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"Instant" startup - laptop or tablet

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  • 06-08-2013 12:10pm
    #1
    derb12
    Registered Users Posts: 493 ✭✭


    I'm looking to replace my laptop. My top priority for the new device is that I switch it on and can open files and start work instantaneously. Second priority is long battery life.
    I'm a teacher and I have to move rooms for each period so can't be doing with waiting around for my computer to start up or looking for a power source. My old laptop could take minutes to start, but perhaps technology has moved on?
    I use my laptop for day to day records and also for creating class resources. I'm used to running Windows or Linux. I use OpenOffice for all my resources so I don't know if I'd be facing compatibility issues if I switched platforms. I'm not that comfortable with the closed nature of iOS. The school environment is Windows.
    What's the story with non-i-pad tablets? Are they more compatible with other platforms or do they have their own proprietary appstore equivalents?
    As you may have guessed from the ramblings, I'm clueless when it comes to tablets ... but they look like they might suit me.
    Anyone willing to advise?


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    #2
    bonzodog2
    Registered Users Posts: 6,210 ✭✭✭bonzodog2


    Have you tried suspend(sleep) or hibernate on what you have now?


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    #3
    EGriff
    Registered Users Posts: 1,906 ✭✭✭EGriff


    Get a laptop with an SSD in it. The start up times and general opening of things has gotten way faster since I installed one in mine.


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    #4
    derb12
    Registered Users Posts: 493 ✭✭derb12


    bonzodog2 wrote: »
    Have you tried suspend(sleep) or hibernate on what you have now?
    Thanks bonzodog2 - yes I used to do that, and it was just about okay but for some reason a few months ago, the hibernate started taking absolutely ages to wake up when I open the laptop next time.


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    #5
    derb12
    Registered Users Posts: 493 ✭✭derb12


    EGriff wrote: »
    Get a laptop with an SSD in it. The start up times and general opening of things has gotten way faster since I installed one in mine.
    Had a quick look online. The laptop with SSD was about €400 more than the others. Is that basically the cost of the drive? I was hoping to get sorted for around the €500/€600 mark at most.
    Thanks for the suggestion.


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    #6
    jester77
    Registered Users Posts: 11,262 ✭✭✭✭jester77


    Depends on what you need to do. Tablets are great as consuming data, but if you are doing any form of input then they get tedious. Their main advantage is that they are light and portable with great batter life.

    I am always in and out of meetings at work during the day, I've a macbook pro and it resumes instantly once you open the lid. It changes from ethernet to wlan with no issues and the battery is great although never have had to have it running on battery for more than 4 hours. Openoffice is also mac compatible.

    I also have an ipad but it's just sitting in my desk drawer. The laptop just trumps it when it comes to inputting data.


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    #7
    EGriff
    Registered Users Posts: 1,906 ✭✭✭EGriff


    derb12 wrote: »
    Had a quick look online. The laptop with SSD was about €400 more than the others. Is that basically the cost of the drive? I was hoping to get sorted for around the €500/€600 mark at most.
    Thanks for the suggestion.

    Pretty much any laptop can have its hard drive swapped for an SSD after you buy it. I got a 120GB SSD from amazon for about €80 and put that into my almost 3 year old dell.


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    #8
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    Tablets are utterly useless for extensive typing. OpenOffice is not compatible with iOS or Android (read only). That pretty much rules out a tablet.

    A laptop with a reasonably fast SSD boots in 10-15 seconds, from a cold start, that is.

    The 12" ASUS Vivobook S200E with an energy efficient Core i3 ULV processor costs less than €450, add to that 100 yoyos for a solid state drive and you're in business. Slim, light, decent battery life (5-6 hrs) and multitouch display, it should tick a lot of boxes.

    Tutorial: How to upgrade the Vivobook with a SSD


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    #9
    derb12
    Registered Users Posts: 493 ✭✭derb12


    EGriff wrote: »
    Pretty much any laptop can have its hard drive swapped for an SSD after you buy it. I got a 120GB SSD from amazon for about €80 and put that into my almost 3 year old dell.
    My laptop is about 4 years old I think - I'll investigate if this could be done. Thanks for the info.
    Torqay wrote: »
    Tablets are utterly useless for extensive typing. OpenOffice is not compatible with iOS or Android (read only). That pretty much rules out a tablet.

    A laptop with a reasonably fast SSD boots in 10-15 seconds, from a cold start, that is.

    The 12" ASUS Vivobook S200E with an energy efficient Core i3 ULV processor costs less than €450, add to that 100 yoyos for a solid state drive and you're in business. Slim, light, decent battery life (5-6 hrs) and multitouch display, it should tick a lot of boxes.

    Tutorial: How to upgrade the Vivobook with a SSD

    Okay - so I'm definitely going to go the laptop route. I would prefer a new one with the SSD pre-installed so I'll continue to mooch around shops and websites.

    At least now I know what I'm looking for - thanks so much!


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    #10
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    derb12 wrote: »
    Okay - so I'm definitely going to go the laptop route. I would prefer a new one with the SSD pre-installed so I'll continue to mooch around shops and websites.

    At least now I know what I'm looking for - thanks so much!

    Unfortunately, you won't find a budget laptop with a solid state drive. If you don't want to upgrade the laptop with a solid state drive (really, it ain't arcane science) have a look at PC Specialist's Ultranote 15, full HD IPS display (it's gorgeous!) Core i3 processor, 4 GB RAM, 120 GB Kingston SSD, price €672. Not exactly budget but reasonable, considering you don't want to upgrade yourself.


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    #11
    derb12
    Registered Users Posts: 493 ✭✭derb12


    Torqay wrote: »
    Unfortunately, you won't find a budget laptop with a solid state drive. If you don't want to upgrade the laptop with a solid state drive (really, it ain't arcane science) have a look at PC Specialist's Ultranote 15, full HD IPS display (it's gorgeous!) Core i3 processor, 4 GB RAM, 120 GB Kingston SSD, price €672. Not exactly budget but reasonable, considering you don't want to upgrade yourself.
    Thanks Torqay - looks very interesting. It definitely would be a candidate and worth stretching my budget for.
    I'm reluctant to swap out the hard disk in a new laptop as it'd void my warranty. I could do it on my old laptop without too much risk but I'll have to check if it is doable.
    A brand new gorgeous laptop that ticks all the boxes is very tempting. Thanks for all your help.


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    #12
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    derb12 wrote: »
    I'm reluctant to swap out the hard disk in a new laptop as it'd void my warranty.

    Changing a HDD for a SSD or upgrading memory usually does not void the warranty.
    derb12 wrote: »
    I could do it on my old laptop without too much risk but I'll have to check if it is doable.

    Well, a decent 128GB SSD costs around €120, not sure if it's worth spending so much money on an old laptop. Depends on the specs and since you require some mobility, how good is the battery?
    derb12 wrote: »
    A brand new gorgeous laptop that ticks all the boxes is very tempting.

    I know two people who have bought the UltraNote... a fine piece of kit, especially the display.


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