Techie Help...need a new laptop

[pipervali]

I absolutely love Toshiba, I'm on my second one, and for the price and specs, they can't be beat.

There was a reliability article published sometime last year I think, that had Toshiba and Asus come out on top. Asus is a bit more expensive though. Dell is hit or miss, but I've known quite a few people who have had issues. If you do pull the trigger on a Dell, make sure you have a sufficient warranty. I've also had an HP, that I liked, but had a handful of issues. The power coil went three times, only once under warranty. And the hinge also broke, I had it propped up with a metal bracket the last year of it's life. Toshiba I find it more light weight as well.

If your kids want to do gaming, you want, at the very least, a dual core. Ideally more like an i3, which can be had for around $650 if you can find a good sale. Windows 7 also ideally needs at least 2gb of RAM as well, so keep that in mind.

I bought my Toshiba a few months ago, for under $500 at Office Depot, with a 500gb hard drive and 4gb of RAM, so I was happy. Keep an eye out on your Sunday circulars, sometimes deals can be had without waiting for Black Friday.

 

[UncleRay]

I need a new laptop.

requirements:
basic internet use
run disboards!
be able to access travel sites (like Disney.com) and view information
kids use it for internet gaming (like poptropica or webkinz)

favorite software that I'll definately load: excel, word, publisher, powerpoint

don't do a ton of fancy photoshop stuff

I'd really like it to last at least 2 years (maybe 3).

we use charter internet and have the fastest speed available, so the computer taking advantage of that would be nice.

Any suggestions? We've owned Dell in the past and been happy. The last laptop was Compaq and didn't like it very well.

Also welcome advice on how to sit-tight and wait for a good price to come along...

I friend of mine used to use Slickdeals to find hidden bargains.

 

[MELSMICE]

One of my priorities was no more malware, spyware, and slow performance.

So, I got a MacBook. NO MORE PROBLEMS. Worth every penny. I just got the basic one. And also picked up Microsoft Office and run those programs on here.

My prior laptops were Toshibas. They were ok, but this is so much better.

Same here!

But buying a Mac when you already own a PC and want to use that same software is pretty inconvenient. Also, Macs are a LOT more expensive. I'm not a Mac hater (my desktop machine is a Mac), just being realistic.

Apple does have it's own programs that run on the Mac & there is some getting use to them. Heck.......I still can't figure out how to print a darn greeting card so when I fold it it looks right, but so far I'm enjoying the things it does do. I bought it with Pages & Numbers.

Some of the lap tops being suggested go as high as almost $700. I got my Mac for $888 and with a Mac, you don't have to worry about buy virus software nor the blue screen of death. To me, that is worth the extra money. Plus, Apple stores always have people (The Genius Bar) on hand to help if something does happen.

Yes, they do & when you call MyApple for service you get someone that can speak English clearly without a heavy accent, which can be very difficult to understand at times!

 

[mrodgers]

Apple does have it's own programs that run on the Mac & there is some getting use to them.

The point isn't that the PC applications won't work on a Mac, the point is, if for example I spend $300 on an application like Lightroom for photography and use it for years moving it from PC to PC as I upgrade, changing to Mac means spending another $300 (guessing, I don't know the cost of this) for Aperture for the Mac, which essentially does what Lightroom does. Combine all of the applications and that gets even more expensive. How about if I'm perfectly happy with the old CS3 version of Photoshop that I paid $600 for. Now I'd have to purchase the Mac version of Photoshop for $600 when I was perfectly happy with my old version that I've moved through 3-4 PC's with.

 

[Swimalie]

The point isn't that the PC applications won't work on a Mac, the point is, if for example I spend $300 on an application like Lightroom for photography and use it for years moving it from PC to PC as I upgrade, changing to Mac means spending another $300 (guessing, I don't know the cost of this) for Aperture for the Mac, which essentially does what Lightroom does. Combine all of the applications and that gets even more expensive. How about if I'm perfectly happy with the old CS3 version of Photoshop that I paid $600 for. Now I'd have to purchase the Mac version of Photoshop for $600 when I was perfectly happy with my old version that I've moved through 3-4 PC's with.

Four words "No blue screen of death". Worth every cent once you buy the programs. And once you buy them for Mac, you can move them from Mac to Mac to Mac.

 

[UncleRay]

Linux based computers aren't bad for this either. We loaded up my mother with Umbuntu and Open Office and it was a BREEZE for supportability. Plus, they are a LOT cheaper than the price you pay for a Mac - and we just reimaged a six year old Windows box for her - so it was a free computer.

Then my Dad decided to surprise her with a new Windows 7 laptop. So now we are back in support mode. And she has an overpowered machine to show YouTube videos to the grandkids and use gmail.

But with either, you are on a "less popular" operating system. So you have to be aware that not everything you are interested in running will run.

(The Compaq must have been ages ago, they haven't made Compaq laptops for nine or ten years? They got bought by HP.)

I also recommend linux---if you have the time for the "learning curve".
Operating system is free and one can get a lot of laptops really cheap the come with "No Operating System". I got a Compaq 2GHz processor laptop for 60 bucks on Ebay that way.
Just my $0.02

 

[crisi]

Using my cheapy Compaq bought a year ago as we speak. They're definitely still around despite being bought out.

I forgot they kept the name for the consumer. I did a huge corporate purchase analysis on PC vendors a few years ago - so my info is mostly on corporate. Which is why I'm not speaking up on exactly what's good at home. The Compaq name is owned by HP. So if you don't want an HP, don't buy a Compaq.

 

[crisi]

Some of the lap tops being suggested go as high as almost $700. I got my Mac for $888 and with a Mac, you don't have to worry about buy virus software nor the blue screen of death. To me, that is worth the extra money. Plus, Apple stores always have people (The Genius Bar) on hand to help if something does happen.

There ARE viruses that target the Mac OS - much rarer, but they exist. And, of course, if you VM Windows, you'll still need virus software. Don't skip virus software.

There are viruses for Linux too. Whatever OS you run, have virus software and spyware software on it.

 

[jedijill]

Whatever you do don't buy a HP Pavilion DV series laptop. I've had several compaq/HP laptops over the years and had been happy up to this last one. The DV series has a documented design flaw that causes the laptop to overheat (due to poorly designed cooling/chipset) and HP refuses to stand behind their product. I had my mother board replaced under warranty but now I'm out of warranty and the laptop is massively overheating and is about to die 2 years since I bought it. I am done with HP and will be shopping for a replacement soon.


Jill in CO