I've got yet another laptop on the decline. It's obviously got something loose inside related to the power, which probably can be fixed, but I'm thinking it is time to retire this computer to become a desktop (because it is still a fast and powerful machine, just seems to be sensitive to moving a lot) and get another one for on-the-go usage. Since I'm back in the US I now have a lot more options than I had in Egypt. I'm thinking this time to go with something cheap, but sturdy. Doesn't have to be the fastest computer, simply something I can take to the library for research. Does anyone have good experiences with particular brands they would be willing to share? I'm looking to buy within the week.
I definitely would recommend my iBook, Nicole. But I imagine you are looking for a Windows machine--most people who ask for a "laptop" assume Windows-only. But if you are willing to change, a $1000 investment will bring you a very solid, fast tool with the latest wireless built-in, dual-monitor capability, multi-language, multi-keyboard, and based on Unix. I have had no viruses in 12 years, and the new OS X does not crash for me. Lots to love here. Sorry, don't know how well it does hieroglyphics. But I have heard the name of the manufacturer is pictured like this... 
Acer. Just bought another recently. Plenty of bang for buck.
Ray
Ray
Glad you are happy with Acer / AOpen (same company) Ray - Just had a bad experience with their service though - 25 weeks to replace a faulty CD ROM, they decided to change a perfectly good Motherboard and now the Video doesn't work tooo well (oh and they eventually changed the CD-ROM which proved to be faulty) - and now it has taken them 3 weeks and waiting to sort the video out - and still without the laptop.
And they pride themselves on service ........
A very close friend of mine has had an Acer for several months now, and the thing has already broken down twice. Normally, I don't hold that against the whole brand (anyone can be unlucky and get the sub-par piece), but I agree about their service. It was awful, he was left without a laptop for 3-4 weeks each time.
$1000 might buy you the computer if you already have the appropriate software. But to switch to Mac and switch all my software, we're talking a few thousand dollars. And there's a lot of programs that simply won't work on a Mac. I switched to Windows 8 years ago and I have no desire to switch back to Mac. In spite of all the criticism Microsoft gets, I think it is a better system.
I forgot to say that Mac comes with all the software you will ever need. I think you can even set up Garageband to take out the garbage every day. Of course I am exaggerating--you may have special needs software--but the list of Apple-provided software is impressive (Pages--some say the finest pagelayout program is just one, Keynote, iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, iDVD, Mail, Skype, Moodle 
)
Really? In which ways do you find it superior? Have you used macs much in the last 8 years? Not trolling, I'm really interested.
I used to hate hate hate macs. (Not that I used windows much, I was coming from a linux standpoint) but since os x, I'm a complete convert.
I used to hate hate hate macs. (Not that I used windows much, I was coming from a linux standpoint) but since os x, I'm a complete convert.
Windows might be better in some instances, but Linux is also making inroads and there is a lot of good quality opensource programs out there. Whatever you decide to use - you will also need to consider the investment in time if you change platforms, and how are you going to access legacy information and dare I say it legacy programs.
There is more to "just buying a new laptop".
>In spite of all the criticism Microsoft gets, I think it is a better system.
If true, can you tell me why something so simple as Moodle's relative links don't work under IIS (a MS product, isn't it?)
Ciao
PS: I've to recognize that I cannot state what system is better, because my Win32 experience is absolutely limited (thank goodness!). What about yours?
PS2: You can safely ignore my jokes, sure! Just take a look to my profile to see the reason. 100% subjective Mac enthusiast (since 1987) here!
If true, can you tell me why something so simple as Moodle's relative links don't work under IIS (a MS product, isn't it?)
Ciao
PS: I've to recognize that I cannot state what system is better, because my Win32 experience is absolutely limited (thank goodness!). What about yours?
PS2: You can safely ignore my jokes, sure! Just take a look to my profile to see the reason. 100% subjective Mac enthusiast (since 1987) here!
FWIW, I have a Linux box, a Mac G5, and a dual-processor Windows box all available at the click of a button on my KVM switch.
I use the Windows machine for code testing maybe once a month, if that, and I hate every second of it. The Linux machine is used as the server for my home network, and occasional code testing.
