Noone seems to go there so I'll try this here:
Here's the deal. My only computer (Dell Inspiron 5150 laptop) is about 7 years old now, and is DEFINITELY on it's way out.....using about 58 of the 60GB HD, very, very slow, lots of lagging, overheating and shutting down, etc. Given it's age, it was never a powerhouse to begin with going by today's standards/technology, and add to that 7 years of almost nonstop use on all the electrical components.........it's definitely time for something new.
Now, all I mainly use my laptop for is:
Por....erm.....internet
CD ripping/media playing (WMP and Winamp)
Microsoft Office (Excel and Word, mainly)
Adobe Acrobat/Reader (PDFs)
Zune Software
Basic picture/video storing and editing (no fancy chop/editing software, however)
No games, no downloading music/movies/vids/games, no crazy networking stuff.....really simple, low memory operations. However, I'd like the ability to run Solidworks efficiently in the future. Since I'm getting something new, I will most likely be getting something a lot more compact (this thing is a beast), so I would most likely take it on trips frequently.
Should I be looking into netbooks, or do I use it enough to justify getting a regular notebook? The size of the netbooks (~10" screen) is tempting, and after seeing the specs of some of the higher end ones ($4-500), they seem pretty damn decent. However, for another couple hundred, you can get a notebook that is on average double the capacity/performance of said netbooks.....but do I need it? Ideally I'd like to stay in the $3-400 range, but if need be I'd make the jump to $500 if it's worth it. I really don't feel like spending $700, as I'm trying to be somewhat reserved in my spending since I'm looking at buying a house.
I have been out of the computer loop since I bought my current laptop 6-7 years ago, so I have no idea what I should be looking for. What say you nerdmonkeys?
Here's the deal. My only computer (Dell Inspiron 5150 laptop) is about 7 years old now, and is DEFINITELY on it's way out.....using about 58 of the 60GB HD, very, very slow, lots of lagging, overheating and shutting down, etc. Given it's age, it was never a powerhouse to begin with going by today's standards/technology, and add to that 7 years of almost nonstop use on all the electrical components.........it's definitely time for something new.
Now, all I mainly use my laptop for is:
Por....erm.....internet
CD ripping/media playing (WMP and Winamp)
Microsoft Office (Excel and Word, mainly)
Adobe Acrobat/Reader (PDFs)
Zune Software
Basic picture/video storing and editing (no fancy chop/editing software, however)
No games, no downloading music/movies/vids/games, no crazy networking stuff.....really simple, low memory operations. However, I'd like the ability to run Solidworks efficiently in the future. Since I'm getting something new, I will most likely be getting something a lot more compact (this thing is a beast), so I would most likely take it on trips frequently.
Should I be looking into netbooks, or do I use it enough to justify getting a regular notebook? The size of the netbooks (~10" screen) is tempting, and after seeing the specs of some of the higher end ones ($4-500), they seem pretty damn decent. However, for another couple hundred, you can get a notebook that is on average double the capacity/performance of said netbooks.....but do I need it? Ideally I'd like to stay in the $3-400 range, but if need be I'd make the jump to $500 if it's worth it. I really don't feel like spending $700, as I'm trying to be somewhat reserved in my spending since I'm looking at buying a house.
I have been out of the computer loop since I bought my current laptop 6-7 years ago, so I have no idea what I should be looking for. What say you nerdmonkeys?
