[Steadybears]

We thinking of buying our son a lap top before we leave home - can anyone give me an idea of prices - should we get before hand or are they quite reasonably price in NZ.

I can get a Mecer 2.0 GHz
512 ram
80 gig hard drive
DVD writer
Wireless

which includes a inkjet printer.

Thanks again for any help

Jayne

[Peter&Liz]

Don’t know how the price compares in NZ to South Africa.

But I would recommend for performance that you get more memory than 512 MB ideally 2GB but at least 1GB.

Memory is quite cheap at the moment, so it shouldn’t add much to the price but bang for buck it is the cheapest way to improve performance.

You could also see how much it would cost to upgrade this machine by going to crucial and seeing how much memory costs for this model.

http://www.crucial.com/

Peter

[IanW99]

We thinking of buying our son a lap top before we leave home - can anyone give me an idea of prices - should we get before hand or are they quite reasonably price in NZ.

I can get a Mecer 2.0 GHz
512 ram
80 gig hard drive
DVD writer
Wireless

which includes a inkjet printer.

Thanks again for any help

Jayne

For prices you could check out Dick Smith Electronic (http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/) or PriceSpy (http://www.pricespy.co.nz/) for approximate prices.

It may also be worth checking out Dell Computers (http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=nz&l=en&s=gen) as you will be able to compare like for like between NZ and SA.

The only real problem you will have is the mains plug on the end of the power supply which you may need to replace or use an adapter for. So if the savings are worth it in SA then buy from there.

On the other hand, if the prices are very similar then would probably recommend waiting till NZ just in-case you have any problems with it, unless of course it comes with a world-wide warranty?

Ian

[Steadybears]

Thanks for the help - will definately go into it again

Jayne

[Dom]

get dual core processor too.

It depends what he wants it for.

[Croft]

get dual core processor too.

It depends what he wants it for.

Everything now comes with Vista which just swallows performance. Absolute minimum spec I'd say is dual-core with 1GB RAM, just to make the OS work. I hate it.

[Dom]

Everything now comes with Vista which just swallows performance. Absolute minimum spec I'd say is dual-core with 1GB RAM, just to make the OS work. I hate it.

but I thought Vista was The Big Wow ?

:D

[MaxG]

but I thought Vista was The Big Wow ?

:D

You can always upgrade to XP. :laugh

...and yes Vista absolutely sucks. Maybe by the time it gets to Service Pack 2...

[mgf]

What about laptops from the US. I had heard that laptops have internal device that will change currency imput but not very comp savy so just asking

[BkyMonster]

Yes laptops from the US have a current converter switch so are usable in NZ with just an extra power supply plug.

I'd also suggest an 'upgrade' to XP.
Places in the US will install it instead of Vista if you ask. Maybe the same there?

[NoelMC]

Sorry.........here it comes........you knew it would only be a matter of time...... turn away now.......

GET A MAC......

[Croft]

Sorry.........here it comes........you knew it would only be a matter of time...... turn away now.......

GET A MAC......

Nah - go Linux!!

http://www.pspsps.tv/linux.jpg

[suzer]

when are you arriving? my husband has one he is selling before we go back to australia next month. pm me if you're interested.

[Chiba]

Nah - go Linux!!

Free hair shirt with every install disk! You too can configure your wireless network interface from the command line! :uhoh

Get a Mac.

(3 Macs, 5 Linux boxes, 1 XP install on a Tosh laptop that belligerently refuses to run anything else, 1 Wintendo in a Bootcamp/Parallels prison)

[sizzlingbadger]

I would say go for a Mac as well :D :nice1

Never looked back since buying ours, it's very user friendly :clap

[boatieman]

Hi, having used mainframes, networks and windows based pc's for the last 28 years i would throughly recommend a mac ! If you are going via the USA drop into an apple centre and buy in dollars. Discard the packaging and put the new power book pro in the hand luggage.

I know it makes sense !!!

[Croft]

Mac is easy to use but is proprietry and therefore has greater up front costs and less 3rd party stuff available for it. Don't get me wrong, I like the Mac (having used Macs on and off since 1987), but if you buy one you have to be aware that there are downsides to your purchase. I prefer the flexibility of a PC.

[5kings]

My hubby has just bought a Mac book pro, it's great as it runs as a mac, or a PC so he can run anything on it, and I agree Macs are easier to use etc, and worth the extra expense in my opinion.

Helen

[Red Devil]

We've always had Dell and swear by them... especially their current offers on Laptops :nice1

[CJ22]

I'll be removing Vista from my laptop at the weekend and installing XP on it. Vista eats resources yet provides most users with no clear advantage over XP, which at least has the advantage of being mature, more robust and well supported. You can always upgrade to Vista in a year or so when all the problems have been ironed out. It's doing my nut in at the moment.

You can still occasionally find a long-stock laptop with XP on it. You may be able to negotiate with your vendor.

[Croft]

I'll be removing Vista from my laptop at the weekend and installing XP on it. Vista eats resources yet provides most users with no clear advantage over XP, which at least has the advantage of being mature, more robust and well supported. You can always upgrade to Vista in a year or so when all the problems have been ironed out. It's doing my nut in at the moment.

You can still occasionally find a long-stock laptop with XP on it. You may be able to negotiate with your vendor.

If you're going for a PC, far preferable to go XP rather than Vista (spawn of Satan that it is :) ).

[NoelMC]

Get a MAC

Buy a copy of the parallels programme, and be able to run all your windows programmes on your MAC.

Windows is safe inside a little virtual bubble, and the MAC keeps it snug and safe, and tells it it is really running on a windows machine. Sort of The Matrix for Windows.

But don't let Windows speak to the outside world (via the internet) or it will get poorly and die from one of the thousands of viruses out there.

Keep it snug and warm

Noel

[river11]

Noel, totally agree,
we've got 4 macs and 1 pc at home, the pc is a pile of ****! Crashes, slows up, fan gets loud, programmes are slow, stupid pop up window thingys always come up. And Vista is a poor imitation of OSX, The macs are a dream to operate and I can't remember the last tine any of them crashed, but they do cost more.

[ndheah]

Get a MAC

Buy a copy of the parallels programme, and be able to run all your windows programmes on your MAC.

Windows is safe inside a little virtual bubble, and the MAC keeps it snug and safe, and tells it it is really running on a windows machine. Sort of The Matrix for Windows.

But don't let Windows speak to the outside world (via the internet) or it will get poorly and die from one of the thousands of viruses out there.

Keep it snug and warm

Noel

Winner, get a mac, it's worth it :-)