Laptops

[Kaesekopf]

Nerds!

[The Harlequin King]

Basilios: you must be trollin. It's not perfect, but Dragon Age is leagues above the recent Final Fantasy games in quality (Origins, at least; 2 is debatable).

No good recent RPG's? You didn't like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Mass Effect 1/2/3, or The Witcher 2, either?

[Pheo]

HK - Ha, I think I have to tell myself that it's the least important thing.  I'm sure I'd like some of the ones you've mentioned.  But by the time I get home these days I'm almost completely comatose.

One day I'll have normal working hours...or so I'm told.

[The Harlequin King]

I am usually comatose when I get home as well, in recent weeks. I work and go to school, full time each. Not sure what I was thinking.

Once the semester is done, though, I have some serious gaming to catch up on (Batman: Arkham Origins, among other titles).

[moneil]

I don't know what y'all need constant upgrades for if you don't play games or aren't in IT or graphic design. If it weren't for games, my laptop from 2006 would still be fine, even for programming work. Only thing that ever failed was the battery.

Pretty much agreed.  I get by on my 8 year old laptop.  Good ol' trusty laptop.

Wow, that is impressive.  My first laptop was a 486 with Windows 3.1, which became obsolute before it wore out.  I stuck with desktops for many years after (the more practical alternative unless one really needs the portability IMHO, and with tablets for "field work", even more so).  My next laptop was a Toshiba Satellite.  It went for 5-1/2 years, then the hard drive started dying could have replaced that for "a Benjamin" but got struck with "wanting newer and 'better' " syndrom).  My current laptop is a Fujitsu LifeBook (a brand I wasn't familiar with but saw it on sale at Frey and called a tech friend who said "buy it at that price").  They are designed in Japan and built either there or in Taiwan with Japanese manufactured components (i.e. "Not China" ~ TAKE THAT Apple  ).

While I hope I may have a couple of years before I really need to deal with it (especially after the dentist recently suggested some options as to how I might help fund his early retirement), and also it is too early to have longevity and reliability data, I REALLY LIKE the concept of the Microsoft Surface Professional units (NOT the RT).  Pricey (a little over $1k with keyboard and detachable CD/DVD unit) but combining full Windows 8 computing functions with a field tablet unit is compelling for me.

[Basilios]

Basilios: you must be trollin. It's not perfect, but Dragon Age is leagues above the recent Final Fantasy games in quality (Origins, at least; 2 is debatable).

No good recent RPG's? You didn't like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Mass Effect 1/2/3, or The Witcher 2, either?

Haven't actually played any recent FF games apart from A Realm Reborn, which is strictly MMO rather than RPG.

I tried playing Mass Effect 1 and 2 which both bored me. They were like shooters with a bit of dialogue here and there where you got to choose stuff and upgrade things. Dragon Age 1 I got about 1/4 way through and was falling asleep. I didn't try The Witcher, Deus Ex or Skyrim (heard good things about that).

I'll tell you what recent RPG I kinda liked: Dragons Dogma. That was good. The only bad thing about it was the incredible lack of foresight with regards to travelling. Literally 80% of the game is spent walking to distant lands because they didn't implement a fast-travel system. That really dragged down the quality. Apart from that it was quality.

[Megmary]

I don't know what y'all need constant upgrades for if you don't play games or aren't in IT or graphic design. If it weren't for games, my laptop from 2006 would still be fine, even for programming work. Only thing that ever failed was the battery.

Pretty much agreed.  I get by on my 8 year old laptop.  Good ol' trusty laptop.

Wow, that is impressive.  My first laptop was a 486 with Windows 3.1, which became obsolute before it wore out.  I stuck with desktops for many years after (the more practical alternative unless one really needs the portability IMHO, and with tablets for "field work", even more so).  My next laptop was a Toshiba Satellite.  It went for 5-1/2 years, then the hard drive started dying could have replaced that for "a Benjamin" but got struck with "wanting newer and 'better' " syndrom).  My current laptop is a Fujitsu LifeBook (a brand I wasn't familiar with but saw it on sale at Frey and called a tech friend who said "buy it at that price").  They are designed in Japan and built either there or in Taiwan with Japanese manufactured components (i.e. "Not China" ~ TAKE THAT Apple  ).

While I hope I may have a couple of years before I really need to deal with it (especially after the dentist recently suggested some options as to how I might help fund his early retirement), and also it is too early to have longevity and reliability data, I REALLY LIKE the concept of the Microsoft Surface Professional units (NOT the RT).  Pricey (a little over $1k with keyboard and detachable CD/DVD unit) but combining full Windows 8 computing functions with a field tablet unit is compelling for me.

I've seen the Microsoft surface Pro. Looks really good. Windows 8 would take some getting used to though unless you already have it.

