a website as Netflix, you can't beat the free in store rentals for when your movies are in transit in the mail to and from Blockbuster Online. But for all you people that want to draw your own conclusions, here is the breakdown:

Both Netflix and Blockblockbuster Online:
Both companies have a 2 week free trial. You can rent as many DVDs as you want for just and keep a revolving library of up to 3 DVDs at a time. You can exchange them for new available DVDs as often as you like, with the number of DVDs you rent depending on how quickly you watch and return each of your DVDs. Both have free shipping and postage. Select your movies at sign-up and they should arrive in your mailbox within 1 to 3 business days via first class mail. After you finish watching a movie, simply put it in its prepaid envelope and mail it back to them. As soon as they receive it, they'll send your next available movie. Shipping is always free both ways. Both of them claim to have Over 25,000 movies to choose from, but in my opinion Netflix's website offers an easier search and rating system and makes it easier to find movies.

The Final Breakdown

Netflix
3-at-a-time program is $17.99 (plus any applicable tax)
Turnaround - depending on your area 1 - 3 days. On their website they claim that they reach more than 85% of their subscribers with generally one-day delivery.
Click here for their Frequently Asked Questions

Blockbuster Online
3-at a time program is $17.49
Movie Turnaround - depending on your area 1 - 2 days (usually a day)
2 Free in store rentals per month (available by printing the coupons from the website)
Click here for their Frequently Asked Questions

Read more!