I'm getting a laptop soon....don't wanna spend much, what brand do you suggest?

I have been in the computing industry for well over 20 years now. I've started out in Macintosh, then got into Windows, and some Linux. I've done print design, multimedia, systems administration/management, web design and development, to name a few. I've used a variety of hardware, and built my own equipment from scratch.

If you are just going to do pictures, music, movies, etc., and not much internet except for email and general browsing of the net, it's pretty simple. Get a Mac. As soon as Macintosh dumped their old system (smart move), and took on OS X, it took Macintosh to a whole new level, simply because of the unix kernel they utilize in their operating system. It has made the macintosh 10 times more stable then a pc. Mac's are less vulnerable to virus' then a PC, and the memory utilization with a Mac is far superior to a PC. Plunk down the cash for the iMac. You'll have it for 5 years plus, without even breaking a sweat. I had a macintosh for over 10 years. The same machine. The only reason I got rid of it, was simply because it had become obsolete. No other reason. Because it ran like a champ.

If you decide to go with a Mac, either a desktop or labtop is totally fine. Their both excellent! Also, with the new Macintoshs, you can run either Windows PC native, or the Macintosh operating system. That alone should make up your mind right there!

However, if you don't want a Mac (for some bizarre reason) and would like a PC. It depends on the maker depending on whether you want a laptop or desktop machine.

If you want a labtop, I used to say the IBM laptop is the Mercedes of the laptop world. Die-hard machine. This is until Lenovo took over. Lenovo basically killed the IBM labtop. Simply because the quality just isn't there anymore. They are becoming, cheap.

I never thought I'd suggest anything other than a Thinkpad, but I must say, the Sony's are fantastic. Panasonic also makes a great machine (the Toughbook series). Other than that, Dell and Gateway's are ok, nothing great. Stay away from the HP's (Hewlett Packard), and Compaqs. We had a phrase in the systems department. Compaqs stand for Compaq piece of shit.

Now, if you are talking desktop, there is not other desktop to get, other than a Dell. Period. Specifically their Precision class machines. Absolutely 100% fantastic! From their, Sony and IBM desktops are ok.

The secret to a fast computer are these three things. Many people don't even think about these, but these select specifications are what make for a fast computer.

1. Memory
Buy as much memory as the damn machine will hold, or you can afford. With the memory consumption of operating systems and applications, memory can take a big hit. Although, there are limitations with certain operating systems, primarily Windows. So you are safe with a minimum of 2 gigs of ram. Stay with 2 gigs of ram, and that's a healthy amount for anyone's system. That will allow you a good burst of speed. If you are editing video, you will then want more.

2. Graphics card
With all the variety of graphics out now in pictures, videos, screensavers, etc., you want the fastest card your money can buy. Why? Because if the screen can't draw it fast enough on it's own from the graphics card, guess what? It will then start caching information to your hard drive. And that's going to cause a drop in speed, because a graphics cards memory, is 100 times faster than a hard drive's speed.

3. Hard drive
Many people just go for the size of the hard drive. Size does matter to a point, but the hard drives are so large now-a-days, it doesn't really matter. What DOES matter, is speed. For potent speed, you want a drive that will at least be 7200rpms, with and 8 meg buffer. This will allow for swapping of information, and allow your computer to cache it's information much quicker. SCSI is even better. Because with SCSI drives, you can achieve up to 15,000rpms, with up to 16 meg buffers. That's extremely fast! Those drives are typically for file server arrays, or video. Very fast!

These three components, will increase your overall speed of your computer. I hope this info helped. Happy computing!