Laptop for internet use in motor home

Jimmy Campbell · From: Fayette, Alabama.

Since most campgrounds have Wi-Fi, what would be a good laptop to purchase just to use for mostly internet service.
What min GB to get, Ect.
Thanks

Ken Lang · From: Simi Valley, Ca

I just bought an HP Pavillion laptop with wireless. I chose an DZ500 from the website and added a few things like 1 gig of memory, a screen upgrade, a 12 volt battery, upgraded wireless and other things. The cost was about $969. You may not need anything as fancy for just surfing, but it's nice to have.

I'm sure other brands would do as well. I have two Dell computers at home, but after hearing of some problems with Dell laptops I went to HP. Works great for me.

Jimmy Campbell · From: Fayette, Alabama.

Thanks Ken.
I was looking at the office depot insert in the paper today and they have so many for sale it is hard to figure what to buy.
Thanks again for your input.

Bob Martin · From: Madison Tn

Jimmy, if you're only going to surf and stuff similar don't waste your money on a big high dollar laptop. A laptop with a 1.something gb processor will surf lighting fast. Make sure you get at the very min. 512 mb ram and if you can afford it go for 1 gb that might add 100.00 to 150.00 more for the laptop but if you have a lot of pages up and maybe a couple of other applications going like solitaire and a word processor going it can use it but there again 512 will work fine I'm just a ram hog :-)

Don't worry about getting a Pentium 4 dual core processor because you wont ever use it for surfing and it will cost you a lot extra just go for a celeron or one of the cheaper AMD's.

Many folks will probably say get a P-4 but why buy a race car when all you're ever going to do is idle your car down the street. I hope that make sense.

Now if you're thinking maybe later on you might decide to do more stuff with it well let your wallet be your guide. One more thing if they are going to charge you quite a bit for built in wireless capabilities go ahead and buy one without it and buy a USB wireless dongle for about 30 to 50 bucks it will work just as fast and just as solid as the built in version. Chances are though just about any laptop you buy these days will have it built in but if you can save some by not getting it go with the USB or PCM/CIA card wireless option.

I know I've surely forgot something but hopefully this will help you at least get an idea of what you will need for surfing the net.

Bob

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

My recommendations are the exact opposite. "Buy overkill" you won't regret it and all the people that I've suggested that to and have done it have thanked me later. Or to put it another way buy as much as your "pocketbook" will allow.

People say all I want it for is e-mail or whatever but later after they get the PC they find out it will do more or they want to do more. It's cheaper to buy it initially than it is to try and upgrade and with a laptop it's even harder to upgrade. Many PC's, because of proprietary hardware rather than "standard" hardware, become even more of a problem to try and upgrade.

You don't want a Celeron in a laptop, you want the CPU chips designed for laptops, as they do not have the high power and heat demand.

Windows Vista is coming up and it has minimum hardware requirements and another issue to consider down the line.

Roger Kelly · From: Bristol,Tennessee

Good advice Jack....my sentiments exactly.

Mark Treepaz · From: Hamburg, New York USA

Jimmy; I use a Dell XPS laptop. However, it's provided to me by my day-job employer, so I don't have all of the specifics. I do know that it's pretty "beefed up". Therefore, it's really fast.

I also use it for the exact same thing as you plan on using it - from my motorhome at Wi-Fi accessable campgrounds and RV parks.

Very handy to have. Just recently I was playing a gig with a band in the RV Park that I was staying in. They needed to do a song that the owner wanted to hear, but didn't have the words. I just cell-phoned a friend of mine whom I knew had the lyrics and chord changes and he inturn emailed them to me. During our break I walked to my motorhome, printed out the chart and we did the song the following set thus making the owner extremely surprised and happy...our glasses never ran empty for the rest of the evening...

Clyde Mumpower · From: Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Hi, Jimmy
I also have a motor home and go to camp grounds. I bought a Dell with wireless connection on sale about 6 months ago. I paid $549.00 for it. also a nice printer come with it. I have never had a problem with it.
I think that most any computer would work if you have the wireless connection.
Clyde.

Bob Martin · From: Madison Tn

Hi Jack, I don't think our advice differes that much. I quote myself "Now if you're thinking maybe later on you might decide to do more stuff with it well let your wallet be your guide"

Bob Smile

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Bob, except mine is to buy the most you can initially whether you "think" you need it now or not.

Dave Potter · From: Texas

I tend to go for the gusto when I buy into specs, too. But, in this thread, it's off-topic.

The OP asked "what would be a good laptop to purchase just to use for mostly internet service". That's pretty specific. The recommendations that address that objective are the best ones, in this case.

I just bought a 1.6 Ghz 512MB laptop from BestBuy for about $600 on sale with built-in wireless capability for my wife. For the price, that's probably about as good as it gets, and would fit the bill here.

[This message was edited by Dave Potter on 05 September 2006 at 07:08 AM.]

Jimmy Campbell · From: Fayette, Alabama.

Thanks to all that replied.
We were in Tuscaloosa today and went to Office Products and Circuit City and they have so many to choose from, it is a hard decision which one or brand to buy.
Thanks again.
JC

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