My desktop died, and I found a good deal on a Gateway laptop at Office Depot. Anyway, I plan on using this as my main, and only computer for a few months till I build my gaming rig. I have never had a laptop before, and was wondering if there was anything important or special I need to know as far as maintanence, or just basic use. Can I leave it on all the time like I did with my desktop, or is it better to turn it off at night? Any info is appreciated. Thanks....

9/27/2007 8:09:04 PM

Your asking how to use and work a laptop and are going to "build a gaming rig"?

9/27/2007 8:13:00 PM

ouch

9/27/2007 8:14:14 PM

I know how to use it, I just didn't know if there were any quirks like always run the battery totally down before you recharge it, or don't leave it on all the time. And I am not building it myself, I am just buying all the parts and my friend is putting it together for me.

9/27/2007 8:17:59 PM

Just use the laptop and get help if something breaks ... everyone else does.

(and no, the battery does not require special attention, keep the laptop on 24/7 if you like)

9/27/2007 8:40:40 PM

^^^^ you're gonna make a thread like message_topic.aspx?topic=496003 and then try to call somebody else out?

9/27/2007 8:46:48 PM

>.<

9/27/2007 8:47:49 PM

^^mine is some sort of glitch or tech. issue. Your comment would have been justified had I asked how to turn my dvr box on or is it ok to leave it on.

9/27/2007 8:53:18 PM

I never asked how to turn it on. And I asked is it ok to leave it on all the time because a laptop is not a desktop and I didn't know it it would fuck with the battery or if laptops can wear out from being on all the time. Sadly, I guess we all can't know everything like you do. Its not like my questions were all that out of line or idiotic. So how about you just go sit over in the corner and have a nice warm glass of your mommas breast milk, then shut the fuck up.

9/27/2007 9:23:07 PM

You can leave it on as much as you want without worry. I always close mine to put it in standby at night, though, to save on the LCD's life (though it's still as bright as it was three years ago).

Depending on the model, you'll want to consider thermal limits. If you try and run freakin' Doom 3 or something all tweaked out, you're likely to overheat it, causing it to down-throttle the processor. High end games will be unplayable due to heat.

9/27/2007 9:52:03 PM

I would say heat is going to be one of the things you need to get used to with a laptop. First off, if you actually plan to hold it in your lap, be sure to have something like the laptop case between. Studies have proven that the heat from the laptop will probably sterilize you if you don't burn yourself first.

Personally, I would either turn it off or put it on standby when you're not using it in part because of the heat (and to save electricity and our green earth ). That, and again, the heat makes me a bit nervous, like it's going to cook my batteries or such.

9/28/2007 12:53:21 PM

this thread is funny.

9/28/2007 12:59:19 PM

Quote :

"this thread is funny."

you people are fucking funny. LEAVE IT ON IF YOU WANT. All this talk of overheating and shit is almost entirely bullshit paranoia. It's not going to "cook" your battery or wtf ever he was trying to say. Just use the thing and don't worry about it. I personally hate when laptops go into standby when I shut the lid so I always turn that off. It's not using a significant amount of electricity to leave it on at night so do as you please and there really isn't anything to worry about

/thread.

9/28/2007 1:04:35 PM

laptop heat sucks. except in the winter. i might start using mine again then.

9/28/2007 1:48:43 PM

Quote :

"Its not like my questions were all that out of line or idiotic. So how about you just go sit over in the corner and have a nice warm glass of your mommas breast milk, then shut the fuck up."

how about you use fucking

GOOGLE

9/28/2007 3:24:05 PM

How about I wanted some person opinions from actual users and didn't want to have to sift through multiple websites to find what I wanted. Its called simplicity, perhaps you should look into it.

9/28/2007 5:36:49 PM

Quote :

"It's not going to "cook" your battery or wtf ever he was trying to say. "

actually i bought a laptop from a wholesaler back in 2001. desktop replacement that actually used a desktop chip. Couple months later battery was fucked and the company acknowledged the idiocy in the design.

I never did get a replacement for fear it would die just as quick, company was Jetta rebadged MiTacs

9/28/2007 6:01:46 PM

it isn't 2001 anymore.

9/28/2007 6:06:32 PM

Thread is good.

Heat IS an issue (unless it's a specifically designed gaming laptop) when running intensive applications.

9/28/2007 6:40:24 PM

By the way, here is what I got:

Quote :

