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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Need technology advice |
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| Trustworthy |
| 09/10/03 at 12:47:16 |
| [slm] So I'm looking for a laptop. Going with Compaq and thinking about wireless connectivity. How does that work? I know it works like a cell phone, but is it easily troubleshooted if there are problems? Is it slow? How does it work? Should I go there or stick with a modem? Ma-asalaama..... |
| Re: Need technology advice |
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| superFOB |
| 09/11/03 at 01:40:11 |
| [slm] Imho, compaq has some really ugly designs, must've purchased their designs from some cheap asian company. HP is a lot better, and Toshiba has the best value. But your personal preference is the overriding factor here, I guess. IBM is rock solid and has the reputation of a beast among deer. Dell is, as always, middle of the road, choice of the mediocre, lol. Now to the real question. Wireless is cool, its trendy, and it works just fine. You'd need to spend a lot more on wireless equipment then on the wired networks though. First, you need an access point. If you have a home network, buy a wireless router. It should cost under $100. We have Netgear and it has not given us trouble since its installlation more than a year ago. Wireless PC cards are the tricky part. DO NOT BUY NETGEAR. We have both Orinoco (Lucent) and Netgear. Netgear is the worst piece of equipment ever. Orinoco, on the other hand is almost perfect, on both price and performance. In any case, do your homework and read reviews. So there you have, a first hand account of wireless experience and some free advice. Get rid of the wired mess and go wireless, now. |
| Re: Need technology advice |
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| Nomi |
| 09/11/03 at 06:13:44 |
| [slm] [quote author=superFOB link=board=media;num=1063208836;start=0#1 date=09/11/03 at 01:40:11]Get rid of the wired mess and go wireless, now. [/quote] Hey watchout, it might offend few of us in here :P oops, a single line post!.... heh..but not n e more :) |
| Re: Need technology advice |
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| Trustworthy |
| 09/11/03 at 13:10:15 |
| [slm] Thanks for the advice. I've worked with Compaq forever, Dell laptops too, but HP has never been a freind. And I had a really bad experience with IBM since I used to own and still do a dinosaur one that appearantly can't be upgraded since nothing is compatible with it. IBM only accepts IBM parts to what I understand. But I'll go ahead and read the reviews and think about it first before purchasing. I don't have a network placed at home (though I probably should since I've got more than one PC and plan on getting a laptop). I'm wanting this laptop to be a stand alone and wireless. I found one for $1500. 80 GB hard drive running XP. DVD/CD-RW. Wireless, but it's Compaq. It has more features but I'm more looking for the wireless components. So the satellite sitautions are great for the wireless b/c it rains here like crazy and always cloudy. My cell phone works fine but don't know how well I'll do with a wireless connection to the internet with the laptop. I did a presentation once on using wireless PCs and laptops for the company 2 years ago and the major problem with that was thick walls between the connections. That won't affect what I will be doing since this is a stand alone so I'll read and look at the options you gracefully provided. Jazakhullahu Khairun. Ma-asalaama.... |
| Re: Need technology advice |
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| Anonymous |
| 09/11/03 at 14:15:03 |
| [slm] [quote] So I'm looking for a laptop. Going with Compaq and thinking about wireless connectivity. How does that work? I know it works like a cell phone, but is it easily troubleshooted if there are problems? Is it slow? How does it work? Should I go there or stick with a modem? Ma-asalaama..... [/quote] Following needed at your home: 1) High Speed Internet (Cable/DSL) Service * Monthly Subscription ($30-$50) * Cable/DSL Modem 2) Wireless Router ($40-$100) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006HYKM/qid=1063250441/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-3607136-9573455?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846 On the plus side, you can your machine in Starbucks and the wireless access points coming all across US. Get it integrated on your machine, this techmology is catching up. So don't get left behind. -( P.E.A.C.E )- |
| Re: Need technology advice |
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| momineqbal |
| 09/12/03 at 01:57:51 |
| [slm], Ok, not exactly related advice on wireless, but in general its a great scam that chip companies like intel and others have sold microprocessors by touting clock speeds (heard of 2 GHZ Microprocessors?). Well, that really has nothing to do with performance of a computer. Instead if you can get a relatively lower clock speed microprocessor with higher cpu cache memory and maybe same or higher data bus speeds, you will have guaranteed better performance. That was straight out of computer architecture class, tongue in cheek!!! Wassalam |
| Re: Need technology advice |
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| Al-Basha |
| 09/13/03 at 23:21:36 |
| [slm] I recommend against Compaq. It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to do regular web surfing, word processing, mp3s etc then I recommend getting a Dell or an HP. If you want to play games well ... I'd recommend getting a desktop because you can't change out the graphics card on a laptop. I thought the new Intel Centrino CPU's come with 802.11b onboard the motherboard that support that CPU? PCMCIA 802.11b (11 mbps) are relatively cheap ($40 for a decent one). The reason is there's a new standard 802.11g (54 mbps) thats recently come out. Even so unless you're hardcore about having an ultra fast wireless network I recommend against purchasing the 802.11g router particularly since it will cost you more. |
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