Do you find a Laptop is useful, for investment purposes?
- Thread starter Jaffasoft
- Start date
(X) I don't own a laptop and have no plans to buy one.
I had vague thoughts of buying such a depreciating deductible doodad once, but in the end made paper templates for assessing IPs and cashflows and used these along with a pocket calculator.
I have had thoughts about a paperless property management system based on clever software and a laptop. This could be teamed up with a digital camera and web connectivity. PMs would ftp quarterly inspection reports electronically and this would be picked up automatically when logging in, as would bank statements and cash flows between various accounts. Real-time webcams in your IPs could (in theory) be hooked in, but these would breach privacy rules.
But in the end it sounded like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut and I couldn't be convinced it was a productive use of funds.
Regards, Peter
I had vague thoughts of buying such a depreciating deductible doodad once, but in the end made paper templates for assessing IPs and cashflows and used these along with a pocket calculator.
I have had thoughts about a paperless property management system based on clever software and a laptop. This could be teamed up with a digital camera and web connectivity. PMs would ftp quarterly inspection reports electronically and this would be picked up automatically when logging in, as would bank statements and cash flows between various accounts. Real-time webcams in your IPs could (in theory) be hooked in, but these would breach privacy rules.
But in the end it sounded like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut and I couldn't be convinced it was a productive use of funds.
Regards, Peter
A palmtop would do the job with no strain whatsoever.
Frankly you should have done all your numbers BEFORE going to see the properties anyway...and if not, showing up laptop in hand is really screaming the wrong message to the REA.
On saying this, I used to use a laptop extensively for work as I travelled regularly around the world & certainly use one as appropriate for investing - but NOT property.
BTW: I indicated the last options, though I don't currently own a laptop - if I need one I get get one easily
Cheers,
Aceyducey
Frankly you should have done all your numbers BEFORE going to see the properties anyway...and if not, showing up laptop in hand is really screaming the wrong message to the REA.
On saying this, I used to use a laptop extensively for work as I travelled regularly around the world & certainly use one as appropriate for investing - but NOT property.
BTW: I indicated the last options, though I don't currently own a laptop - if I need one I get get one easily
Cheers,
Aceyducey
Last edited:
if you mean a laptop cf a desktop, of course they are useful, for obvious reasons. they have come down heaps in price, you don't have to pay more than $1500. but make sure you always have it covered by a warranty. Acer have the best warrantys these days. 2 hour turnaround for repairs. and they'll replace the screeen even if one pixel dies.
laptop sales are going up and desktops are coming down. industry analysts believe desktops will eventually fade out due to the extra demand they place on compaines to provide more space and office furniture. This is already the trend in Japan where office space is astronomical.
things I do with my laptop to make money:
- keep an electronic cashbook where i can export bank and credit card entries straight into the spreadsheet. Saves me about 3-5 hours a month over doing manual entries.
- electronic BAS for ATO. saves me on bookkeeper and accountant fees.
- electronic banking, paying bills, credit cards, etc.
- email business communication.
- searching for product lists for various suppliers.
- yellow page searches...up to date, and faster than the manual book, and details pasted into e address book.
- I keep an address book- database of phone numbers that I can transfer to mobile phone.
- tax invoices and letters.
- backup fax sender and receiver when away from home.
- search for property online.
- read newspapers esp property business sections for free on internet.
- read these newsgroups.
- scan UBD maps and keep an updated record of house sales for a particular suburb I am actively attempting to invest in.
- read council web sites for pertinent development info.
- comsec share trading. save heaps on trades due to electronic transactions being cheaper. also found out that a comsec direct account has no fees, a free cheque book facility, is eftpos capable, and pays interest of around 4%pa. I save about $150 a year in fees, and make $600 interest that I wouldn't make if I had a standard bank account.
- read investment book reviews.
- follow property and share trends in the USA.
- am sure there are more....
