Laptop for ministry

[spikenard]

I am looking for a new (and first) laptop. I don't know alot about them but have been studying up. The thing I'm really unsure about is the processor and mhz. I want to be able to use the web, write out documents, and most of all be able to perform slide shows with power point for my sermons. What should I look for. I'm on a lower budget so I cant go for the upper end notebooks. I've looked at the dell celeron notebooks and the hp athlon's. Please compare these and give me suggestions of your own.

 

[jono1]

were you looking at buying new or used? anything new definitely can easily handle the web, word processing and slideshows. used however is a different matter.

 

[PennylessZ28]

GEt a DELL, they are the best for OEM computer, aviod Gateway, Compaq and HP's.

 

[onajourney87]

For what you've described, a 800mhz or higher speed processor should be enough power. Though these days, if you buy a new laptop, you're generally looking at around 1300mhz or higher speed.

The main 2 processors used in laptops are the Pentium 4 and the Athlon XP. Generally, I would suggest going for an Athlon XP unless you are getting a Pentium 4 that is 2ghz or higher in speed(though the Athlon XPs have a slower clock speed than Pentium 4s, overall performance is better until you reach the 2-2.5ghz range).

I hope this helps you,
osm

 

[ECRob]

I have a Gateway Laptop that I use for ministry and it works very good. If I had to recommend one to you though, I would say that the top choices are Dell and Toshiba.

God Bless

 

[PennylessZ28]

For what you've described, a 800mhz or higher speed processor should be enough power. Though these days, if you buy a new laptop, you're generally looking at around 1300mhz or higher speed.

The main 2 processors used in laptops are the Pentium 4 and the Athlon XP. Generally, I would suggest going for an Athlon XP unless you are getting a Pentium 4 that is 2ghz or higher in speed(though the Athlon XPs have a slower clock speed than Pentium 4s, overall performance is better until you reach the 2-2.5ghz range).

I hope this helps you,
osm

Half way true I have always been one of those ain't main stream, but the simple fact is, AMD has fallen behind the past year and a half. There chips aren't as great of quality, they are good for PCs but for Laptops, I've experinced some problems.

My work issued HP notebook has an Athlon XP 1.5 and the thing sucks.

Not only that, it heats up far great in comparsion to my Dell notebook with a P4.

My home PC uses a Athlon T-bird, and yeah you need a good heat sink on AMD's.

Dell's are top notch.

AVOID Sony Viao (?sp) at all costs. They are utter junk. Can you say, fancy name brand Packard Bells.....

 

[WeakButHopeful]

I bought a Toshiba A15-S127 laptop for my wife, on sale at Circuit City this past Summer for about $850 and we like it (though the software it came with was a bit limited, and we had a bit of trouble finding a carrying case that it would fit in). I think it would be able to do the things you list (from a hardware standpoint).

I agree with PennylessZ28 on many points, though I had a Compaq with an AMD Athlon CPU melt down on me, so I'm even a bit more pro-Intel than him. I agree Vaio is junk, and Gateway has negatives. Dell has an extremely good reputation, but I hate dealing mail order. Many of my friends (and many businesses) buy a lot of Dells, of course.

I hope this helped somewhat.

Best wishes.

 

[Stryper]

Half way true I have always been one of those ain't main stream, but the simple fact is, AMD has fallen behind the past year and a half. There chips aren't as great of quality, they are good for PCs but for Laptops, I've experinced some problems.

My work issued HP notebook has an Athlon XP 1.5 and the thing sucks.

Not only that, it heats up far great in comparsion to my Dell notebook with a P4.

My home PC uses a Athlon T-bird, and yeah you need a good heat sink on AMD's.

Dell's are top notch.

AVOID Sony Viao (?sp) at all costs. They are utter junk. Can you say, fancy name brand Packard Bells.....

"I have always been one of those ain't main stream"


And you own a dell? thats the most mainstream laptop i know of. everybody and their mother owns a dell.

Dells are for people that want to spend a bit more to get top notch customer support.

I use a hewlett packard p4 2.4ghz and it suits me fine. i use it for powerpoint presentations for the church lyrics and the announcements before the service. if what you describe is all that your doing, then go for the cheapest laptop you can get because even that can handle what you want to do. but powerpoint is a must for church services!

