Best configuration of a laptop for work
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| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | | User | Thread poster: flora Yu Best configuration of a laptop for work |
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John Paul Weir 
Ireland
 Member (2007)
Spanish to English
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Fernando wrote:
Boot Camp is part of the OS X and already a old cake.
But with VMware ( http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/ ) or Parallels you can use Windows as a Mac application more, no need to reboot or change nothing, you can work at the same time with Mac OSX and with Windows (XP, Vista is a big piece of... problems now). |
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Thanks for pointing that out.
I definitely read something about this whole thing the other day in a PC magazine, Boot Camp was the one that sprang to mind: perhaps I am confusing the names of all these sytems...you can sure tell I am not a mac user.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| | Go for bigger screen | Jul 8 |
On a 13 inch screen with that resolution the script is rather small.
Perhaps I shouldn't give any advice because I'm satisfied with my 2,5 years old 15 inch laptop under WinXP, 0,5 GB memory and 80 GB disk.
I work with Trados, SDLX and in Word, but speed is never a problem.
A Mac is a nice machine, but the keyboard is not compatible with Trados shortcuts I'm afraid. And to use Windows you have to own a lisence. So the cost factor comes in very soon.
I rather would switch to Linux than to Mac. It runs on the same cheap configuration as Windows but has many advantages.
The next Wordfast version will run in Java independently of the operating system.
I must say that I have had no problems with viruses since years. The virus-issue is very much exaggerated. I use Thunderbird and Firefox of course, no Microsoft stuff.
Regards
Heinrich
| | | | Ángel Domínguez
Spain
Member (Jun 2008)
English to Spanish
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For me, the best thing about Macs is the Operating System; you would never find a Linux distro that has such a tight integration with the hardware, and mainstream software available for Linux is much more limited than for Mac. The Mac platform has been in a turning point, since several factors came together:
1. The switch to Intel processors in Macs, which allows them to run Windows XP, whether it's using Boot Camp or a virtualization emulator like Parallels or VMWare Fusion.
2. The failure that seems to be Vista.
Nowadays, the quantity (and quality) of software available for the Mac is beyond our wildest dreams 4 years ago (when I bought my first Mac, a tiny PowerBook G4 12"). More and more companies are becoming aware of the ease of use of the OS, the stability of the system and the sheer pleasure that is to use a Mac, something that's hard to feel using a PC; Macs just feel nice to use.
Heinrich: if you switch to a Mac from a PC, you probably have an XP license already, and you can install it in your Boot Camp partition, for instance.
There's even a third way, which is to use CrossOver Mac, which acts like a direct virtualization layer that allows you to run your Windows applications under Mac OS X, just like they were native Mac apps, and CrossOver doesn't need XP at all. The list of compatible software keeps growing every week.
As for keyboards, you can always plug an external keyboard to make use of Trados' shortcuts.
Viruses... you're right, following several guidelines are enough (most of the time) to avoid viruses, malware / spyware... but a large portion of the computers I've seen have appalling quantities of crapware or spyware installed, and most users just don't know what they're doing with their computers most of the time when they click here and there.
Still, good for you and anyone who's satisfied with his/her computer, be it a PC, a Mac, a Linux box or whatever. XP is a good OS (a bit dated now, but it was a great leap forward), and any machine that helps us do our work smoothly is a great thing to have.
Anyway, if you ever try a Mac for real, perhaps you'd change your mind O
 
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
 Member (2003)
Polish to German
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MODERATOR | | Mac is much more expensive than a Vostro | Jul 8 |
Did you take a bit time to look at the specs of the Vostro in question and its price?
It is simply several hundred Euros chepaer than a cheapest Mac. And it comes with a better specification. Mac may be stylish, but it is in no way better than a PC.
I have both a PC and a Mac here - and I would never like to work on a Mac, if I'm not forced to do so. The OS is not intuitive at all if you come from Windows. You look for some easy features with the context menu and they are simply not there. Installing a network printer under Mac OS 9 is pain in the a... Font management even under OS X (10.4 in my case) does not exist at all...
But this should not be about Mac or no Mac.
