laptop requirement, help needed

[Humanoid]

If your usage pattern for a tablet is media-heavy then you'll likely want a tablet with a (micro-)SD card slot. The Nexus 7 is not one of those tablets.

[Gorth]

*sigh*

 

No way around it, I'm going to need a laptop. Since I'm going to be "homeless" for a long time between packing stuff away in boxes, being in transit for at least 2 months while getting shipped to Europe, I'm going to be without any computer. That cannot be!

 

Started looking at a few web sites, including Dell's, but it's a jungle out there. Anyone out there tried the Dell XPS15 series? Any good? Screen seems a bit small to me and I really don't care one inch about touch screen and much less the lack of a Windows 7 option.

[Gorth]

Bit the bullet and bought a laptop. Went to Dell's site and purchased the Alienware 17 (32gb memory version) and upgraded the optical drive and Gfx Card to max options. Got 12 months of Antivirus too even if i have no idea if McAfee is good or bad these days.

 

Wanted to slap myself afterwards when i discovered that i could have upgraded the windows 8.1 pro to a windows 7.1 pro. Sucks to be me i suppose, i better start learning how to navigate that piece of quicksand.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Thinking of going with a Nexus 7 just to keep myself amused on the move. Will 32GB allow me to store a series from Netflix?

 

My 8Gb Nexus 7 is a bit small so I'd go for a 16Gb or 32Gb one, although, that said, I've also been able to fit most everything I want on there (the main thing being the tablet release of Baldur's Gate, aside form that I mainly use it for reading books, browing the web, and netflix and none of those take up a ton of space).

 

Wanted to slap myself afterwards when i discovered that i could have upgraded the windows 8.1 pro to a windows 7.1 pro. Sucks to be me i suppose, i better start learning how to navigate that piece of quicksand.

 

I'm using Windows 8, I haven't gone to 8.1 yet but will one of these days when I get around to it, and, honestly, once you get rid of the new interface, it's a better, slimmer version of 7 from what I've seen so far (as for getting rid of said interface, Start8 is what I used but there are also freeware versions if you don't want to pay the $5, $6 dollars for that). I wouldn't go back to 7 unless I had to.

[Humanoid]

I think you can probably do it yourself, I believe Pro versions of Windows 8 come with automatic downgrade rights to Windows 7 Pro.

[ShadySands]

http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/pages/downgrade_rights.aspx#fbid=_ELtlWoVmge

 

Though I'd probably just hang in there for now. Windows 9 is coming and is supposed to fix the start button and general UI and design fiasco (rumor is it's adding a proper start menu back in but with some live tile enhancements) but keep and hopefully improve on the performance gains. I would suggest getting something like D_N suggested (Start8 or Classic Shell) for now

 

I run vanilla 8.1 but the long adjustment period and frustration with the changes nearly made me switch to Mac (which I hate for much of the same reason) or Linux (which I only dabble in)

[ShadySands]

I've been considering getting an Asus UX303LN but they are all QHD+ and those have been said to have weird color problems and that's when I can find them at all. I've seen the FHD version available in Australia and Europe but not here

[ShadySands]

I went ahead and got it

 

I figure if it's really that bad I'll try to replace the lid with the one from the FHD version