I am running a Dell desktop from 2001.. It's my family computer, and runs pretty slow.. I recently got a job, and am saving up to purchase a new laptop!

I have been checking out the Dell Studio 15, with Windows Vista, and Microsoft small business and student.

I am home-schooled, and would like to have excel, word and power point available!

I also like to play games such as runescape, so a laptop with a decent video card would be great!

Other than that, I don't know all that much about them... Lol.... Any advice for someone who doesn't want to waste their money on a computer that likes to crash? :lol:

Thanks,
Mike

This might sound weird, but try to find a year old model with Windows XP instead of Vista. Vista was a big step down

So I've heard... Thanks for the input Mike! :)

XP is definitely better.

BUT if you ever want to play PC games (like ones you need a CD for) a laptop is not for that (unless you buy an alienware witch start at a couple Thousand).

I would actually recommend buying a desktop, the only thing I use my laptop for is school work, everything else I use my desktop.

If anything were to ever break or if you ever wanted to upgrade something in your laptop it would be extremely expensive to fix, where as with a desktop it is fairly simple.

I have Vista home Premium on my Desktop and as of this Friday I will have had it for one year. My moms desktop has XP on it and is a little more then a year old, both are pretty comparable specs wise.

HOWEVER My moms XP has had more problems then mine has had with Vista. All my games run fine of Vista and I'm talking some games from the mid to late 1990s, and all my graphical and 3D editing programs work perfect on it too.

I think most peoples problem with Vista is that they are too lazy to learn it and to customize it to their needs. Or maybe they just don't realize that there is like 5 different versions of it so they are expecting one thing but they get another version and get something else (ie wanting premium features, but only getting home basic)

I know you said you want a laptop, but just personal preference here I would recommend a Desktop if you have the space, especially if you are into gaming, as often times desktops have better performance gaming wise.

I know you said you are going to save up for it, but this Friday (if you live in the US) you should be able to find all kinds of really good deals at places like Walmart.

My parents have a Dell desktop, and it's running Vista, and most of the games that exceed my computer's standards (games like Call of Duty 2, for example) I run on their computer. Really the only problem that we've had with Vista is that it's way too slow on the Internet...takes ages for 1 measly page to load.

The laptop which my parents also own runs fine, and it's running XP. That's basically all can say about it, lol!

My computer is pretty ancient, it's a 5 year old Dell running XP, so not too great when it comes to running newer games, but it runs Call of Duty: United Offensive just fine, and that's what matters to me most.

In short, get yourself a desktop, Mike. It'll save you a lot of trouble. Better speakers, better screen, better everything.

I think that Dell, HP, make decent laptops. I would look at gettind downgrade rights when you buy it and having XP loaded on it. I believe they are still allowing that. XP is far more stable and functional with other systems and drivers out there than Vista will ever be.

Be sure you get enough RAM! I would say minimum 3GB preferably 4GB, then you could turn your swap file off if you want ;-)

The laptop is great too if you are home schooled and go on various trips or events to get out in the real world or if you go co op and need to bring your data with you.

Word on that. On my Mom's Acer laptop with Vista on it, sometimes it just sits there and takes FOREVER but sometimes its fast as lightning. I like the thing, and it works better than XP to me. Cuz my dad has XP on the computer I am on now, and I just think Vista is better. My auntie has Vista on her desktop, and I have gone on it, and it's great. The only thing about my mom's laptop, is that I cannot run Euro Truck Simulator, or 18 Wos, etc, because it's just too slow.. I mean they will download perfectly but they will take forever to move your truck one mile.

I got a gateway few months ago it was on sale. its got vista. its been ok. it sucks and pain the butt with my internet and XboX live. other than that its been great. Word 2000 doesn't work that great on it so i need to buy newer Microsoft office for it.

for Microsoft office check best buy or radio shack they usually have it on sale for $50 off.

I have XP on my desktop and Vista on my laptop and they both run about the same on the internet...Idk what ya'lls problem is.

I just bought a laptop this summer. It has vista and works fine. It is a Toshiba Satellite w/2gb ram and 160 hard drive. I don't play many games on it though, but the ones I do work fine.

PS It only cost $299 at walmart!

Ohh yeah...Dell I think makes the best computers...IF you do want a laptop to carry around places I would not recommend a Toshiba they tend to be heavy. My Dell Laptop is pretty light...I will always by a Dell nothing else (unless I decide build one by myself).

not always true, it depends on what internet provider you have, I have SMC and vista and my internet works fine

Okay, the past few days I have just learned something. NEVER and I mean NEVER EVER get a Dell Desktop. No matter how nice they are DON'T GET ONE! Mine has 4k plus viruses on it, and there are many things I cannt do on the Internet. Like for example. I am on myspace, and I click REPLY. It wont load. So I have to start a new message every single message I get. Annoying. I hope that when my brother comes over here he actually fixes it because he is very good with this kind of stuff, and whatever is causing the problem is getting taken off. So maybe it will be worth it again.

1. If you had a virus protection thing that wouldn't happen. I recommend getting Avast, Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware. NEVER use Norton or anything like that.

2. You are the one (the user) that got the viruses on the computer, that would happen to any computer.

3. Most viruses come from shady emails, shady porn sites, and File sharing programs, Cut down the use on those things and you cut down on the amount of viruses you get.

