What type of laptop do you recommend

[akrvbob]

Offroad, what kind of data plan do you have that lets you stream that much music and video? I have 10 gigs with Verizon and there is no way I can stream hours of video and music daily. I probably can stream less than an hour every day. And I think most vandwellers have less than that. A few are grandfathered in with true unlimited data, but those plans are no longer available. Today's "unlimited" plans will slow you down so you can't stream after a few gigs.
Bob

 

[caseyc]

http://iq.intel.com/iq/41823023/asus-2-in-1-device-pulls-off-hat-trick
This looks like a cool hybrid laptop...part laptop, part tablet. This article came from the current CES convention. I so want to go to a CES convention in Vegas. One of these days.

Or this one, which really looks cool for both price and functionality.
http://iq.intel.com/iq/41773168/rise-of-the-ultraportable-affordable-2-in-1-windows-8-device

 

[offroad]

Guess my earlier post implies I have a high bandwidth connection. Am using a landline connection so have bandwidth on that. And am using cable TV connection so can TIVO lots of shows via that.

But agree that you get throttled if you buy cellphones provider unlimited bandwidth.

Best advice is to find temporary high speed bandwidth and then download everything for a few days maybe. And also use netflix mail out program to get DVDs in mail. Or buy/sell on AMAZON.

 

[Ladywolfe]

It's a race. Put all your stuff in a local 1 terabyte memory card or equivalent. Or use a superior always connected data service. But then you weigh why you have to have music or video at any time of day or night. Silence and a book are good too.

Amen on the silence and a book thing Offroad.
I am looking into buying a tablet---I've downloaded books to my laptop via a Kindle app for over a year, but don't want to pull this big thing out just to read a book, or connect to the internet for a bit.

 

[ice_maiden]

I am with caseyc.... I can't have just one device...no, no, won't happen. I resisted the tablets at first too. But alas, I finally succumbed to the lure of a tablet after using the ebook reader (only) that was my mothers....I really liked the fact that I can take over 1000 books with me in less than 500mb of space....That being said I don't plan on giving up my laptop either...So I have a full size 17" laptop, with disc drive. A netbook for when I don't want to haul out the big one. I have a 10 tablet (android) with micro sd that I use when I just want to surf the net, check e-mail etc. I also just replaced my 7" tablet (android) with micro sd because it is easier to lay in bed and read on than the 10". It is light weight and using it no longer makes my hand and wrist ache from holding a book open. It's also faster and easier to flip through the pages, since I read at a very fast rate. I can also can adjust the text size, and background to make it less of a strain on my eyes. It just takes the right app. First let me say I choose android over apple for the simple reason that android is open source where as apple is proprietary to apple only. For those that don't understand what this means basically is that anyone can write an app for the android. There are some good and not so good ones out there. Only things that are approved by apple will be allow on your apple product. To do anything that is not controlled by apple you would have to jailbreak it first. It can be done, but not a good idea. I don't like being controlled. For the e-reader app on android. I suggest either cool-reader or moon reader.. They both allow you to make your text very large but they also allow you to change your background to black (or other colors) and your text to white. This way if you read at night the back light is not so hard on your eyes.

I will never be without a full size laptop, but I will always have a tablet for convenience. It is much easier to whip out than the laptop. I don't guess I need two of each but that is just me.. I feel more secure with a back up for each. I am a died in the wool Techno Junkie and have killed at least one of each.

 

[jonthebru]

The question was "What kind of laptop do you recommend?"
I suggest that the new laptops are awesome. Search Amazon, Costco or Apple's websites and you will find a mix and match situation. Buy the best screen you can with the longest battery supply. The solid state hard drive units start up instantly and use less power, but they are smaller in capacity and more expensive. Windows 8 gives you the USB 3.0, with much faster transfer speed. The Apple laptops are loved, literally, by those who own them, but they are steep in price. In the PC world $600.00 gets you a fantastic device, in the Apple world the price is 12 to 1500.00. Also consider an external HDD a USB 3.0 4TB drive is only around $150.00 these days.
I own two tablets, a Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, and use them a lot to surf and read books (likes Bob's van-dwelling book.) but they are not in any way comparable to a laptop. And the Chrome book is well hyped but in my opinion is not a complete computer, you are wed to the Google OS with them. Personally, I like Dell computers.

 

[caseyc]

I love my laptops. I also really like my tablets. I like both for different reasons. The one really huge thing I like about tablets is the virtually instant on/off feature. Boot up time is in seconds to turn on, and just as fast to shut down. Try that with any Windows laptops, hah! Even my late/newer model laptops still take over a minute to boot up and shut down. My older Windows laptops which I don't use anymore took multiple minutes to boot up and shut down. Seriously? Waiting minutes and minutes just to do something as simple as reading an email or surf the web? That's *almost* unacceptable nowadays, at least for me it is. For simple stuff, I like using my tablets cuz of the speed and ease. For serious computing, I whip out the full featured laptops. Most of the time, I'm not doing serious stuff, so either my Samsung smartphone with its large 5.5" screen will suffice, or I can use one of several tablets I have in different sizes and design. Choice is king, haha!

