To buy: New or Used .. Which make ?

Hi,

I'm lokking for a laptop as a replacement
for my desktop.
And am flooded with the options available.

My usage of the laptop will be for
1. Internet
2. Word processing
3. Music/DVD
4. Interfacing with my camcorder for image and video capture
5. Also I want to install Linux on a partition
6. Read memory stick from sony camcorder
7. Video out for playing DVD on TV

Can sombody throw some light on the best option I can go for ?
I would like a piece which I can upgrade in future, i needed.

Thanks
Rex
--
Direct access to this group with http://web2news.com
http://web2news.com/?comp.sys.laptops

upgrading laptops is problematic at best. Internet and word processing are
undemanding tasks that even the cheapest new laptop and many used ones can
cope with. Music on the other hand is another matter. You really need a
machine with a proper hardware sound chip. as for dvd decent sound is
important too. as for dvd images ati are best. You will need firewire for
video capture if your camcorder is digital. if it is not then forget
capture completely. video is quite common now at least svhs.
card readers are easy as long as you have usb ports no need to pay stupid
amounts. The one problem with video capture is disk capacity and write
speed. write speed on laptops is usually poor as they are typically 4700rpm
or less instead of 5400 and 7200 of desktops. With this in mind i've only
seen a dell inspiron 8200 perform adequately. Unfortunately that has been
replaced with the 8500.

So
ati graphics
usb 2.0
firewire essential
512mb ddr
cdrw
dvd
as much diskpace as you can afford, 30gb absolute minimum.

--
Ian Lincoln Independent I.T Consultant
"Rodrigues" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
>
> I'm lokking for a laptop as a replacement
> for my desktop.
> And am flooded with the options available.
>
> My usage of the laptop will be for
> 1. Internet
> 2. Word processing
> 3. Music/DVD
> 4. Interfacing with my camcorder for image and video capture
> 5. Also I want to install Linux on a partition
> 6. Read memory stick from sony camcorder
> 7. Video out for playing DVD on TV
>
> Can sombody throw some light on the best option I can go for ?
> I would like a piece which I can upgrade in future, i needed.
>
> Thanks
> Rex
> --
> Direct access to this group with http://web2news.com
> http://web2news.com/?comp.sys.laptops

Hey,

Thanks for the response.

What do you think about a used laptop which can satisfy
my requirements and I can add memory or upgrade hdd as required ?

Which brands/models are best to be bought as a used laptop ?

Thanks
Rex

Deathwalker wrote:
> upgrading laptops is problematic at best. Internet and
> word processing are
> undemanding tasks that even the cheapest new laptop and
> many used ones can
> cope with. Music on the other hand is another matter.
> You really need a
> machine with a proper hardware sound chip. as for dvd
> decent sound is
> important too. as for dvd images ati are best. You will
> need firewire for
> video capture if your camcorder is digital. if it is not then forget
> capture completely. video is quite common now at least svhs.
> card readers are easy as long as you have usb ports no
> need to pay stupid
> amounts. The one problem with video capture is disk
> capacity and write
> speed. write speed on laptops is usually poor as they are
> typically 4700rpm
> or less instead of 5400 and 7200 of desktops. With this
> in mind i've only
> seen a dell inspiron 8200 perform adequately.
> Unfortunately that has been
> replaced with the 8500.
>
> So
> ati graphics
> usb 2.0
> firewire essential
> 512mb ddr
> cdrw
> dvd
> as much diskpace as you can afford, 30gb absolute minimum.

--
Direct access to this group with http://web2news.com
http://web2news.com/?comp.sys.laptops

"Rodrigues" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hey,
>
> Thanks for the response.
>
> What do you think about a used laptop which can satisfy
> my requirements and I can add memory or upgrade hdd as required ?
>
> Which brands/models are best to be bought as a used laptop ?
>
I recommend IBM. They may not be the cheapest but the quality is superior,
and that's particularly important in a second-hand laptop.

Lucar