Get a Mac. Get the new Mac not the Mac Pro if price is an issue
Get the anti glare screen
Make sure you get the education discount. You’ll save $100-150
she’ll use it in college and after.
I have both and there is no comparison
MacBooks are vastly overrated in my opinion and as you pointed out...insanely expensive.
take a look at the mac refurbs($1449 if this one is gone): http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC118LL/A?mco=MTA4MzI1OTk
I have 3 refurbs at home - 2 13.3’s and a 24 imac. I then take the savings and get applecare for them.
the stuff my kids have done with the iLife software is well worth the extra cost.
to find other refurbs, store.apple.com, then on the lower left of the page is the refurb/clearance.
If you are comfortable with Dell, look at the Dell outlet link on their site. They keep a number of refurbed, “scratch and dent”, and discontinued models there that can be very good deals.
Get on their mailing list. They routinely send out discount codes for the outlet that are for 15% and 20% off machines. I recently purchased a refurbed desktop cpu (for use as a media center pc) that new would have been a little over $400. With the 20% discount code it can in just under $200. Considering they also have free shipping it was a good deal.
Personally, I like refurbed electronics, but I can understand people that shy away from them.
I have worked with Macs since their inception, and PCs since DOS 2 and Windows 1.0.
A computer is not just a collection of hardware, and I have found that Macs (except during the Spindler era and thge original Mac Plus and Quantum hard drives) have fewer hardware problems over their lifetime than bargain PC notebooks. On average, Mac users have less turnover on the hardware, and it doesn’t slow down as much from bloat over time.
Personally, I would avoid Lenovo, as it is not just made in Red China, but is actually owned by the Chinese government.
The Intel based Macs are among the best ever. I would consider Toshiba or Acer on the PC side, not Lenovo. Even when IBM made the Lenovo line, they were quirky.
With the Mac, you are also buying the OS, not just the hardware. If your daughter is a good candidate for using OS X, and doesn’t need to run Windows/Linux centric software, then avoiding the malware headaches that come with Windows may be worth the difference.
Oh, one last thing. Replacing the Dell optical drive is only minor surgery. Get an eyeglass style screwdriver, take the unit apart, take off the Dell face plate off of the drive if necessary, and get a OEM match for the drive on ebay or through preicewatch.com.
I’ve liked the Mac laptops I’ve owned. Good machines, generally reliable and long-lasting. The Dells my friends have seem to often have problems and need replacement.
I have a Dell Vostro 1720 at work that I really like.
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ping
The college she goes to is very likely to make her buy/lease a computer from them, at their price, which could be $700/semester.
So if you could get a tune up on the old one, clear out the stuff that’s making it run slow, and eke it out for two years, it might be a good idea.
My daughter is a senior and pushing for a new computer.
From personal experience, stay away from Toshiba laptops.
Worst investment in a computer ever.
OS X You overlook a world-class user-friendly
professional industrial-strength
Unix© Operating System.
I love the mac. I have 5 laptops, 2 mini’s, 1 G-5, and bought a I mac for my father in law w/21.5” display.
My husband brought is 15” laptop to a local restaurant. The waiter dropped an entire glass 16 oz water on it. OMG, we were scared to death. It STILL WORKS!
It was sleeping, when the water hit, my husband grabbed it and pulled out the battery. So far it is still working......
Consider a netbook for class and her old laptop could become a desktop (Maybe the DVD just needs updated drivers as a fix?). Asus is doing well with these EEE PCs - Win 7 may be available but here's a starting point: Asus EEE 1005
Oh and you can get a full-featured one for $500!
Its like 2 pounds says 10 hours battery life but careful they've got lots of models.
I got my other daughter an ASUS 1008 which is even smaller but the battery life isn't the 6 hours stated and even though I went out of my way to ensure it had a non-glare LED screen our order came with the glossy screen. Also some have Bluetooth some not - if you're interested I can add details but have to go now ... (No ASUS connections but we've got 3 of them now in the family) ;-)
A MacBook (not pro) with 2.26 GHz, 4G RAM, 320 G 5400 rpm drive and AppleCare is $1398.00. Yeah, that’s still more than the Windows-based option you posted, but it’s less than the Pro.
I think one of the main things you need to think about is what software your daughter will need. If you already have what she needs in a Windows environment, then that’s going to save you a lot of $$$. If you don’t have any of what she needs in a Mac environment ... well, you’re going to have to shell out the bucks for that. So don’t just figure the cost of hardware ... think about the software too.
My experience with Lenovo has not been that good.. I do like my old T40, but the new Lenovo’s I bought don’t compare. I would not call them rock solid.
There’s a reason they’re losing market share.
If price is that important then you have no choice. But a student does not need a 15” screen. You can get the same MacBook Pro with a smaller screen for $1199 or a regular MacBook for $999.
Face it, she will be downloading music. And much of what appears to be music is viruses. With a Mac, no worry.
HS Junior?
Precisely, what processor intensive programs is she running?
Why not buy a Boxster too?
Be sensible my friend. Get a used XP machine for $150, max it out with ram and put UBUNTU on it for free. You can run anything you need, mail, web, video etc . . .
Don’t even need that much. Get a broken laptop from the garbage, burn KNOPPIX on a CD and use google docs for your needs.
Hardware is obsolete, the network IS the computer.
Lenovo sold by IBM, now owned by the Chinese
Toshiba was caught selling sub props/equipment to the Soviets
HP laptops get hot as a skillet
Apple is expensive