Requesting Geek Aid

[shadesofmauve]

I talked today with a longtime friend of the family (Amy Zilk, for those in the know). She's looking for her calling, has found a definite possibility, and wants me to do her branding/identity/look&feel for when she strikes out into her new career. This kicks ass, and will be a great project to work on. I'm a trifle scared about failing in some way, but I usually am.


Now, our conversation brought up something that's been on my mind a LOT lately - computers. Specifically, a new one for me. I've been budgeting for a new one, and had pretty much convinced myself to build a desktop, duel processor, component price around $900. But this conversation with Amy reminded me how NICE it would be to have a laptop, so that I could meet clients at coffeeshops or in their offices (or in this case over Turkey day break in Canananada), and do changes right then.

This is mighty appealing.

The even BIGGER pro to a laptop is that it is anti-hermit. I have a tendency to closet myself away, and it does NOT make for a happy Skellington. With a laptop I could work in coffeeshops or the library, even a park, and get myself out of the house. I could house-sit without loosing too much productivity.

The downsides are two-and-a-half - cost, power, and guilt. A decent laptop would run me at least 1,200, probably more. It would of course be less powerful than the $900 custum desktop I had been planning (In actuallity, I should probably raise that price $100 - the laptop would come with operating system, a big added expense for the desktop). The 1/2 reason, guilt, is because to me a laptop feels more like a luxury item than a desktop. In this case, though, it might help my general productivity.

It is also to be remembered that EITHER alternative would be more powerful than what I have now (an at least four year old HP home system).

Also to be considered, I could afford the more expensive laptop SOONER than the desktop - buying components is an out-of-pocket deal, but there are installment plans for complete laptop systems.

So what kind of Geek help do I need, you ask?

I want to know about your laptop. I want to know why you love it, why it's the best system I could ever choose. I want to know why you hate it and wish you could leave it in the middle of the bus-driveway on Railroad Ave. I want to know modelnumbers, specs, etc. I need to make an informed decision.

By-the-by, the programs I would ideally run are: Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, Corel Draw, and Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash. These are what I prefer as a design suite (if anyone wants to hear my bit on why Corel kicks illustrators ass, just ask - I was introduced to the program at work and prefered it within TWO HOURS). I like to be able to play the occasional game, but it is not the main task.

PS - a little off-subject, my parents want to buy my Doozer (lil' bro) an MP3 player for his B-day - you could add your MP3 preferences and horror stories to the laptop info, and the fambily would be much obliged. :)

Cheers!

Comments

[didotwite2001.livejournal.com]

When my laptop was new it was a great one. I have and IBM thinkpad. At this point I want to throw it out a window but that is mostly because it is 4 years old only and only has 256mb of memory. But I didn't have any problems with it until it was about 3 years old.

As for an MP3 player I really like my IPOD mini.

[fenmere.livejournal.com]

A laptop is not a luxury item. It is an indespensible business tool. Once you have one, you'll never want to go back. Not only does it allow you to go outside of your house to work, it allows you to take your computer to meetings with clients. And you can have your meeting where-ever you want it. And more importantly when you are working in a coffee shop, your laptop will draw attention, particularly if you have a scanner and/or a wacom tablet and you are also drawing. It allows you to do production and networking at the same time! This is really an unbeleivably awesome boon.

I would have gotten none of my contract work if I had not had my laptop. People just wouldn't have noticed that I was a graphic designer, and they wouldn't have been able to find me as easily. Think of it as a portable store front.

As for brand, I'm probably going to have to think about it a bit. I love my laptop, and have very few complaints about it, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it. The screen is a bit low in resolution, and the screws in the case keep coming out.

It's a Toshiba Tecra A1, first model in the family. It's probably within your price range at this point, though later models are probably better.

Also, some things about Toshiba impressed me back when I was researching the various companies. But I don't remember what.

I picked it because I could get it with 1 gig of ram, it had an OK speed CPU (2.3 gHz), a minimum sized monitor (1024 by 768), a decently sized hard drive (40 gigs) and the best warrenty of any laptop on the market at the time. Go for ram and warrenty above all else. Everything else is cake (because you can plug the sucker into a better monitor at home, and buy a bigger hard drive later).

[meliz113.livejournal.com]

I don't have an MP3 player (though I think I'm one of 3 people in the western hemisphere for whom that is true) but I do know that the iPod Mini is no longer being produced. The iPod options now are the standard and the Nano. My Mini-loving friends are all rather distraught. Apparently the Nano doesn't come in colors.

[shadesofmauve]

I also no longer have an MP3 player - so there's at least two of us.

Helen mentioned the mini (I think) because hers came cheap specifically because it's no longer made - refits and returned models and all that.

IPODS have DAMN impressive marketing. Other'n that? I don't know...looking at laptop tech-spechs is giving me a headache.