# General Business Category > Technology Forum >  New laptop blues

## Dave A

I don't know which is worse, getting a new laptop because your old one bombed or getting a new laptop when your old one is still working.

Sure, when your old one bombed you might have lost some critical data, but at least you don't have to torture yourself deciding what to take onto the new machine and what has become litter worthy of losing.

Spring clean or just move the whole mess across?  :Frown:

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## Mark Atkinson

Spring clean Dave! Don't be lazy!  :Stick Out Tongue:  

I'd be happy to take your old one off your hands, I love playing around with laptops.  :Big Grin:  Ha ha. 

You've just reminded me that my laptop is in desperate need of a Windows reinstall, which I am not very happy about!

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## AndyD

My biggest problem with the new laptop I bought was getting rid of all the bloatware it comes with. The amount of crap that comes pre-installed is nothing short of ridiculous. I ended up having to wipe the main and hidden partition using a live linux disk and clean install from ground up. It was time well spent.

Once that was sorted out I just moved the whole lot across. Spring cleaning is for wussies.

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## Mark Atkinson

> Once that was sorted out I just moved the whole lot across. Spring cleaning is for wussies.


Thanks for inadvertently calling me a wussy, Andy!  :Embarrassment:

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## AndyD

:Boxing:   :Console:

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## Mark Atkinson

:Chair:

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## Dave A

> I'd be happy to take your old one off your hands


That's been the other surprise. The vultures started circling almost immediately. It's a six year old machine  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Mark Atkinson

Haha, don't worry, I've got far too much junk around here already (including my own laptop!)  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Chrisjan B

Now be careful AndyD - playing on the railroad is dangerous to your health. :Boxing:  :Headbutt:  It is okay to reinstall Windows if it your own machine, but when I work on clients machines with almost all software CD's and serials gone haywire spring cleaning is a very attractive option. Reloading Windows takes about 45 minutes, loading Windows Updates another 2 hours and reinstalling programs another two hours if you have the necessary. You shouldn't forget the three weeks it takes to customize the install to your liking and there is always some damn program or setting one tend to forget about.

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## tec0

What I normally do is I ghost everything, once the system is to my liking that is. Then I can always restore when need be. 

That said I do backups all the time so restoring everything takes “forever and a day” thanks to the supper fast speed of an outdated USB 1 external DVD ROM... I normally don’t use the laptop’s Rom for restoring as it “kill’s it” in the end of the day.  

Just keep it organized or the process will always be painful.

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## Dave A

> Just keep it organized or the process will always be painful.


Easier said than done. Sifting through, I see I actually transferred the works from my previous laptop 6 years ago, and did the same with the one before that. What I have here is a collection of all sorts of things going back over ten years.  :EEK!: 

I think I've got a plan though. I'm going to transfer what I obviously use regularly + the statutory stuff I have to keep for 5 years etc. + photos (which surprisingly is fairly organised. I'll leave the rest on the old machine and whatever I don't need over the next few months will be assumed as ready for the bin.

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## tec0

If I may make a suggestion Dave, Please copy “everything” as bulk to a desktop computer “as there DVD burners are cheaper to replace” and just back the lot up to DVD. That why you always know that “yes if I need it I can still recover it” 

Trust me on this one; it is always when you think you don’t need something when it becomes absolutely critical. It always happens I promise you. I have recovered many “scrapped” HDD data by means of “special software” to the extreme of Frankensteining the HDD to get the data back. I am successful “most of the time” but not even a pro can get data back once the physical medium is lost forever.

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## AndyD

> ......I see I actually transferred the works from my previous laptop 6 years ago, and did the same with the one before that......
> 
> ....I'm going to transfer what I obviously use regularly + the statutory stuff I have to keep for 5 years etc. + photos (which surprisingly is fairly organised. I'll leave the rest on the old machine and whatever I don't need over the next few months will be assumed as ready for the bin.


Dave, I strongly urge you to rethink your proposed strategy. What you're suggesting here is going to eventually result in the stifling of technological progress and could even put homo sapiens back in the Dark Age. The motivating force behind drive space increasing exponentially over the last two decades is nothing more than people refusing to spring clean their computers. You're about to upset this delicately balanced apple cart.  :Smile:

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## Dave A

:Rofl: 

OK then, can't risk collapsing the digital economy. (He says *after* running the Easy Transfer wizard this afternoon and ending up transferring the whole lot anyway  :Wink:  ).

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## Perform Computers

It's weird though. I'm in the IT industry & I always tell clients to backup & what will happen if they don't. Yet, I hardly ever backup my data at home / office. Until that dreaded day comes when your rig locks up and you're like, "Eish".

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## Mark Atkinson

Dave! I am officially turning this into a blame thread because the day you posted this, my laptop decided it was time for some "rest"!  :Rant1:  




> It's weird though. I'm in the IT industry & I always tell clients to backup & what will happen if they don't. Yet, I hardly ever backup my data at home / office. Until that dreaded day comes when your rig locks up and you're like, "Eish".


