[HaveBlue83]

ok, my dad has a 2003 Mustang Mach1......he has I believe the Xcal2 tuner in his car. He wants a good laptop that would support a "tweaker"or data logging program so that he can do runs down the track, see the results, and tweak his car using those results. He is getting a program from a buddy, but he needs a laptop to run it.

We are an ALL Macintosh computer family.....I don't like windows ANYTHING.....but Apple doesn't have anything for car tweaking, and it's easier to use windows-based stuff for this kind of thing. I know apple stuff so I could use some info.......

one of my buddies (that has a tweaker and laptop in his juiced stang) said that HP's are not good, and Sony Vaio's and Toshiba's are ok. he also said to get Windows XP.

What do you recommend for him? he just wants a solid platform that will do the job without stuttering/ bogging down for $1,000 or less...that's his cutoff.

any help would be AWESOME.....he want's to get it within this week if he could.....basically, you reccommend one, and we can go from there [thumb]

 

[riceyfocus]

TBH, anything is okay. I mean ur not spending a whole lot of money....so pretty much everything is the same at that low of a level. I would go with a dell though, good bang for the buck. Best of luck to you.

 

[SQFocusZTS]

pretty much what he said... same shit ...just with someone elses label.

-john
SQF

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

i'd just go with one of those "cheapies" from walmart or something, i mean this laptop will be in serious territory and be hitting lots of G's. check out ebay for used laptops or your local classifides

 

[HaveBlue83]

ok, I'll take this into account.....yeah, the G-meter will be high...[]

 

[zx360]

personally id say stay away from anything dell (that 1000$ price mark basically ensures that, and they are crap), HP's = crap, basically id go to best buy and tell them your a clumsy fool... i dont remember the brand it is but when my parents were getting one i tried to convince them to get one because it was built to withstand like a kids use at school so it can be bounced around and shit without breaking... id figure out what kind it is at best buy then hit up e-bay and get one for under a grand... im almost sure they are only a little over 1k new at BB but i cant put my word on it... good luck

 

[svtguy21]

hey pm me, i have a almost brand new lab top from the e army program that i don't use. it's like 4 weeks old with maybe 3 hours of use. it's a ibm think pad_>>>>small light and powerfull you can't beat it.

 

[azdamay]

eBay, or getting one used in some way, seems like your best bet for getting one cheap that won't be a total piece of junk... you can buy one from a few years ago that used to be one of the best for the price of a new piece of crap from the store.

 

[Shadowrunner]

noww, i'm sure you'd be hard-pressed to find anything like this for under 1k, but make sure it's got WinXP 64-bit or Windows Vista (the new Windows debuting this fall). a 64 bit system will be much better at crunching all those numbers than your standard 32-bit system.

 

[FocusInCali]

I'm a Mac person as well. I think I'd be looking for some type of program to work with a sturdy iBook.

My dad is a PC person, and the most important thing he does is wipe the PC clean and only installs what is needed. They are much much happier this way. There are tons of PC laptops under $1k that will work. You need it for a rocket, not rocket science. []

The newer Macs will run Windoze, but the price is a lot more. You could also run Windoze on any Mac with virtual programs, but it's a pain in the arse.

 

[HaveBlue83]

^^^yeah, virtual stuff with a datalogger just doesn't sound efficient enough....that's why he wants pure wondows....that and all the files will be in .exe, and he won't have to convert the files to show people/ be able to read them.....it's just easier if he gets a stupid windows laptop.......

 

[stah]

Awww...insulting windows? Funny how Windows works so much better that MAC choose to use Intel processors. [rolleyes] Oh well...Bill Gates own's part of Apple anyway, so your money is still going to his pocket.

Anyway, to answer your question, I'd stick with an Emachine. But whatever you go with, Refurbs are good. More bang for your buck, and you don't have to worry about coming from the factory loaded with a bunch of crap you wont need. www.Tigerdirect.com is a personal fav. of mine for computer stuff.

Don't buy a Dell or Gateway or w/e, they tend to be priced higher just for the name. But if thats the way you wanna go, grab an Alienware. A gamer PC, should def. be able to handle what you'll be using for. Plus the cases rawk.

I'd def. get an AMD 64 processor. Like someone else said, 64-bit processors would do better with the number crunching you'll be doing. Get one with a lot of RAM too...1 Gig of RAM might seem like overkill, but overshooting is always prefered with a laptop.

DO NOT GO TO A STORE AND BUY A LAPTOP! I repeat, DO NOT GO TO A STORE AND BUY A LAPTOP! This is a common mistake. You're often times paying a huge price for a POS comp. It's not worth it. Just do your research and compare prices on Tiger to any laptop @ Walmart, Staples, Best Buy, etc. You are paying easily 200-300$ more for the same comp.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

 

[azdamay]

Awww...insulting windows? Funny how Windows works so much better that MAC choose to use Intel processors. [rolleyes]

Uhhhh... let's not confuse an operating system with a piece of computing hardware. Apple finally gave in and started using Intel processors because the PowerPC chip was falling behind and IBM/Motorola showed no interest in making it competitive. I fail to see how that change means "Windows works so much better" unless I'm missing something?? Because with the new Intel processors Macintosh computers still run OS X just like they did before.

 

[213slayer666]

heh, i can sell you my laptop. gateway with a 2.6 ghz amd processor. i need the money since i'm laid off right now. don't know if i could give it up though

 

[svtguy21]

pm hooah did i mention i'm on 24 hr duty

 

[PhilMayfield]

Well, Ive worked in PC repair for about 8 years, and brands I can tell you to stay away from are Sony and Dell. Dells are fine, but cheap price = cheap construction.

Best bet for you would be an IBM thinkpad. Theyre built for road warriors so theres less chance of it dieing from getting banged around a little bit. Toshiba has a really good track record for repairs as well, but theyre not as sturdy as IBM.

As for the 64-bit thing, it doesnt matter. Youll be running 32-bit version of windows and a 32-bit program, so its pointless to get a 64-bit processor unless you plan on formatting the hard drive and buying XP-64.

Good luck buddy!

 

[stah]

Uhhhh... let's not confuse an operating system with a piece of computing hardware. Apple finally gave in and started using Intel processors because the PowerPC chip was falling behind and IBM/Motorola showed no interest in making it competitive. I fail to see how that change means "Windows works so much better" unless I'm missing something?? Because with the new Intel processors Macintosh computers still run OS X just like they did before.

Hehe....I was just having a little fun with the MACs. We did it in my Operating System's class pretty much all semester. But then again, we had a Linux fanboy for a teacher... [unsure] But thats not the point. You're right about they PowerPC chip thing. But it is funny they went with Intel, as opposed to AMD though. And as soon as they released the Intel MAC the MAC community was buzzing about being able to run Windows XP on their new MACs.

The 64 bit processor doesn't matter.....right now. But I always try to leave myself room to grow, and the future of the 32 bit processor. I know VISTA will have a 64 bit version, if not be entirely 64 bit.....

 

[HaveBlue83]

ok...i'll keep looking [thumb]

 

[HaveBlue83]

how bout this.....

ThinkPad R51e
$699.00
Intel® Celeron® M 380 (1.60GHz)
15" display
256MB / Up to 1.50 GB DDR
Hard Drive[4] (std/max)
40 GB / Up to 80 GB
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo
Available with Genuine Windows® XP Professional

if you go with the basic one, would that be enough?

 

[Shadowrunner]

^ just don't get that damned celeron chip... please...