Virtually all my working time is now spent on the Mac. It runs all the software I need to do my job, for sure.
Like some others in this thread, I disliked pre-OS X MacOS, but OS X is just brilliant.
I use the Windows machine for code testing maybe once a month, if that, and I hate every second of it. The Linux machine is used as the server for my home network, and occasional code testing.
Virtually all my working time is now spent on the Mac. It runs all the software I need to do my job, for sure.
Like some others in this thread, I disliked pre-OS X MacOS, but OS X is just brilliant.
I understand where you are coming from, but did you know that you only
need to buy one piece of software to run (under emulation) your
Windows-only applications on a Mac?
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/virtualpc/virtualpc.aspx
$129-249 USD
Macs are really worth a look:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/virtualpc/virtualpc.aspx
$129-249 USD
Macs are really worth a look:
Chicago, North Michigan Avenue
Oak Brook, Oakbrook
Schaumburg, Woodfield
Skokie, Old Orchard
(I'm not trolling either: The store on Michigan Avenue is really beautiful.)
I used to have Macs. And then I had a job where I had to use Windows (starting with 3.1, and then moving up to 95). I found I liked it better. So when I needed to replace my own computer, I switched to Windows.
They go for cutesy looks over ergonomics. Mac mice are simply awful. Especially those tiny ones that seem to be designed for 10 year olds. I can't use them. Microsoft mice are equally dismal (for a lefty like me), but at least you have more options and don't have to worry about color coordination.
Macs don't deal with Arabic very well. And I need that. Even in Egypt, Macs that are especially designed to be used in Arabic are problematic. And if they aren't set up to use Arabic, just forget it. The other day I tried to print a document with Arabic in it from a Mac, and the Arabic just disappeared. On a Windows machine, even if Arabic isn't one of the installed languages, you can still view it.
When a Mac freezes, you are lost. No escape but to shut it down and restart. In Windows, you have much more program-by-program control.
I don't like the way the windows collapse down to those little bars, which are floating about in random places and aren't always very visible, and then for other things you have to go to that menu in the upper right corner. I prefer the task bar in Windows. Everything in one place.
Starting up the computer is rather slow on a Mac.
And after all these years, can't they figure out a more logical place to shut down your computer than from a menu called "special"?
No Microsoft Access for Macs. And no a lot of other software for Macs. No matter how good a Mac system is, the lack of choice and specialized software easily available is a problem for me. Sure many of the major programs are available. But it's the little programs that sometimes are quite powerful. It's extremely easy to find software for Windows doing all kinds of neat things. People are designing for the majority. I had a situation this morning where I needed to recover some files from a folder my husband had deleted (and had emptied from the trash). Within 10 minutes, I was able to find a freeware program that could do exactly that, and within another 10 minutes had the files back.
When Mac users send you files, they come with these strange useless files attached to them when you open them in Windows.
Running fake Windows on Mac is an absolute joke. I will never forget going to this demonstration of this really high tech imaging equipment that needed Windows to run. And the guy showing us it failed to impress because he was running a Windows emulator on a Mac laptop and we were sitting around waiting for something to happen forever.
I understand the Microsoft is the company people love to hate. Sure they have a near monopoly, and Windows could be improved, but because applications are not interoperable between systems without tweaking, one has to take that into serious consideration.
They go for cutesy looks over ergonomics. Mac mice are simply awful. Especially those tiny ones that seem to be designed for 10 year olds. I can't use them. Microsoft mice are equally dismal (for a lefty like me), but at least you have more options and don't have to worry about color coordination.
Macs don't deal with Arabic very well. And I need that. Even in Egypt, Macs that are especially designed to be used in Arabic are problematic. And if they aren't set up to use Arabic, just forget it. The other day I tried to print a document with Arabic in it from a Mac, and the Arabic just disappeared. On a Windows machine, even if Arabic isn't one of the installed languages, you can still view it.
When a Mac freezes, you are lost. No escape but to shut it down and restart. In Windows, you have much more program-by-program control.
I don't like the way the windows collapse down to those little bars, which are floating about in random places and aren't always very visible, and then for other things you have to go to that menu in the upper right corner. I prefer the task bar in Windows. Everything in one place.
Starting up the computer is rather slow on a Mac.
And after all these years, can't they figure out a more logical place to shut down your computer than from a menu called "special"?
No Microsoft Access for Macs. And no a lot of other software for Macs. No matter how good a Mac system is, the lack of choice and specialized software easily available is a problem for me. Sure many of the major programs are available. But it's the little programs that sometimes are quite powerful. It's extremely easy to find software for Windows doing all kinds of neat things. People are designing for the majority. I had a situation this morning where I needed to recover some files from a folder my husband had deleted (and had emptied from the trash). Within 10 minutes, I was able to find a freeware program that could do exactly that, and within another 10 minutes had the files back.
When Mac users send you files, they come with these strange useless files attached to them when you open them in Windows.
Running fake Windows on Mac is an absolute joke. I will never forget going to this demonstration of this really high tech imaging equipment that needed Windows to run. And the guy showing us it failed to impress because he was running a Windows emulator on a Mac laptop and we were sitting around waiting for something to happen forever.
I understand the Microsoft is the company people love to hate. Sure they have a near monopoly, and Windows could be improved, but because applications are not interoperable between systems without tweaking, one has to take that into serious consideration.
"one has to take that into serious consideration"
And fix it ;)
And fix it ;)
Sounds like you have never used Mac OS X ... it's completely different to Mac OS 9 (which was crap by today's standards, I agree, and I've been using Macs since System 1.0) ... every single issue you mention is no longer an issue.
The difference is like XP compared to Windows 3.1 ...
The difference is like XP compared to Windows 3.1 ...
>> And after all these years, can't they figure out a more logical place
to shut down your computer than from a menu called "special"?
... such as "Start"?
... such as "Start"?
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking
about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write
proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm
sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W".
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue "w" if you don't start with some
straight answers. OK, forget that. Can I watch movies on the Internet?
ABBOTT: Yes, you want Real One.
COSTELLO: Maybe a real one, maybe a cartoon. What I watch is none of
your business. Just tell me what I need!
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: If it's a long movie, I also want to watch reels 2, 3 and 4.
Can I watch them?
ABBOTT: Of course.
COSTELLO: Great! With what?
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: OK, I'm at my computer and I want to watch a movie. What do I do?
ABBOTT: You click the blue "1".
COSTELLO: I click the blue one what?
ABBOTT: The blue "1".
COSTELLO: Is that different from the blue "w?"
ABBOTT: The blue "1" is Real One and the blue "W" is Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: But there are three words in "office for windows"!
ABBOTT: No, just one. But it's the most popular Word in the world.
COSTELLO: It is?
ABBOTT: Yes, but to be fair, there aren't many other Words left. It
pretty much wiped out all the other Words out there.
COSTELLO: And that word is real one?
ABBOTT: Real One has nothing to do with Word. Real One isn't even part
of Office.
COSTELLO: STOP! Don't start that again. What about financial
bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!
(A few days later)
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on "START".......
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking
about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write
proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm
sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W".
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue "w" if you don't start with some
straight answers. OK, forget that. Can I watch movies on the Internet?
ABBOTT: Yes, you want Real One.
COSTELLO: Maybe a real one, maybe a cartoon. What I watch is none of
your business. Just tell me what I need!
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: If it's a long movie, I also want to watch reels 2, 3 and 4.
Can I watch them?
ABBOTT: Of course.
COSTELLO: Great! With what?
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: OK, I'm at my computer and I want to watch a movie. What do I do?
ABBOTT: You click the blue "1".
COSTELLO: I click the blue one what?
ABBOTT: The blue "1".
COSTELLO: Is that different from the blue "w?"
ABBOTT: The blue "1" is Real One and the blue "W" is Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: But there are three words in "office for windows"!
ABBOTT: No, just one. But it's the most popular Word in the world.
COSTELLO: It is?
ABBOTT: Yes, but to be fair, there aren't many other Words left. It
pretty much wiped out all the other Words out there.
COSTELLO: And that word is real one?
ABBOTT: Real One has nothing to do with Word. Real One isn't even part
of Office.
COSTELLO: STOP! Don't start that again. What about financial
bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!
(A few days later)
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on "START".......
Not so long ago conversations like this were daily business.
We have to take care we don't end up the same way:
TEACHER: I want to publish some photo's
KOEN: Use a forum or a glossary
TEACHER: And what if students have problems with the computer?
KOEN: They can look at the FAQ in a glossary or in a resource or use the forum as a bug tracker.
What I mean is we should take care of overloading modules with extra features. I think it's more transparent for users to have more modules, with an appropriate name and icon, even if these modules are build on almost the same code.
May be change the icon if according to the use of the module.
Just a tought, wich actualy doesn't belong here, but it came up with your funny tale
Sorry for being way off topic
should be here
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=21077
or here
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=17254
OK on topic now:
For your laptop: I have a new Toshiba and had problems with the drivers, using it with a Win2K in stead of the pre-installed XP (not yet found out what is the extra value for me to use the memory and resource consuming XP ) Also the sleep/standby function is often not working like it should, causing the system to hang.
At school we have 24 Toshiba's for 2,5 years now - 7 of them have motherboard replaced...(5 in waranty). Exept that, they work very good in very heavy use circumstances.
My former laptop was an Asus, extremely stabile machine, working very good, but the housing was not that strong (cracks here and there) I've seen that already with a lot of asus machines. That's why I didn't buy an otherone.
My first was an IBM, wich was, if my memory is not disturbed, my best laptop so far, but rather expensive.
We have to take care we don't end up the same way:
TEACHER: I want to publish some photo's
KOEN: Use a forum or a glossary
TEACHER: And what if students have problems with the computer?
KOEN: They can look at the FAQ in a glossary or in a resource or use the forum as a bug tracker.
What I mean is we should take care of overloading modules with extra features. I think it's more transparent for users to have more modules, with an appropriate name and icon, even if these modules are build on almost the same code.
May be change the icon if according to the use of the module.
Just a tought, wich actualy doesn't belong here, but it came up with your funny tale
Sorry for being way off topic
should be here
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=21077
or here
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=17254
OK on topic now:
For your laptop: I have a new Toshiba and had problems with the drivers, using it with a Win2K in stead of the pre-installed XP (not yet found out what is the extra value for me to use the memory and resource consuming XP ) Also the sleep/standby function is often not working like it should, causing the system to hang.
At school we have 24 Toshiba's for 2,5 years now - 7 of them have motherboard replaced...(5 in waranty). Exept that, they work very good in very heavy use circumstances.
My former laptop was an Asus, extremely stabile machine, working very good, but the housing was not that strong (cracks here and there) I've seen that already with a lot of asus machines. That's why I didn't buy an otherone.
My first was an IBM, wich was, if my memory is not disturbed, my best laptop so far, but rather expensive.
Ah yes, laptop; I remember those.
FWIW I now use a tablet (one of Ergo's actually but there are other makes) and the only way to get it from me would be to prise it from my cold lifeless fingers.
Top product that I'd give 11/10 to. It never leaves my side.
XP SP2 handriting recog input (and SP1, but SP2 is WAY better for handwriting recog) allows you to make handwritten notes on-screen and converts them to text in the app you're using and boy, is it accurate even with the spider-scrawl of special needs pupils, and/or me.
I'd recommend getting OneNote with it for recording and filing handwritten notes.
All this, and I can still connect up all the USB peripherals I want, including mouse and keyboard - yes, I type faster than I write these days so I prefer to use keyboard when I can but I don't have to - and I don't need a lap to put it on. Mine is the model without the twist-off keyboard, but if I were to get one for private use outside a secondary school I think I'd get one of those.
Did I really just recommend a M$ OS and product?
I must be losing it...I'm really, really sorry and I'm heading off for my electric shock punishment treatment right now. Nurse, the screens...
FWIW I now use a tablet (one of Ergo's actually but there are other makes) and the only way to get it from me would be to prise it from my cold lifeless fingers.
Top product that I'd give 11/10 to. It never leaves my side.
XP SP2 handriting recog input (and SP1, but SP2 is WAY better for handwriting recog) allows you to make handwritten notes on-screen and converts them to text in the app you're using and boy, is it accurate even with the spider-scrawl of special needs pupils, and/or me.
I'd recommend getting OneNote with it for recording and filing handwritten notes.
