Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Lonewolph]

This was originally intended for Lemon, but he has not posted in his other thread for a year, so I was not sure if he is still around. I am in the market for a new laptop and have been reading up in here, and all his advise has really helped, and I will definitely be going to Sunin Plaza.

I was wondering if anyone could help me out in terms of exactly how to buy a laptop. I am very versitile when it comes to desktops,and can build my own from scratch, however, am deaf and dumb when it comes to laptops. Can you build one from scratch, or do they only come "pre-packaged" in terms of vid cards, sound card, hd, lan, etc? Dumb q maybe, but I have never even used a laptop before...

Anyhow, if it is possible to basically define what I want in one, what would be a good system to get? I am buying it for 80% work 20% play. I will be taking it everywhere with me and using everyday, and will need to use it from home and on the road. I am spoiled at home with a fast and relatively modern desktop, so am looking for speed and power (as much an ego-need as a work-requirement). Programmes I will be running regularily will include MS Office, photoshop, Doom3, as well as other video and gaming software, and I also will need full web-communication gear for voice and video conferencing. I don't need to go overboard, but I don't want just a system "sufficient" for my needs either, and while I am willing to put out more cash than normal, less than 2M seems about right.

Some specific info on what I should look for would include:

CPU and speed
Screen sizes available
How can I use my home printer? (curently no wireless lan at home...do I need one?)
How can I transfer info from desktop to laptop?

Also, I would appreciate if anyone could let me know what other little "toys" would be nice to have, as I am not too familiar with what there is out there for laptops.

[BigBlackEquus]

I would give a big nod to one of the dual-core LG X-note computers. They start at 1.6 million or so for a Dual 1.66 Centrino CPU, and will still be around your 2 million won budget for the 1.83 Centrino CPU model (for about 2.1 million, you can get a 100 gig internal HD and DVD Burner, or for 200,000 won less, you get the DVD combo that burns just CD-Rs and an 80 gig HD).

These also come with Geforce 7400 graphics, and all come with 1 gig of Ram.

I don't think you'd notice a lot of difference between 1.66 and 1.83 in speed, honestly. They both have 2 gig of onboard CPU cache, which is where these laptops get much of their speed anyway.

The screens are 15", which I find is plenty. Bigger than that, and it's a pain to lug around. Smaller than that, and I strain my eyes.

As for your other questions, if your printer is a USB, you should be able to plug it in and it will work (you may or may not need the driver disk, depending).

You don't need a wireless AP, but it is nice to have. Honestly, I find it is not very reliable for networking (not with XP Home, to be honest). It does, however, work great having one around the house for sitting in the easy chair and being online. There have been several recent threads on what AP's/wifi routers to buy. My nod is for the proven Linksys models (never the newest thing, because prices are bloated 2x to 3x in Korea for anything powerful). For 70,000 won, you can get a Linksys WRT54g model (be sure it's Version 4 -- not 5 or below 4). This model is good enough for a typical small Korean place. Or you can spend a bit more (100,000) and get a lot more power with the WRT54GS model.

You might find it worthwhile to buy the 1.6 million won LG computer I mentioned, and spend another 100,000 to 150,000 on an external Hard drive generic box and Hard drive. You can use that to transfer files, and save other stuff you don't want to fill your laptop drive up with (movies, music, etc).

There is software out there for transferring files, and I think XP can do it too (although I've never messed with this). I just use an external drive that plugs into USB.

Oh, another toy you might like to get is a USB Memory Key. They can be had for prices from maybe 30,000 won on up, depending on the size you want (from 128meg to as high as 2 or more gig). They sure are handy little things for transferring files and documents.

[spliff]

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