The Blue Screen of Death

Which, actually, isn't the problem plaguing my computer, now in the shop until further notice. Instead, it's an overheating issue (or lack of cooling, or fan defect, or whatever excuse du jour causes the Monstrosity to shut down when it wants to, not when I want it to.) So until I get this sorted, posting will be light to nonexistent.

Then again, I've been thinking about getting a new laptop - one that doesn't weigh nine and a half pounds and look like the proverbial misfit wherever I take it. Suggestions welcome in the backblogs, although at the moment I'm rather leery of TOSHIBA - unless they can fix that damn overheating problem...

Comments

[ed]

Well, I should note that my laptop is a Toshiba Satellite. It's worked just fine, although its battery life is piss-poor. I understand that later models have improved upon this.

[Sean]

I have a Sony Vaio TX770P. It's compact, and under 3 pounds. The battery goes nearly 5 hours. I'm very satisfied with it, but if eyesight is an issue, you may be disappointed by the screen size.

[Clair Lamb]

I clung desperately to my PC existence for many years -- I said I LIKED the complications -- until someone handed me a MacBook earlier this year. I will never go back. The extra money you pay more upfront, you save in not having to buy peripherals.

The MacBook is light, it's sturdy, and the battery lasts at least four hours, depending on what I'm doing. And it does everything but make coffee. (Obviously, it comes with its own virtual Kool-Aid...)

[Jeanne Ketterer]

What Clair said.

I have a MacBook Pro. No one is allowed to breathe on it. Seriously. Well, okay, David but he does updates, etc., so can't divorce him otherwise I'll never figure the tech stuff out. Love, love it. Spend the money.

Previous one was a Compaq - never had any troubles with it, loved it also. But David talked me into a new MacBook Pro. He said I needed it. Uh-huh.

Took me a little time to adjust to Pages, but am comfortable now. I do drafts on Pages. Also have the parallel program thing that runs Windows. It is so cool watching that cube thing turn ...

Jeanne

[Jan Burke]

Like Clair, I've got a Mac Book. I love it. And there's a feature that I love -- the magnetic power supply connection. It allows it to disconnect without damage to the computer if someone (or some dog's tail) pulls on the power cord.

As Clair says, you don't have to buy a lot of peripherals. If you're doing price comparisons, be sure to look at how much a non-Mac system costs if it has the same stuff loaded on to it.

[Dave White]

I do so love my Dell Inspiron.

[Ron Hogan]

All hail the Apple PowerBook G4!

[MJ]

Macs. Macs. Macs. I won't ever get anything else. I've been using them since 96. Update every three years or so but I really do put them through the ringer. 12 hours almost every day of the year. As long as you don't spill water on them they are perfect.

[Daniel Hatadi]

I used to be a longer time PC user and fanatic. Now I have a Mac and I ain't going back. Like Ron, it's a Powerbook G4. I can't wait to replace it with a Macbook.

And they come in black.

[Daniel Hatadi]

I used to be a long time PC user and fanatic. Now I have a Mac and I ain't going back. Like Ron, it's a Powerbook G4. I can't wait to replace it with a Macbook.

And they come in black.

[Jersey Jack]

Add mine to the list of Mac recommendations. Bought my first Mac powerbook in 1998 and watched all my writer friends go thru PC after PC for the last 10 years. Bought a new G4 this summer because I deserved it.

[Sarah Stewart Taylor]

MacBook all the way . . .

[Tasha Alexander]

Ooo, yeah, MacBook!

[Mary]

Well, you know what my answer is going to be ;-)

MacBook, of course.

If you do opt for a Mac, get a copy of Parallels and hang on to your Windows software. You can install Parallels and then install Windows and your PC software. You'll be able to run Windows in either full screen mode or in a special window. BootCamp does this as well, but you have to reboot to switch from Mac to PC. With Parallels you can have them both running at once.

[Jeff Cohen]

I've been a Mac person since 1985. I honestly don't understand why anybody would get anything else.

[Norm alias Uriah Robinson]

I have a Dell Inspiron that I am happy with at the moment. My son who is a Mac fanatic goes on constantly about all the problems pcs have, ad worries me. A conversation about computers with him is like going to a Mac religious revival meeting. But from the other posts he is obviously not alone.

[David Thayer]

A glance at the financial pages reveal that Dell is reinventing itself as a very bad company with lousy products and service. The only cloud on Apple's horizon is back dating stock options. HP was spying on itself and Gateway may enter the dairy market. I have a pre-HP Compaq that sounds like an F-16 taxiing.

[Tim Maleeny]

Sarah, get a Mac. It will love you back.

[Cornelia Read]

ditto ditto ditto ditto Mac.

[Sarah Stewart Taylor]

Okay, Apple should be paying us for this. What do you guys think about a "Mystery Writers for Macs" ad campaign?

[Bill Cameron]

I've been working on a PowerBook for a million years (spacetime continuum thing) and I lurve it. I want a MacBook or MacBook Pro desperately. My daughter bought one last fall and I salivate whenever she brings it over. "I gave you life! Now gimme your MacBook!"

She ignores me. Kids.

[N]

Alright, someone needs to say it:

Apple Mac = hippie bullshit.

[Maxine]

Have no direct experience of Macs, though as I work for a journal I am well aware of the type of high feelings being exhibited in these here comments.

But if you are a PC person, I have some experience of laptops as I am part of a workaholic/blogging/internet/Sims mad family, so we all have and have had laptops.
Sony Vaio is my recommendation.
We've had mixed experience with Toshibas and Samsung.
But Sony Vaio is reliable, the new screen is great, and my teen loves the built in skype webcam/mouse that comes "free" with the models we use.

