Thinking of replacing the laptop, thoughts?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

OK, we have two operational laptops, one moreso than the other.

Apple MacBook Pro - about six years old, maybe five. Works well, starts and runs every time. No problems I did not cause personally. Battery life of about six hours, same battery as when new. 15.25" screen, does not like the USB 10key.

Toshiba Satellite - about six months older than the Apple. Starts slow, runs slow, bogs down, battery lasts about 30 minutes. 17" screen with 10key, accepts the USB 10key as well. Upgraded from vista to XP. Mousepad buttons are starting fail, wife blew the speakers.

Both are 2GB RAM, same basic motherboard and chipset basically Intel Core Duo CPU T2350 @ 1.86GHz. Apple runs, and has from new, twice as fast as the Toshiba. Well, faster now! Both run office, Apple even reads the new versions. Cats prefer to mess with the Toshiba, color maybe?

I've grown to like the 17" screen and really have become used to the 10key! So, we are down to some basic questions.


Do I try and upgrade the Toshiba and replace the speakers?

Do I buy a new laptop?

If I buy a new laptop, what to buy?

I think Mac is out of my price range. I need to be closer to $100.00 than $2,000.00.

Do NOT even suggest worst buy, will not grace them with my presence. There are some local builders in Bloomington.

Is it a good option to wait until a specific period of time as the latest and greatest will be coming out then? (I know, if it is on the market now it is obsolete.) I've built my own computers before but have really become used to having a laptop! Besides, space is a premium and laptops can fit on the tractor or in the Porsche!

Would it be too much to ask for OBD/CAN connectivity? Hmmmmm.

Who makes a 10key keyboard? Are they any good?

Basic small business computing and finishing up a Master's program (four courses I am leisurely finishing, working on one right now). It would end up being the newest workhorse for working. No gaming stuff required. I just do not have the spare time with farming, working, schooling, Pelicaning, etc. I just need to keep the books, taxes, school, Pelican.

[Gogar]

Wait a month or two until the new MacBook pros come out, and buy one.

It's hard to explain how staggering the difference 5 years can make; you just need to do it and you won't be sorry.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Yep, these two replaced a couple of Compaq 586s? that were workhorses (one still runs ~12 years old). The Compaqs replaced one each 486 and 386 desktop that I built from scratch. The differences were amazing then!

Guess I really like the 17" monitor and integral 10key. Started wearing reading glasses last year after many decades of better than 20/20 vision. Now can only see in the distance.

Of course, wireless keyboard, 40 inch monitor....

[Moses]

My next laptop won't have a spinning hard drive or a DVD drive.

Flash memory is so mush faster and doesn't run hot. And the battery life is exceptional. MacBook Air?

[recycled sixtie]

Understand your situation somewhat. I told my wife that I need a new battery for my laptop(got it new 2 and a half years ago). It is a Dell Inspiron 15inch. She said , go and buy a new laptop. I said that our daughter needs a new laptop as she starts her Master's Degree this year. So I asked her what does your prof. have? She said he has both. Seeing that my daughter already has a Toshiba I think that I would recommend an Apple to her even though it is more $$$$. I have been brainwashed into Apple by the Pelicanites. As for myself, I will just go out and buy a new battery for my Dell.

[mikester]

If you can't spring for the Apple hardware or can't stand the limitations of the keyboard layout being non-PC then I would look at refurbished Dells.

Plan to upgrade RAM, it's usually cheaper to upgrade than to buy as built and as moses mentioned - planning for an SSD main drive is cool too.

I'm personally not sold on them yet, they are smaller in capacity (unless you're rich and I'm not) and have a shorter life span due to the design. I don't mind my spinning disks so much.

The Apple hardware is pretty well designed stuff. Even running windows it is fairly superior to most of what is out there.

I run a Macbook Pro 15" for work and use Fusion, Bootcamp and a virtual desktop through work if I REALLY need a windows environment. Seems like a lot but each environment has a purpose.

At home I run a Mac Mini with a Windows bootcamp partition too and I usually use that through Fusion. The great thing about Fusion is I can boot the bootcamp partition from Lion.

Still, sounds like you just need a Dell refurb. My wife's been using a Dell Laptop for about 2 years now. 4GB of ram, I think it's a Core2duo CPU. It's perfect. Can't beat it. She usually doesn't take it out of the house though.