All this, and I can still connect up all the USB peripherals I want, including mouse and keyboard - yes, I type faster than I write these days so I prefer to use keyboard when I can but I don't have to - and I don't need a lap to put it on. Mine is the model without the twist-off keyboard, but if I were to get one for private use outside a secondary school I think I'd get one of those.
Did I really just recommend a M$ OS and product?
I must be losing it...I'm really, really sorry and I'm heading off for my electric shock punishment treatment right now. Nurse, the screens...
>>Did I really just recommend a M$ OS and product? 
I
must be losing it...I'm really, really sorry and I'm heading off for my
electric shock punishment treatment right now. Nurse, the screens...
Shame on you, Dale! Go straight to the Moodle store and purchase official Moodle whips for all your friends to remind you of your transgression.
I
must be losing it...I'm really, really sorry and I'm heading off for my
electric shock punishment treatment right now. Nurse, the screens...Shame on you, Dale! Go straight to the Moodle store and purchase official Moodle whips for all your friends to remind you of your transgression.
Honest, I'm really sorry. What I should have said was that I was waiting until the Linux distros provide a reliable tablet version then...whoosh! I'm off like a shot (and so is nursey and her fiendish electrodes). I did hear about Gentoo (I think - VERY wooly thread in my memory there) managing to get Linux to work on a tablet. I do know that handwriting recog works.Actually, since all the schools I work with still use window$, I guess I'm there for the duration <sigh>.
Coming, nurse. Can you warm them this time?
Moodle's dev team has an unusually high proportion of Apple-branded gear Eloy has a desktop mac I think, and MD, Penny, and myself, all Powerbook-toting geeks. This is my 2nd Powerbook, I had a bad experience with an iBook -- it probably wasn't suited for the heavy usage I gave it and some clueless thief run away with it so I replaced with a shiny Powerbook.
IBM's Thinkpads are solid and have good Linux support, widely used at Catalyst. I often recommend 2nd hand Thinkpads to friends on a budget and they haven't disappointed. They are expensive, but worth it if you are going to give it a lot of usage.
I still have a fully functional 'slimline' SONY Vaio, pricey but been with me for 7 years, ran 5 different OSs (including Plan9), and took a lot of abuse -- right now running Linux at a friends place. During that time, several Compaqs have died on me (not Armadas, but the consumer line).
IBM's Thinkpads are solid and have good Linux support, widely used at Catalyst. I often recommend 2nd hand Thinkpads to friends on a budget and they haven't disappointed. They are expensive, but worth it if you are going to give it a lot of usage.
I still have a fully functional 'slimline' SONY Vaio, pricey but been with me for 7 years, ran 5 different OSs (including Plan9), and took a lot of abuse -- right now running Linux at a friends place. During that time, several Compaqs have died on me (not Armadas, but the consumer line).
The ThinkPad R40e has proved very robust so far! (Bryan and Sean, can't thank you enough).
Seeing Martin's PowerBook pic below, I have one question that I can resist asking here:
Personally, I 'm addicted to those side-placed Ins/Del/Home/End keys. I use them all the time when programming. Mark. Cut. Copy. Paste. Thumb goes on the right Control, index on the left Shift, and the middle finger to whichever I need to press. Now, MS's new keyboards have very thoughtfully changed the placement and for this reason I simply cannot use them. Most laptop keyboards have those keys placed all around the perimeter, and they 're likewise "useless" for me.
Unbelievably, the ThinkPad has those six keys "normally" placed!
Is there any other laptop that has those six keys normally placed as well?
Seeing Martin's PowerBook pic below, I have one question that I can resist asking here:
Personally, I 'm addicted to those side-placed Ins/Del/Home/End keys. I use them all the time when programming. Mark. Cut. Copy. Paste. Thumb goes on the right Control, index on the left Shift, and the middle finger to whichever I need to press. Now, MS's new keyboards have very thoughtfully changed the placement and for this reason I simply cannot use them. Most laptop keyboards have those keys placed all around the perimeter, and they 're likewise "useless" for me.
Unbelievably, the ThinkPad has those six keys "normally" placed!
Is there any other laptop that has those six keys normally placed as well?
Excellent!
