I use my laptop for the same things that most of you do.  Surfing the web, answering emails, downloading musci, and the occasional photo editing (very seldom).  How much machine do I REALLY need.  I know that the new Duo Core machines are cool and all, but do I really need that much speed.  Someone recently told me that a Celeron 1.5 with 512K of ram and 64mb of video is more than enough.  Is this true?  Also the idea of a Sling Box interest me.  Does the Sling Box require a faster machine to use it properly?  Thanks in advance.
125932
Most of what you hear is hype - the core DUO machines are really use-full in two real world scenarios - if your a gamer or your into digital production. i.e. graphic design / video editing. Would you believe you can still function quite well With a machine running with a proc speed of around 1GHZ. Most are going to argue that this is false or pretentious - but, the hardware we are led to believe as "superior" is really the market attempting to get you to spend 3K on a MAC or duo setup. That type of hardware configuration is really exceptional in needed environments like super- computing or as mentioned above. To run normal computing like e-mail, word processing, DVD burning etc. you can get fine performance from machines, from today's standards, are "inferior" - my advice - don't buy into all the hype.
447255
MCE = Media Centre Edition\nIt has a few more "bells and whistles" than regular XP ... but it is a lot more resource hungry meaning most comps that ship with MCE have 1GB Ram  .... if yours doesn't .... it will lag so get them to boost to 1GB\nThe Celeron Processor will let you down .... (the ram is fine) ... you need something with at least a Pentium M processor or better still a Core Duo Processor
81316
My suggestion is to get an HP laptop and without any hesitation I would get one with a centrino process. Additionally if you are not going to be mobile you will appreciate a 17" wide screen. I would also consider 1GB of Ram and 100 GB hard drive. Good luck.\n\nI would also consider and AMD Turion processor.
563791
well I've used celerons very little, but the main complaint I've heard about them is they generaly run hotter, but for just web browsing email and other basic tasks it's fine. To get the most of your laptop though I would make sure your turning it off at night. Hope this helps
156165
you can use slingbox all over the world, it uses satallites, but you can only use it with a computer with high speed (broadband) internet.
248656
most of windows and linux..don't worry, it doesn't require a lot. just make sure you have at least 256Mb RAM, for better speed performance. it won't be any good if u have less than 128Mb RAM
468698
Hi\n\nThe laptop I am using at the moment has 700mhz, a 9-gig hard drive, 128MB (RAM) and I have absolutely no problems whatsoever with it. Sure, its about 9 years old (it was my fiances, she has a new one now) but in my opinion of you keep it clean of programs that use up a lot of memory/space then you should be fine. It does take a little longer to load, but i access the net, download stuff, chat and play games such as The Sims with no trouble at all. Of course, its up to you whether to buy it or not, just make sure it is genuine before you buy.
36462
I've always felt like there's no such thing as too much RAM, but I thought I'd check with the experts to see what they say. I went to my old reliable "Tom's Hardware Review."\n\nSurprise! From testing reported in December, 2005, it comes down to "how do you use your machine and what do you want to do."\n\nFor single applications run one at a time, there's apparently very little difference between 512 meg of RAM and 2 gigabytes! They suggest it's not cost effective if this is your style and the money would be better placed into a video card.\n\nThe story's different for multitasking, though, something that I do frequently. It's not unusual for me to have four or five video/audio editing and assembly applications going at the same time, along with a browser and notepad and maybe even burning and downloading at the same time. It looks like more RAM would be beneficial for me.\n\nHere's the link to the specific page I used for my conclusion. (1)\nYou can use just this summary to make your decision, or you can read the whole article.\n\nHappy computing!
387843
Hmmm - can I be honest and say if you are doing video editing, you WON'T get anything close to what you are after for $1000 (esp looking at a Macbook.)\n\nBest option I would suggest going a Satellite Pro (Toshiba) - well priced and plenty of power.\n\nNB: have always found Mac rendered 3D & Video a lot slower even with comparable hardware - and charge more for the privelage!\n\nOh, and despite "Crypto's" suggestion, bootcamp is not the solution it is being hyped up to be - still buggy as all hell. Is actually much easier to get OS X working on a PC (google "OSx86" for that one) than it is to get Windows to run bug-free on the Intel Macs...and a damned site cheaper. (OS X also runs nearly twice as fast on a generic PC than it does on Apple's own hardware -  thus their efforts to shut this version down!)