4. I recommend running a Boot-Time Virus scan as well as a Defrag at least once a month, I usually do mine at the end of the month



As far as the Internet and Vista, I haven't really noticed any slowdowns, of course I don't use IE I use Firefox because it's faster, Safer, and more customizable.

Good luck convincing my parents to change from IE...they won't consider anything else.

Internet provider is different than internet browser

Here is my response to those:

1) I have AVG and I scan the thing every day at 6 my time.
2) There are three users on my computer, and all of them are infected.
3) I do get a lot of garabage E-mails, but I have no idea how to stop them. Also. Does anyone know if Rigs of Rods, 18 Wos, or Euro Truck Simulator carry viruses? Cuz when my brother fixes the computer I don't want them deleted. I payed good money for Euro Truck Simulator and I don't want to see it go.
4) I defrag it at least once every two months, and now I am going to once every month. It should help.

I run Windows XP, and I use IE 7. The only reason I am doing this is because right now it's faster than Firefox. When the thing gets fixed, Firefox should be faster. Hopefully. :)

And I do have another question. I get a LOT and I mean a LOT of pop-ups. This is going to be one of the main things that my brother is going to fix, but do they affect the computer at all?

Thanks guys.

-Mr Bear

1. If you have AVG it should be running all the time and should catch any viruses. If it's scanning and unable to remove viruses you must have an old version and need to upgrade. (Or it's REALLY gone downhill since I dumped Windows).

If it's scanning and not picked anything up then it will be spyware that's your problem. (AFAIK no free antivirus does spyware protection as well).

Go to download.com and search for both Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad Aware.
Run both regularly, let Spybot patch IE. Then don't use IE even though it's got a patch. Ever.

2. No sh*t

3. Not unless you've done something retarded. If one of them breaks once your computer is clean reinstall the game. If you don't have an installer contact whereever you got the game from and explain your problem.

1. I always have AVG running, but when a Virus box pops up, it says Heal, so I click that, then it either says Remove with (something. forgot the other word) and it has a warning "Using this may cause system crash" so I click No, and it just comes up and when I click Yes, my computer crashes.. Weird. So now i just move them to the vault, and then remove them from there..

2. lol.

3. I really hope I don't have to reinstall Euro Truck Simulator. I paid $30 Euro for it, and my dad wont do that again. So it better not be infected.

ah yea Dell deskstops i dont think i will buy another one. mine crashed 3 times so far.

Mine has crashed 4 times in it's 2 years here on Earth :gunes:

I know what I am never buying when I move into a new house!

I mean, I like the computer and all, but come on. Dell.. They are hurting us! My dad doesn't even like it anymore!

This is not Dells fault...all a dell is, is for hardware...Everything else you are using is somebody else,

When you decide to wipe-out/reformat your computer (which you will have too...I'm 99% sure your not getting rid of this without doing it).

Put Firefox V3.0.4 With the Add-on Adblock Plus, this will block just about every ad that will pretty much block every ad that will ever do anything to your computer.

Words from a guy who has had spyware/viruses...

If an ad comes up and it shows on your taskbar....close it by RIGHT CLICKING it and hitting close...You can code a pop-up so that when you hit click x it will put a virus on your computer, it is a lot safer to close them by the taskbar if you can.

As for Euro Trucking simulator, you are probably going to lose it.

Jeff one thing is, that I doubt my brother is going to have to wipe it out. He never has before, and he has fixed many many computers.

Um.. Oever 95% Of my pop ups come from IE 7 and I have to keep that on the computer no matter what.

I played Eurp Truck Simulator yesterday, and it froze, therefore forcing me to shut the PC down with the button on the CPU.. :gunes: But I shouldn't have played it with the computer all infected anyway. Should have just waited until Sunday. Thats when my brother is coming over..

And Dell isn't really anything but a sticker, From Dell to HP to eMachines to Acer and everything in between there are only a few brands of hardware that they actually use in the computer. And for the most part Software is the same too, Windows is Windows no matter what Brand computer it's on, just like 3DS Max is 3DS Max no matter what brand computer it's on.

So while Yes the hardware does play a small role in the crashes, most of the times it's software AND the end user that cause the crashes.

Saying dell gave you a virus is like saying a passenger on a plane landed the plane. Get a life man it was you or someone who uses the PC that got the virus not dell. <lolyou>

Why pay for Microsoft office when you can get THIS for free.

It's open source full functioning office suite that is fully compatible with Microsoft Office.

i have a compaq labtop with vista and havent had any problems with it at all. its pretty much just a basic one i bought for $800 (on sale reg price was $1,100) and i use it for both gaming and homework. my parents just bought a new dell desktop with a 22 inch screen and they have had so many problems with it its not even funny. that runs on vista also and is newer than my labtop. n also my labtop runs faster with wireless than any other desktop i've had. so idk i would rather have a labtop than a desktop. n i also play runescape once in awhile and it works perfect for me. :D

Not quite fully, VBA macros don't work very well/at all but it's a very competent office suite and if you don't need to create complex macro-riddled spreadsheets for work/school that you'll be opening in MS office I'd recommend it.

In fact I'd recommend dumping MS altogether, switching the old computer to linux and spending the money you would have spent on a new computer on a games console and new tv.

However, I don't think the OP has control over the current PC so it's not really an option. :P

Also, lol at labtop in the previous post.