Puter?

[1freaky1]

Ok so I bought my daughters new puter and not sure what the diff is on this one. What is the difference between a Laptop and a Notebook?

[Brody]

Screen size? Heck...do they have all the same stuff on 'em? Except for your pictures, of course....

I have a regular monitor hooked up to the MAC that you can use whenever you want to swap files between the old and new 'puters...I mostly use the PC...Let me know..

[WINKY]

i think they are one in the same...? maybe size only?

[RockyMtnHigh]

Screen size and size defines what is a laptop and what is a notebook.

Screen sizes for notebooks are generally between 12-14", the overall thickness is very thin and as a result they don't have an internal optical drive (CD or DVD)

Laptops on the other hand have widescreens from 14-17" and do have a internal optical drive, with a full featured keyboard.

There's more variables to each, but you get the idea, I don't want to sound like too much of a dork!:lol:

[Brody]

Thanks...that was sorta what I thought, but wasn't sure. I never thought about the keyboard part, but that makes perfect sense...

Hey...about the Dork part...I figure that if anyone asks a question here, they want an answer, so if someone with the knowledge steps up to answer it, they can be as dorky as they want as long as the info is good...

[1freaky1]

Thanks guys!
Pete thanks again for the offer about the monitor but I have tried 3 of them so far and each one is not getting a signal from the puter so I am just going to wait on it and mess with it later.

[RockyMtnHigh]

I totally missed that, but the old machine is it a laptop or desktop?

[WINKY]

i wouldnt want to put my desktop on my lap, it weighs 75lbs.... owie!

[Haku]

From what I understand, the manufacturers don't like to call anything a laptop anymore, since they don't want you using it on your lap. A few lawsuits involving a hot battery or two changed that. Thats at least what I heard. You'll notice that the "laptop" term isn't used nearly as much any more by the actual manufacturers. I know mine gets pretty toasty and uncomfortable after sitting on my lap for more then a couple minutes. For what its worth, I'm hearing really good thing about the ultra mobile ones coming out lately. As long as you don't need a CD drive or major graphics use, and can deal with a smaller screen they do awesome and are a fraction of the weight and the battery last 3 times as long as a normal notebook. Plus, they are cheap too, like $300 to $400 dollars for a decent one.

JH

[1freaky1]

I totally missed that, but the old machine is it a laptop or desktop?
It was a Compaq Laptop only 2yrs old.

The new one is a HP Notebook but has a 17" screen

[RockyMtnHigh]

So the display quit working? May just be the video card flaked out on it, but if the display went bad the only real option left is getting a docking station for it and hooking an external monitor to it. Display replacements for laptops are often more expensive than a whole new machine.

[Haku]

Thanks guys!
Pete thanks again for the offer about the monitor but I have tried 3 of them so far and each one is not getting a signal from the puter so I am just going to wait on it and mess with it later.

The unfortunate thing about laptops is, everything is integrated onto the main board. This means that if any one part fails, you pretty much have to replace the whole thing. I found this out the hard way with a Toshiba lappy that I had a while back. The video card portion of the display crapped out on me three separate times, twice while in warranty and again once it had expired.

As long as you have it set so that it is sending out through the VGA port (you usually have to configure it this way, either through a function key or in the display settings) and you aren't getting anything, then its probably the video chip thats fried. I'd be happy to take a crack at it for you. I seem to have knack for sussing out computer hardware problems after having some of the same ones myself.

Am I the biggest dork yet? Wait.......that sounds bad.......

JH

[RockyMtnHigh]

Am I the biggest dork yet? Wait.......that sounds bad.......

JH

I didn't know all that about laptops, I have one, but I really like desktops better, yeah as it stands with this question you are a bigger dork than me! :lol: J/K

[Roostercruiser]

i was just at our pediatriyions office and the doctor used a notebook and it couldnt have been more than a half inch thick.

[1freaky1]

Yeah I too prefer a desktop over a laptop! Haku thanks for explaining more on this too!

[Brody]

Its cool having quite a few folks here that actually work on computers, both the hardware and software sides.

Randy, Josh, Chris, Rocky Mountain High, Me, Bear, Jon and probably more..quite a few considering that this is a 4x site and most of us turn wrenches, too...

I just replaced my laptop with a used one...dropped the old one off a chair and it landed right on the external wireless card. Toasted the 10/100 and wireless connection, nothing else. The laptop company had been bought out by another company and I couldn't fins a replacement mother board anywhere..and I looked. Finally ended up buying a decent used laptop.

I have to replace a MB in an HP Pavillion laptop for someone else towards the end of the month and I have found prices ranging from $160-450 for the same MB...go figure...

Sean's HD in his laptop has spade connectors on the back. I loaned him my external baby HD case so he could get the info transferred (this is the main problem...he needs to get pictures from one HD to another), but this had the standard pins. Anyone think that Micro Tech would have the baby HD adapter that goes from spade to pins? Or any other suggestions? 95% of my stuff is for desktops...

[Chris]

Any luck with the iBooks Pete? Mine's slowly dying. :(

[Brody]

Another duplicate post I couldn't remove....

[Chris]

Hmm, that was strange. I removed the dupe and both disappeared. Sorry! :(

[Brody]

I haven't actually tried to get them up and running yet. I didn't want to spend the $$ on the power cord and so they have been sitting on the shelf waiting for time+money.
Here is this back again..the other stayed in place....

My extra (HA) money went to the Chevy springs and new shocks. The next bunch is going to PSC for the hydro assist and West Texas Off Road for the PS box bore, tap and rebuild.