I love Thinkpads too, so I use an R50e (although I have just ordered a high-ish end T42p to replace it...the R50e will go to my assistant). If I could justify it I would get a powerbook too...very nice machines and OSX is very cool.
Sean K Beardie
I love Thinkpads too, so I use an R50e (although I have just ordered a high-ish end T42p to replace it...the R50e will go to my assistant). If I could justify it I would get a powerbook too...very nice machines and OSX is very cool.
Sean K Beardie
Last week I finally took delivery of my new Moodle development machine (see below) The joy is in the fine details ... they are superbly constructed - it's like driving a Porsche. And OS X really is terrific, especially for Unix geeks or neatness freaks. The range of software available is skyrocketing.
I still have a Windows desktop which (now that it is fully themed to look like Mac OS X) is also very good to use. To me Windows is "snappier" but more "brittle" - the smooth illusion of the interface breaks more easily than the very solid and integrated Mac OS X interface. Really these days it comes down to taste.
Both machines run X11 servers and are usually covered in Linux windows anyway.
I still have a Windows desktop which (now that it is fully themed to look like Mac OS X
Both machines run X11 servers and are usually covered in Linux windows anyway.
BTW, a really quick no-mess way to make your Windows interface feel a bit more Mac-like is to run this free application called Y'z Shadow.
I know, it's all very geeky but it's nice to feel comfortable with what you're looking at all day.
I know, it's all very geeky but it's nice to feel comfortable with what you're looking at all day.
Another thing to remember... The Moodle culture is hip and whimsical. Buy a machine that fits. 
The Moodle culture is inclusive - use whatever machine suits you.
Oh come on. Don't take me seriously.
Martin is always enforcing values!!
Martin is always enforcing values!!
There will be no enforcing of values by any one around here!!
Dale, can I borrow your Moodle whip? 
I can send nursey and her electrode machine round too if you like - should I send her to Perth or to Melbourne?
I have burned my way through many macs/pc's over the years and have found Dell Laptops to be extremely reliable and the support very good, although I have nothing but disdain for the owner of the company, unfortunately. The business models are a lot more robust than the bottom of the range models though. I have heard of a lot of problems with a lot of the newer mac laptops in Japan recently though, although I have no idea if these problems are country-specific.
I've decided to go with Dell. I found one that has the specs I wanted for less than $700. After having been stuck in Egypt for my last two laptop purchases and having had to fork over $1800 or so for the cheapest things available there when the prices were 1/3 cheaper or more in the US for the same machines, I'm just trying to get something that is reasonable, because laptops I've discovered last on average less than 3 years if you are moving around with them a lot. If I'm going to shell out a lot of money in the future, it would be for a desktop. For now, I'm going to let my IBM laptop sit at home and act as a desktop.
Now, does anyone have any recommendations for a backup drive? I've been looking into LaCie and Maxtor. I want something I can fit in a safe deposit box.
Now, does anyone have any recommendations for a backup drive? I've been looking into LaCie and Maxtor. I want something I can fit in a safe deposit box.
>>Now, does anyone have any recommendations for a backup drive?
An iPod of course! (don't you just love diehard Mac enthusiasts -- but should still consider it, because the Mac issues you mentioned are long gone)
Actually, I think you should get a 3.5 inch portable drive that gets its power from the USB port (thus no power brick and no power cables). I recently bought one for about $200 with 60GB space. Any brand will do since there are only a few manufacturers of the actual hard disks (Seagate, IBM, Hitachi, Samsung,...).
And as for Dell, I like their prices recently. $700 is very good for a notebook. Look at this Dell server we just bought for US$1400.
- Dual Xeon 2.8ghz processors
- 2GB memory
- fast 80 GB hard disk
- DVD-R drive, floppy, and case
- no OS, no monitor, no keyboard
Power steering, power ash trays, and whitewall tires extra--but heck, you can't have everything.
An iPod of course! (don't you just love diehard Mac enthusiasts
Actually, I think you should get a 3.5 inch portable drive that gets its power from the USB port (thus no power brick and no power cables). I recently bought one for about $200 with 60GB space. Any brand will do since there are only a few manufacturers of the actual hard disks (Seagate, IBM, Hitachi, Samsung,...).
