Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Alison]

I know that this post has likely been up before, but, I am going to post it again. I really want to buy a laptop... something for general all-round use (word, internet, music, DVD etc), but one that is reliable and easy to use for someone who does not know a lot about computers...
Any suggestions on brand names... models, makes etc?!?

Any help is welcome.

THANK YOU

[mindmetoo]

I've had three compaq laptops. I liked the first one. I've hated the Pavilion series with a passion. Cheap everything.

Some tips: Don't cheap out. You'll hate yourself. Whatever you're willing to pay, add $500 and try to suck it up. Because 4 months later you'll wish you didn't cheap out. Get as big a harddrive and as much memory as you can afford.

Test the keyboard. Test the pointer pad. Make sure it's not so cheap you'll hate life.

Ask them to install the English XP. There is no way in the universe to install Korean XP and press a button to switch the language over to English.

Make sure you get all the disks. Most laptops have special drivers. Reinstalling your O/S on a laptop involves reinstalling Windows and then slapping in the laptop image CDs to add in all the tasty drivers. Again, get those in English.

Look for a laptop with a HD that's easy to snap out and pop into another computer. This can really save your ass if something evil toasts your system. You'll at least be able to pop out the HD, buy a new laptop, and pop in your old HD to rescue your files.

[T-dot]

i love my compaq/hp. no problems with it. the nx7000.

you can get english xp, in all compaq/hp. they also have a service centre in daegu. its easy to use.

[jazblanc77]

I've got an HP Pavillion ze4311 and I would agree that they put a lot of crap parts into buillding my system. The Video card is substandard, the CPU is total crap (have you heard of any recent computers that can't run usb2.0 speeds?! What a joke! ). Both of these components actually had to be replaced after only 8 months of ownership due to an overheating problem which fried them. Though, if one thing can be said for HP, I took it in, told them what I thought was wrong and they replaced everything that I was even remotely suspicious of, and more, for free. They even replaced my screen since I accidentally made a small scratch on the outer lid once when I dropped my keys, by accident, on it. They are also one of the only companies which will do English installs of the OS and other software at no extra cost. I believe TG will also do English installs.

Do your research and find what will suit you the best in your needs and then forget about everything else on the market. However, you should follow the advice of a previous poster on memory and hdd space. Especially if you are going to run DVD's you will want a lot of memory, in addition to a good CPU, and decent video card running on your system. For the purpose of watching DVD's, you will also want to look into buying an external sound blaster and some 2.1 digital speakers as the sound that comes out of your laptop will be terrible.

Just as a suggestion, check out Creative's Audigy Sound Blasters Creative's Audigy Sound Blasters. The Audigy 2NX is a very good midrange sound blaster. For speakers, take a look at Creative's I-Trigue line which are top notch, if you ask me. I am personally looking at buying exactly what I just recommended for the reasons stated.

[ulsanchris]

I had a compaq presario and i hated it. IT sucked big time. Had numerous problems with it. After about 8 months i returned it and got my money back.

[FUBAR]

Same here with the Pressario. I hated it. The case broke twice on me. The motherboard fried and the hard drive went out twice.

Now, I bought a Dell Lattitude a few weeks ago, and so far so good. But, i won't be able to say either way for a few years.