New Laptop

Just after a bit of advice, my dad wants to get a laptop to use wireless internet around the house, whats the typical range and will I have to have doors open etc. Also as for the laptop all he wants to do is download stuff (ares, bittorent), burn cd's and use the net, should I just go for the cheapest laptopt I can find with a burner and wireles capabilities? The desktop is always here if he ever needs to use it for some reason so i'm not really worried about the procesing speed or graphics etc.
Basically I just want to know what I can expect trying to share the internet around the house and what exactly I should be looking for in the way of specs.

that would depend on ur router. most of them will cover a normal house.


as for downloading, i download using bittornado on my 300 mhz celeron laptop. works fine

my router atm isn't wireless, thats why I wanted to know about the different wireless options seeing as I have to buy a new wireless router.

bump

Typical range for the (few) Linksys wireless routers I've dealt with is 250-300 feet and no, you don't have to leave doors open.

I dislike laptops in general and cheap ones in particular...if your Dad has experience on a half decent desktop PC he'll be mortified by the crappy performance of a low end laptop.

Nah he's not a computer person at all, when i say all he wants to do is download, use the net a little and burn cd's, I mean that is ALL he wants to do. I agree with you in that i'm not a laptop fan but I do like the idea of being able to use the net around the house. Thanks for replying btw.

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Originally Posted by ready1

Nah he's not a computer person at all

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Oh yeah, I hear that all the time.

Even the rawest n00b with the lowest expectations gets fed up real fast with a machine that takes ten minutes to boot to the desktop.
Or gets so hot after an hour that you can't keep it on your lap at all.

Alright well what should I look for then, bearing in mind he can always use the desktop at any time. I mean if it was a desktop I could build it in a second but laptops I really don't have a sense of what to look for and what to avoid, at the same time trying to keep the costs down.

I think it comes down to how much are you willing to spend.

Yeah my friends dad who doesnt know much about computer bought a laptop for around $700...Its a celeron at 2.4Ghz with 256MB of ram...it sucks. He doesnt notice but its so fucking slow I hate it lol...so his son is having me build him one

building laptops? is that a good idea?

what type of cpu should i be looking at then

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maebach

building laptops? is that a good idea?

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his son is having me building him a DESKTOP...i guess I should have been more clear on that lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ready1

what type of cpu should i be looking at then

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Virtualbody1234

I think it comes down to how much are you willing to spend.

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Read.

Yes and I would have thought a 2.4ghz celeron would have been fine until told above that it's not, hence asking for a starting point with the cpu. I've already mentioned above that I would like to keep costs down, and the uses for the laptop, obviously laptop cpu's come in a few different types ie from looking around i've seen stuff like,
Intel® Pentium® M Processor (CentrinoTM)
730 / 740 / 750 / 760 / 770
The Genuine Multimedia World Intel® Pentium® M Processor (CentrinoTM)
730 / 740 / 750 / 760 / 770
Intel® Pentium® M Processor up to 1.7GHz
Intel® Mobile Pentium® M Processor up to 1.7GHz

Clearly it's not as simple as More Megahertz = More Money = More Performance, so if the best advice you can offer is 2 disconnected quotes with a one word post, then do me a favour and next time you see this thread don't bother looking in.

I have found that if the laptop and the router are on different floors it fucks up the signal bad

I had my laptop right above the router, the router was in the basement and the laptop was on the first floor, and i was only getting 20% signal strengt :(

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Originally Posted by TheCanuk

I have found that if the laptop and the router are on different floors it fucks up the signal bad

I had my laptop right above the router, the router was in the basement and the laptop was on the first floor, and i was only getting 20% signal strengt :(

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That usually happens if you are on a different floor and just on opposite sides of a wall.

Code:

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    ║pc
════╬════
    ║
  R║

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The signal will go through a few inches of wall, or a few inches of floor, with no problem. But with the double wall/floor scenario the acute angle effectively means that the signal has to go through several feet of wall material.

Code:

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    ║  pc
════╬════
    ║
 R  ║

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Just moving the router and the pc a small amount can have a dramatic effect on signal levels.

Ideally your router (or other Wireless Access Point) should be in the middle of the room so that the chance of this happening is minimized no matter where you position your pc, but that's rarely possible. Instead, it is a good idea to place the router next to an outside wall so that you will never be just the other side of that wall (unless you happen to like using your laptop while hanging out of the window :blink: ).

eh my computer is pulled out from under my desk for it to work =( if i put it under i get disconnected so badly =( signal is constantly at 2 though but it just doesnt work, plus the computer with the router lags so bad now =( its not fast anymore, and for notebooks www.notebookreview.com

=============================
=........= bath=..........TV= CL=MY COMPUTER
=......R=M...../...........====
=........=......=.........../
=........======..........===========
=........=FridgeMicro
=
====================

my cheap sketch of router to computer w/ interferences
R = router
M = metal cabinent
CL = closet

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Soul814

eh my computer is pulled out from under my desk for it to work =( if i put it under i get disconnected so badly =( signal is constantly at 2 though but it just doesnt work, plus the computer with the router lags so bad now =( its not fast anymore, and for notebooks www.notebookreview.com

=============================
=........= bath=..........TV= CL=MY COMPUTER
=......R=M...../...........====
=........=......=.........../
=........======..........===========
=........=FridgeMicro
=
====================

my cheap sketch of router to computer w/ interferences
R = router
M = metal cabinent
CL = closet

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Looks like you've picked just about the worst possible combination of obstacles between your pc and the router.

The signal has to go through or near 3 walls (absorbs signal), a metal cabinet (absorbs signal a lot) and a tv (interference). I'm surprised it works at all.

=============================
=........= bath=..........TV= CL=MY COMPUTER
=........=M...../...........====
=........=......=.........../
=......R======..........===========
=........=FridgeMicro
=
====================

Simply moving your router to this position may help. You've still got the 3 walls, you can't to much about that, but the signal avoids the metal cabinet and the TV.

yea lol, it works cause i pulled my computer out of my desk and i faced it toward the door so its not going through a wall, well it finds a way around it lol =) i get 2 bars generally and 4 when its really good

bump

Havn't all your questions been answered :huh: