[Todd R]

How's this one look?

 

[roastpuff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by devin_mm There is always a 13.3" Macbook.

Yeah, but they're much more expensive... 1099 vs 599. Up to Todd R whether he wants to pay for that premium for a laptop for his son, which will just be used for a select few programs and general use. Again, it boils down to personal preference and how many headphones you're willing to sacrifice.

Todd, the specs looks fine, but make sure to go in-store to play around with it to see whether you're happy with the build-quality etc. Might also want to consider getting at least a two-year extended warranty if you are going to keep it for that long.

EDIT: The used Thinkpad idea is also a very good one; the older Thinkpads are rock-solid and will last a long, long time. Since you're not running any serious work on it, all you need is probably more RAM - this applies to any laptop that you will buy.

 

[plainsong]

If you have a spare monitor, how about a mac mini? It's cheap, intel based, you can give other family members the mac option, and it can run Windows when need-be.

But if it has to be a notebook, I think only the thinkpads are worth anything.

 

[Todd R]

Well I just got home with a new Gateway cowputer.
It's pissing me off already

I got the router configured on my desktop and the laptop says it has a connection to the internet and a good strong wireless signal.
Do you think I can get a web page to come up? NO!
It did it once and now when I try to go a page, it says downloading and then I get the "page can't be displayed" error.
I'd like to go get the Windows updates, but can't!

Any ideas before throw this thing through a window?
TR

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R Any ideas before throw this thing through a window?

Reboot.

Seriously.

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg Reboot. Seriously.

I did.
Apparently there is something goofy with Internet Explorer, The Norton updates download is sailing right along.
TR

 

[Computerpro3]

First mistake buying a Gateway. Thye just got taken over by a non-technology compay, forget it if was costco or wallmart or something like that.

Second mistake, buying Norton. As a PC Tech, I hate computers when they have Norton installed on it. Norton is the Bose of the technology world, their home stuff is some of the worst stuff out there in terms of bloatware and mediocre virus protection.

Download Nod32 from Eset. Takes up about 10mb of memory, scans a terrabyte in about 20min, and has the world record 100% virus protection rate tested by independant labs.

www.eset.com

It is the single biggest difference I can imagine in a computer, I'd rather have viruses than Norton installed on my machine. I hate macs, I really do, but I'd rather have a 10 year old imac than a modern pc with Symantec installed on it. And I'm dead serious.

 

[wax4213]

There's a few things you can try. First of all, I wouldn't use IE. I'd go with either Firefox or Opera (Opera is my favorite, most like Firefox), but that in and of itself probably won't fix your issues. If you open up IE, go to Tools > Internet Options > Connections tab > LAN settings. Make sure that the automatically detect settings is enabled. That's the first step. If that doesn't work, then go Start menu > Run and type in cmd and push enter. At the command prompt, type ipconfig/release and push enter. Wait until that finishes, then type ipconfig/renew. Now, if that doesn't do it, then find a program called winsock XP fix, run it, and reboot. Those are the steps that I can think of off the top of my head. Hope one of those works!

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wax4213 There's a few things you can try. First of all, I wouldn't use IE. I'd go with either Firefox or Opera (Opera is my favorite, most like Firefox), but that in and of itself probably won't fix your issues. If you open up IE, go to Tools > Internet Options > Connections tab > LAN settings. Make sure that the automatically detect settings is enabled. That's the first step. If that doesn't work, then go Start menu > Run and type in cmd and push enter. At the command prompt, type ipconfig/release and push enter. Wait until that finishes, then type ipconfig/renew. Now, if that doesn't do it, then find a program called winsock XP fix, run it, and reboot. Those are the steps that I can think of off the top of my head. Hope one of those works!

Good Lord! All that?
Thanks for the advice, strangely enough it started working again

Now for a few days of downloading Windowz updates.....

 

[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R Good Lord! All that? Thanks for the advice, strangely enough it started working again Now for a few days of downloading Windowz updates.....

The syntax is different, but for the record, we do also have ipconfig on the mac.

You'll get to know it well on a Windows box though.

 

[wax4213]

I use ipconfig less with XP than I had to with 2000 or 98, but it still comes in handy. Knowing a few basic commands in the console can be very useful, and that is the one that I use the most.

 

[nabwong]

why not just simply right click on the wireless icon on the bottom right of your screen and click "repair". It does the same thing, doesn't it?

 

[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nabwong why not just simply right click on the wireless icon on the bottom right of your screen and click "repair". It does the same thing, doesn't it?

I believe so, but we got used to ipconfig.

 

[wax4213]

Yep, and I just like doing it manually for some reason, let's me be in control. And for whatever reason, the "repair" option always seems to take longer. Might not be true, I've never timed it, but that's my impression.

 

[Edwood]

I *had* to buy a Windows Machine this month.







A Tablet PC.

Oh, and I'm "buying" (a.k.a. building) two more Windows computers. One will be the brave new world (for me) of 64 Bit.

-Ed