Newbie considering my first laptop

I've monitored this group for several days and haven't seen any
discussion on "Things to consider when ordering my first notebook
computer." Now you know what my question is all about. <grin>

I've always assumed that with notebooks one should get everything one
wants on the inside from the beginning to keep from having to open it
up immediately after the purchase, but I don't know for a fact that my
assumption is true. I wonder what level of upgrade I should consider
for such things as RAM and video card memory. I also wonder what
add-ons I should get at the time of purchase and which ones I should
defer. Do I really need a floppy drive or will a memory stick (if
that's the right term) do as well? Get the manufacturer's mouse or a
cheaper after-market device? Surge suppressor? Will I need a second
battery? If so, can I get it later for the same price?

Looking at the online price list for all the options, the biggest
items are the extended warranty (3 years? 4? none?) and the Complete
Care Accidental Service policy which supposedly will replace the whole
unit if it breaks due to negligence on my part. What are the chances
it will need repair anyway?

Whatever the notebook choice, very soon after getting it I'll want to
go to a wifeless network, so should I go ahead and get the
manufacturer's available router and notebook card or wait and get one
the name brand setups later? Does it matter that the notebook will
have WinXP and my desktop has Win98SE?

If I haven't asked all the questions I should, please feel free to
make up more for me, preferably with answers. <grin>

Thanks

Max,

re: Complete Care Warranty.

If you travel or move your laptop around a lot, I strongly believe you
should get it. If your laptop will mostly stay in one place, it's probably
a needless expense. I've had 8 laptops, 3 are still working, and 2 had to
be replaced because of accidental damage while traveling.

re: adding RAM

on most laptops adding RAM if fairly easy, but adding video ram is not
usually possible. you can save a few $ by getting RAM elsewhere, but I'd
recommend getting what you need to start with.

re: WiFi

I've got one laptop with it built-in and 2 with PCMCIA/Card bus cards. One
of the card bus machines functions better than the one with the built-in
card, and one is constantly giving me problems. Both cards are from the
same manufacturer, and match my wireless router. Go figure.



"Max" <> wrote in message
news:...
> I've monitored this group for several days and haven't seen any
> discussion on "Things to consider when ordering my first notebook
> computer." Now you know what my question is all about. <grin>
>
> I've always assumed that with notebooks one should get everything one
> wants on the inside from the beginning to keep from having to open it
> up immediately after the purchase, but I don't know for a fact that my
> assumption is true. I wonder what level of upgrade I should consider
> for such things as RAM and video card memory. I also wonder what
> add-ons I should get at the time of purchase and which ones I should
> defer. Do I really need a floppy drive or will a memory stick (if
> that's the right term) do as well? Get the manufacturer's mouse or a
> cheaper after-market device? Surge suppressor? Will I need a second
> battery? If so, can I get it later for the same price?
>
> Looking at the online price list for all the options, the biggest
> items are the extended warranty (3 years? 4? none?) and the Complete
> Care Accidental Service policy which supposedly will replace the whole
> unit if it breaks due to negligence on my part. What are the chances
> it will need repair anyway?
>
> Whatever the notebook choice, very soon after getting it I'll want to
> go to a wifeless network, so should I go ahead and get the
> manufacturer's available router and notebook card or wait and get one
> the name brand setups later? Does it matter that the notebook will
> have WinXP and my desktop has Win98SE?
>
> If I haven't asked all the questions I should, please feel free to
> make up more for me, preferably with answers. <grin>
>
> Thanks

In addition to Joe's post:

Consider adding a Computer Equipment Rider to your
Homeowner/Renter's policy. My State Farm rider costs
$30 per year for $3,000 coverage. It also includes all
peripherals (printers, scanners, etc).

Checkout the IBM A Series at:

http://tinyurl.com/kc75

IIRR, you can purchase additional IBM 2nd/3rd year
during the first year while the initial warranty is in effect.

Weather you get XP or 2k, increase the RAM to 256 or
512MB ... Checkout:

http://tinyurl.com/kc7n

Regards ... John

Ram:
Get the ram up front. You are not going to save that much money
adding on later. If your looking to game with you laptop I would
suggest no less than 512 MB ram and a video controller with no less
that 64 MB dedicated. I have a radeon 9000 video controller with 64
mb ddr dedicated and it gets the job done.

floppy:
That depends on the person. I don't have one on mine but we also
burners and a wireless network so that we can transfer information
between our laptops and desktops.


