Thread: What does 1st, 2nd, 3rd Generation mean?

Originally Posted by Butterfly

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

on dial up

says the man sitting next to a phone all day to answer computer support calls,

oh the irony,

If I was, I'd be there to help you through that painful upgrade to Vista.

Originally Posted by BigRed

I think it's a tricky time at the moment. Basically if it's only going to sit on the desk buy a big chunky business type machine, put a heat resistant mat under it else you will spoil your table.

Windows 8 works well with a touch screen, but a standard laptop form will be a stretch to the screen and will probably suffer from false multi-taps as the screen bounces. I forget if it's Acer or Asus doing the Star Trek format with a clever hinge and the touchpad at the top, ideal if you use a mouse anyway.

For others, if you want portability, ultrabooks are light and have great battery life because they have SSDs.

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are evolving rapidly with lower prices and higher capacities. More rugged than spinning disk, less power so longer battery life and less heat, lightning fast access. Seagate are doing hybrid drives with 8GB Solid state and 500/750GB HDD. A good compromise between capacity, performance, and price, claim to boot in 10 secs.

The next generation of intel chips is due, the Haswell offers much lower power consumption than current chips Haswell plus SSD may give an all day battery life.

A new networking standard is coming in to replace the current 802.11n, think it's 802.11o and will be at least twice as fast as 802.11n and further range.

Finally, Leap are just launching a sensor which will give 3D hand gesture control next month. It will possibly replace touch screens and has already been licenced to HP, will probably be built into the laptop keyboard, far more sensitive than Kinnect https://www.leapmotion.com/

There's lots of innovative hybrid tablet/laptop devices being launched.

I would wait until after Christmas, prices are already being slashed and if you just want the existing technology expect to see it in fire sales in the new year.

Cheers Big Red,

Lots of helpful info. I have been waiting for quite a while, so I cannot really wait until christmas which is 6 months. My home laptop is 7 years old and it's been a great reliable Acer. It is just about dead.

Originally Posted by Looper

Originally Posted by barbaro

I will keep this laptop at home, which is where I use my laptops/computers most of te time. That is why I like 17 inch screen.

17 inches is quite a small screen. You can get a 24 inch HD external monitor for $180. Better to get that and a small laptop that is portable if you go travelling/holidays.

Agree Looper.

17 inch is small, especially for my newly found hobby of watching TV series and film.

Originally Posted by barbaro

Originally Posted by Looper

Originally Posted by barbaro

I will keep this laptop at home, which is where I use my laptops/computers most of te time. That is why I like 17 inch screen.

17 inches is quite a small screen. You can get a 24 inch HD external monitor for $180. Better to get that and a small laptop that is portable if you go travelling/holidays.

Agree Looper.

17 inch is small, especially for my newly found hobby of watching TV series and film.

You should consider an All-in-one, they are getting quite cheap (and quite big) now.

All in Ones at Amazon

Although personally I still prefer watching TV and movies on a nice big LCD TV, they are as cheap as chips nowadays and most of them have a USB port so you can play from a USB storage device.

Originally Posted by BigRed

A new networking standard is coming in to replace the current 802.11n, think it's 802.11o and will be at least twice as fast as 802.11n and further range.

The next iteration is 802.11ac:

802.11ac: what you need to know | News | TechRadar

I would wait until after Christmas, prices are already being slashed and if you just want the existing technology expect to see it in fire sales in the new year.

If you really apply that rule you'd never buy anything. The global economy is in the toilet and there's surplus stock of almost anything available right now. If you shop around you'll get as good a deal as you can in January, all Xmas does is push the prices up so they can have "sales" for the Festive period, before they return to normal.

Now is as good a time to buy as any.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by barbaro

Originally Posted by Looper

Originally Posted by barbaro

I will keep this laptop at home, which is where I use my laptops/computers most of te time. That is why I like 17 inch screen.

17 inches is quite a small screen. You can get a 24 inch HD external monitor for $180. Better to get that and a small laptop that is portable if you go travelling/holidays.

