Appropriate icon is appropriate.

[botherd]

Okay, it's time for me to face facts: my laptop, which has served me terribly for the last three years, has now reached the level of falling-apart* that means it needs to be replaced.

The problems with this are twofold:
- I have no money
- I know nothing about computers

Does anyone know what sort of laptop I can get that will a) WORK, and b) not be too expensive? (My budget is probs around £400.) All I know is that I'm never getting a Packard Bell again, because this thing is the biggest pile of shit ever. Obviously with that budget I'm not going to get the shiniest computer ever, but I'd just like something that, you know, won't regularly die on me.

*I'm so close to sticking it back together with gaffer tape, you guys. When I say "falling apart", I do mean LITERALLY.**
**And, yes, I know I could just get the hinge fixed, but it fails in myriad other ways too.

Comments

[siviusx.livejournal.com]

400 is tight, but I've always been a fan of ASUS and Toshibas, which are quite durable and not as assy as Dells and HPs. And Packard Bells, apparently.

[botherd.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks! I'll see what I can find.

[lovely-noise.livejournal.com]

HAWT ICON IS HAWT

[lovely-noise.livejournal.com]

I know this helps you none at all, but I'm in ditto situation. Bar the fact that I have another £200 and want something to run basic music making software, but still.

I really expected this thing to last for a bit longer than 3 years while still working at a decent spec.

[shadowings.livejournal.com]

Hullo, so I am here through your littlebang fic, which I haven't gotten around to commenting on because it will take me a while to formulate thoughts, but sometimes I like to read through writers' other entries and stuff. (Not that you needed to know any of this)

I have a 1 year old Sony VAIO CR-710 which was about $700, which serves me just fine although I run Linux and when I tried to use the preinstalled Vista it brought down all sorts of shitstorm problems along with a ridiculous amount of proprietary Sony software junk. But it's a pretty good laptop. Also Asus laptops are really ace. There's also a little company called Averatec which made a laptop that I really loved for its 2 year lifetime. (it didn't last longer only because I shot the OS to hell, but I tend to do those things so with normal people it probably would've lasted like 5 years)

What I really like, though, is the idea of getting a netbook, like an Asus eee or a MSI Wind and then getting an external HDD to go along with it. This way if you drop the netbook it will barely mess it up since netbooks have solid-state drives, and it will be super small, super transportable and super cute. A few of my friends do it and when I get my next laptop it might be in that direction.

But a final note, if you are going to be replacing your laptop anyway, you might want to wait until Windows 7 comes out, in October. I hear it's a lot better than XP and Vista. You can actually get a free test version now from Microsoft's website.

Wow I am a dork. I hope that helped you somewhat if you haven't bought a laptop already.

[shadowings.livejournal.com]

Also netbooks are cheap ($250-400) and sometimes come with Linux, which is amazing. (and also makes them even cheaper) And if you are scared of Linux, you shouldn't be, especially since it will be Ubuntu, which will almost be like Windows but not as slow and cranky.

[botherd.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I can't believe I forgot to reply to your comments. Thank you so much for the computer advice! I haven't got round to buying a new laptop yet and this is really helpful. My dad has Linux on his computer, so I might have a play around with it and see if I like it.