 

[offroad]

Was thinking about getting an AMAZON KINDLE paper white reader for $50 to $100 just to have for ebooks and maybe music. The battery last weeks on a charge.

 

[jeanontheroad]

Ice-maiden: 17-inch with disk drive

Me: Treasure your laptop. DH went to the Apple store to replace his old 17-inch PC and found that 17-inch models were no longer available from Apple, and that built-in disk drives in all sizes were no longer available. The clerk told us that most people are streaming movies and data, now, so the built-in disk drives will soon be discontinued by PC manufacturers, too. I don't know who "most people" are but I sure don't have enough hi-speed to do that! I don't want the extra clutter of an external drive if I can avoid it. I was thinking about replacing my 13-inch Apple laptop w/built-in disk drive with a new 15-inch model. Now, I intend to be cremated with it.

Van-tramp: Screen glare, battery life

Me: All our mobile devices have plastic matte screen protectors, which reduces glare and makes cleaning easy. Those things seem expensive, right up until you scratch your screen. Re battery life, my 4 yr old Nook will still go nearly 8 hrs of constant use on a single charge. Remember to turn it all the way off when not in use, and not just blank out the screen. With a blanked screen, the battery still drains in a couple days even if you aren't using it.

jonthebru: Apple cost

Me: Yup. The cost is high. The Apple does still have a metal body instead of a plastic one, and a backlit keyboard etc, but those things should not add that much to the price. But I did not just pay for the laptop. I paid for the fact that I can walk into an Apple store (and probably will) 10 years from now and still get free tech advice. For a non-techie like me, it is worth it.

 

[caseyc]

I agree that laptops with disc drives are fading out, which is a shame. Yes, it adds extra bulk and weight to the laptop, yes it's true that apps are now downloaded via the internet versus having disks nowadays. But still, I find those disc drives to be useful, especially the ones that can play Blueray DVD movies. That's why I like my Sony laptops that can play Blueray movies and burn DVD disks too. Whenever I rent movies from say a Red Box kiosk, I'll play the DVD movie either through my television or through the laptop as a backup. I also have an older external CD/DVD drive that can plug into a laptop via the USB port, but it's an older model without Blueray capability. I've been meaning to upgrade to a Blueray version for an external USB disk drive. External USB disk drives can be useful at times for plugging into a tablet for loading up apps that are still on a disk, or even simply to watch a DVD movie via a tablet.

 

[Willy]

I have an external DVD burner/player that I rarely use.. all usb sticks. ..Willy.

 

[caseyc]

I like those USB "thumb" sticks too. I used to use USB 2.0 drives. Nowadays, I'm slowly converting over to USB 3.0 for its faster speed. As with everything new, USB 3.0 is noticeably more expensive versus USB 2.0. Every time the price drops for a larger USB stick that is 3.0, I'll buy it. My current largest USB 3.0 thumb stick is about 32GB in size. I'm waiting for the price to drop to get up to 64GB and 128GB. My older USB 2.0 thumb stick is 128GB in size, but it's so d@mn slooooooooooow to transfer that much data from one device to another. It's quite sickening actually to wait that long. USB 3.0 rules! Much faster. Highly recommended.

 

[Willy]

Solid-state vs spinning mechanical disc (DVD)=> more rugged, less space, and easy to port data from one computer to the other. I've basically chucked my DVD's and either use external HDD's or USB sticks. ..Willy.

 

[jeanontheroad]

Re Nook, this is not the greatest peice of equipment for web access. I find yself using my Samsung Galaxy S4 insread of the Nook, even tho I like the larger Nook screen.

The Nook tends to choke on data and time out. There are pages I can't open at all, like the one to check my usage on MyTMobile. The little search icon keeps spinning, but the page never opens.

Also, I can't comment on my Youtube videos - or anyone elses, not even when I switch to Desktop view. As I have one channel that gets some activity, it is pain to see a comment or question and not be able to respond until I have another means of access available.

My last complaint about the Nook is that it seems, occasionally, to want to think for me. It clicks on ads or changes pages or posts or does other things it decides I want to do instead of waiting for me to decide to do it.

---

I like the Nook as a reader, and I certainly have gotten my money's worth these 4 years. But if I happen to stumble accross a good regular tablet on a good sale while I have a few extra bucks in my account, I am buying it.

 

[Sameer]

This is all such great information....I am going to stay with my cheap laptop with Windows 7.it actually does everything I need to do and the larger screen is better for editing photos..The only app I use on my phone is the 'navigation' and that is about it. OH, and for talking...hahaha! As far as reading I like to turn a real page and trade real books with other readers.

 

[salar521]

Well RAM doesn't say a lot about your Laptop. It seems to me that you don't want a lot from you're computer, just enough to get you by cuz ur on a budget.