Laptop buying time

[speedbird591]

It's that time in the speedbird household again

The present Mrs. Speedbird is complaining about her laptop. 'Somehow' the keys have become clogged with chocolate and crisps and nail varnish has smeared the screen and bits have broken off etc. etc. yeah yeah I get the picture it's no longer of the required standard for 4 hours a day facebooking/farmvilleing and shopping So, as my 3 year old Acer is still immaculate and pristine but being left behind in the power race, she can have that and I can get a new one!

So the question is (Ben?) wait until the autumn and get an Ivy Bridge i5/i7 with Windows 8 OR pick up a bargain Sandy Bridge with Windows 7 and a W8 upgrade coupon (not advertised yet but almost certainly will be soon for the back-to-school/Uni rush)?

I'm quite happy riding behind the curve and using slightly older technology. Having a bargain makes me happier than having "the very latest thing" and I don't need to run hugely detailed scenery in FSX. As long as my Boeings fly smoothly and the Landor livery is shiny and I have a couple of decent airports to land at, I'm content

So, is there any great performance or other advantage in waiting for the new W8 machines? Is there something I haven't thought of? There usually is!

Ian

EDIT: Ooops. Meant to put this in The Spanner. Would one of you mods kindly kick it over, please? Ta!

[SkippyBing]

From what I've been reading, I wouldn't bother holding out for Win 8 unless you like the idea of using the Windows Phone interface on your computer, think big 2D blocks that are vaguely suited to a touch screen interface. You can get back to a more standard Windows interface but the system keeps trying to revert to the Metro interface as they call it.

Considering FSX is getting on for 6 years old now I don't think you'd be missing anything by staying with 7 and avoiding the frustration of dealing with the learning curve of Win 8. That's my plan anyway!

[speedbird591]

Considering FSX is getting on for 6 years old now I don't think you'd be missing anything by staying with 7 and avoiding the frustration of dealing with the learning curve of Win 8. That's my plan anyway!

Is it really that old? Jeez

If you're planning something similar, Skippy, is there anything you've got on your radar at the moment?
(my plan is to let you do all the work and then jump in!)

Ian

[airboatr]

Win 8 allows the user to change the interface so it looks like a computer OS as we're used to seeing.

I'd recommend you get a computer that runs Win 7 or win 8 But forget the upgrade. To many chances your hardware won't work properly with an upgrade. Which has been my experience. (Although I'm sure someone will state they had no problems upgrading.

The hardware side is as per when buying a lappy. get as much horsepower as you can afford. But keep in mind the hours it will run on battery. That will give you some indication of how effiecent the hardware package is. (If you get my gist)


Joe

[TSR2]

I really like the metro interface.... on my Windows Phone. I'm not convinced it works on a PC, but I suspect it will work well on a tablet. I've got the latest prerelease running on an old laptop ( 6GB RAM, 1.23Ghz 1st generation intel core) and its very quick, and the wife loves it. I'm still to be convinced that it lends itself to a keyboard / mouse input.

Anyway,

I agree with Skip, get a great current generation laptop that will run Windows 7 well. If you can stretch to it, get it with an SSD. If wou don't mind undoing a few screws, buy it with a traditional hard disk and buy one of the plethora of great SSD's available separately and put it in yourself. (The SSD bit assumes you don't need oodels of storage on your laptop, but if you do, that will probably proclude an SSD.)

[speedbird591]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll keep an eye out for a well-specced W7 sandy bridge in the clearance sales. But if I don't see anything that excites me I'll wait for the new generation machines to hit the street.

Ian

[Tomliner]

How about trading in 'er indoors' and her laptop against newer models? Models in the wider sense of the world. EricT

[speedbird591]

How about trading in 'er indoors' and her laptop against newer models? Models in the wider sense of the world. EricT

I've already done that twice before, Eric The present Mrs. Speedbird was still in nappies when I was celebrating my 21st so I don't know how much newer I can afford to go

Ian

[airboatr]

I see the thread jumped track after only six posts.

Chaulk up another for S E X.

[Tomliner]

Airboatr wrote [I see the thread jumped track after only six posts. [/quote]
Do I get a prize for this? EricT