"The Gateway MX8738 notebook offers dual-core performance and a large 17" widescreen display — great for working with side-by-side documents and viewing wide-format DVD movies. This desktop replacement — with multiformat DVD burner, memory card reader and FireWire and USB connectivity — handles today's digital entertainment and multimedia demands with ease. Share photos, burn DVDs, view movies, listen to music and enjoy the convenience of wireless networking. It features the Intel Pentium dual-core processor, 1.0GB memory and a 160GB SATA hard drive. A multiformat DVD drive lets you burn and play CDs and DVDs, including DVD-RAM and DVD Double Layer, with a capacity of 8.5GB per disc. An integrated 4-in-1 memory card reader lets you access digital photos, MP3s and other files from these flash memory formats: Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro. The Gateway MX8738 notebook offers: 17"-diagonal widescreen WXGA+ (1440 x 900) Ultrabright™ LCD screen Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor T2080 operating at 1.73GHz 1MB L2 cache Up to 533MHz frontside bus 1.0GB of DDR2 SDRAM memory (2 x 512MB), upgradable to 2.0GB 160GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive Multiformat DVD drive with Double Layer support (reads/writes DVD±R/RW, DVD-RAM, DVD±R Double Layer, CD-R/RW) 10/100Base-T Ethernet port 56K V.92 fax/modem 4 USB 2.0 ports 1 FireWire (IEEE 1394) port 1 S-video out port 4-in-1 memory card reader: reads SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro PC Card slot: supports Type I/II PC Card, PCMCIA Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with up to 224MB of shared memory High Definition Audio (2-channel) with built-in stereo speakers, headphone/audio-out jack and microphone input jack Keyboard with dedicated numeric pad 6-cell lithium-ion battery (2400 mAh) Dimensions: 1 7/16"H x 16 1/16"W x 10 7/8"D Weight: 7.37 lbs "

After rebates and a 10% discount for being a floor model, I took it home for $550.

The integrated 56k fax modem is what really sold me on this laptop over the other ones they had.

[Edited on September 28, 2007 at 9:48 PM. Reason : .]

9/28/2007 9:46:58 PM

I leave my laptop on during the day, that way I can just hop on and do what I need then go onto something else. I always use a pillow or a magazine or my book bag to sit the laptop on when I have it in my lap(due to the heat it puts off). At night when I go to bed I almost alway shut it down, no particular reason but I figure it's best to shut it down. I don't mind the 5 minutes it takes to boot it up first thing in the morning.


Oh and dont drop it, especially on a concrete surface

9/28/2007 10:11:00 PM

^ ditto

And my brand-new 6 hour battery now only stays charged for about an hour. I don't know if it ust happens over time, but since I'm looking into buying a replacement I have noticed lots of chit chat on the internet about the pros/cons of letting the battery run down all the way and not leaving the laptop on all the time (like I do) to preserve battery run time and longevity.... no conclusive results yet though.

9/28/2007 10:32:36 PM

^,^^ ... You know there is absolutely no need to shut down a computer, especially a laptop. Turn on Hibernation (likely the laptop is already set to do so) and it takes <1 min to start the machine, not to mention if you left any programs open, they'll still be there.

To find it in XP ... Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate Tab ... check the box to enable, if it's already enabled then it should be available as one of your shutdown options, but NOTE it shows up as Standby until you hold down the Shift key, then Hibernate appears.

So, how to do this easier? Your laptop should have a Hibernate button function key, if it doesn't, go back into Power Options > Advanced Tab ... there is a drop down for various things your computer will do when you Close the Lid, Press the Power Button, Press the Sleep button, etc. I think you get the picture.

So that's your lesson for the day, get outside and enjoy the weather!




Oh, and one more thing ... ^ there is no such thing as a 6 hour battery for a laptop.

[Edited on September 29, 2007 at 1:40 PM. Reason : .]

9/29/2007 1:38:18 PM

Are you saying there is no laptop/battery combo that will last 6 hours? Because you'd be mistaken.

9/29/2007 2:20:29 PM

^^

I've had laptops since '98.. Im fully aware of your little "hibernation secret" I'll do what I want with my laptop. thanks for trying though.

9/29/2007 2:41:13 PM

No, I know better than that ... but there isn't a "6 hour" battery ... just sounded like she was talking about a 53 WHr 6-cell battery. It wouldn't be the first time I heard someone confuse that terminology for the duration time of the battery.

9/29/2007 2:46:10 PM

^^ lol yea sorry I didn't mean it to come off like that, just was throwing a bit of nonsense in my post.

9/29/2007 2:47:29 PM

Heat is a pain, not because it hurts the laptop but because it makes it uncomfortable to use the darn thing. So I installed the RightMark CPU Clock Utility which allows me to lock my CPU clock anywhere from 2.4GHz to 400Mhz with two clicks. The throttling mechanism is very speculative and the default Windows settings tended to jump to 2.4GHz with every page load. When I am just browsing the internet I lock it at 400Mhz and don't notice the difference beyond operating significantly cooler.

This also helps significantly with battery life. My battery is several years old but still managed to run an hour and a half. But if during any of that time I throttle up the CPU it just turns off. As I understand it, the resistance of lithium batteries increases with age and use, so if you can reduce the rate of energy consumption you can get much more (total) energy out of it.

One last point: lithium batteries do suffer accelerated aging the hotter their environment. So, depending on the batteries location in the laptop, leaving your machine on (and thus hot) all the time will accelerate the aging process. And I don't hibernate my machine either, standby is awesome. The machine is instantly on, instantly off, and cool when you start use. I only hibernate when I'm unplugging for a week or more.

9/30/2007 9:46:10 AM

you people concerned with the heat

get a cooling pad, mine's the shit... $20 when i got it but i think they went up in price since December

9/30/2007 10:05:33 AM