Because my old one seems to be dead.

Yes, again, but this time, it seems a bit more permanent.

This time, the method my local computer guy gave me for fixing the NT loader didn't seem to apply to the actual problem - indeed, even with the Windows XP CD in, it simply refused to read the recovery program.

It just constantly keeps restarting and saying it can't start properly, and giving me a choice of starting in either a safe mode, in the last known working mode, or starting normally, and no matter which option I choose, it restarts all over again and gives me the exact same options.

So, you know what? Fuck it. I'm not spending hundreds more dollars on a nearly four-year-old laptop, when I can get a brand-new one, with loads more hard drive space and memory, for as much as a hundred bucks less than what my dad paid to buy me this one.

And with installment payments, I don't even need to come up with it all in one lump sum, but that being said, I want to make sure my new machine will be worth the money, so I ask you, Internet Friends - what make and model of laptop should I buy?

Here's my preferences:

I'm disinclined to buy a Dell, because that's what my current one is, and both it and my dad's Dell desktop started fucking up at only the two-year mark, to degrees that were never able to be fully repaired.

No fucking Macs, thank you. I'm not interested in embracing "the Mac lifestyle," or whatever the fuck you Mac users call the Scientology Kool-Aid that you drink that gives you Mac User Autism (I mean, no offense, but you people are even worse about that shit than advocates of the Metric system), and more importantly, I'm very accustomed to PC.

Ideally, I'm looking for something in the $500 range, but I'm flexible, because I also want something that can save, load, display and play ... um, picture files and audiovisual recordings (I trust I don't need to elaborate on this one).

I'm thinking my existing files on the old laptop should be fine (they were before, during the last time it started fucking up), so at this point, as long as I can transfer those onto a nice new vehicle for writing, surfing the Web and playing downloads, I'm good.

On Friday, I go to see my uncle and cousin in Oakland, just outside of San Francisco, so this crash actually times out well, but it makes me anxious, as always, not to have my own ... art commissions, available in digital form at the click of a mouse-button.

As it is, I'll be cleaning the cookies on my parents' desktop as soon as I finish using it.

So ... any advice? Any at all?

which I bought last summer at Radio Shack. It was very inexpensive- under $300 after rebate- and while I did have some problems with it early on that was because its motherboard got fried during a thunderstorm, which Texas Instruments fixed free of charge.

I don't do much with it beyond go online and use MS Office, and for that stuff it works fine, albeit can be slow to start up (though that might be a Vista problem more than anything else, I really couldn't say given my lack of technical know how and the fact I don't care).

My experience with Dell is the exact opposite - provided you keep them from overheating all the Dells (admittedly one laptop and the rest desktops) have performed and survived extremely well.

And overheating is a problem with any laptop...


That's going to impress Jason...


Although I can't recommend a model for you, I would be vary wary of buying a new PC at the moment on account of the abomination that is Vista. (We're transferring to it on one site at work and have had nothing but trouble). If you do get a Vista PC (laptop or otherwise) make sure you have AT LEAST 2GB of memory.

You might want to have a look at the second-hand market - this will get you a fairly cheap computer with something that isn't Vista on it.

Not me. I usually tell people to go with what they're comfortable with. I'm not going to push a Mac on someone who really likes Windows - I usually reserve that for when they're so sick and tired of Windows they're willing to try anything, or if they're genuinely intrigued by a Mac.

I also know you usually have a strict limit to what you can afford, so really the only attribute of a Mac I'd say would pay off for you is that it will last you for several years and keeps a lot of residual value. I had one particular Apple laptop for 5 years, and then finally sold it on ebay for $800 at that age when I purchased a new one. Of course I keep mine in near perfect condition. If you do it will outperform and outlast most PC laptops for years. Then again, you'd need to come up with around $1200 for it (basic aluminum 13" Macbook) so "outperform and outlast" is probably a low priority for you right now.

And if you tend to keep laptops less than mint condition, you're probably better off searching newegg.com (they have brand-name stuff) for something really cheap (like $400 to $500) and replacing it every couple years when it breaks. I kind of hate that the PC laptop market has become so "disposable", but for some people it works. It'll get you something affordable that works, and you can beat up if you like, because it won't be worth much in a year or two anyway.