theoc
Freshmen Member
Posts: 47
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Post by theoc on Dec 23, 2006 16:01:48 GMT -6
I would like a laptop for all my football files.. scouting and other items. I also would like a dvd recoerder or burner with it. Do any of you use something similar? What do I need and from where? How much? Nothing to fancy. Thanks
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Post by coachgeiser on Dec 23, 2006 16:29:35 GMT -6
Coach, Most laptops have a dvd burner installed. You definitely want that. I would also recommend an external hard drive. I just purchased one for 69 dollars at Best Buy. This past season I kept all of my football video files on the external hard drive and I would take this back and forth to school. The reason I suggest an external hard drive is because most laptops have hard drives with limited capacity. Video files gobble up disk space. I would suggest a 200 gigabyte drive. these cost around 100 dollars, or less. Coach Geiser
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Post by Mav on Dec 23, 2006 20:34:42 GMT -6
I would like a laptop for all my football files.. scouting and other items. I also would like a dvd recoerder or burner with it. Do any of you use something similar? What do I need and from where? How much? Nothing to fancy. Thanks We use a Dell Inspiron 9300 with a half a GB of memory(RAM),ATI Video card, 100GB of 7200rpm internal disk space and an internal DVD burner. A comparable new Dell will cost about $1,200. As stated you'll need an external drive also. The last piece of hardware you may need is a Canopus analog converter. It's used to convert VHS, Hi8 or other analog video to digital -- if you still recieve this type of media in trade. I've helped out other coaches spec out systems. Let me know if you need any assistance.
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Post by bulldog on Dec 24, 2006 1:59:01 GMT -6
A couple things to keep in mind when looking at computers:
- Get as much memory as you can afford. (The more memory, the less 'virtual memory' is used - which will slow-down your system). - Get a hard drive that runs at 7200 rpm minimum. Sacrifice size for the speed (and then get the external drive). - Get an Intel 'Merom' Core2Duo class CPU (Txxxx). They are the fastest on the market and you will notice an appreciable difference in the speed. Clock speed is less important. If you are looking at Desktop units, then you would look for a Conroe Core2Duo (6xxx), or if you can afford it, a Kentsfield Quadcore. - Stay away from Vista for the time being. Microsoft is notorius for releasing unstable software and patching it. Generally it will be more stable after the release of the first service pack (probably around May/June). - Brands mean less and less in the world of laptops. Most 'off' brands are really re-named units from one of the major OEM's. - There are two types of memory associated with most computers. They are the cache (SRAM) noted as L1 (on the CPU chip) and L2 (on the motherboard), and the main memory (DRAM). The L1 cache is a feature of the CPU. For example, the Conroe chips come in 2M and 4M versions. More is definitely better and will be noticeable in terms of performance. The more cache, the smaller main memory can be. Max the size of the cache first, then get as much main memory as you can.
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chewy
Sophomore Member
Posts: 163
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Post by chewy on Dec 27, 2006 12:54:18 GMT -6
Bulldog I like your post about the specs. But remember a lot of people on here are on a Coach's Budget. Just asking, who make the best business class laptops at the moment? HP? Dell? I have become an anti DELL person myself. Been running into many, many bad machines here lately.
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Post by bulldog on Dec 27, 2006 15:27:37 GMT -6
Chewy, I hear what you are saying, but my post wasn't meant to drive up the budget. It was just meant to help those who may not be as technology-aware make decisions about where to spend the budget.
I am wondering what types of problems that you are having with your Dell?
As far as I can tell, IBM/Lenovo and HP seem to be doing very well with their business-class laptops - but while I know a bit about hardware/software, I am not so much an expert of one vendor vs. another.
One other vendor to consider is Gateway. They have a laptop that converts into a tablet. The display swivels and so the neat thing about it is that you can write on the screen and it will produce an over-lay. You can be reviewing film with your team, stop the film, make a notation on the screen which the kids can see, then continue the film. An inexpensive telestrator.
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Post by poweriguy on Dec 27, 2006 17:46:22 GMT -6
I picked up a Toshiba laptop a few years ago at Costco for a little over 1k. The thing is close to bulletproof. I've had friends ask me about what kind of laptop I have and I tell them toshiba. They always say that's a top brand laptop.
My experiece is with toshiba.
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chewy
Sophomore Member
Posts: 163
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Post by chewy on Dec 27, 2006 17:51:21 GMT -6
My school got 5 new 820's that were not configured to run at GIG E. Had to buy additional cards in the meantime to solve the problem until the season was over. Had another friend of mine get an 820 with a bad motherboard right out of the box. I also had issues with DVD's playing bc the PowerDVD program didn't jive with the installed ATI Video Card. And the last thing was a Dell Switch that my school bought. It was supposed to be GIG E but the damn thing just did not work. Replaced it with 3 little 8 port Netgears to get by. Least to say we are trashing these things and buying HP. The nx 9420's look nice though u cannot get them up to 7200RPM. Or at least the last tim I looked.
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Post by dacoachmo on Dec 27, 2006 21:43:42 GMT -6
I have two DELL laptops not much complaining here. DO get a external HD. small for transport!!
If you go with a DELL call to order from them. I got a ton of upgrades for FREE!!!!
I have heard bad repair problems with toshibas.
Check out Circuitcity, newegg.com and CNET.com for reviews. Consumer Reports ROCKS!!
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Post by coachjd on Dec 27, 2006 22:37:48 GMT -6
My wife has a dell and her old company uses nothing but Dell's and they have had no problems. They gave our wgt room a HP that is a piece of crap to work with, but when its free -- who's complaining.
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Post by Mav on Dec 27, 2006 22:45:21 GMT -6
We've(software engineering co.) purchased dozens of Dell notebooks and desktops over the last several years. We've been very happy with the quality, consistency and price of the machines. IMO the area Dell has started to lapse in is in their support. We originally went with Dell, after many years with HP/Compaq, due to their superior support. But over the last year it's been suspect. I'd still purchase a Dell over any other system out there.
btw - I've run into many computer professionals who swear by IBM laptops - that would be my second choice.
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