Malcolm (the professor in the family) has got as his latest a very slim and elegant Samsung-- he's very happy with that. Goes with him wherever he is travelling very lightly, but is synchronised with work so he can use the bigger screen when there.

[Kevin Wignall]

I kind of agree with where Anthony Neil Smith is coming from.

I've only ever used PCs. I don't have a problem with the WP software (I used to use Lotus when me and Mr Lotus were the only people using it). But I like Windows well enough and my current desktop, an HP Pavilion, sings along nicely.

Having said that, I had someone load up an old laptop with linux and that's pretty amazing stuff - the ability to run sixteen desktops simultaneously, to contain a whole edition of windows XP within one of them, etc. But it didn't know how to mix me a decent martini so I gave it away.

[Bill Cameron]

For the record, my wife is a PC gal and we co-exist very peacefully in our dual-platform household. Sometimes we even use each other's comps depending on the situation.

She has an HP laptop which has worked very well for her.

[Clair Lamb]

I work in Windows XP on my MacBook, and it's seamless as far as I can tell. The MacBook came with a built-in camera and audio recording system that has eliminated my need for the stupid microcassette recorder I used to have to carry everywhere.

I record The Mystery Bookstore's podcasts using Garage Band (also came pre-loaded on my MacBook) and I will never again need to scramble to find the CD driver for a printer, a digital camera, or anything else I want to plug in.

I do love John Hodgman, but that's a different issue.

[Imani]

Ha, well, I'm another Macbook supporter but if you really, really want a PC I'd take a Sony over a Dell anyway (speaking as a former Dell user). There's a big price difference but, since the new Sony laptops over the past year or two, it points to a significant leap in quality as well.

But then you'd be stuck with Windows. Who wants that? ;) You can run Windows on a Mac and there are free programs that allow you to create documents in a variety of formats including word and excel.

[Paid for by Apple]

Apple!

ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTE!

Apple!

WE WILL CONQUER THE WORLD!

Apple!

YOU ARE LIVING A LIE IF YOU ARE USING A PC!

[James C. Mitchell]

I favor the Mac, but I think some platform-agnostic considerations are in order before you take a plunge on any computer.

-- Do you like the keyboard? Typing is what we do, so you better have happy fingers. If a laptop keyboard is too small, will your laptop accept a fullsize keyboard via USB or some other port?

-- How's the monitor? Consider the light in your writer's garret. If you like to work outside, is your laptop screen crisp and bright even in sunlight?

As for choosing a platform:

-- Do you have the time and psychic energy to change from PC to Mac, or vice versa? I'm kinda geeky, so my switch to Mac was fun. My wife hates tech stuff and wanted familiar interfaces, so she got another PC. (We both use Word, so we can exchange .doc files with no problem.)

-- Do you keep a computer for years and years? If so, remember that it can be tough to upgrade (e.g., memory, graphics cards) some models of Macs. Much easier on PC's.

-- If a wireless network is part of your setup, Mac is way, way easier, in my opinion, and I've done both.

Enjoy your new toy, whatever it is.

[Maria]

If it's that big, I'm guessing it is a few years old. It might just have a lot of dust inside that needs to be cleaned out and/or a failed fan.

We have been happy with our Toshiba and for that matter with the much older HP laptop.

[Patricia Wood]

Another vote for mac.
I was fully PC until I got my mac.
There is no going back!

[lizzie]

I am really fond of my IBM T32. I think they have a new TX model with built in WAN and Bluetooth and a 300 gig harddrive, or whatever they cost now. I got mine as a last year's model for like 1100, I'm sure the new ones have Vista. It's really really sturdy and light, very comfy keyboard, never heats up, has the fingerprint swipey thing that is important to me as a paranoid freak, can be locked if you want, lasts 10 hours or so (on the new battery, it does run out). Slight stiffness in the runtime environment, but I just think my harddrive isn't big enough or it doesn't have the quad intel because it was too early.

The one advantage I can see to a Mac is they have iSight, which is neat. I am also kind of drawn to that little $500 Toshiba with a 100-gig harddrive, since no one keeps computers for more than a few years now anyway.

Really, I don't want to spin this off, and I use a Mac at work and it's fine I guess, but I will NEVER get the Mac thing. Never never never. You can't fuck around with it, and every new upgrade has better toys and your computer mysteriously won't have the gadgets to use them! Would rather at least be able to tack on peripherals if I care. No fun.

[Keith]

You can actually fuck around with Macs all you want, and add peripherals more easily than you can with Windows.

I use both. Mac is a little pricier up front, but you save money on anger management.

[Helen Heller]

I had a Toshiba Satellite for years. It was the 'lightweight' one with the Intel Centrino. It was a good machine.

But then I got my Mac Powerbook and I have to say it's brilliant. And a lot easier to carry around.

[Old Hag]

Eh. I have to say it--and I'm okay with saying it, or being the only one that feels it--eh.

I do not like Belgian beers, either. :)

[Constance]

I was going to law school at night so had to focus not just on price but on weight (since was already carrying very heavy books). I got an Averatec, which I had never heard of until started reading reviews, and have been very satisfied. The volume isn't extremely loud so it would not be suitable for someone doing a lot of music downloading but for travel, for convenience, it is perfect. I also got very affordable insurance from Safeware just in case it turned out to be a lemon (plus I had heard from a friend that if the keyboard goes you might as well buy a new laptop; I didn't want to risk anything like that).

ps - I think you recommended John Harvey. I am now addicted!