I am pretty much doing everything electronically these days, except i still keep a paper diary. i resisted e office changes for years, but now find I spend less time looking for stuff and filing stuff.
laptop sales are going up and desktops are coming down. industry analysts believe desktops will eventually fade out due to the extra demand they place on compaines to provide more space and office furniture. This is already the trend in Japan where office space is astronomical.
things I do with my laptop to make money:
- keep an electronic cashbook where i can export bank and credit card entries straight into the spreadsheet. Saves me about 3-5 hours a month over doing manual entries.
- electronic BAS for ATO. saves me on bookkeeper and accountant fees.
- electronic banking, paying bills, credit cards, etc.
- email business communication.
- searching for product lists for various suppliers.
- yellow page searches...up to date, and faster than the manual book, and details pasted into e address book.
- I keep an address book- database of phone numbers that I can transfer to mobile phone.
- tax invoices and letters.
- backup fax sender and receiver when away from home.
- search for property online.
- read newspapers esp property business sections for free on internet.
- read these newsgroups.
- scan UBD maps and keep an updated record of house sales for a particular suburb I am actively attempting to invest in.
- read council web sites for pertinent development info.
- comsec share trading. save heaps on trades due to electronic transactions being cheaper. also found out that a comsec direct account has no fees, a free cheque book facility, is eftpos capable, and pays interest of around 4%pa. I save about $150 a year in fees, and make $600 interest that I wouldn't make if I had a standard bank account.
- read investment book reviews.
- follow property and share trends in the USA.
- am sure there are more....
I am pretty much doing everything electronically these days, except i still keep a paper diary. i resisted e office changes for years, but now find I spend less time looking for stuff and filing stuff.
Vote labtop
Being a small business owner I looked at both desktop and labtop when I upgraded.
Bought a labtop for all the reason of the Bruce.
But I don't use it to crunch numbers at REA. I agree a simple calc or palm would do it provided you know who to use the palm, which I also own but don't really use properly. BTW it would be interesting at an auction to throw some people out and labtops are down to $1000 with Dell anyhow.
WHY, Love the flexibility and keeping me online for banking and such. Having mutiple clients I move around a lot. But...
Remember almost no-one steals desktops but labtops are prime hock fooder. Whilst loosing the computer is one thing, losing the data is another. A side issue I know but still something to consider.
Regards, Peter
PS yes I should back up.
Being a small business owner I looked at both desktop and labtop when I upgraded.
Bought a labtop for all the reason of the Bruce.
But I don't use it to crunch numbers at REA. I agree a simple calc or palm would do it provided you know who to use the palm, which I also own but don't really use properly. BTW it would be interesting at an auction to throw some people out and labtops are down to $1000 with Dell anyhow.
WHY, Love the flexibility and keeping me online for banking and such. Having mutiple clients I move around a lot. But...
Remember almost no-one steals desktops but labtops are prime hock fooder. Whilst loosing the computer is one thing, losing the data is another. A side issue I know but still something to consider.
Regards, Peter
PS yes I should back up.
It's interesting.
I been thinking about that all day. On and off..how do you stop a thief from stealing a Laptop. I guess you never can.
But what about putting a decoy in the car like a decoy plastic duck. Ask the company that sells it in the store if they will throw in one of there plastic decoy ones for display areas in the shop. then you keep your real laptop under the seat department of the car.
In the country up here i don't have any problem with anyone stealing anything.
But wierd enough said, i had my last laptop stolen by guess who, the closest member to me, the girlfriend, stole it right out from under my nose, in my own house, while living at home.
I didn't get to experience using it much.
Maybee a decoy , when opened it sprays a litre of black tar ink all over them and says a message,'your paper has been printed now sir'.
What are talking about Sim? A data saving device.
I wouldn't mind something whenever you connect it to it holding sockets in the car compartment it automatically gets up to date on saving everything.
Then i would care if my $400 loptop got stolen. I have found that the data it more important of all.
