uzziah
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2004
- Posts
- 4,049
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- 14
considering purchasing a laptop. this would replace my desktop, though i would retain full size monitor, keyboard and mouse for at-home usage.
needs: what i need is a good price/peformance ratio. i don't do much more than use the internet, and basic word processing, basic applications etc. don't game much at all, or do any video editing or other processor-intensive stuff (or else i wouldn't be replacing my desktop no would i?
).
what i want is a reasonably quick laptop for WiFi usage and to be used as my audio source; thus i need it to be reasonably quiet. i will also certainly use an external hd for my flac files, though i'd like a decent size hd so that i can encode say ogg vorbis or mp3 on the internal drive, and thus use the laptop as source on the go. what i'd really like to do is avoid buying new. i'd like to find a used laptop on ebay etc. i'd appreciate knowing what to look for. i've used an ibook and thus know how quiet apple laptops are (i'm sure many will suggest this). and perhaps an apple laptop is the way to go, but it irks me a bit to not be able to use EAC, foobar, and many other windows apps. not to mention i have windows xp and office xp install cd's so i wouldn't have a problem reformatting and reinstalling windows on a used laptop. do any windows laptops match apple's noise level?
the key here is value. i want something reasonalby fast (but what i mean by "fast" isnt' necessarily what you mean - for instance, my pc right now has a sempron2200+, and something that quick would be plenty). the intel centrino cpu is intriguing becasue of low voltage/heat. i am also willing to open up my laptop and replace the fan with a quieter one if that's an option. ok, enough talking. what y'all think?
i wont' specify a budget right now. let's just say, i want to spend LESS, and if that means i tad decrease in performance, that's ok. (remember my sempron comment). please, performance-junkies, i don't need to hear "spend more" again
as far as audio components, that remains to be seen. i may start with an external soundcard and upgrade to a diy dac later
ps: i want cdrw/dvd, but do not need dvd-rw
pps: what i'd really like to do in the long run is have airport express or the like (is there a windows equivalent) and stream bit-perfect music from laptop to Airport express, to a dac, to sonic impact t-amp (modded) (maybe even a preamp before tamp), to speakers (will upgrade soon). as far as on-the-go, not having an external soundcard would mean i'd have crappy sound through the headphone jack (yes i know it's better than on windows machines), so that's another problem. ho hum
needs: what i need is a good price/peformance ratio. i don't do much more than use the internet, and basic word processing, basic applications etc. don't game much at all, or do any video editing or other processor-intensive stuff (or else i wouldn't be replacing my desktop no would i?
what i want is a reasonably quick laptop for WiFi usage and to be used as my audio source; thus i need it to be reasonably quiet. i will also certainly use an external hd for my flac files, though i'd like a decent size hd so that i can encode say ogg vorbis or mp3 on the internal drive, and thus use the laptop as source on the go. what i'd really like to do is avoid buying new. i'd like to find a used laptop on ebay etc. i'd appreciate knowing what to look for. i've used an ibook and thus know how quiet apple laptops are (i'm sure many will suggest this). and perhaps an apple laptop is the way to go, but it irks me a bit to not be able to use EAC, foobar, and many other windows apps. not to mention i have windows xp and office xp install cd's so i wouldn't have a problem reformatting and reinstalling windows on a used laptop. do any windows laptops match apple's noise level?
the key here is value. i want something reasonalby fast (but what i mean by "fast" isnt' necessarily what you mean - for instance, my pc right now has a sempron2200+, and something that quick would be plenty). the intel centrino cpu is intriguing becasue of low voltage/heat. i am also willing to open up my laptop and replace the fan with a quieter one if that's an option. ok, enough talking. what y'all think?
i wont' specify a budget right now. let's just say, i want to spend LESS, and if that means i tad decrease in performance, that's ok. (remember my sempron comment). please, performance-junkies, i don't need to hear "spend more" again
ps: i want cdrw/dvd, but do not need dvd-rw
pps: what i'd really like to do in the long run is have airport express or the like (is there a windows equivalent) and stream bit-perfect music from laptop to Airport express, to a dac, to sonic impact t-amp (modded) (maybe even a preamp before tamp), to speakers (will upgrade soon). as far as on-the-go, not having an external soundcard would mean i'd have crappy sound through the headphone jack (yes i know it's better than on windows machines), so that's another problem. ho hum