Your main question is, if such a laptop can replace your desktop. Yes it can - but you will need to connect a full size keyboard, a mouse and a bigger monitor to it. All laptops do have a VGA out nowadays, so does the Vostro too. It has 4 USB connectors, a single SD-card reader and an Express card slot. It comes with a DVD writer integrated, and all this together with battery does not exceed 2 kilogramms. The keyboard on the laptop is nearly full-size and you can easilly type on it when travelling. I do not know the price in your country, but in Germany such laptop starts from 399 Euros plus VAT, which makes it an incredibly good buy.
| | | | Amy Duncan
United States
Member (2005)
Portuguese to English
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Peter Manda wrote:
The problem that I have seen that people have switching to MAC is that they end up with compatibility problems with documents created in Windows or working over MS based servers. Is this true? If not, I may have finally reached the "buy MAC" tipping point.
Thanks. |
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All I did was buy Microsoft Office for Mac and I have no problems either receiving docs created in Windows or sending them back. Most of my translation work (except for the occasional PDF, PowerPoint, JPG, etc.) comes in .doc. The default for the latest version of Word is .docx, but when you save a file there are all sorts of options as to what format you want to save it in.
Believe me, I hemmed and hawed for several years before I finally took the Mac plunge, and now there's no turning back...I love it!
Amy
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Member (2003)
Polish to German
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MODERATOR | | Ever heard about compatibility? | Jul 8 |
Amy Duncan wrote:
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The default for the latest version of Word is .docx, but when you save a file there are all sorts of options as to what format you want to save it in.
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Amy |
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What you are doing may end in damaging customers document.
This is what wonders me most - you speak about Mac and PC without spending a simplest thought on that. Count yourself lucky if you can switch platforms so easily without any problems. In "real life" things do work a bit different and switching platforms causes only tons of work.
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| Gillian Searl
United Kingdom
Member (2004)
German to English
| | Can you use Trados on a Mac? | Jul 8 |
I thought that was impossible. I know I am slightly off topic here but I'd be interested to know the answer. If you have a Mac operating as a PC with all the gadgets can you also use Trados on it? Even if you can't use the shortcuts.
Gillia
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Member (2003)
Polish to German
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MODERATOR | | With Windows XP on a Mac AFAIK yes | Jul 8 |
The new Intel Macs do support running under Windows XP.
But SDL Trados does not officially support this combination as far I am informed.
Nevertheless, this combination should work.
| | | | Fernando Toledo
Germany
German to Spanish
| | There is no combination | Jul 8 |
Jerzy Czopik wrote:
But SDL Trados does not officially support this combination as far I am informed.
Nevertheless, this combination should work. |
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SDL support (bad) what is supose to support. Has nothing to do where you "run" Windows.
It works, and XP start faster and better than in a PC, and I use Trados with Dragon NS, and hear music (instrumental) + all other applications like Mail or Firefox in the Mac at the same time!!
Mac is intuitiv.
Trados is not intuitiv.
For example:
You may consider take a look at Leopard and Word 2008.
And SDL may consider apply the same menus like Mac.
[Edited at 2008-07-08 20:37]
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
MODERATOR | | Off topic: what is not intuitive in this menu you quote? | Jul 8 |
Well, maybe it is not that clear, when you do not know, what you can achieve with all those options, but hey, are all other menus intuitive, when you do not know the functions behind?
And I did not speak about Trados in this case, but Mac OS and Windows XP - where the latest is more intuitive for me, than any Mac OS I know. I admit I do not know the latest Mac OS, but I don't expect it to have changed diametricaly from Tiger or Panther.
When PC was in very early stage of development, with DOS or Windows 3.x, Mac OS far better. But since Mac OS did not develop in terms of user friendliness much and PC did. This is how I do see that and just my very personal opinion. I'm certainly not on this recently very popular hype against Microsoft or other market leaders here and there.
| | | | Fernando Toledo
Germany
German to Spanish
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Jerzy Czopik wrote:
what is not intuitive in this menu you quote?. |
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Well, you go to Tools -> Clean Up and you have the option NOT to clean it 
Some years ago, Apple recognize that his System was in a dead-end street, so they start the new OS from UNIX.
Windows still try to maintain alive a system condemned to dead... But this is really Off-topic in this thread.