I been thinking about that all day. On and off..how do you stop a thief from stealing a Laptop. I guess you never can.
But what about putting a decoy in the car like a decoy plastic duck. Ask the company that sells it in the store if they will throw in one of there plastic decoy ones for display areas in the shop. then you keep your real laptop under the seat department of the car.
In the country up here i don't have any problem with anyone stealing anything.
But wierd enough said, i had my last laptop stolen by guess who, the closest member to me, the girlfriend, stole it right out from under my nose, in my own house, while living at home.
I didn't get to experience using it much.
Maybee a decoy , when opened it sprays a litre of black tar ink all over them and says a message,'your paper has been printed now sir'.
What are talking about Sim? A data saving device.
I wouldn't mind something whenever you connect it to it holding sockets in the car compartment it automatically gets up to date on saving everything.
Then i would care if my $400 loptop got stolen. I have found that the data it more important of all.
re theft worries, anyone who doesn't take backup seriously should stick with paper.
Most ppl dealing with critical data on notebooks burn to cd regularly.
I backup several critical files to the internet automatically everytime I connect.
I also use a usb keydrive as my main data depository. The data from this is mirrored onto the hard drive whenever I plug it in.
I also burn to cd once every fortnight or so.
My notebook is insured.
I therefore have no problem with the notebook being stolen.
The data consists of thousands of hours of research, data entry, intellectual property, at over $70 an hour. which means the notebook is a pittance compared to the data.
Most ppl dealing with critical data on notebooks burn to cd regularly.
I backup several critical files to the internet automatically everytime I connect.
I also use a usb keydrive as my main data depository. The data from this is mirrored onto the hard drive whenever I plug it in.
I also burn to cd once every fortnight or so.
My notebook is insured.
I therefore have no problem with the notebook being stolen.
The data consists of thousands of hours of research, data entry, intellectual property, at over $70 an hour. which means the notebook is a pittance compared to the data.
I find laptops for investement purposes not a good idea. Every laptop I have ever owned has gone down in value
Seriously though I use mine all the time. I had tennants moving into a house on saturday, so I set the notebook up at the house, and proceeded to take about 300 photos. The memory card I have for my camera holds about 60 high res photos before I have to do a transfer. I just slip the flash card into the PMCIA adapter and presto I can take another 60 shots.
There would have to be some serious changes to the world of notebooks for me to consider any other brand than Dell. I have had IBM's, Compaq's and Toshiba's, they all have there advantages and disadvantages, but Dell combines reasonable build quality, with excellent performance, and price.
some basic requirements when buying a notebook
required
16:9 wide screen uxga LCD screen - check
128MB nvidia mobile graphics adapter - accept no substitute
at least 512 MB ram (single stick) - check
no less than 3GHZ processor - check
80 GB HDD - check
night light - check
Bundled Max Payne 2 - needed for performance evaluation
5.1 surround sound system - sold seperately
optional
MS office
this setup should see you through to at least the end of November, when a new performance evaluation package called Operation Flashpoint 2 arrives on the shelves.
Seriously though I use mine all the time. I had tennants moving into a house on saturday, so I set the notebook up at the house, and proceeded to take about 300 photos. The memory card I have for my camera holds about 60 high res photos before I have to do a transfer. I just slip the flash card into the PMCIA adapter and presto I can take another 60 shots.
There would have to be some serious changes to the world of notebooks for me to consider any other brand than Dell. I have had IBM's, Compaq's and Toshiba's, they all have there advantages and disadvantages, but Dell combines reasonable build quality, with excellent performance, and price.
some basic requirements when buying a notebook
required
16:9 wide screen uxga LCD screen - check
128MB nvidia mobile graphics adapter - accept no substitute
at least 512 MB ram (single stick) - check
no less than 3GHZ processor - check
80 GB HDD - check
night light - check
Bundled Max Payne 2 - needed for performance evaluation
5.1 surround sound system - sold seperately
optional
MS office
this setup should see you through to at least the end of November, when a new performance evaluation package called Operation Flashpoint 2 arrives on the shelves.