 

[jono1]

i agree, dells are probably the way to go...though dell managed to include an ethernet port but no ethernet card in my dad's new laptop....

 

[Stryper]

i agree, dells are probably the way to go...though dell managed to include an ethernet port but no ethernet card in my dad's new laptop....

whats the card for? is it an external dongle that they gave you?
arent ethernet ports a basic standard in all laptops?

 

[Religious Crisis]

I thought they were. But what do I know.

 

[jono1]

i would have thought they were...see what we got was the port built into the side...but there's nothing behind that. I didn't mean we didn't get PCM/CIA thing for it. well, we ended up buying a PCM/CIA ethernet adapter anyway cos we couldn't be bothered sending the whole thing back into Dell for repairs...

 

[PennylessZ28]

"I have always been one of those ain't main stream"


And you own a dell? thats the most mainstream laptop i know of. everybody and their mother owns a dell.

Dells are for people that want to spend a bit more to get top notch customer support.

The reason I go dell is becuase I don't know how to buy/build my own laptop.



Building a home PC was easy, got online and ordered every part and assembled it myself.



I never pay for Dell's support. Its the quality I like and their choice of internal compents is better than others.


Now, I'm gonan do something productive and give you some opitions:

DellHome - Inspiron 1100 Laptop with 2.3Ghz Celeron, 14.1" TFT, 256MB DDR SDRAM, 30GB HD, DVD-Rom, for $674 after Rebate with FREE Shipping!
It`s back with a faster processor, more memory, a free hard drive upgrade, and a DVD-Rom. Dell Home doesn`t collect sales tax from most states too, making this an extra bargain. Hurry though, It seems like things are being pulled early left and right these days.

• Start here to get the Inspiron 1100 Systems. DELLHOME
• All of the options for the lowest possible price should already be selected, along with your freebies. Here are a few upgrades we suggest, though they`ll raise the price:
  • Intel® Celeron® Processor 2.4GHz, 14.1 XGA [add $25 or $1/month]
  • 256MB Shared DDR,266Mhz,1 Dimms,PC2100 SDRAM [add $25 or $1/month] - ! 1 DIMM means you can upgrade by adding more memory later, instead of having to pull memory out and replacing it.
  • 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive with Roxios Easy CD Creator® [add $59 or $2/month]
• Scroll to the bottom and click on Continue
• Scroll to the bottom and click on Continue
• Scroll to the bottom and click on Add to cart
• Use coupon code: B036FDAB63CA for $25 off a $500+ system purchase. Expires 2/29/04.
• Finish checking out. Shipping is free and as usual, there is no tax in most states from Dell Home. Send in the $100 rebate (unknown expiration date). REBATE

DellHome - Inspiron 5100 Laptop with 2.66Ghz P4, 14.1" TFT, 32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 7500, 256MB DDR SDRAM, 40GB HD, DVD-Rom for $874 after Rebate with FREE Shipping!
The laptop above not fast enough for you? Well before you upgrade it too much, maybe you should look into this higher end one. It`s just $200 more, but you get a much faster 2.66Ghz P4 processor, a 40GB HD, and a 32MB ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 AGP video chip. It also comes with 256MB of DDR SDRAM, DVD-Rom, 56k modem, 10/100 NIC, Windows XP Home, and a 1 year warranty.

• Start here at this Dell Home Inspiron 5100 laptop. DELLHOME
• All the stuff for the lowest cost should have already been selected. Add all the extra features you want, though it will raise the price:
  • Intel® Pentium® 4 processor,2.8GHz,14.1 XGA [add $50 or $2/month]
  • SAVE $50 (Savings included in price) 60GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive [add $69 or $3/month]
  • 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive [add $59 or $2/month]
• Scroll to the bottom and click on Continue
• Scroll to the bottom and click on Continue
• Scroll to the bottom and click on Add to cart
• Use coupon code: B036FDAB63CA for $25 off a $500+ system purchase. Expires 2/29/04
• Finish checking out. Shipping is free. Send in the $150 rebate (unknown expiration date). REBATE

Sounds good, no?