Jesus 'n Jim A PC and somewhat Mac oriented site with Software and Repair Info and How-To's on Using Computers
good laptops/notebooks
friendly advice: buy a laptop cooler and a USB hub!
if you would like to spare your USB ports from electrical & physical damage and prevent having to replace the motherboard (about the price of a laptop), get a USB hub. they are $20-$40.
saves them from overload, wobble, and wear, and dongles.
get a fan-based laptop cooler with high CFM rating if you want to prevent lockups/hangs, automatic shutdowns in the middle of work, crashes, slowdowns (sweveral things can cause that), flakiness.
make sure you label your usb cords with the device name and wrap the labels with scotch tape so they don't come undone.
for instance, you may have multiple USB hubs in the house, so just don't say "USB hub" unless you always buy the same kind.
you might say "blue usb hub" or "4-port irocks blue USB hub".
I use a Dymo labeller and I've used it a lot.
don't swap out or try different mini usb cables with products or you could end up sparking and smoking something.
regular large USB cable ends are fine.
using laptop as a desktop?
If you are intending to use your laptop as a desktop, simply remove the battery.
the long term effects of charging all the time are detrimental (most types of batteries I know of don't like that).
the 17" version of my mother's older model requires no laptop cooler. runs cool. hot fan in back. high performance, made for quality multimedia, quiet, can play DVDs or blu-ray without booting OS.
802.11b/g/n wifi. the lower ends of this model are not touchscreen. LED backllit display, bluetooth, fingerprint reader, USB sleep-n-charge, easyguard technology (?). DVD DL burner super multi drive.
Sony Vaio VGN-TXN15P/b, available from sony $1869.95
If you can even get the /w in the USA ($2199), get that one - bright display, lasts 9 hours on batteries. this one lasts 5-11 hours on batteries and is in stock. XP SP2. DVD burner. LAN/Wireless WAN/Bluetooth.
small netbooks for children and mobile moguls. under 2 lbs. hard disk or SSD. 10/100 LAN, 802.11b/g/n wireless. 3.5-14hr battery life. don't get one with windows 7 starter unless you are planning to use linux - it's not a complete OS - it's a sample. get XP or linux (if you can handle linux).
ATOM N330 Dual core CPU + Nvidia ION graphics + 2GB Memory ASUS Eee PC 1201N-PU17-BK Black Intel Atom N330(1.60GHz) 12.1" WXGA 2GB Memory 250GB HDD NetBook - Retail , available from newegg $490
high performance. Windows 7 Home Premium. small netbook for adults & children. under 2 lbs. 10/100 LAN, 802.11b/g wireless.