laptop buying advice pls

[kotatsuneko]

when i go back to the uk for a while i plan to get a laptop

but dont know a thing about them

what brand is good?

i want want tons of ram / a good sized hd and a firewire port for video/dvd burner

i noticed a while back most screens on laptops here look almost like a regular crt monitor ie kind of glass like display, britght , clear, almost the complete opposite of laptops ive seen in the uk with dark lcd type screens

have those kind of screens become standard outside japan now?

i also want something thats not gonna break easily ..

sorry clueless totally any reccomendations?

[Caustic Saint]

Probably no surprise to some, but I'm going to suggest a PowerBook or an iBook G4, depending on your budget. Both lines have solid video cards (64 or 32MB), good RAM expandability (2GB and 1.12GB), good support and a nice warranty.

Most importantly, what's your budget and how long will you be back in the UK? Most manufacturers' warranties are good for 12 months (service available worldwide in Apple's case), but extended plans are generally only valid in the country where they're purchased.

For example, with Apple you get 12 months of coverage anywhere they have a service location, but the extra two years of AppleCare (should you purchase it) will only be valid in the country where you buy the plan. If you're going to be in the UK for less than a year and then coming back to Japan, I'd wait and pick up the extended warranty once you're back.

[Cubed]

i want something mainly for emulation so want tons of ram / a good sized hd and a firewire port for video/dvd burner

i noticed a while back most screens on laptops here look almost like a regular crt monitor ie kind of glass like display, britght , clear, almost the complete opposite of laptops ive seen in the uk with dark lcd type screens

If it's not too daft a question, why do you want to buy it in the UK? The deal you get will be far inferior to what you can get in Akihabara with a little haggling ("c'mon - haggle!")

Is it the OS language that's the problem? Keyboard?

To give you an idea, a few years ago I bought an i1800 iSeries IBM ThinkPad in Japan for 220,000 yen, 1024x768 LCD screen, 20GB HDD, 128MB RAM, CDR/W, Floppy drive.

Going back to the UK, I quickly realised that such a laptop was practically unavailable at any price, let alone the 1,200GBP I would have paid! The technology seemed more advanced in Japan (at least for IBM Japan ThinkPads) and the prices more reasonable.

[tokyojoe]

Not certain but there seem to be issues with the iBooks:

http://wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,61774,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2

[Caustic Saint]

Not certain but there seem to be issues with the iBooks:

http://wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,61774,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2

Hmm. That's quite the bummer as I was going to pick one up in a few weeks. I'm wary now though, especially since Apple has such a small presence in Korea.

I may still take the plunge though, since the iBook articles refer to G3 models. There have been some complaints about the G4s, but not as many.

My current iBook (G3 600, from early 2002) still runs great, so it's not as though I have to replace it. It would be nice to have something with a bit more power.

[Cubed]

According to the article:

"Most of the complaints pertain to a particular iBook model with dual USB ports, and many users say the problems started to show up just after the computer came out of warranty. "

Isn't it worth going for a souped up slightly older Apple model (or upgrading?) than for the latest and greatest from Apple on the basis of these complaints?

I understand very well why poeple like Macs, but is it unfair to say that the safer bet might be a Wintel or Lintel PC?

[Caustic Saint]

Isn't it worth going for a souped up slightly older Apple model (or upgrading?) than for the latest and greatest from Apple on the basis of these complaints?

I understand very well why poeple like Macs, but is it unfair to say that the safer bet might be a Wintel or Lintel PC?

In the past I've usually bought used or refurbished Macs, and never had any problems with those units. In fact, a refurb 15" PowerBook G4 goes for $2099 (a steal) on Apple's own site. I just can't order one from Korea, and don't want to risk buying one, having it shipped here and getting screwed on customs costs.

As for Windows or Linux, I don't really care for Windows, and don't want to muck about with Linux. I've been back on a Mac for about 2 years now, and don't intend to change platforms anytime soon.