537896
If it only has 64 mb of ram, then it is pretty old.  I am not sure how much more use you will get out of it.  If you can upgrade the ram, it may be semi expensive.  Since it is older and harder to find.  I could be wrong though.  Notebooks are usually not great upgraders.
385706
That depends on how much you are willing to spend.  I'll assume that you aren't interested in a Mac (but I would suggest you check them out unless there are Windows programs that you need to use...)\n\nI reccomend spending at least $1100 on a laptop, it's a good place to start and they're plenty well equipped at that price.  Of course, you could spend $500 or less and get... junk.  You could spend as much as $4,500 and get something that is heavy, bulky, powerful but probably TOO powerful.  And horrible battery life.\n\nWhatever you do, get one with a Widescreen display, at least 1GB of memory, a Core 2 Duo processor and a dedicated graphics card.  I don't care what else you are willing to comprimise on, DO NOT comprise on any of those things.  I don't care if you are going to play games or not... always, always, always, get a dedicated graphics card (unless you need 8 hours+ of battery life).\n\nI like this laptop, I think it would be perfect for you (provided it is in your price range), http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834115291\n\nThat's a configuration I would reccomend to someone looking for a general purpose laptop that can handle some light gaming on the side and it seems like that is what you are going to do.  I don't know what the other said about laptop brands but personally, I've never had a problem with Acer.  I'd stay clear of HP and Gateway.
102210
Absolutely.  The Core Duo processor cut's processing speed in half, thanks to it's internal processing capabilities.  It's also the latest processor out there, so the chances of it becoming obsolete anytime soon are very small to nothing at all.  You probably want it if you are a gamer, too.\n\n\nHope this helps,\n-----------------------------------------\nFrom,\nThe Realm of Goliath Web Design Team
630917
Dear friend,\n\nYou have not specified your requirement for the computer use and the location, which both depends.\n\nIf its for your home use go for 2nd hand no prob\n\nBut for business purpose pls buy new one with atleast \n\n2.4 - 3.0 GHz, 512+ Ram, 915 GLV board, 17" monitor, DVD Combo (Writer if u need it).\n\nIf any else u require pls feel free to ask
590377
You may have to expand the memory.  Depending on how much memory it can hold.  Since the software is huge, you may have to expand the hard drive as well.  It's a decent laptop and should run fine.  I'm just a bit hesitant on the fact that the processor is just a celeron.\n\nMacs are good for (I usually say nothing) graphic design.  I'm not certain about audio editing.  Macs are way too expensive, especially if you're on a budget.\n\nYou're best bet is to just get a desktop PC.  It's cheaper and easy to expand.\n\nI read a little more into the article.  Better off not wasting your money to upgrade.  Get a new computer.
93074
Very cute getting other people to do your IT support for free :D\nGuess I am the 1st sucker to come along :&#92;\nIn theory this is a question you should be asking emachines support - this is part of the price you payed for buying a branded machine.  You could have got better components for the same money if you had bought components & pieced them together yourself & then relied on YahAns. for tech. support XD\n\nI searched for your model on the site & it says that your gfx is indeed built-in, 'on board' or 'integrated' as this is often called, since the chips are soldered onto, & part of the mainboard construction.\n\nGraphics chip used:\nIntel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (GMA900)\nUp to 224MB DDR shared video memory\n\nHere is the rest of this machine's *default* configuration:\n\nCPU: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 516 (64-bit with Intel® EM64T) (1MB L2 cache, 2.93GHz, 533MHz FSB)\n\nOp. Sys.: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition (SP2)\n\nChipset: Intel® 915GV\n\nMemory: 512MB DDR SDRAM (2 × 256MB), 400MHz Dual Channel\nExpandable to 4GB\n\nHard Drive: 200GB Serial ATA (7200rpm, 8MB cache)\n\nOptical Drive: 16x DVD±RW multiformat double layer drive\n\nVideo: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (GMA900)\nUp to 224MB DDR shared video memory\n\nSound: Intel® High Definition 6-Channel (5.1) Audio\n\nNetwork: Intel® PRO 10/100Mbps integrated Ethernet LAN\n\nModem: 56K ITU V.92-ready Fax/Modem\n\nPeripherals: Standard Multifunction Keyboard, 2-Button Wheel Mouse, Amplified Stereo Speakers\n\nPorts/Other: 7 USB 2.0 (2 in front, 4 in back, 1 in Media Reader), 1 IEEE 1394, 1 VGA external connector, 1 serial, 1 parallel, 2 PS/2, 5 audio ports (2 in front, 3 in back)\n\nDimensions: 14.25"H x 7.25"W x 16.00"D\n\n(You don't clarify as to whether you have done any upgrades or payed to have some added yourself).