Re: Laptop opinions?

I would prefer Dell over Compaq, but I would take a compaq at a significantly better price. The lowest hassle approach, mostly due to a lack of viruses, etc., would be a Mac laptop, but that is more money than a cheap windows laptop. I went with a $500 Dell last year, and my big regret was not getting an upgraded battery pack. We boondock quite a bit, and sometimes I hook up my laptop to my cell phone for internet access. The laptop battery does not last that long, maybe an hour.

We generally do not take a generator, so recharging the laptop is a bit of a hassle, I take an inverter out to the truck, plug the laptop power supply into the inverter, and then laptop into the power supply. If I had AC power most of the time, I probably would not notice the limited battery life.

I would note that cheaper laptops are often larger and heavier than more expensive laptops, but if you are mostly going to use it in your RV, that won't matter much.

Be sure to get WIFI. I got the built-in WIFI, and it works fine. More and more campgrounds have free wifi. If you are parked in someone's driveway, the chances are good that you can access someone's wifi from there. (I don't feel that occasional use of someone else's wifi, given that they did not bother to secure it, is a significant ethical issue. But I don't download videos or otherwise use a lot of their bandwidth, and I would not "borrow wifi" for an extended period without permission).

Jim Corey wrote:
I'm thinking of getting a laptop; CompUSA has a Compaq 2000v at a good price. AMD Mobile Sempron 1.8GHz, 512MB RAM, 60GB HD. Compaq wouldn't be my first choice, but at under $500, I am considering. My needs are light; e-mail, a little net surfing, mapping. It does have only a 14" screen. Any comments? Are extended warrantees worth it? How about an upgraded battery pack?

It has been suggested that I consider a Dell, because of their service, but my daughter had a hellish time when Dell lost her computer, and she had to deal with India; if I got a Dell, I'd lose a daughter!


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