I'm not trying to be stupid here, but now I have this laptop in my possession what things can it do for me, than a normal PC can't. Obviously there's the transportability factor which is nice. But the 1 hour battery life doesn't really lend itself to that all the time, unless I always find somewhere to plug it in.

Ultimately, I'd like to get VAG COM on it, but won't look into that until I've actually paid for the laptop in the first place.

But... What else is there? Some of you peeps who've had laptops for donkey's must have some handy tips and useful guides for getting the most of a lappie.

Trouble with a laptop is that you have to make sacrifices to get good battery life and portability, and these come at the expense of processing power and in some cases, spec. If it was my own money, I'd always buy a desktop because you get much better value, and I don't really need to ever use mine away from a power point

At the end of the day, it's still a PC so you can do all the PC type things you'd normally do, just with a bit more mobility

Chris

The main benefit for me is wireless internet, it's a big bonus being able to access the internet in the living room without having to keep the PC in there and have a line to the telephone outlet. It also means I can take my laptop to others peoples houses and use their wireless connection.

dvd viewing in places it may not be possible to view dvd's....

like, purely for arguments sake, watching 9 1/2 weeks in a hotel room in cambrigdge with your beloved at 3am.......:naughty:

But the 1 hour battery life

1 hour? That sounds pretty poor, even on a "lightweight" notebook...

Generally though, the only advantage of a notebook is portability, rather than being able to work away from a source of power. Hence they're popular in businesses with multiple sites and hotdesks and the like.

As a home user, I wouldn't bother paying for a laptop with my own money, as it's too many sacrifices (screen quality, comfort of use, performance) for too much cost. If I really had to buy one, I'd go for an Apple...more expensive, but seeing how most cheap laptops stand up to a year or two of usage, it's worth the extra money...

Rob.

1 hour? That sounds pretty poor, even on a "lightweight" notebook...

I agree. I get 2 1/2 hrs out of my Latitude D600. On the last (C600 i think) I got 5hrs of developing code (lots of compiling and HD activity) on a flight to the US. I had 2 batteries in, but it still reckoned i had 33% left.

I use my (work) laptop for surfing the net from anywhere in the house , watching DVDs while sat in the garden on a summers evening [1] ,oh and doing my job.

[1] I did briefly have a projector plugged into it and a large sheet hanging from the row of trees at the bottom of my garden. I got about a 9 foot diagonal sized screen for watching films outside Great fun. Must get another projector.

I only got the 1 hour battery life figure, because when I unplugged the laptop for about 1 minute to do some ironing it said it had an hour to run out. It would perhaps be better if I did let it run flat, then see how long it lasts, and give it a full charge again?

I have a wireless network in the house so will be utilising that (watching TV in the lounge, and surfing would be cool ) I like the hotel idea. Might be interesting to know if the hotel I'm staying in, in Jersey has wireless ability. I'm taking it with me anyway.

Aside from that, its a good folding machine and I left it overnight crunching away. Its so quiet I can sleep no problems with it on.

Buy a projector and you can use it for home cinema in the lounge - unless the walls are a garish colour in which case you will also need to budget for a screen.

1 hour? That sounds pretty poor' date=' even on a "lightweight" notebook...

Generally though, the only advantage of a notebook is portability, rather than being able to work away from a source of power. Hence they're popular in businesses with multiple sites and hotdesks and the like.

As a home user, I wouldn't bother paying for a laptop with my own money, as it's too many sacrifices (screen quality, comfort of use, performance) for too much cost. If I really had to buy one, I'd go for an Apple...more expensive, but seeing how most cheap laptops stand up to a year or two of usage, it's worth the extra money...

Rob.[/quote']

Rob... its a celly 2.8.. not a mobile friendly chip...

Centrino is far far better... i managed 5 hours watching dvds on my ex-toshy tecra

I only got the 1 hour battery life figure, because when I unplugged the laptop for about 1 minute to do some ironing it said it had an hour to run out. It would perhaps be better if I did let it run flat, then see how long it lasts, and give it a full charge again?

Probably wouldn't make much difference discharging the battery and recharging it - most modern batteries don't need to be "cycled", etc.

Usually I find the battery life figure is usually a little optimistic initially - I'd try running it down until it tells you to plug in a power supply, and see how long it actually takes. If it's less than what's quoted in the paperwork (and I'd hope that it is more than 1hr), I'd get on the phone to customer services...

Rob.

They can be handy for keeping your knees warm on a cold night.......

Obviously, us boys have to be careful, as excess heat in the wrong place can severely effect your fertility!

Phil :(

Rob... its a celly 2.8.. not a mobile friendly chip...

True, but even my P4 2GHz (a very unmobile friendly chip!) manages over 2 hours on a 2.5-3 year old battery!

Rob.

I'm not trying to be stupid here, but now I have this laptop in my possession what things can it do for me, than a normal PC can't.

A few of our sales staff have used them to weight down the car, and stopping it from blowing away whilst they get in after a meeting.

Unfortunatley, this normally results in the laptop sliding off the roof and smashing on the floor when they drive off.

I'm sure it's not restricted to my company - hands up you guilty ones :P

They can be handy for keeping your knees warm on a cold night.......

Obviously' date=' us boys have to be careful, as excess heat in the wrong place can severely effect your fertility!

Phil :([/quote']

I reckon you may be on to something here. Think about the possibilities!

They've been talking about a male pill for years. Is 10 mins per day with a laptop enough?

Mine's not a celly that I know of - Its a Pentium 4 2.8. Still, maybe I'll go for a surf in the lounge tonight on battery power and see how long it lasts. The optical mouse makes it easy though, as I've never really got to grips with those touch pad things before.

They're great to take on holiday so that you can download your camera memory stick whenever you need to rather than pay out for a large capacity memory stick which needs to hold enough photos to last 2 or 3 weeks.

Is 10 mins per day with a laptop enough?

Talking from experience, NO! Suggest upping dosage to 5 hours a day

Chris

Hmmm, so it's worth me taking the laptop to Jersey, to download digital piccies on the same day of taking them. Excellent!