HP notebook???

[CyanBlue]

What do you guys think about this HP notebook to replace my failing 5 year old desktop??? It is mainly to work on Flash, some PHP development and web browsing, I guess...

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11471523&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84|56670&N=4017750&Mo=7&No=0&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=4580&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=

[asf8]

Looks like some decent specs for the price. Darn the speed of technology, everything gets outdated so quickly however.

PS: When I saw the title I thought the spammers had converted you, and there would be some long list of electronics for sale ;)

[CyanBlue]

Well... I use MBP at work, and I like it... It's quite different experience... But it's just too expensive to buy one of those, and I won't be able to use my Windows software which probably is the major reason... and yeah, I am cheapy... :p

But the bottom line is that 'anything' will be better than my 5 year old crappy computer which I have paid more than 2k on it... :(

[evride]

Why a notebook? I can't work on small screens. Altho 17.3" is pretty big, nothing beats a 22" - 24"+ widescreen. It looks like an ok deal altho the processor and memory could be faster, better, less power hungry.

I would definitely suggest this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115558

Larger screen - 18.4"
DDR3 memory at 1066mhz (HP's had DDR2 at an unspecified speed)
P8600 - higher clock and fsb speeds, and more cache. also runs at 25W instead of the T6400's 35W, which will give you a little longer battery life.

[wvxvw]

I had HP Pavilion... until maybe a year... the disadvantages:
- it is really heavy.
- I broke the electricity plug and couldn't fix it... just a small plastic thing, but it's not replaceable... if it breaks, you need to replace the entire case, but once they go out of fashion you won't find a case that fits :)
But I like the design more then IBM (Lenovo) / Compac. And Macbook is just expensive... + I need Windows anyway :)

[Cota]

It will do the job. As for the screen, I have a second monitor hooked up to my laptop. As for the Acer, I boycotted their products years ago, cause everything I ever got from them broke within a week and their customer service was garbage. So they can bite me. Go with the HP.

[CyanBlue]

I was actually going to hold on to my old desktop one more year not because I am a cheapie but because I don't really have problem Flashing with it... It is somewhat slow, but it does the job... Until my hard drive started to fail like two weeks ago... and I now am needing something that I can use when I need to do the work... I really don't want to get one with Vista, but I guess I don't really have a choice at this point...

Why notebook??? I am very clumsy with my fingers, and I really hated using a laptop until I land on this job where I am using MBP and found out that I can live with the laptop... So, I am going to try another one to see if it works for me... Besides, the laptop is quite warm during the winter time... :p

Yeah... The spec says that it is not light one... I carry MBP all the time, so I know how much that one weights... I can only imagine how heavy this HP one will be... On the bright side, it will be a good workout if I have to carry it around... :D

I've got two 22 inch wide screen monitors hooked up on my desktop at the moment... I don't think I can connect both of them to this notebook, but I've got to find a way to utilize them... Acer... ARG!!! I hated it ever since I tried one of the computer like 10 years ago which I returned because it was just crappy... and never look back...

[kkbbcute]

Besides, the laptop is quite warm during the winter time... :p

You need a heater in your house :p

Anyway personally I would recommend you wait till Windows 7 comes out, and here's the fun bit: Build a computer yourself. The reason? Building a computer yourself usually means cheaper computers and more room for customization, which is aalways a good thing. Your computer can be catered to your exact tastes, and it really isn't that hard to fix a comp.

P.S. This is sort of my last post for the next two weeks. Exams are here, darn :(

[CyanBlue]

Heater... Nah... The electricity bill is way too high... :(

I wanted wait until W7 comes out, but I don't really have an option to wait that long when the hard drive is failing... Of course, I can shell out $100 just to replace the hard drive, but I don't think that's cost effective...

I actually ran a small business building computers for the customer... I probably have assembled more than 500 computers with my hand... and I kinda got tired even touching my own computer after that... Yeah, you can call me lazy... :p

Good luck on your exams, kkbbcute... ;)

[wvxvw]

There're Toshibas with low RAM that are still shipped with WinXP :) just because you cannot install Vista on them... but, should this be a problem? First thing that I'd do on the computer with Vista would be format C: and install XP :)
Ah, and another good thing about HP, they made good batteries... those maybe causing extra weight and heat, but after 3 years of using my HP they could hold for for much longer, comparing to IBMs of the same age for eg...
But, *sigh* it didn't have a PC2 slot... so, if you don't like it's own keyboard you'd have to use USB one... which is a bit more expensive...

