Computer help desk

[Leo]

I'm guessing this DVD was just burned by the school. If they didn't use a good brand of recordable media, it may not have good results elsewhere. Even with good brands, there's an element of your-mileage-may-vary when it comes to optical media. That brand of media may just not like both your laptop and desktop hard drives.

If you can ask the school to burn a disc for you, that would really be the best way. You can do what you want using what's called a video capture card. However, they're a bit expensive - the top seller in this category on Newegg is $70. (Link.)

I'd really look into if you can ask the school to make a copy for you instead. You can do what you want, yes, but it's not a cheap way to do it.

[Gutmutter]

My daughter asked for a new laptop for Christmas to replace the one she had that died just after her warranty ran out (of course). Since I can't afford anything fancy, I'm hoping someone here has a good tip on where to find them on sale. The cheapo ones at Walmart start around $600. Should I just go with that or am I likely to find seasonal sales? She's angry with Dell (her last model) because of the dying right after the warranty coincidence. All she NEEDS it to do is go on the internet for a class she needs to take, but she'd like to be able to burn CDs and watch videos. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Leo]

Without seeing the specifications for those $600 laptops, it's hard to say. I would also be curious what the warranties on those are. There's an element of too-good-to-be-true in them.

In any case, the one thing she should take into consideration is a lot of laptop sellers offer discounts for students. It may not be a lot - for example, Apple appears to offer $100 off for Macbooks and $200 off for Macbook Pros. Unfortunately, those start at $1099 for Macbooks and $1999 for Macbook Pros. In any case, ordinary retailers like Walmart would be able to offer those. It's something worth looking into.

[Gutmutter]

Thanks - I had my hopes up by an ad in Time magazine where you buy a laptop (XO) for a 3rd world child and get one free for your own child for $400. I checked it out and they're designed to be water proof, heat resistant, hold a charge for a long time, have super-powerful antennae. My BIL checked it out and said it isn't compatible with Windows, but if anyone wants to check it out the website is laptopgiving.org and the offer is good through December.

[Brodie]

I've had good luck with Toshiba Laptops. My niece just bought one and we've had a few others in the family.

Satellite Notebooks - Toshiba

There's one there for about $650 that's probably better than Walmart. There's another for $783.00 that steps you up to Intel processors.

I agree that you should check with the school too. Especially software. Get the Student/Teacher versions for MUCH less through the school.

[prhoshay]

Do you laptoppers use chill mats under your units?

[just1paul]

Whats a chill mat? -(Maybe I should get my lazy fingers to look it up)

[schmoo2]

Do you laptoppers use chill mats under your units?

I bought one - it is a small flat plastic thing with fans built it that runs off your usb port.
except mine quit working about 2 weeks after I got it.
but, I still keep it under the laptop.

[prhoshay]

It's a device that cools your laptop while you are working, possibly on your lap. Not having one, I don't know anything about how warm they can get.

[saintslovebell]

I've had like 3 of those chill mats from Wal-mart, but they keep breaking down on me, I don't know what the deal is, but if I get one from Dell.com I hope it won't break down..