3/1     I'm new to buying notebooks. If I get 802.11b/g for free, then should
        should I pay extra $50 for 802.11a? How about warranty, is that
        a rip-off or is it really useful with no hidden fees? How about
        BlueTooth, is that important? I don't have any PDA stuff that does
        BlueTooth, but maybe in the future *shrug*
        By the way what do you guys think about the Toshiba Satellite R10
        TabletPC? It's pretty cheap:    http://tinyurl.com/55jjb
        \_ 802.11b is essential, 802.11g (same spectrum frequency as b but
           g transmits data at 54mbps vs. b's 11mbps) is nice and I'd look
           for it in a new laptop.  802.11a is not necessary, and I'm
           actually surprised someone is shipping a laptop that supports it.
           802.11a was something Cisco was pushing heavily for ``enterprise
           wireless,'' it debuted at roughly the same time as b, runs at a
           higher, non-overlapping frequency than that used by b/g, but it was
           never widely deployed because the market was flooded with
           inexpensive consumer-oriented 802.11b equipment.  802.11a is nice
           if you want to run a long distance backhaul link without worrying
           about all the noise generated by 802.11b/g devices, but wholly
           unnecessary on a laptop.  Bluetooth is nice if you happen to have
           bluetooth enabled phone or pda, and also convenient for wireless
           keyboard mouth, but, IMO, more of a perk than an essential feature.
           YMMV.  These days I run a 12 inch Apple PowerBook, though my next
           laptop will likely be a 15 inch PowerBook. -dans
           \_ your useful responses have rendered the motd-- a place known
              for rants, politics, & bitter remarks-- useless. But thanks:)
           \_ A few companies only have 802.11a networks, just be sure your
              employer isn't one of them.
           \_ there has actually been a second wave of 802.11a commericalism
              and deployment with higher bit rates, and a lot of folks
              who don't think the first happened since they didn't hear
              about it.  my old university lab office deployed 802.11a
              while all the gov't labs went with 802.11b.  then, they went
              to 802.11b and now, of course, many of the labs are starting
              to deploy fast 802.11a alongside.  my IBM thinkpad has an
              IBM internal a/b/g card w/ atheros chipset that does 54 Mbps
              on a/g bands, and works pretty well with Linux.  that said,
              whether a band is useful depends on where you plan to use it!
        \_ There are different schools of thought on warranties.  One school
           of thought is:  If it breaks, it'll break in the first year, so
           only buy one year.  The second school of thought is:  It breaks
           in the third year, you're spending $1-2K anyway, spend the $200
           for three years.  School 1 replies:  You're going to buy a new
           notebook anyway in three years.  School 2 says:  But you can keep
           the old notebook as a low-power server running 24x7.  School 1 says:
           It's going to crap out in year 4.  School 2 says:  I take really
           good care of my computers.
           Both schools say:  Standard warranties don't cover accidents
           (dropping the notebook, spilling water, car accident, etc.), only
           workmanship defects (random failure while you were innocently using
           the computer).  The accident warranty is another ~ $100-250.
           If you're accident-prone, BUY THE ACCIDENT PROTECTION, and buy
           it for THREE YEARS.
           If you've owned a notebook or two without incident, you don't need
           it.
           If you eBay (as seller or buyer) your notebook, find out if the
           warranty is transferrable (e.g., Dell's is transferrable; Fujitsu's
           becomes voided once you sell it, and you can't buy a new warranty).
           Finally, most warranties are either mail-in or bring-in-to-service-
           center.  If you use your computer for work, you may want to buy
           the on-site service for $100-$200.  They send someone out with a kit
           of replacements parts to fix it on the spot.
           Personally, I treat my computers well and don't have accidents:  So
           I buy 1-year, on-site service, no accident protection.