[CyanBlue]

FYI, I just went to the Costco on the way home and picked it up... I am sure my wallet won't be happy about it, but I just bought one... :)

I am thinking that I'll repartition it and install Ubuntu and use Vista along with it... I've never laid my hands on Vista yet, so I am going to try it and see how bad it is... :D

[asf8]

FYI, I just went to the Costco on the way home and picked it up... I am sure my wallet won't be happy about it, but I just bought one...

Congratulations CyanBlue, keep us posted on your experience when you get things up and running.

I am thinking that I'll repartition it and install Ubuntu and use Vista along with it... I've never laid my hands on Vista yet, so I am going to try it and see how bad it is...

Vista should remind you of XP / 2000 / NT/ 98 / 95 really .... you should be fine its the same old MS package with a few changes :p

[Enforcer]

Vista is to OS's what IE is to browsers.
Good luck!

I'd follow the fly's advice and install XP, before anything else.

[wvxvw]

As for AS dev Vista means lots of problems with Flex as you'll have to tweak it to use 32 bit JRE... FlashDevelop also has issues on Vista as well as Eclipse plugins...
Flash will became a huge memory consumer if you'll try to code in IDE... the font rendering is just so bad you cannot imagine (you'd type a letter per second) :) Adobe said they improved the compatibility, but, somehow it didn't improve very much...
Besides, you'll spend couple of weeks browsing different forums just to figure out how to give your only users the administrative privileges, turn off all sorts of supports for handicapped users and shut down numerous dialogue windows it'll pop in your face when you least expect it :)
The user experience with default settings is just so bad that after an hour using it you'll want to throw yourself out of the window together with the computer... Simple copying the file path from the explorer window or browsing to the directory one level up is the matter of trial and error even for experienced users :)
When I need to work on my friends computer with Vista installed I must have coffee breaks at least once every hour... otherwise I'll explode.

Anyways, good luck with the laptop! You'll start appreciating opensource software even more having both Ubuntu and Vista on the same machine :p

[Flash Gordon]

congrats on the new addition to the family along with the adopted red-headed step child (ubuntu) ;)

[Flash Gordon]

wow...that really is a great price.

[UncleNinja]

I've never laid my hands on Vista yet, so I am going to try it and see how bad it is... :D
I have Vista, and it is not bad at all. It is a great OS, it's only issue is compatiblity. The fact is, most of the problems Vista has occurs when you install it on an old computer. A new computer would be great. :)
Not to mention HPs these days have plenty of RAM (at least 3GB).

[kkbbcute]

Vista isn't all that bad, it was just that it didn't live up to all the hype as a "next generation OS", and it launched with a ton of bugs to the dismay of unwilling beta testers like myself, but it has since stabilized. A tip: Get Windows 7 the moment it comes out, it fixes the large memory consumption issues and fixes numerous compatibility issues! ;)

[CyanBlue]

It's been 2 weeks since I bought this laptop, and I still have not found time to open it up and mess with it... Pity... :(

My plan is to half the partition and install W7 just to mess with it and see how good/bad it is... Heard that it'll be better than Vista... Heck... Anything should be better than Vista, right??? :)

[asf8]

It's been 2 weeks since I bought this laptop, and I still have not found time to open it up and mess with it... Pity...

That is a pitty ineed :eek::(

Anything should be better than Vista

Is Vista crap for development or something? I have used it and dont mind it at all but I have not used it for development however. To me its just like Windows 95 except prettier, isnt that all Microsoft did anyway, retro fitted 95 with an updated UI GUI, then charged $$$ different amounts for all 55 versions they offer, I though that has been the SOP for years now. :p

[CyanBlue]

Yeah, I know... M$ always find a way to make more money... But then, don't we all do that one way or another as a developer... :D