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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flora Yu 
China
 Member (Mar 2008)
Japanese to Chinese
+ ...
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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!
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
 Member (2003)
Polish to German
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MODERATOR | | Good for work when travelling... | Jul 8 |
but not good to work at home, unless you connect an external monitor and keyboard.
The screen of this laptop is of vey poor quality. The viewing angles are very restrictive, compared for example with my Sony Vaio.
I own both a Sony Vaio BX197XP (with 17 inches screen) and a Vostro 1310.
The Vostro is a nice machine because of its small weight and size, so you can easilly take it with you and work everywhere you want. It lasts for approximately 3 hours with 6 cells battery.
Put together I'm quite happy with Dell Vostro (Core Duo 2 GHz, 3072 MB RAM and 250 GB HDD, integrated graphics Intel), but only for special purposes. If you need to work with it for a longer time than during travelling, the screen is too bad.
Regards
Jerzy
| | | | Amy Duncan
United States
Member (2005)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
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Last year I switched from PC to Mac and am very happy. I use only my MacBook laptop for my translation work and have had no problems at all. It's a very stable machine and I no longer have all the problems I used to have with a PC with Windows instability, viruses, etc.
Amy
| | | | FarkasAndras
Hungary
English to Hungarian
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I agree with Jerzy: the specs are plenty strong enough for any reasonable translation-related use and DELL has a good reputation, but the screen is too small for use as a main work computer, I'd say.
If you only plan to use it on the go and mobility matters a lot, go for it.
If this is the computer you will use at home and you absolutely need a laptop, then get an external monitor and keyboard to go with it. If you are on a budget, choose a weaker spec to save money for the monitor (make sure the machine has VGA out).
| | | | Fernando Toledo
Germany
German to Spanish
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Amy Duncan wrote:
Last year I switched from PC to Mac and am very happy. I use only my MacBook laptop for my translation work and have had no problems at all. It's a very stable machine and I no longer have all the problems I used to have with a PC with Windows instability, viruses, etc.
Amy |
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Macbook Pro, since a few month a don't use my PC at home anymore 
With the multitouch Pad you don't need a mouse.
Great machine (with VMware + Windows XP + Trados - only for translation)
Regards
Fernando
Lenguatik.com
[Edited at 2008-07-08 12:15]
| | | | Peter Manda
United States
Member (2007)
German to English
+ ...
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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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| flora Yu
China
Member (Mar 2008)
Japanese to Chinese
+ ...
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Jerzy Czopik wrote:
but not good to work at home, unless you connect an external monitor and keyboard.
The screen of this laptop is of vey poor quality. The viewing angles are very restrictive, compared for example with my Sony Vaio.
I own both a Sony Vaio BX197XP (with 17 inches screen) and a Vostro 1310.
The Vostro is a nice machine because of its small weight and size, so you can easilly take it with you and work everywhere you want. It lasts for approximately 3 hours with 6 cells battery.
Put together I'm quite happy with Dell Vostro (Core Duo 2 GHz, 3072 MB RAM and 250 GB HDD, integrated graphics Intel), but only for special purposes. If you need to work with it for a longer time than during travelling, the screen is too bad.
Regards
Jerzy |
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Hi Jerzy,
Thank you for your advise,it helps.
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...
 
| | | | flora Yu
China
Member (Mar 2008)
Japanese to Chinese
+ ...
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Amy Duncan wrote:
Last year I switched from PC to Mac and am very happy. I use only my MacBook laptop for my translation work and have had no problems at all. It's a very stable machine and I no longer have all the problems I used to have with a PC with Windows instability, viruses, etc.
Amy |
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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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I know MAC is good but right now can not afford it.
Thank you for your advises!
| | | | flora Yu
China
Member (Mar 2008)
Japanese to Chinese
+ ...
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FarkasAndras wrote:
I agree with Jerzy: the specs are plenty strong enough for any reasonable translation-related use and DELL has a good reputation, but the screen is too small for use as a main work computer, I'd say.
If you only plan to use it on the go and mobility matters a lot, go for it.
If this is the computer you will use at home and you absolutely need a laptop, then get an external monitor and keyboard to go with it. If you are on a budget, choose a weaker spec to save money for the monitor (make sure the machine has VGA out). |
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You point out the key problem of mine!
I was worried that a non-full size keyboard is not efficient for typing work, also a bigger screen will save my eyes from staring too much on a narrow space...
As a said, really hard to pay attention to all the features you demanded!
| | | | John Paul Weir
Ireland
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
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| | "Boot Camp" for MACs | Jul 8 |
Peter 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. |
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Apple have released a program that allows you to run Windows on a Mac, alongside the native OS, and switchable from one to the other. See for details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Camp_(software)
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html
Of course it's hailed as 'easy as ABC' but I bet it ain't as straightforward as they claim, unless you have a PhD in Science & Technology.
