What laptop should I get..?

[überfuzz]

I'm looking to by a new laptop and there just so many different brands and models... If any one could point me in the right direction.

I'm going to run openSUSE most parts, some Wintendos to play games, StarCraft 2. Oh, every now and then I'll be tinkering with CuBase, external soundcard.

[Steve Conner]

If you've got loads of cash, buy a Macbook of some sort.

If you're on a budget, buy some random HP, Dell or Toshiba: the big brands are hopefully less likely to have some weird hardware that lacks Linux support. (Wi-fi chipsets are the #1 problem, so maybe check that.)

Most laptops now have 64-bit processors, including the Macs, so if you have any old audio software that you want to run, make sure it is compatible with 64-bit Windows 7, which is what you'll get. Win7 has a backwards compatibility system for running 32-bit software, so your old stuff may work fine, but things like ASIO probably won't.

Trying to downgrade a 64-bit machine to XP could be a nightmare, and you may end up stuck with 64-bit XP, which was hardly compatible with anything.

Likewise when shopping for audio interfaces, make sure it has a driver for 64-bit Win7. I have no experience with pro audio under Win7, I bought a Mac when support for XP ended, but I expect it will be as dismal as every other Microsoft OS was.

[cminor9]

+1 on the MacBook. It'll run Linux and many distros will support the multi touch trackpad. The multi touch trackpad is my favorite computer innovation of the last decade. I have never liked laptop trackpads. They all suck. Then I got a macbook and started using that one. Now it feels weird to use a mouse.

You also know that OSX uses a BSD shell, right? I use the CLI all the time like it's a Linux box.

[überfuzz]

I'm not buying a Mac-laptop. Their popular I know, but I always feel like my hands are tied behind my back.

As of now I have some that are sailing up the fav-list.

[überfuzz]

Anyone tried or owning a HP envy, 1190 15"?

[Steve A.]

When I was in the hospital a few weeks ago there was a guy going around upgrading the software for the vital sign monitors in ICU. He was using a notebook computer that looked very durable- some of them look like cheap plastic. He said it was a HP and that it had never broken done despite all of the miles he had driven around. Then and there I decided that a HP like that would be the only acceptable alternate to a MacBook, with the choice depending largely on what software you needed to run.

Steve Ahola

[David Schwab]

Their popular I know, but I always feel like my hands are tied behind my back.

In what way? You can do anything you need on a Mac. I also run Windows and some X11 stuff. I could run Linux, but that's just a less useful version of Unix, which is what OS X is based on (BSD).

You can run more OSs on Apple hardware.

[überfuzz]

In what way? You can do anything you need on a Mac. I also run Windows and some X11 stuff. I could run Linux, but that's just a less useful version of Unix, which is what OS X is based on (BSD).

You can run more OSs on Apple hardware.

Myaa... Periodical, don't find a better word, I tinker with macs on a daily basis. It is quite easy to get started, but pretty fast I get limited in my work (I won't go into it here). There's noting out there that can match the versatility of Linux at the moment. My taste says openSUSE, but there are several great distributions out there. Only drawback is gaming, so I'm double booting. Linux on workdays and occasionally windows on weekends. There always seems to be stuff glitching in wine, so I'm not really into that.

However, I like macs when it comes to setting up say an office with comps. They're really easy to maintain. Everyone gets the same stuff, like in Soviet.

[J M Fahey]

This forum is starting to get hit by SPAM on a regular basis.
Oh well.

[J M Fahey]

Dear ronjohnson.
You encourage us to

I have a place for you to look at.
Let me know what you think of the site and the reviews.

Being a gullible guy, I did.
What do you want us to think about a "gift" site that on the opening page states:

Funny White Elephant Gag Gifts

During Christmas time my wife and I always hold a white elephant gag gift exchange. These funny gifts are often the highlight of the day. Anything from Potty Putters to ugly Christmas sweaters have been given. One time we even had a live chicken in a box!

I guess you saved the live chicken in its box so you could give it to somebody else on next Christmas !!!!

EDIT: yes, I agree with you, after opening that box one year later, the first reaction must have been gagging (a lot).
Probably even getting within a few feet of it would be enough.
Just wonder where you kept it for that long year.
Hope it was not under the bed !!!!

[Steve A.]

I have a mac and I think that they are the best. I would also have to say that it depends on what you would be using it for and how much you want to spend.
I have a place for you to look at.
Let me know what you think of the site and the reviews.

Thanks for posting the link to a site which is ranked #7,962 in Computers & Electronics, #179,869 overall. I like to support the underdogs. I found nothing objectionable on the page and do my best to avoid paid commercial links on any site (maybe if we all avoid them, they will just go away).

Steve Ahola

P.S. Macs are rated very highly, especially their laptops. I've heard good things about Unix/Linux but I dread ending up one of their sites in a Google search (the sites in which Unix/Linux freaks post code and command lines). I liked the command line interface of MS DOS but they at least used mostly real words for their commands. Words that would count in a game of Scrabble.

[J M Fahey]

Dear Steve, maybe we didn´t click to the same page.
I went straight to the "gift" one which was the post footer or signature.
The first page that opened talked about live chickens in boxes as I mentioned.
Further clicking depicted
1) the "Potty Putter Putting Mat Golf Game"
2) the "Emergency Underpants"
3) the "Yodeling Pickle"
4) the "WTF? stamp"
and so on.
Sorry that I couldn´t take them seriously.

Yes, the so called "Mac" link at the beginning is a good one, not to mention I also support the underdogs, by nature, only that lately I see more and more SPAM messages which, of course, purport to offer something useful, or at least related (as a hook), so they drop they payload later.

As an extra curiosity, I wonder why the link was labelled "Mac", where in that page you only find 3 Macs out of 33 Laptops, and not even leading the pack, they appear as # 13 , # 25 and # 26.

That makes me think that it was chosen at random, just to somewhat fit in, and not much more than that.

Of course, I may be *completely* wrong.

EDIT: and of course I didn´t find anything objectionable on any on the pages either, nor have problems with commercial links, just I found it *so* ridiculously unrelated !!!!
What do you think about *this* (which is in the Gifts page):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B001E21V9M

[Steve Conner]

It always got hit by lots of spam. My technique was, as soon as anyone reported spam, I would "delete all posts by this user" (an easy 1 step operation) and also give the spambot's account a 1 week ban. This was very effective but I haven't been around to do it lately.

There's probably some university in Russia where "Make a spambot" is one of the computer science class projects.

[Steve A.]

J.M.- As a general rule I never click on links in someone's signature. Although if I am familiar with the person I might click on a link to check out his website or music. I think that I spend most of my browser time making sure that my mouse doesn't click on a hot link that will open a window to places I would normally avoid.

Perhaps we need to ban HTML code in signatures here... at least during a probation period.

Steve

[Steve A.]

I am closing this thread so that future spammers/spambots will have to look elsewhere

With it being very likely that this thread will be hit again by spammers (with such a tempting title) I have decided to close this thread. If anyone wants to start a new thread go for it!

Steve Ahola