And as for Dell, I like their prices recently. $700 is very good for a notebook. Look at this Dell server we just bought for US$1400.
- Dual Xeon 2.8ghz processors
- 2GB memory
- fast 80 GB hard disk
- DVD-R drive, floppy, and case
- no OS, no monitor, no keyboard
Power steering, power ash trays, and whitewall tires extra--but heck, you can't have everything.
Oops, mistake. I should have said get a "2.5 inch portable drive".
If your looking at a alptop then I would suggest thid great littl option - a Verbatim DynaBacker http://www.verbatim.com.au/products.cfm?productID=DP002 . Though reasonably expensive, it does provide external RAID 1 facilities using 2.5" Notebook Drives and is totally standalone. Pull a drive out and replace it with another and the Drive Rebuild happens seemlessly. You can also get an adaptor to fit on the back of the caddy that will allow you to access the drive through your USB port, great if you have a corrupted mirroe and you need to recover a single file. The other great thing is that it is O/S independanct for the RAID software.
Have a look at the other options there , as ther is also a 3.5" internal unit as well that is cheaper. But for someone on the move and needs relaible data storate, I don't think you can go past the 2.5" external unit, especially if your data is valuable to you, and the bonus - the automatic drive rebuild when you change a drive over.
Failing that - I also use a standalone 2.5 Notebook drive in a USB interface case (approx $75 AUS RRP) plus the drive of course, but that has also served me well when I am on the road. There are also a lot of 3.5 cases about that do the same thing.
Never mind about the machine.. moodle even runs on sony-notebooks and xp homeless
Felix
Felix
Backup drive.
Don't buy the Safecom SUSB2-35CAF hard drive enclosure. I bought this for back up and it works great on my (Acer) laptop. Can I get it to work at USB 2 speeds on a PC? Nope. I haven't got time to cover all of the OS hanging issues. Spent far to much time messing with it / updating drivers etc. Look out for it on Ebay soon.
Ray
Don't buy the Safecom SUSB2-35CAF hard drive enclosure. I bought this for back up and it works great on my (Acer) laptop. Can I get it to work at USB 2 speeds on a PC? Nope. I haven't got time to cover all of the OS hanging issues. Spent far to much time messing with it / updating drivers etc. Look out for it on Ebay soon.
Ray
I have a Maxtor 160 Gb and it has saved my life more than once since I bought it a few months back.
It looks fine (vertical silver slab), runs warm but not hot, and makes low humming noise that I no longer notice (until I turn it off)
I realy ought to but another for the offsite backups - it would save me a load of time burning CDS.
Regards
John
My worry about Maxtor is that we were using one at my work for automatic backups. And then suddenly one day I found out it hadn't made an automatic backup in two weeks. The person who had set it up had gone back to the US and I couldn't figure out how to get it running again, so I had to wipe out the whole drive and make manual backups myself until sending it back to the US two months later.
Presumably the problem there lay in the backup software rather than the drive itself. The supplied Dantz Retrospect software seems OK (although it won't do backups to multiple CDs on my machine)
It seems to work fine with my Maxtor Drive though.
J
Whilst we're talking around this topic.... anyone recommend some good back up / syncronisation software?
I'm running XP on all machines and would prefer a solution with an idiot proof GUI rather than text commands. Unison has been suggested but the GUI version started playing up after some initial tests. I've tried Syncexp which backs up OK but has to be run manually and sat over to click OK for the various back up profiles, last week found Allwaysync which is very slick but gives up on larger operations.
The perfect solution would be one where I could back up one PC and 2 laptops to a single location and then syncronise from there (across home network).
Ray
p.s Rsync options seem to abound but require installing Cygwin.
p.p.s. Freeware or OS would be great, but this is very important so may be prepared to open my wallet for this...
<moths>
I'm running XP on all machines and would prefer a solution with an idiot proof GUI rather than text commands. Unison has been suggested but the GUI version started playing up after some initial tests. I've tried Syncexp which backs up OK but has to be run manually and sat over to click OK for the various back up profiles, last week found Allwaysync which is very slick but gives up on larger operations.
The perfect solution would be one where I could back up one PC and 2 laptops to a single location and then syncronise from there (across home network).