How about a Tablet?
I've been thinking about this lately.
But when talking about being on the move and using a PC I've been thinking the Tablet PC's are making more sence.
Not a PDA, but a PC, where the screen spins around and sits back down on the keyboard but facing out at you. So you can hold it in your arm and write on the screen with a stylus. Much like you would with a pen and pad.
The HP model is looking good. About 40gb HD, 512Mb ram, 10.4" screen. Nvidia card. Very similar specs to a notebook. Just over $3000. Then the bonus I work in IT so I can write off a portable PC in the first year.
Craig
I've been thinking about this lately.
But when talking about being on the move and using a PC I've been thinking the Tablet PC's are making more sence.
Not a PDA, but a PC, where the screen spins around and sits back down on the keyboard but facing out at you. So you can hold it in your arm and write on the screen with a stylus. Much like you would with a pen and pad.
The HP model is looking good. About 40gb HD, 512Mb ram, 10.4" screen. Nvidia card. Very similar specs to a notebook. Just over $3000. Then the bonus I work in IT so I can write off a portable PC in the first year.
Craig
Don't buy a HP tablet until they improve the technology. I've used one extensively and they are so slow HP will have to try real hard to convince me to buy anything of theirs again.
acey, tell HP that.
meanwhile, I'll have to wait until Paritech, Commsec, Metastock etc treat all browsers and OSs equally. Every 18 months or so I give Linux a run, but am always disillusioned to find something I use often incompatible.
meanwhile, I'll have to wait until Paritech, Commsec, Metastock etc treat all browsers and OSs equally. Every 18 months or so I give Linux a run, but am always disillusioned to find something I use often incompatible.
You can write off an iPod on Tax
Being the IT geek that I am, I need to perform backups on a regular basis.
I bought an Apple iPod (Which goes up to 40GB in size).
You all are probably aware of Apples Marketing campaign that shows off the iPod as a portable MP3 Player (Mine at 40GB can hold up to 10000 songs).
You can also buy a convertor for memory sticks for your digital camera so you can download on a regular basis when you are on holiday.
Oh and there is also a radio tuner for your car if you want to bop along to your iPod's 10000 songs while you are driving along.
What most people don't know, is that it is also a portable Hard Disk Drive which can work for either PC or Mac.
This then can be used for backup purposes for your Computer and therefore be seen as a Tax Write Off.
Oh by the way i do take my lappy out for inspections, not to crunch numbers, but to record property details and my own personal ratings, helps if you have seen alot of properties and start to get foggy on which one had what.
Groove like a duck dancing on hotplates.
Regards,
NAS
Being the IT geek that I am, I need to perform backups on a regular basis.
I bought an Apple iPod (Which goes up to 40GB in size).
You all are probably aware of Apples Marketing campaign that shows off the iPod as a portable MP3 Player (Mine at 40GB can hold up to 10000 songs).
You can also buy a convertor for memory sticks for your digital camera so you can download on a regular basis when you are on holiday.
Oh and there is also a radio tuner for your car if you want to bop along to your iPod's 10000 songs while you are driving along.
What most people don't know, is that it is also a portable Hard Disk Drive which can work for either PC or Mac.
This then can be used for backup purposes for your Computer and therefore be seen as a Tax Write Off.
Oh by the way i do take my lappy out for inspections, not to crunch numbers, but to record property details and my own personal ratings, helps if you have seen alot of properties and start to get foggy on which one had what.
Groove like a duck dancing on hotplates.
Regards,
NAS
Personally I think that the P-P-P-Powerbook is a better investment!
http://bu.dotsomething.net/powerbook/ppppstore.html
Cheers,
Aceyducey
http://bu.dotsomething.net/powerbook/ppppstore.html
Cheers,
Aceyducey
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