Korean Job Discussion Forums

Alyallen

Hi everyone,

I'm in the middle of a quandry right now. I'm thinking of buying a laptop from Dell to take with me to Korea (I leave in August). I don't have the money per se for this purchase but I'm willing to do a payment plan to pay it off. I am aware that I can go to Yongsan and get a decent desktop, but I'm reluctant to haggle with my limited Korean and general lack of knowledge about computers.

In any event, I am confused as to what kind of things are essential for a laptop. I am not a big gamer and would use the laptop mostly for internet, typing on Word or some other similar program, and watching dvds. I also heard that wireless internet access is possible in Korea, so would I need additional things to get access to it or these things better off being bought in Korea?

I hope this all makes sense and I hope you can help me come to a decision.

Thanks,
AlyAllen

Here's something from dell I was somewhat interested in; please feel free to chime in with recommendations....

Inspirion 1000 - $986
Mobile Intel�� Celeron�� processor 2.20GHz
15 inch XGA
Microsoft�� Windows�� XP Home
512MB, 2 DIMMS
40GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
8-Cell 65WHr LiIon Primary Battery
64MB USB Memory Key and External USB Floppy Drive
FREE!Dell Wireless 1300 External Wireless PC Card (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)

dogbert · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Location: Killbox 90210

Dude! You're getting a Dell!

Alyallen · Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 12:28 am Post subject:

peppermint · Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 12:30 am Post subject:

Okay- if you really want a laptop, make sure you get a good warranty that will cover you here, and a serious external fan ( read my sobstory if you need a reason)

To give you some perspective though, I got a friend to run to Yongsan last saturday, and he got me a desktop system with an 80 gig hard drive, and a CD burner ( DVD burner to come later) and a slightly slower CPU for 439.00(US- just checked the exchange rate)

flip ant · Joined: 01 Jul 2004 Location: He's got high hopes!

dogbert · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Location: Killbox 90210

Alyallen · Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 1:09 am Post subject:

posco's trumpet · Joined: 20 Apr 2003 Location: Beneath the Underdog

1. I suspect you may want a desktop once you get here -- with (relatively) cheap broadband service, you'll probably be downloading 24/7. A desktop could handle that, but a laptop couldn't.

2. Considering the cost of getting a low-end OEM computer here (i.e. made out of semi-generic parts, as mentioned above), you could also get both a dektop and a laptop (if you have the dough). If that's the case, you should buy the laptop in the states (whatever laptop model you choose, it'll be cheaper there than here).

3. Personally, I'm hankering for the new 12" Apple powerbook G4. Supersmall, light, fast, durable; I also am considering the fact that I'll be studying in a program which seems to be heavily biased towards Apple (and will qualify for a significant institutional discount). To top it off, I'll pull the hard disk from my current windows-based machine and put together a replacement for that (I'll end up with 2 computers--one for school/academic use and one for home/multimedia use).

To top it off I've recently encountered a number of articles which seem to suggest that over the life of the computer, apples are in general cheaper than their windows-oriented counterparts (fewer service calls, longer-lasting parts are the main reasons).

wylde · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

it seems i must agree with poscos trumpet here, drunk as i am..

i have a desktop that does everything i need.... in the very near future i will be buying a laptop that can process words and play go-stop online..

my gal wants to play go stop when i am on here and when she isn't around i'll take the sucker to work.. everything else will be done on this pc

"Both"

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

I'd personally avoid the Intel Celeron processor... it's commonly referred to as the "Celery" processor for a reason.

I'm not sure about the new Centrino processors, rumor has it they're good enough... but I haven't confirmed that.

I just stuck with a regular P4 at 2.8ghz and it's making me happy so far (aside from the heat)

wylde · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

the celeron is a well known dog.. but, that price more than justifies it

Alyallen · Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 2:37 am Post subject:

the saint · Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Location: not there yet...

jim_we · Joined: 06 May 2004 Location: Korea

A year ago, I purchased a Dell Inspiron 5100 in the USA and can't get it serviced. They don't sell them here, only the Latitude computer so Dell Korea won't touch it.

Gollum · Joined: 04 Sep 2003 Location: Japan

[quote=\"wylde\"]the celeron is a well known dog.. but, that price more than justifies it[/quote]

For the price of that dog, you\'re much better off getting an AMD.

And the 2.4 and higher Intels are HOT HOT HOT! By that, I mean they need to many darned fans and make a lot of noise to run.