> Get the manufacturer's mouse or a cheaper after-market device?
cheaper LOL...actually choose the one that you like but you will end
up saving money with the after market device. In my humble opinion a
mouse is a mouse unless it's a logitech then it is well above any
mouse


Second Battery:
Depends on the processor...if you choose a p4 processor then you are
going to get about 2 hours of battery. If you go with the M processor
your going to get about 4 hours of battery life. What you need to ask
your self is how much battery life you need. I have an M processor
and 4-5 hours is good for me because by that time I am back near a
plug.

wireless:
Get your router and wireless card at circuit city, best buy or
something along those lines. I ended up having to buy a wireless card
(because the intergrated wireless is made by intel and they don't
support linux) so I waited to catch it on sale and it saved me about
$50.

The best thing to do is post on here what type of processor and some
of the other specs your looking at. Good luck, Carla

"adias angel" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> Ram:
> Get the ram up front. You are not going to save that much money
> adding on later. If your looking to game with you laptop I would
> suggest no less than 512 MB ram and a video controller with no less
> that 64 MB dedicated. I have a radeon 9000 video controller with 64
> mb ddr dedicated and it gets the job done.



I saved about $70 by buying a Dell D800 with a single 512 meg SODIMM and
buying the second from Crucial.


> floppy:
> That depends on the person. I don't have one on mine but we also
> burners and a wireless network so that we can transfer information
> between our laptops and desktops.
>


Floppies are irrelevant to modern computing. CD-ROM disks are about $.50
each. Or get a flash memory device. It will work with any modern computer.



HMc

"Max" <> wrote in message
news:...
> I've monitored this group for several days and haven't seen any
> discussion on "Things to consider when ordering my first notebook
> computer." Now you know what my question is all about. <grin>
>
Once you switch to a laptop its hard to go back, its so nice to have it
anywhere rather than chained down to a desk.

> I've always assumed that with notebooks one should get everything one
> wants on the inside from the beginning to keep from having to open it
> up immediately after the purchase, but I don't know for a fact that my
> assumption is true.

You don't really open up a laptop up and add components, the small size
means everything is integrated on to one board. You can increase the memory
or swap in a bigger hdd but thats about it.

I wonder what level of upgrade I should consider
> for such things as RAM and video card memory. I also wonder what
> add-ons I should get at the time of purchase and which ones I should
> defer.

Extra ram and a bigger hdd are a lot more expensive at time of ourchase it
seems. When I bought my last laptop (dell) I took the $100 rebate instead
of the extra 128M ram and then bought a 512M Dimm for $100.

Do I really need a floppy drive

Probabally not, most things that floppies are used ofr now a days are for
Bios flashes, but those are becoming floppy less unless your not running
windows. I'm switching to all external devices such as a USB floppy and USB
CD/RW that way I can share them with my laptop, my wife's laptop, my parents
computer when I visit, etc.

or will a memory stick (if

Unless you love Sony stay from their propritary memory stick. You can get
Flash readers that will read CF, Smart media, Sd, and memory stick all in
one. If you want to transfer files get a USM flash drive (pen drive or
several other names).

> that's the right term) do as well? Get the manufacturer's mouse or a
> cheaper after-market device? Surge suppressor? Will I need a second

On a laptop the mouse if built in, no option there except for some have
stick, some pad and some both.

> battery? If so, can I get it later for the same price?
>
If you plan running on battery often. otherwise its a waste.

> Looking at the online price list for all the options, the biggest
> items are the extended warranty (3 years? 4? none?) and the Complete
> Care Accidental Service policy which supposedly will replace the whole
> unit if it breaks due to negligence on my part. What are the chances
> it will need repair anyway?

The biggest failures in laptops are the hdd and screen brekage, both usually
to drops. A regular warranty will cover the hdd unless you say you dropped
it to the tech on the phone, but the displays are not covered and the
replacement cost is more than the price of a new laptop. But I am a clumsy
person and have dropped all three laptops I have owned (my magnesem case
dell has a dent in it) and have been lucky and have never broken the screen.
>
> Whatever the notebook choice, very soon after getting it I'll want to
> go to a wifeless network, so should I go ahead and get the
> manufacturer's available router and notebook card or wait and get one
> the name brand setups later?

Get the internal wireless, its nice to not have the the antenna sticking out
the side. As long as you get the same router (802.11 a/b/g) as the network
card you'll be fine with different brands.
Does it matter that the notebook will

Get XP, I have only ran 98 for about 1/2 day thats the longest I could stand
it. had a program that was not nt4 compatible so I loaded 98 on my system.
After loading all the rest of my software the 98 registry had hit the hard
coded limit and I couldn't even finish installing all my software. I
decided I could live without the non NT compat. software.

> have WinXP and my desktop has Win98SE?
>
> If I haven't asked all the questions I should, please feel free to
> make up more for me, preferably with answers. <grin>
>
> Thanks

Just make sure you are ready. Laptops cost about twice the price of an
equivalent desktop and the parts are more costly too. And once you switch
it is hard to go back.