Ray
p.s Rsync options seem to abound but require installing Cygwin.
p.p.s. Freeware or OS would be great, but this is very important so may be prepared to open my wallet for this...
<moths>
ntbackup ??
why does no one seem to use that?
why does no one seem to use that?
Thanks Koen,
Giving it a try now. One immediate disadvantage of ntbackup I spotted is that it creates a single file from which I dont' appear to be able to get to individual files I might need in case of emergency whilst on the road.
Ray
Giving it a try now. One immediate disadvantage of ntbackup I spotted is that it creates a single file from which I dont' appear to be able to get to individual files I might need in case of emergency whilst on the road.
Ray
You certainly can (I have done it already)
Look in the restore tab, search for the right "media" and you can restore each file differently.
It's true that it creats only one file and it is a disadvantage (I have backups of several gigs), but it works ok from a harddrive (on tape it's a disaster, but who uses tape these days?)
Look in the restore tab, search for the right "media" and you can restore each file differently.
It's true that it creats only one file and it is a disadvantage (I have backups of several gigs), but it works ok from a harddrive (on tape it's a disaster, but who uses tape these days?)
OK. Thanks again.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to get that far as it kept failing - even after trying different options in the Advanced Settings.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to get that far as it kept failing - even after trying different options in the Advanced Settings.
Why use NTBackup? when it is eaier and more reliable to use Winzip - the bonus - you can restore individual files easily. NTBackup is also limited to 4 Gb files size. It is preferable to backup to a hard drive - but backing up to a CD is also another good option. With protable drives 2.5 and 3.5 and enclosues being small, rugged and protable, I beleive that that is the best oprion of you are serious about your data.
just because it supports incremental backups
Hi Ray
The way I d that is to have a single backup/ restore point (work location) that is mirrored and duplicated at home. I pull the mirroed drive from the the work unit, take it home and have the work drive mirrored back to the to the home drive. On a 2.5 drive and 30 Gb takes about 30 min. Identical copies at work and home. If I make a major change at home, then i can just do the reverse. Both systems are then sync'd.
The DynaBacker is a great solution for that. It works through a GUI and if that fails - a single button on the front of the unit completes a full mirror. Additionally if you pull a drive, and repace it with another, the rebuild process starts automatically - what better solution is there if your data is important? It is a little costly - but far cheaper than pooing your data.
The usb/fw enclosures are my fave, plus every time I'm on the network I use Unison. I keep my 'documents' directory on laptop & desktop in sync with Unison. Every time I have a laptop die on me, stolen, or just unavailable for a few hours I switch to the desktop machine and keep working.
When the laptop is back, rerun unison and it'll know which files to copy in each direction. I normally have unison running every couple hours on a cronjob, and then I run it manually to resolve any 'conflicts' (files updated on both sides).
Runs on Windows, MacOSX and Linux and is GPL. http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/
When the laptop is back, rerun unison and it'll know which files to copy in each direction. I normally have unison running every couple hours on a cronjob, and then I run it manually to resolve any 'conflicts' (files updated on both sides).
Runs on Windows, MacOSX and Linux and is GPL. http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/
Sweet!
I basically love my toshiba tablet, interacting with a pen is so much nicer than with a mouse!
XP SP2 text recognition is quite good, suprisingly good.
Sadly the rest of XP is horrible, and Dreamweaver on XP is a nightmare (whoever thought that automatic window docking was a good idea?? how did they infect Macromedia with such nonsense???).
I do wish Apple would come out with a decent OS that would run on this thing, the tablet itself is wonderfully designed and the 100 dpi touch screen is great fun to draw on.
XP SP2 text recognition is quite good, suprisingly good.
Sadly the rest of XP is horrible, and Dreamweaver on XP is a nightmare (whoever thought that automatic window docking was a good idea?? how did they infect Macromedia with such nonsense???).
I do wish Apple would come out with a decent OS that would run on this thing, the tablet itself is wonderfully designed and the 100 dpi touch screen is great fun to draw on
Very happy w/ my toshiba satellite A75... dual boot w/ winxp (for use only when necessary) and Fedora Core 3 Linux. Easy setup... My purchase price was $800... and it never goes down.