If you can use them back, just holler, as it may be awhile before I can get to them. Just let me know. I haven't even tried to get the desktop dual G4 booted and up and running yet either...Also got the downstairs bathroom tile project to finish...just poured the floor for the shower pan and am now waiting for the leak test so that I can start tiling...Also got to get the 84 to the point where I can E-test it...I also have the MB to replace in my buddy's HP laptop....Oh yeah...and your rear front spring mounts to move forward....and the oil leak fixed in the DD...and Dave Nay's welding stuff to do...and some sod to replace in the front where I burned it with muriatic acid cleaning off the driveway...anyway, for an unemployed person, I seem to be busy...

Computers are kinda on the back burner for a bit..
__________________

[Chris]

I have one that needs the same fix as the ones I gave you so I don't want those. Just hoping you'd fins an easy fix by experimenting on those to save me the trouble. ;)

[Haku]

Its cool having quite a few folks here that actually work on computers, both the hardware and software sides.

Randy, Josh, Chris, Rocky Mountain High, Me, Bear, Jon and probably more..quite a few considering that this is a 4x site and most of us turn wrenches, too...

I just replaced my laptop with a used one...dropped the old one off a chair and it landed right on the external wireless card. Toasted the 10/100 and wireless connection, nothing else. The laptop company had been bought out by another company and I couldn't fins a replacement mother board anywhere..and I looked. Finally ended up buying a decent used laptop.

I have to replace a MB in an HP Pavillion laptop for someone else towards the end of the month and I have found prices ranging from $160-450 for the same MB...go figure...

Sean's HD in his laptop has spade connectors on the back. I loaned him my external baby HD case so he could get the info transferred (this is the main problem...he needs to get pictures from one HD to another), but this had the standard pins. Anyone think that Micro Tech would have the baby HD adapter that goes from spade to pins? Or any other suggestions? 95% of my stuff is for desktops...

Sounds like you have an IDE enclosure and the HD in the compaq is an SATA drive. Does the one with spade look like the one on the left?

http://www.laptopparts101.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/sata-ide-laptop-hard-drive.jpg

If so, then yes they should have adapters at Micro Center. I have a hot swappable drive dock called the Lantec Nexstar like this http://www.vantecusa.com/front/product/pro_list/70 . Its like 20 or 30 bucks, and can take any SATA drive (2.5 or 3.5 inch). It has USB, firewire, and eSATA connectors. You just pop the hard drive in and press the on button, and it connects just like a USB flash drive. Its really nice for working on other computers hard drives since you can just swap them over. I also use it for data storage and being able to switch easily.

JH

[Brody]

Forgot about the SATA drives...don't have anything in any that I run at the moment, so it never dawned on me. I bet that is what Sean has with the newer laptop...the one I am using right now is 2005, but it works for my laptop junk...

SATAs just came out when I built my desktop and were way too expensive. I just did a RAID for it with 4 ATAs..works OK for everything except big video files...nice to get some SATAs for that, but that is so far down on the list I can't see it happening anytime soon..

Got the truck junk to do first...Dying for the Hydro assist, wiring in the Split Second ECU, and doing the overbored and tricked TB...only some of which I have set aside $$ for. Then it is finding a job before anything else...

[1freaky1]

Forgot about the SATA drives...don't have anything in any that I run at the moment, so it never dawned on me. I bet that is what Sean has with the newer laptop...the one I am using right now is 2005, but it works for my laptop junk...

SATAs just came out when I built my desktop and were way too expensive. I just did a RAID for it with 4 ATAs..works OK for everything except big video files...nice to get some SATAs for that, but that is so far down on the list I can't see it happening anytime soon..

Got the truck junk to do first...Dying for the Hydro assist, wiring in the Split Second ECU, and doing the overbored and tricked TB...only some of which I have set aside $$ for. Then it is finding a job before anything else...

Ok boys you lost me w/ the acronyms here! As for the pic mine is definitely like the IDE one.

[Brody]

If it is like the IDE one, then the external HD case I lent you should've worked. If you are going to be coming by Saturday, why don't you bring the computer over and we'll take a look at it. Bring the new and old and we'll see if we can't get the pictures transferred. You can just bring over the old HD and we can see if I can pull the pictures off and put them on a couple of DVDs, too...

Also got a request for a dent puller if you have one. Andy wanted me to ask you. PM me if you have one.

[1freaky1]

I can do all that, I think I still have the slide hammer type dent puller, the suction cup ones dried up and were tossed. I double check to make sure before I come over.

[Brody]

Sounds like you have an IDE enclosure and the HD in the compaq is an SATA drive. Does the one with spade look like the one on the left?

http://www.laptopparts101.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/sata-ide-laptop-hard-drive.jpg

If so, then yes they should have adapters at Micro Center. I have a hot swappable drive dock called the Lantec Nexstar like this http://www.vantecusa.com/front/product/pro_list/70 . Its like 20 or 30 bucks, and can take any SATA drive (2.5 or 3.5 inch). It has USB, firewire, and eSATA connectors. You just pop the hard drive in and press the on button, and it connects just like a USB flash drive. Its really nice for working on other computers hard drives since you can just swap them over. I also use it for data storage and being able to switch easily.

JH

It is an SATA drive. I am going to try to get an adapter from Micro Center...see if I can go in there and get out without spending all sorts of $$ I don't have....It's like going into Outdoor Warehouse and not dropping $200++ on ammo or gun accessories.....

[Screweder]

Main difference.... Marketing ;)