Spaces, Time Machine and some other features of Mac OSX are a great advance for my work and I am happy not to fight with Windows.
Regards
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| Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Member (2003)
Polish to German
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MODERATOR | | Off topic: one short look in the help function for this dialog will clarify what is meant | Jul 8 |
Don't clean up is for special purposes, giving the user better possibility to check changes in reviewed documents. That's basicaly all.
| | | | FarkasAndras
Hungary
English to Hungarian
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| | 17" and portability | Jul 8 |
flora Yu wrote:
Acutally it's really hard to give attention to both mobility and professional performance.Most of time I'm working at home, better get back to desktop PC time or choose Vostro 1700 with 17 inches screen... |
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I'd not buy a 17" "laptop". They are absolute monsters.
Anything between 13" and 15" is reasonably portable and ok for work. So I don't see the point of buying a 17", which is way too large to fit in any normal bag.
I'd get a decent 14.1", an external keyboard ($10 for a cheapo, $50 for a really good one) and a monitor. The cheapest of cheap tn panels is absolutely fine for translation, here that'd be about $200. A 1280*1024 17" is good enough, really. The beauty of it is that you get 2 screens, so your document(s) can stay open on one and you can open dictionary/browser windows on the other. Lots of screen real estate can only be a good thing imo.
At the same time, you retain portability.
Also, I wonder why mac users felt the need to fill up this thread with mac eulogies. I know you love your machines but can't that stay between the two of you?
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| | I forgot Office for Mac | Jul 8 |
Ángel Domínguez wrote:
Heinrich: if you switch to a Mac from a PC, you probably have an XP license already, and you can install it in your Boot Camp partition, for instance.
There's even a third way, which is to use CrossOver Mac, which acts like a direct virtualization layer that allows you to run your Windows applications under Mac OS X, just like they were native Mac apps, and CrossOver doesn't need XP at all. The list of compatible software keeps growing every week.
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Does that mean I could use the license of my current machine for the mac? I do not have any system cd. My dealer told me I had to buy a license from Microsoft, and that would mean Vista. Sure MS won't use me XP on both machines?
But I forgot about Office for Mac. That would cost as much as a cheap pc-laptop already, I believe.
I think we should actively shift to use of open source software to make the world a better place to work
I'm not against the mac, only I do not like the price-tag.
Heinrich
| | | | AniseK
Malaysia
Japanese to English
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flora Yu wrote:
Hello all,
I'm new in this forum.
Recently I wanna buy a new laptop coz my old one is too slow andthe performance is not stable.
I've watching on DELL Vostro 1310 for one week, is it a good choice?
-Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor T5670,-1.8GHz
-Internal Dell(TM) 84 Keys Keyboard
-13" WXGA 1280X800
-2GB(2x1024) 667Mhz DDR2 SDRAM
-160GB 7200RPM SATA
-128MB NVIDIA(R)GeForce(R)8400M GS
Guess seldom translators use laptop to work that's why I'm so cautious to choose.
Any one who is professional at this Please give me some advises.
Thank you! |
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Hi Flora,
If you are wondering the specs you mentioned is adequate for translating work, it is. Not sure if it will run smoothly when you use Trados, because I'm using Wordfast. Doesn't take much processing power to run Wordfast.
I am using Dell Inspiron, 15" screen (heavy to carry, but love large screen), with T5750 processor. I have no problem with my laptop so far, but I'm running Windows XP. If your Vostro comes with Windows Vista (which I am sure it does), I would like to recommend you to downgrade it to XP for a more stable performance, and compatibility. You can get the sales service people to do that for you. And another item you really need is a number pad. Really comes in handy when you have pages of numbers to re-type
I'm not sure if the Chinese version of Windows will allow you to type Japanese, so that is something to check first before you buy. If your budget allows it, you may want to upgrade your memory to 4GB.
I have to agree that laptop is great when you need to work away from home. It helped me a lot when my internet connection at home was down or when the power was out, or when my nieces and nephews descended on me, and I need to get away from them to work! But, if you don't have that kind of problems, and work mainly from home, then why not get a desktop? Larger screen, better processor, better memory, keyboard that comes together with number pad, etc. Cheaper too.
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The translation workplace 