Agree Looper.

17 inch is small, especially for my newly found hobby of watching TV series and film.

You should consider an All-in-one, they are getting quite cheap (and quite big) now.

All in Ones at Amazon

Although personally I still prefer watching TV and movies on a nice big LCD TV, they are as cheap as chips nowadays and most of them have a USB port so you can play from a USB storage device.

Checking it out now. Cheers.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The global economy is in the toilet and there's surplus stock of almost anything available right now. If you shop around you'll get as good a deal as you can in January, all Xmas does is push the prices up so they can have "sales" for the Festive period, before they return to normal.

Brave words, 6 months is a long time in computing, but seriously, I think that several advances are co-inciding in a way that hasn't happened before, I remember paying in the hundreds for a floppy disk drive many years ago, end user hard drives didn't exist. I remember my first calculator was over £100, I think top of the range laptops 6 months ago will be worth less than £200 this time next year.

I dont understand the logic of buying a laptop if it is only going to be used at home. A desktop offers much more flexibility and more room to grow and upgrade. Not to mention that you will get far more bang for your buck with a desktop. More memory, more HD capacity, a more powerful processor and better video capability. A desktop at the same price point will run rings around a laptop.

Originally Posted by BigRed

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The global economy is in the toilet and there's surplus stock of almost anything available right now. If you shop around you'll get as good a deal as you can in January, all Xmas does is push the prices up so they can have "sales" for the Festive period, before they return to normal.

Brave words, 6 months is a long time in computing, but seriously, I think that several advances are co-inciding in a way that hasn't happened before, I remember paying in the hundreds for a floppy disk drive many years ago, end user hard drives didn't exist. I remember my first calculator was over £100, I think top of the range laptops 6 months ago will be worth less than £200 this time next year.

And 100 quid six months after that. Like I said, if you use that argument, you'd never buy anything.

^battyboo springs to mind - does it come in orange

Originally Posted by bsnub

I dont understand the logic of buying a laptop if it is only going to be used at home. A desktop offers much more flexibility and more room to grow and upgrade. Not to mention that you will get far more bang for your buck with a desktop. More memory, more HD capacity, a more powerful processor and better video capability. A desktop at the same price point will run rings around a laptop.

You raise a valid point bsnub.

The reason is - i will be moving to Arizona and possibly moving a couple times after that. Because of these possible moves I though a laptop would be easier.

But then again, when I moved in the 1990s with my desktop and monitor it was not that hard.

Maybe I should reconsider.

Any recommendation for a top quality but good value desktop today, bsnub or anyone?

A decent laptop and monitor is infinitely preferable, you can move it around the house from lounge to bedroom to garden. You can still plug in a big monitor if you want.

But unless you're planning on upgrading left right and centre, have you considered an All-in-One? Best of both worlds....

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

A decent laptop and monitor is infinitely preferable, you can move it around the house from lounge to bedroom to garden. You can still plug in a big monitor if you want.

But unless you're planning on upgrading left right and centre, have you considered an All-in-One? Best of both worlds....

I will consider all-in-one.

Cheers, Harry

I had an all in one, son knocked it over and broke the screen internally. On inspection, it has no hdmi or vga out. A search on the Web says there is no replacement, so it's goodbye to the PC.

Originally Posted by BigRed

I had an all in one, son knocked it over and broke the screen internally. On inspection, it has no hdmi or vga out. A search on the Web says there is no replacement, so it's goodbye to the PC.

What make and model was that?

I have followed all of your advice.

This thread has been very helpful, and it´s great I can ask here on TD in addition to googling, and reading consumer reports.

Your help here will allow me make the best decision I can make.

I have been reading up and looking at all-in-ones and think that If I choose to return to Asia again next year - or move anywhere - and all-in-one will be just about as easy to move as a laptop.

I will look for 7400 RPM instead of the 5400 RPMs that seem to be in some all in one models, like the Samsung on harry´s Amazon link that costs $850 plus dollars.