laptop or notebook?

[bandit86]

anyone prefer one over the other? Experience? good or bad?

I'm asking because I would like to get one or the other, notebook being smaller and easier to transport but the screen is small and usually no cd drive,

i like laptop because it's easy to see, cd drive but pretty big

Ideally I'd like to getone or the other to carry with me at work, I'm a mobile service technician so if it's quiet I can check email and whatnot. Or watch a movie. definetly durability might be an issue

 

[pmat1]

Re: laptop or notebook?

Regular laptop Vs Netbook?
Regular laptop for sure. The netbook is small and portable, but it has no cd drive, which pretty much means if you have a virus and you need to reinstall windows, you are pretty much screwed. The screen is also impossible to read without squinting. The battery life is no better than a typical laptop.

 

[solar7647]

Re: laptop or notebook?

You can get all the portabilty from a notebook or netbook in labtops now. check out what HP offers. Both my desktop and labtop are HP and I love Them

 

[bandit86]

Re: laptop or notebook?

my fear was for durability, but I guess if I buy a cheap one and drop it or crush itI can always get a second newer one

any peticular options one should seek?

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: laptop or notebook?

Try to keep away from windows vista. See if the computer store will install xp. Sometimes they will.. A decent laptop will have at least 2gb ram and 160 or bigger hard drive and a dvd writer. Stay away from celeron, they have a slower processer than intel pentium. I love AMD in a desk top but not laptop. They seem to run slower as well. A good laptop will have at least a 15" screen as well. Good luck.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: laptop or notebook?

I got a new Dell Inspiron last December and a Acer Aspire netbook last month. The main redeaming quality of the netbook is it's portability. You can carry it around like a steno pad. Aside from that, it does have its limitations, i.e. no CD drive, 1MG mem with no upgrade path evident, small screen that doesn't display a full IE window. Back on the plus side, this netbook has a 1.6GB Intel Atom processor, as do most netbooks, and a 160GB HDD.

If I didn't already have a laptop, I wouldn't have gotten a netbook. But it is great for like carrying to the doctor's office. It seems I'm spending more and more time in their waiting rooms and most have wireless.

 

[pmat1]

Re: laptop or notebook?

Try to keep away from windows vista. See if the computer store will install xp. Sometimes they will.. A decent laptop will have at least 2gb ram and 160 or bigger hard drive and a dvd writer. Stay away from celeron, they have a slower processer than intel pentium. I love AMD in a desk top but not laptop. They seem to run slower as well. A good laptop will have at least a 15" screen as well. Good luck.

you could also wait for windows 7 to come out in october. most laptops for sale right now that have vista will be able to upgrade to 7 for free.

 

[Mike722]

Re: laptop or notebook?

Wife loves her 10" Dell, but she only does email, facebook, etc. I find the text to small and need something to run company programs. We just started selling the small HP's with the built in Verizon air cards, but don't know much about them. Not sure I like paying x dollars a month and only being able to use the air card feature on one computer.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: laptop or notebook?

Most brands are similiar in features and power. Each has multiple models to choose from. Go for best warranty and reliability. I know Toshiba has a model with a metal case which will put it a step ahead for durability. Ther may be others.

 

[mscher]

Re: laptop or notebook?

Nothing but a laptop for me.

I've hauled them tens of thousands of miles, with minimal problems, even the less-expensive models.

Carry and store them in a quality case, open and plug them in gently. Protect them from the elements.

Nothing better and a wide screen and DVD or mpeg video file, on a long flight or stuck somewhere. They all have WiFi now and are relatively light/compact.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: laptop or notebook?

Try to keep away from windows vista. See if the computer store will install xp.

I've been through every upgrade in Windows/NT since Win 2.0 and I never fail to hear the complaints whenever a new OS comes out. The new OS is always great when in release candidate, and a dog when released to production. I'm using Vista on my laptop and it works quite well. It wasn't offered on my netbook or I would have gotten it then.

 

[JaSla74]

Re: laptop or notebook?

Panasonic has a toughbook line which is super durable, but may be overkill. Lenovo makes a has a fairly wide varity and are very reliable. Vista works just fine and can be tweaked for speed. I personally don't care much for HP or Sony. Asus has a decent line also

 

[alumi numb]

Re: laptop or notebook?

i now have two lap tops and and don't want anything but really.
for home have a docking station, 20" monitor, hp all in one , yamama amp and rtr pro floor speaker.
you can shake the floors in the house, sounds great.
a lap top can be a desk to but a desk top can't be a lap top.
know nothing at all about note books.

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: laptop or notebook?

I use a laptop/notebook for work also, they just replaced my old model Panasonic Toughbook with this model;

http://www1.ca.dell.com/ca/en/business/Laptops/laptop-latitude-xt2/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-latitude-xt2&s=bsd&cs=cabsdt1

Its about the same size but the keyboard is slightly larger (which was my biggest complaint besides the speed), it is definetly lighter and thinner but no where near as durable as the case is thin and flexible. At first I thought this would be an issue but after I found out it can be flipped open into the tablet position and the pen works great as well as the fact that it works as a touch screen I am elated!

What a great way to work with the unit, I no longer use it as a laptop...its was more efficient to use it as a tablet and use the touch screen. The flexibility issues disappear when its folded in half and the speed is 10 times faster than my old Panasonic. It also interfaces with the Bluetooth on my cell phone and the wireless is fast and powerful....woohoo!

When I get home I use it as a regular laptop and plug in a wireless mouse and the screen is clear enough for me even though it is small. The larger keyboard is the right size, not too big and not too small.

The biggest reason why our company decided on this unit was it has a built in aircard so you can forget the dongles and PCI Express/ PCMIA card hanging out the side if your on the road...sweet! I don't find the external CD/DVD drive a disadvantage...I hardly use it except at home.

We run XP tablet on ours but I hear Vista is even better on it as it was designed for Vista/Windows7. I wouldn't want to drop it as I don't think it could take much of a fall but then again I have never dropped my Panasonic in 4 years so....

If it had a magnesium case it would be perfect and a 10 out of 10, if your company pays for repairs the thin case issue is a non-issue if you ask me. I like this tablet a lot more than a regular laptop, now I can get one of those thin tablet bags instead of the bulky heavy bag I had to carry my Panasonic in, I can't wait to fly with this lightweight beauty now...no more sore shoulders!

 

[JaSla74]

Re: laptop or notebook?

Nokia will be releasing a netbook soon that looks promising. It'll have a 10" HD display and a built in 3g adapter along with other cool features. Pricing should be available next month.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: laptop or notebook?

I've been through every upgrade in Windows/NT since Win 2.0 and I never fail to hear the complaints whenever a new OS comes out. The new OS is always great when in release candidate, and a dog when released to production. I'm using Vista on my laptop and it works quite well. It wasn't offered on my netbook or I would have gotten it then.

Bingo, Vista on my lap top. With the exception of messing up my windows mail on a couple of upgrades (had to re-set the out going server twice) have had less issues with Vista than with prior MS OS.