Nevertheless, technically, it's feasible; my brother uses something like this system, but then he's a whizz with this sort of stuff. Just don't get him started on Bill Gates...
| | | | Fernando Toledo
Germany
German to Spanish
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John Paul Weir wrote:
Peter 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. |
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Apple have released a program that allows you to run Windows on a Mac, alongside the native OS, and switchable from one to the other.
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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).
And to flora. How much is the price difference (without VAT) with this DELL with 17" ? You get Windows with? or you have to buy apart?
Regards
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| Ángel Domínguez
Spain
Member (Jun 2008)
English to Spanish
| | Macs are not that expensive... | Jul 8 |
Hi,
I am also a switcher, and I don't want to use a PC again, unless they come up with a great OS in the future, and things aren't looking up in that field, lately.
Flora: I don't know the difference in price in your country between a Mac and a PC, but believe me, that price difference means that you'll have a computer that is WAY MORE comfortable to use, causes you very few (if any) headaches, is almost impervious to viruses, and has a great keyboard (both MacBooks and MacBook Pros, IMO).
That time you save when you don't need to constantly check for viruses, re-install software of drivers that suddenly and misteriously disappear, and especially the nice interface that Mac OS X has, are more than good reasons to switch. One of my partners at Globulart had a Toshiba laptop, and when he switched to a PowerBook G4, he wouldn't stop voicing his amazement at how his stress had vanished. Now he had a computer that plain worked.
But hey, if we Mac users are such zealots, it has to be for a reason, if our machines and OSes weren't worth it, we wouldn't praise them 
| | | | flora Yu
China
Member (Mar 2008)
Japanese to Chinese
+ ...
|
Ángel Domínguez wrote:
Hi,
I am also a switcher, and I don't want to use a PC again, unless they come up with a great OS in the future, and things aren't looking up in that field, lately.
Flora: I don't know the difference in price in your country between a Mac and a PC, but believe me, that price difference means that you'll have a computer that is WAY MORE comfortable to use, causes you very few (if any) headaches, is almost impervious to viruses, and has a great keyboard (both MacBooks and MacBook Pros, IMO).
That time you save when you don't need to constantly check for viruses, re-install software of drivers that suddenly and misteriously disappear, and especially the nice interface that Mac OS X has, are more than good reasons to switch. One of my partners at Globulart had a Toshiba laptop, and when he switched to a PowerBook G4, he wouldn't stop voicing his amazement at how his stress had vanished. Now he had a computer that plain worked.
But hey, if we Mac users are such zealots, it has to be for a reason, if our machines and OSes weren't worth it, we wouldn't praise them
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Ángel: Seems I really know little about MAC, I only saw my colleague used to design pictures on MAC OS, I have to learn more before buying and my ACER laptop dying!
Thanks!
| | | | Daina Jauntirans
United States
Member (2005)
German to English
+ ...
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My new office computer is a Dell Vostro desktop, but I also have a Toshiba Satellite laptop. This is my second one, and I'm quite happy with it except for the small screen size (you can get bigger ones, but I went for portability this time) and some extra programs that make it a little slow to start up. Otherwise, my first one lasted more than 5 years, which is pretty good for a laptop. Another choice to consider.
| | | | Alexander Chisholm
Italy
Member (2003)
Italian to English
+ ...
| | I just bought an ASUS G1s | Jul 8 |
I was using a 17" ACER "laptop" for a while (I put laptop in quotes because it was a huge beast of a machine - 7kg)
It was handy because of the large size of screen and full sized keyboard (including number pad!!), and the screen size meant I could view most of my word files at 150% zoom and have my Trados window sitting on top with bags of space to spare.
However, it started having problems and is due to break down again soon and is no longer in warranty... sooo... it had to be replaced.
Unfortunately, due to the multimedia and home entertainment "revolution", 17" and even 19" laptop screens (yes they do exist) are widescreen or 16:9 format. Great for watching films, not so great for working with word/trados, so I couldn't buy a direct replacement for my ACER.
I bought an ASUS G1s.
It has a core duo 2.4Ghz processor, 4GB RAM, 7200 RPM S-ATA hard drive and 15" screen. Obviously, about the highest spec for a laptop on the market.
Essentially, its a gaming machine, but the very high performance comes in handy when your running Trados/word with a huge file filled with graphics (like a surgical report or manual) and your using a massive TM with a million TUs.
The screen resolution be default is very high (1680 x 1050) and in the beginning this seems strange because the task bar appears like a tiny smudge along the bottom of the screen - but you do get used to it.
Again, I can work with most of my word files at 150% zoom and there's still room to have the Trados window sitting at the top of the page.
The keyboard is comfortable to use and its a slick machine all round.
Unfortunately, since it has a standard laptop keyboard, i.e. no number pad, you can't use a lot of the Trados speed commands, like ALT + (num pad) + (plus) to finish a TU and move to the next one.
This is the only gripe I have with the laptop - otherwise its perfect.
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | |
The translation workplace 
