off topic, but I must share the excitement

[geoff]

Parunner,

My Satellite weighs about 9 pounds!! The only time it leaves the house is when I go up to Beckitt Mass. in the Spring and summertime so it doesn't get that much travel. It's pretty much a homebody due to it's weight. Believe it or not, the speakers do not really add much weight at all. It's everything else plus the giant battery that is used to power it that makes up most of the weight. I hope the picture works, the 2 silver protrusions are the speakers and the subwoofer is underneath, internal and ported.

Geoff

 

[gregm]

drmitch - desk

Don, what a great idea and my desk is literally almost identical, I am just not sure that I want to make any changes to the desk itself whereas it was my grandmother's. I love the natural woodwork color in your photo by the way. On a separate, Geoff .... my nephew bought a used Toshiba laptop at the bookstore at his university and he loves it !!!

 

[scott55405]

Are there plugs on laptops where you could plug in a regular mouse and keyboard if you wanted to, or do you need to buy one of those stations? The monitor part would be fine, but I would want a full size keyboard and mouse (for regular use) and just use the built in stuff if I was away or where space was a concern.

 

[parunner58]

Scott

The ports on a laptop depend on the brand and the model you have. The cheaper models and the ultra lite ones do not have all the ports a desktop ot larger ones have. Most likely you can use a USB mouse and keyboard for a laptop. WHat I have on my laptop is a Logitec Wireless key board and mouse. the two only take up one plug on the back of the laptop. Some laptops still have the small round PS/2 plug on them and I used that to plug in the regular keyboard and use a USB style mouse. If you need to purchase a mouse I would go for a wireless optical mouse. You never have to worry about gett the stupid cord tangled up.

Another tip I give my users here at work. If you have cable, dish, or DSL internet access never plug you computer directly into the modem. ALWAYS buy a router, they have built in firewall to give you added protection from hackers breaking into your computer, also purchase, virus scanning software, firewall software, spy-ware and ad-ware removal software. I know its a pretty sad world out there where you have to do this. BUt I have spent countless hours rebuilding my own and friends and families computers because of this snall percentage of computer users that seem to not have a very fulfulling life other than reeking havoc on others.

If you have any other PC questions you can email me [email protected] I have been in the computer field since 1975, that was way before PC were even thought of.

MikeO

 

[scott55405]

Thank you Mike, that answers my questions!

I have a cable modem and do have all the things you mentioned as well.

 

[kenmore1978]

dockiing station

Most laptops that aren't ultra lites still have standard PS/2 and vieo ports you can plug a standard CRT/LCD monitor, keyboard, and mouse into. Dockig ports just make it more "convenient" and they're sorta pricey.

Consumer Reports take on laptops:

#1 Toshiba

#2 Dell

The worst:
Gateway

As for RAM, general rule is, you can't have too much RAM, the more the better.