To buy Laptop or desktop? Now or Later?

[londonray]

Hey guys... just graduated from Uni in london and started work recently...
kena caught in a confusing situation...

my 1st question is:
should i buy a new com now or in 1 year's time?

I am quite certain that i would be leaving Sg again by Sep next year to pursue my PhD in either UK/US for the next 3-4 years... Hence it would seem better to buy the computer next year... However, my current Acer TravelMate 800Xci is 3 years old... CEntrino 1.3Ghz with 512mb ram... and i really find it rather slow when i do postprocessing on it... (gets rather hot too)

2nd question is:

Should i buy a Laptop or desktop?

If the ans to the 1st question is in a year's time... i would probably get a desktop over in that country... But... if i choose to get the com now... which should i go for? Since if i get a desktop... i'll have to bring the whole setup over with me... quite a hassle... However... on the other hand... Desktops are quite value-for-$ so the $2.5k that i would be allocating for the com can get me a better desktop...

sorry if this sounds long-winded... but i think coms are big investments... and would be wise to think carefully before i commit to it...

Another idea that i had was to upgrade the Ram on my Acer and tahan for 1 more year... then get a nice com in the new country of study... any opinions on that? how hard to find Ram that "old"? reliable ? will burn up? Thanks in advance for the advice...

 

[Terence]

If you do buy a laptop, make sure you check out the 2nd hand deals over at the hardwarezone forums. Relatively new ones, a couple of months old, tend to go for much less than in the stores. The values depreciate really fast. I just picked up a 6 month old Compaq with upgraded RAM for a third less than what the stores are selling for.

 

[wildstallion]

I think your best and most cost effective option is to just upgrade your RAM, and defrag your harddisk, then just grin and bare it for a year. Then invest in a good desktop in either the US or UK. But, be warned, If i remember correctly, Desktops and laptops are both cheaper in Singapore when compared to the UK.

 

[mattlock]

hey, laptops and desktops are cheaper in america. I don't buy computer stuff when I'm in Singapore
check out http://www.streetprices.com/

 

[longkangman]

I replace all home machines with notebook ie the Apple book.
With a 2 GB NAS as storage.

 

[ExplorerZ]

wait for the new desktop/laptop processor (Merom) to come out den get it as a notebook.
upgrade the ram to 2gb if possible, and you can carry it anywhere to uk/us
and yes the est date of the new processor release will be ard aug 2006

 

[kelccm]

Upgrade your RAM, hold on to your present computer. Buy your new computer at USA if you moved to the States. UK price is quite high, so it is more advisable to get your computer here. . Maybe get an external harddisk to transfer any data . When you finally finish your studies, transfer any data you still want to the external harddisk, sell your computer there, come back just with your external harddisk, buy a brand new computer in S'pore and finally transfer back all your saved data. This way you'll have the latest computer when you begin your Phd and another latest computer when you start work again in S'pore:sticktong

 

[jekos]

What if you travel between Singapore and Hong Kong regularly? What might you advise?

 

[Big Kahuna]

Agree with the rest, if you do not use CPU intensive application, the Pentium-M 1.3 is good enought....upgrade your ram to 1GB or more......and I am also going to replace the HDD with something bigger and faster to speedup the read & write...I guess yours must an old 30 or 40GB 4200rpm type...it sucks:lovegrin:

By next year, you can consider again to buy the core2 notebook and they should be gaining more speed and more affordable liao :thumbsup:

 

[londonray]

yups... i think that i will upgrade the RAm... it uses PC2100 DDR266 SDRAM.... will this work?
also... i can only find 1 ram slot on my travelmate 800XCi... where is the "other" ram slot huh? or is the darn thing soldered onto the Motherboard?

 

[londonray]

btw... thanks for the lovely response.... I just called up acer sg... they told me that the "other" ram slot is underneath the keyboard and there would be service charge if i bring 2 pieces of 512mb ram to them for them to install it for me... any CSer here has DIY such thing before? or seen it in HWZ? care to share how to do that? Cheers... will buy that someone dinner if he/she willing to help me out here....

 

[Big Kahuna]

yups... i think that i will upgrade the RAm... it uses PC2100 DDR266 SDRAM.... will this work?
also... i can only find 1 ram slot on my travelmate 800XCi... where is the "other" ram slot huh? or is the darn thing soldered onto the Motherboard?

Yup....in this case you can only put in one slab....maybe a 1GB one.....not that expensive nowadays....just bring your notebook down to the shop.....last time I did it at Fuwell--Sim Lim Square....at non peak period of coz....one of the gentlement was so kind and let me try before I buy.....once you notebook boot up...you can check the memory status from windows :thumbsup:

 

[gryphon]

if you really cant stand your laptop speed. Just buy a 2nd hand desktop.
If you buy a new laptop now, in a year's time the specs will be outdated & its value depreciated by quite a bit.

 

[ExplorerZ]

btw... thanks for the lovely response.... I just called up acer sg... they told me that the "other" ram slot is underneath the keyboard and there would be service charge if i bring 2 pieces of 512mb ram to them for them to install it for me... any CSer here has DIY such thing before? or seen it in HWZ? care to share how to do that? Cheers... will buy that someone dinner if he/she willing to help me out here....

i did upgrade my laptop ram myself, tho its compaq and not acer, but the same should apply.

you just have to release the catch at the side of the small ram and den slow in both again.

 

[gryphon]

i did upgrade my laptop ram myself, tho its compaq and not acer, but the same should apply.

you just have to release the catch at the side of the small ram and den slow in both again.

same laptop has only 1 ram slot at the easily accessiable area below. But the other ram slot maybe at the motherboard area which requires the casing to be opened to access to it

 

[londonray]

if you really cant stand your laptop speed. Just buy a 2nd hand desktop.
If you buy a new laptop now, in a year's time the specs will be outdated & its value depreciated by quite a bit.

yups... i was looking at the ones in HWZ... P4 3.0Ghz... with HT... DVD burner... only $580...
Hhahaa... might just get that one... get a nice 19" philip's monitor... then all set...

 

[quekky]

ot: congrats for your studies! u finnally competed it!

 

[londonray]

ot: congrats for your studies! u finnally competed it!

thanks bro...

 

[Wolfgang]

If you do buy a laptop, make sure you check out the 2nd hand deals over at the hardwarezone forums. Relatively new ones, a couple of months old, tend to go for much less than in the stores. The values depreciate really fast. I just picked up a 6 month old Compaq with upgraded RAM for a third less than what the stores are selling for.

Hmm... does it apply to Macs as well? :think:

 

[yanyewkay]

Technology will always improve and buying at a later time will always get you the latest and fastest machine. I suggest buying it later. Then later.. then later.. then later.. then later.. and later.. just when you think it's the fastest just hang on a few more months.. a better model will come out.