can we have a house with laptops only

[legend_018]

I'm trying to make things easier and not have so much hardware in the house. We also have two very little ones at home. I have a few questions.

Can we have a house with JUST laptops? Obviously it would be wireless.

What kind of HARDWARE do I need to have everything setup and on the internet?

Will I have to worry about slow response times having internet and not direct connection to the internet?

Lastly, where can you buy cheap but decent laptops. My husband especially only needs it to play some yahoo online pool games and to do his fantasy football stuff and surf the web.

[not important]

It is indeed possible. You can go wired or wireless. To go wireless you will need to have internet service and a wireless router. The LINKSYS WRT54GL is very well thought of around here and is on special on Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124190
Your internet speed will be slower using wireless but that speed also depends on your internet provider and what type of service you have.
You should be able to pick up some good deals on laptops about anywhere this time of year.

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by not important It is indeed possible. You can go wired or wireless. To go wireless you will obviously need a wireless router. The LINKSYS WRT54GL is very well thought of around here and is on special on Newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124190 Your internet speed will be slower using wireless but that speed also depends on your internet provider and what type of service you have. You should be able to pick up some good deals on laptops about anywhere this time of year.

I have a wap54g wireless router, at least that is what it says.

So I just need that and 2 laptops and that's pretty much it?

[legend_018]

how does a printer work with wireless? You have to plug each one into the printer everytime you want to use the printer?

[shadowpr]

Depends on the printer. If the printer is able to connect to the router, then you can set it up that way. That's how I have my printer set up, and have done for others as well.

[legend_018]

definetely don't see anyway of that printer being wireless. man looking around at laptops and there expensive!!!

[shadowpr]

What printer is it?

You should be able to find basic laptops for about $400.

[legend_018]

The cheapest laptop for dell I can see is a D420 and not sure how good that is with only 1.6 or 1.8 gigahertz processor.

the printer is a PSC 1510 HP all in one.

[legend_018]

hmm
Vostro A860 don't look so bad.

[mattaggie]

If you dont need the mobility of a laptop but just dont want so much computer stuff, consider this small desktop PC from ACER
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883103124

I bought 5 for my business. They have built in wireless or can be wired. Only complaint about Acer is that it comes with tons of junk software I had to uninstall. The thing is ridiculously small, will fit anywhere.

Another option is a new kind of laptop called a "netbook." They are designed mainly for web browsing and light computer tasks. The benefit is a pretty darn cheap computer. Biggest screen size is 10" so that may be an issue.
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...&name=Netbooks
Dell offers one too called the mini.

[glc]

A WAP54G is not a router, that's only a wireless access point. It has to be connected to a wired router. Are you sure you don't have a WRT54G? Please post exactly what hardware you presently have - modem, router, etc.

Internet speed is no slower over wireless than wired. Wireless is still faster than 95% of all Internet connections. However, you should always have the ability to connect a computer to your router with an Ethernet cable for troubleshooting, configuration, and firmware updates, even if you use only wireless on a daily basis.

You will need a print server to connect your printer to the network. Here is a wireless print server that's compatible with the PSC 1510:

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/...s&dpno=7652011

Even with this print server, it's most likely that only the printer section will work over the network. To scan, you will probably have to connect it directly to a computer with USB. You will have to ask HP if this is the case with that particular device and print server. HP does have all-in-ones with built-in print servers that are fully network capable. Some are wired - you plug the device into a router with Ethernet - and some are wireless. One example is the Officejet 6310, which is $99, it has a wired print server.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16828104482

There are also 3rd party wired and wireless print servers that may work with the PSC 1510, but they aren't much cheaper than that HP which is known compatible. In fact, for 99 bucks, you might as well just buy that Officejet and retire the PSC. The only limitation is the device will need to be physically located near the router so you can run an Ethernet cable. I did exactly that for my stepdaughter recently, she had a PSC 1510.

[trulad]

Wife & I have his & hers Acer laptops and two cell phones . Not a hard wired phone in the house. I get internet thru Sprint with a Pantech broadband card. It's as fast as my dsl was and I get internet anywhere in the country. My printer just plugs into a usb port as do two external hard drive enclosures for storage. This has been working out great for two years now.I don't see any need to ever go back to a desktop.
trulad