[Archer]

I don't know what y'all need constant upgrades for if you don't play games or aren't in IT or graphic design. If it weren't for games, my laptop from 2006 would still be fine, even for programming work. Only thing that ever failed was the battery.

Pretty much agreed.  I get by on my 8 year old laptop.  Good ol' trusty laptop.

Wow, that is impressive.  My first laptop was a 486 with Windows 3.1, which became obsolute before it wore out.  I stuck with desktops for many years after (the more practical alternative unless one really needs the portability IMHO, and with tablets for "field work", even more so).  My next laptop was a Toshiba Satellite.  It went for 5-1/2 years, then the hard drive started dying could have replaced that for "a Benjamin" but got struck with "wanting newer and 'better' " syndrom).  My current laptop is a Fujitsu LifeBook (a brand I wasn't familiar with but saw it on sale at Frey and called a tech friend who said "buy it at that price").  They are designed in Japan and built either there or in Taiwan with Japanese manufactured components (i.e. "Not China" ~ TAKE THAT Apple  ).

While I hope I may have a couple of years before I really need to deal with it (especially after the dentist recently suggested some options as to how I might help fund his early retirement), and also it is too early to have longevity and reliability data, I REALLY LIKE the concept of the Microsoft Surface Professional units (NOT the RT).  Pricey (a little over $1k with keyboard and detachable CD/DVD unit) but combining full Windows 8 computing functions with a field tablet unit is compelling for me.

I've seen the Microsoft surface Pro. Looks really good. Windows 8 would take some getting used to though unless you already have it.

Windows 8 is useless on a laptop.  Don't fall for the "you get used to it" line.  You won't, for the simple reason that it's so confusing that you end up not using it at all. 

[The Harlequin King]

Haven't actually played any recent FF games apart from A Realm Reborn, which is strictly MMO rather than RPG.

I tried playing Mass Effect 1 and 2 which both bored me. They were like shooters with a bit of dialogue here and there where you got to choose stuff and upgrade things. Dragon Age 1 I got about 1/4 way through and was falling asleep. I didn't try The Witcher, Deus Ex or Skyrim (heard good things about that).

I'll tell you what recent RPG I kinda liked: Dragons Dogma. That was good. The only bad thing about it was the incredible lack of foresight with regards to travelling. Literally 80% of the game is spent walking to distant lands because they didn't implement a fast-travel system. That really dragged down the quality. Apart from that it was quality.

Huh. We probably have entirely different preferences in games, then.

[Megmary]

I don't know what y'all need constant upgrades for if you don't play games or aren't in IT or graphic design. If it weren't for games, my laptop from 2006 would still be fine, even for programming work. Only thing that ever failed was the battery.

Pretty much agreed.  I get by on my 8 year old laptop.  Good ol' trusty laptop.

Wow, that is impressive.  My first laptop was a 486 with Windows 3.1, which became obsolute before it wore out.  I stuck with desktops for many years after (the more practical alternative unless one really needs the portability IMHO, and with tablets for "field work", even more so).  My next laptop was a Toshiba Satellite.  It went for 5-1/2 years, then the hard drive started dying could have replaced that for "a Benjamin" but got struck with "wanting newer and 'better' " syndrom).  My current laptop is a Fujitsu LifeBook (a brand I wasn't familiar with but saw it on sale at Frey and called a tech friend who said "buy it at that price").  They are designed in Japan and built either there or in Taiwan with Japanese manufactured components (i.e. "Not China" ~ TAKE THAT Apple  ).

While I hope I may have a couple of years before I really need to deal with it (especially after the dentist recently suggested some options as to how I might help fund his early retirement), and also it is too early to have longevity and reliability data, I REALLY LIKE the concept of the Microsoft Surface Professional units (NOT the RT).  Pricey (a little over $1k with keyboard and detachable CD/DVD unit) but combining full Windows 8 computing functions with a field tablet unit is compelling for me.

I've seen the Microsoft surface Pro. Looks really good. Windows 8 would take some getting used to though unless you already have it.

Windows 8 is useless on a laptop.  Don't fall for the "you get used to it" line.  You won't, for the simple reason that it's so confusing that you end up not using it at all.

  you're probly right. After five minutes I'll want to throw it out the window.

[Penelope]

I recommend saving up for a MacBook of some kind. Neither of my siblings nor I have ever had a PC last more than two years. My only bad experience with a MacBook, however, involved my own stupidity and a bottle of water (shut up, Kaesekopf). My husband purchased his MacBook Pro when he began grad school in 2007 and it's still going strong. There have been some minor issues (the magnet that holds the lid closed has weakened, for example), but nothing major. He had a tech-y friend update the OS last year and everything runs like a dream. Also, I recommend making a tech-y friend.

It also involved at least a few beers.....

I hate you.