And next week is the MacWorld Expo, so the "latest and greatest" is likely to change, hopefully bumping prices on some things down a bit.

[Caustic Saint]

I did some digging about the iBook thing today. The affected models are the G3 series. When Apple introduced the G4 iBook the machine got a board-level redesign, so the problem of the wire shorting on the logic board has gone away.

That's not to say there's no design flaw that may crop up later on, though. I'll probably still get one in a few weeks.

[kotatsuneko]

thanks for the replies guys!

going to take this deck apart and bring it back to the uk as i have to go there for a good while for rather personal reasons.

could someone please also tell me:

is it possible to install office xp or 2003 uk edition on a machine running japanese windows?

as i need to know before buying the better half a machine before departing and the price w/wout office software would i reckon be significant, and i already have the english versions and would hate to buy the same thing twice if they will work ok on j windows xp..

thanks for the advice btw, but ill be sticking with a wintel laptop

[Cubed]

Awww. I think we all had our hearts set on you buying a Mac!

Microsoft has improved the internationalization and integration since Office 2000 with the global IME. You shouldn't have any problems on Windows 2000 and Windows XP (really don't like Windows XP Home Edition myself though).

If you've got Windows XP or 2000, you can use the method editor to input Japanese but have the menus etc showing English - no problems I can think of.

[kotatsuneko]

thank you for the info guys..

was thinking perhaps, would it be possible to multi boot japanese and english xp on a laptop?

what would be the best solution? partitioning via dos, using partition magic or connectix virtual machine?

erm also, is it true that almost all laptops are just made in se asia and brands just buy them up and stick their logo on them ? i heard this was true except for ibm and sony anyone care to debunk/declare this as bunk?

[Watcher]

http://www.powernotebooks.com/Name_Brand.php3

Let's talk about the concept of 'Name Brand' as it applies to laptop computers.

Virtually none of the "Name" brands manufacture their own laptops, with the only exceptions being IBM, Asus, Twinhead and Apple, and even IBM, Twinhead and Apple do not make all of their own.

All of the rest buy their laptops from what is called an Original Design Manufacturer (ODM). These ODMs sell their computers to several different OEMs who then install the Hard Drive (usually an IBM or Toshiba), Processor and System Memory. They then put their label on it and market it.

For example:

An ODM named Clevo makes the Sager NP5680 and the original Alienware Area 51-M, the Voodoo MClass M550, the Hypersonic Sonic Aviator, and they are all the same computer. Clevo also makes the Sager NP8890 and the Voodoo MClass M600 and they are also the same computer.

Of course the Sager models have a much sweeter price tag!

An ODM named Compal makes some of the DELL, Hewlett Packard and Compaq line of laptops, as well as the PowerPro IV:28 and PowerPro M 5:16.

The Dell Latitude and the Sony Vaio are made by Quanta, who also makes many of the IBM laptops, and the PowerPro C 3:16. Quanta is well known as the best and highest quality laptop ODM in the world.

The Micron Transport Treck and Treck 2 are made by GVC. Compaq is actually manufactured by companies called Inventec (Armada and Prosignia lines) and Arima (Presario line).

Other ODM names are Mitac, FIC, and Uniwill, among others. Not exactly what you would call "Name" brands, and yet it is their laptops that end up with the "Name" brands on them.

Sager and Pro-Star Computers are made by Clevo. Clevo is one of the largest, and best, in the world.

Well, you get the idea.

Some call this the "Dirty little secret of the Laptop Industry".

And BTW the original Mac Powerbook 100 was made by Sony
I used to be Mac but then I got this cheap Win98 and it serves all my needs crash free. So go with whatever works into your budget and hope it's trouble free (Mac or PC).

[kotatsuneko]

ta for clearing that up Watcher ^^

[kotatsuneko]

which is better for tv out by the way, ATI or Geoforce?

never done tv out before so want to get a laptop which is going to give an excellent picture, can you connect a laptop to rgb scart?

anyone tried before and what were the results like?