\n\nSadly the one component we are interested in is not mentioned at all - the mainboard.\nYou have to ensure that you disable the onboard graphics chips (the Intel GMA900 chip in your case) if you can & do purchase a graphics card that is CORRECT for the slot your motherboard has.  I would imagine it has the more recently introduced PCI-Express graphics connector or at the very least one of the older style AGP connectors.  The mainboard could come with both, though this is perhaps less likely.\nEither way a card designed to interface via AGP is physically different to a card connecting via PCI-Express (commonly abbreviated to PCI-E).\n\nI will try & get the spec on the mainboard used by your machine (though emachines may change this depending on what deals they can strike with their supplier over what number of units - they are primarily trying to end up with as large a profit as possible of course), so it could be something that can only be ascertained with diagnostic software.\nYou could find out exactly what motherboard it is by running some official discovery/diagnostic software such as the free edition of 'everest' which used to be known as Aida32 before.\nWhats particularly good about it is that it does not need to be installed the exe unpacks the archive to a directory & you just run it from there.\n\nDownload it here.\nhttp://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html\n\nThen run the mainboard/motherboard (different terms for the same thing) info section & come back here with the complete text for the boards model.\n\nYou can right click the text & then paste it in Yahoo Answers.\n\nThe icon you want to select is in the left pane of Everest & is labelled "Motherboard".  On my machine this gives:\n\nField:\nMotherboard ID\n\nValue:\n08/19/2003  nVidia-nForce A7N8X2.0C-00\n\nSo my motherboard(mainboard same thing)'s serial is A7N8X (Revision or version)2.0C.\nWhen I look that up online I can see the full specification for all the features of the board.\n\nWith yours we will then be able to look it up on the board manufacturers website & arrive on precisely
213095
DO NOT buy the 400 dollar bargain machines!!!!!!!!!\n\nI do in-home technical support and too often the clients that purchase these machines complain that they run just like the old one in about 6 months.  The bargain PC's are great if you know how to upgrade the machine yourself and plan on doing so later.  If you dont know how to work on a PC then do yourself the favor of shelling out another 300 dollars to get the next model up.\n\nDual Channel is a Memory technology.  If you dont plan on gaming or doing any high powered video editing, you dont really need it.\n\nlook for the following:\n\nprocessor: 2.5GHz Pentium 4 and up, OR 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon and up.  You will not notice a difference between AMD and Intel processors.  They will function exactly the same. Typically, AMD processor machines are 20-50 dollars cheaper (or the same price with more bells and whistles) than a comparable Pentium machine.\n\nRAM (Memory): AT LEAST 512MB... try for higher if possible.\n\nHard Drive (storage space):  80GB and up.\n\nVideo Card: any video card made by intel is total junk!  If the machine advertises an intergrated intel video processor take it with a grain of salt.  integrated video processors use the computer's RAM which saps performance from your machine.  Try to find a PC with an Nvidia or ATI video card of some kind.  Most people will tell you that if you dont game this isnt necessary... Im telling you that youll sacrifice a bit of speed.  Remember, you can always install an Nvidia or ATI card later on fairly cheap and easy.\n\nCD/DVD burner:  standard these days.  most computers will come with them.  Just make sure that if you want to COPY CD's and DVD's that you have CD/DVD BURNER and a DVD READER drive.
387610
If you r not a pro user and need the computer for basic stuff like email, web, music, films etc. you can buy one for as little as $300-400 depending on what deal u land. The specs you can expect will be something like this: Celeron-M or Core Solo cpu 1.4-1.66Ghz, 256-512mb ram, CD-RW/DVD drive, 40-60gb HDD, wi-fi wireless. If you want to go even cheaper, get one with an AMD cpu (like Sempron) instead of those intel chips. Check the weekly ads for big stores. This week both Office Depot and Walmart had sub $400 notebooks.