I know that feeling all too well, Andrew! Thank goodness for Dropbox!

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## Dave A

> Dave! I am officially turning this into a blame thread because the day you posted this, my laptop decided it was time for some "rest"!


If it helps make you feel better, that's fine with me  :Console: 

On the bright side, the decision to get something new has been taken out of your hands.  :Wink: 
I'd been pushing back on getting a new machine for at least a year.

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## tec0

I am actually interested now... If you don’t mind Dave what new notebook did you get for yourself? Please tell me it is alienware

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## Dave A

A Lenovo Thinkpad Edge 15.6" i5 - priced at just under R6500.00 at Makro I thought it was a reasonable deal - way better priced and with a better spec than the pricecheck options.

Not too fancy, but plenty good enough for my needs.

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## tec0

From the looks of it, it seems like good runner; the GPU is reasonable. I hope it gives you much joy. I myself like HP but they lost the plot... In all honesty DELL is rocking at the moment still expensive...

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## irneb

> I am actually interested now... If you dont mind Dave what new notebook did you get for yourself? Please tell me it is alienware


What!!! AlienWare??? For the same price I'd rather go with a Boxx / Sager. The AW's are usually just good looking on the outside in comparison to those near super-computers-on-your-lap.

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## tec0

What I like about supper-notebooks are their ability to fly on applications that eats CPU power, programs like 3D design applications, on the fly Video editing, and High quality presentations that would kill your standard notebook.  

Funny enough Apple before the Intel invasion was actually damn good at Video editing, I dont know about the newer models as I am not in IT anymore. But back then high definition was Apples playground. 

Alienware loves there big GPUs and in the end that is the part that suffers in most notebooks, those pathetic integrated Intel GPUs are just not what you expect. Even the i5 and i7 with its integrated GPU on CPU capability is not nearly as good as a dedicated GPU with its own dedicated memory.

And Alienware is all that and much more. I am not saying the other two suggested brands are bad I am just saying that Alienware have experience with high end systems and they never compromise on GPU power and that is key.

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## irneb

My point is, AW usually has "reasonable-to-good" laptops for the price you expect from an "excellent" laptop. The other 2 brands have "unbelievable" laptops for similar pricing to AW's lesser specs. E.g. (I'm not even going to include the Boxx's Quadros) check the difference between AW's (actually built by Dell) top-of-the-range compared to Sager's:

Alienware M17x - $2544
Rather mediocre i7 2630QM @ 2.0GHzSo-so graphics of Radeon HD 6870M with 1GB built-in GDDR5Screen is only 1600x900 - 17"4GB DDR3 - 1333GHz RAM320GB 7200RPM HDD (space for 2nd)Sager NP7280-S1 - $2899
Much better i7-960 @ 3.2GHzDual Radeon HD 6970M with 2GB built-in GDDR5Screen @ 1920x1080 - 17"12GB DDR3 - 1066 GHz RAM500GB 7200RMP HDD (space for 2nd & 3rd as well)

So, which is better for an extra $355?

I've seen some good reviews about the bitten-fruit books. But from their specs they're more in-line with AW's type of setup. Usually the reviews rave about their battery life though, and their slimness.

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## irneb

Another brand which you might look at instead of Apple / AW is Rock. Their specs are not as High-end as Boxx / Sager. E.g. look at the X786-I5-2540M which has slightly better specs than the AW in the previous example for slightly less (£1499 = $2495).

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## irneb

Or an even better comparison to show just how much premium you pay for the AW "look": http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.p...el_name=NP5175

Change the CPU to the same i7-2630QM and you have the exact same Laptop (excepting the GPU which has 2GB instead of just 1, but is rated a bit lower), but for only $1069. I.e. $1475 for an (arguably) better GPU and those "designs" on the outside.

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## Dave A

I have to say the Alienware has way too much bling for my taste  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## tec0

As said before notebooks is all about the GPU and that is slowly changing because very soon notebooks will be able to receive “simple” GPU upgrades and that will significantly improve notebook sales. And will make many “new” notebooks look like stone-age toasters.  

Secondly in my opinion I like the look of the Alienware notebooks they just simply look the part and one must consider that soon you will be able to upgrade GPU along with CPU, RAM and ROM not to mention that bigger HDD will be available soon. 

Point is as soon as the notebook becomes a fully upgradable then I think the desktop systems are going to have a proper fight on their hands to keep the market.

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## irneb

> As said before notebooks is all about the GPU and that is slowly changing because very soon notebooks will be able to receive simple GPU upgrades and that will significantly improve notebook sales. And will make many new notebooks look like stone-age toasters.


Yep, and then once they get laser-virtual keyboards and laser projectors cheap, small & economical with power, there'd be no reason why something like a PDA couldn't be the "new" notebook / fondle-slab. IMO it would be a lot more usable than something like an iPad, while being as small as a cellphone. Especially if they get those ARM processors up to speed a bit more.

Who knows. Maybe in the future the current "Laptop" will be the then "Desktop" and the thing you take with you fits inside your shirt-pocket.

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