Question on laptop

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I am a pre-nursing student and I am in the market for a new laptop. What brand would you recommend and why? I have heard Apple is good but I want to know if there is something better and I don't know much about computers. Please Help!!

Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

A word about vista - doesn't connect to win 2k server - that straight from microsoft - so it wouldnt connect to wireless at work or home or school.

No printer drivers for just about every printer out there - so my nice laser printer/fax/scanner? It's a paperweight in vista.

Solution? I am running a dual boot of vista and XP on it - complicated to install and set up given that the vista is oem and HAD to be installed first.

Frustrating enough to make me go linux - I have downloaded ubuntu - Im playing with it - I like it.

As for you peple with your mac vs pc and mac os vs windows - most of it really is personal preference and personal experience. Your own experience and preferences are NOT someone elses. Both have their pros and cons. The argument is moot and baseless.

And yeah for durability - thinkpad is the one to get. It will tolerate being carted around and used hard.

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just like any new windows OS it has it own bugs & glitches. Wait for SP1 or SP2 to come out.

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I finally just bought a toshiba laptop. Overall I like it, its the A205-4577. I had the hardest time deciding between this one and the HP dv2312us.

I decided on the toshiba b/c of the reputation of their laptops are better even though I like the overall look of the HP--sleeker, smaller and lighter design.

The only issue I have with the Toshiba is that it only has 1gb of memory and since it is preinstalled with vista it runs a lot slower than my desktop with XP. The computer tech said Vista already uses up 512mb already so that is half of my memory.

Is there a way to uninstall the vista and reinstall windows XP? Would I be better off getting more memory added to my laptop rather than trying to unistall and reinstall? Everything seems a lot slower on my laptop than my desktop. Is this really an effect of Vista or something within the computer itself?

Thanks!

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I finally just bought a toshiba laptop. Overall I like it, its the A205-4577. I had the hardest time deciding between this one and the HP dv2312us.

I decided on the toshiba b/c of the reputation of their laptops are better even though I like the overall look of the HP--sleeker, smaller and lighter design.

The only issue I have with the Toshiba is that it only has 1gb of memory and since it is preinstalled with vista it runs a lot slower than my desktop with XP. The computer tech said Vista already uses up 512mb already so that is half of my memory.

Is there a way to uninstall the vista and reinstall windows XP? Would I be better off getting more memory added to my laptop rather than trying to unistall and reinstall? Everything seems a lot slower on my laptop than my desktop. Is this really an effect of Vista or something within the computer itself?

Thanks!

Vista is SO much larger of a program. I am so thankful I jumped and bought before Vista was required on new machines.

That being said, you can install XP if you have the disks, and it will remove Vista, but I strongly advise that you either keep a techie friend close by or actually pay to have someone do it for you. Why? Because there are so many minifiles that are part of how the computer operates that can go haywire when an OS (operating system) is changed. You would want someone who knows what is what as it asks you.

I love XP both professional and media package. I wouldn't trade up for anything right now.

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I finally just bought a toshiba laptop. Overall I like it, its the A205-4577. I had the hardest time deciding between this one and the HP dv2312us.

I decided on the toshiba b/c of the reputation of their laptops are better even though I like the overall look of the HP--sleeker, smaller and lighter design.

The only issue I have with the Toshiba is that it only has 1gb of memory and since it is preinstalled with vista it runs a lot slower than my desktop with XP. The computer tech said Vista already uses up 512mb already so that is half of my memory.

Is there a way to uninstall the vista and reinstall windows XP? Would I be better off getting more memory added to my laptop rather than trying to unistall and reinstall? Everything seems a lot slower on my laptop than my desktop. Is this really an effect of Vista or something within the computer itself?

Thanks!

Do you have peripherals (printers, scanners, etc) that don't speak to Vista? Are you having any problems cornicing to wireless at school?

The point I'm getting at is are you having any other Vista issues? If not, I'd just put more memory in the laptop (go for the high end, as much as the machine will support and you can afford). I say this because I'm assuming the processor is fast enough to run Vista (or they wouldn't have sold it to you with that processor)

Going backward to XP has great potential to blow up in your face. There could be warranty issues involved as well (ie after it blows up, you might not be able to get help from Toshiba).

Good Luck!!!

Peace,

Cathie

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

There should be no warranty issues with going back to XP.

Just get the drivers from Toshiba, reformat the hard drive, install XP, and then reinstall your hardware drivers. Easy enough to do. Having a geeky friend who has done this before at your beck and call is not a bad thing however. Things can go wrong, but generally not anything unrecoverable. Worst comes to worst and you really mess it up, you can always go back to the system restore disk and end up back with Vista again.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

I've had my Compaq presario laptop for ~ 2 years now. I'm not fond of it. It is so darn slow. That, and I have to reboot about every 3-4 hours because it slows down and stops responding.

I've been told that it's because I have too many programs on it? I dunno.

I wish I would have kept the Averatec laptop I bought right before the Compaq presario. I returned the Averatec because I saw my Compaq for a few hundred less.

That Averatec was the fastest, best laptop I've ever seen.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.
Do you have peripherals (printers, scanners, etc) that don't speak to Vista? Are you having any problems cornicing to wireless at school?

The point I'm getting at is are you having any other Vista issues? If not, I'd just put more memory in the laptop (go for the high end, as much as the machine will support and you can afford). I say this because I'm assuming the processor is fast enough to run Vista (or they wouldn't have sold it to you with that processor)

Going backward to XP has great potential to blow up in your face. There could be warranty issues involved as well (ie after it blows up, you might not be able to get help from Toshiba).

Good Luck!!!

Peace,

Cathie

Hey -

I recently had to downgrade my laptop from Vista back to XP. VISTA WAS HORRIBLE!!! It just used so many resources and it wasnt really doing much of anything. Also, lots of programs, games, websites etc wouldnt work & my wireless connection was Crap with Vista. I wouldnt recommend it to anyone until the Service Packs come out.

Downgrading is possible but I would have a good computer geek nearby...My husband did mine...:) Up side is I have XP with a Vista Bundle, so it looks like Vista just doesnt run as poopy as Vista..

I have a Dell E1505....brand new.

:monkeydance:

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