COMPUTER HELP-Looking to buy a laptop computer. (VANITY)

09/07/06 | MotleyGirl70

[MotleyGirl70]

My niece is a nursing student in Tucson, AZ and I need help guiding her as to which laptop she needs to buy.

She needs the basics for now; MS Word and Excel to do her homework on.

A computer that is very resonably priced and of good quality is the goal.

[ThePythonicCow]

Dell gets a rating of 4.37 on ResellerRatings.com, on a scale of 10. DiscountLaptops gets a lifetime rating of 9.98. Dell works by driving down their parts and manufacturing costs, and covering for the resulting lower quality with a good replacement warranty. Better to have quality hardware to start with, and still get a good warranty, as Sager Notebook, the primary laptop manufacturer supplying to DiscountLaptops, does.

[ThePythonicCow]

Bump on the memory recommendation. Not even 512 Mb is enough. I've got a Toshiba laptop, and its got 768 Mb, and it is barely enough. If I open more than a couple of apps, it gets dog slow, terribly slow. I'd go for 1 Gb for any Windows XP or Mac OS laptop (or desktop for that matter), at a minimum.

[MotleyGirl70]

For that price you can discount a Mac,

Mac

Sorry, no Macs; but, thank you for advice on the memory and anti-virus info, I much appreciated it.

[MotleyGirl70]

BUMP!

[ThomasThomas]

One of those radio tech guys (Leo la something) says most major lap top company are pretty good now. The keyboard on lap tops are diffrent, try typing on the keyboard before you buy it should be big part of the choice. I repair Dell, Lenovo, HP lap tops.

[MotleyGirl70]

I will check out those links.

[MotleyGirl70]

Which brand computer do you repair the least?

[The_Victor]

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.....

[antiRepublicrat]

Sorry, no Macs;

The price range puts you completely out of the running for a Mac, but I am interested in the reason behind that decision in general. I'm not saying there aren't good reasons, I just want to know yours.

[guitar4jesus]

"Lenovo is the successor to IBM."

Lenovo is the Communist Chinese government that IBM chose to sell their PC division to.

Plain and simple.

[Still Thinking]

Or two 256's and four 3-1/2's

[texan75010]

"How do you get 528 RAM?"

You start with a male and a female ram....then let nature take it's course?

[ThomasThomas]

Of the ones I see.

Lenovo is sold to business I have not seen them in stores. Not really available

Most failures I see are Hard drives, batteries or being dropped. Since these parts are usually made by the same third party companies all get bad part from time to time. If I were to buy a lap top I would first look at HP then Dell but would check other deals in the store.

Drop warranty should be checked out if available. The last LCD I replaced cost $500.

I would go to a store where you can touch them even if you bought on-line. The feel of the keyboard is a big part if you like it or not.

[Turbopilot]

You start with a...female ram....then let nature take its course?

[Armedanddangerous]

there are very few basic laptops out there for sale that come with word installed. You gotta get Office to get it in most cases.

[Slings and Arrows]

NO!!!
TOSHIBAS!

...because their quality control sucks donkeys. (Although your reason is valid too.)

I've had two HP laptops and been VERY happy with them. Just don't let them get struck by lightning.

[MotleyGirl70]

I'm not familiar with Macs; nor, do I wish to be, out of personal preference.

I've always used Microsoft OS and through my professional experience, I've learned, very few employers use Mac OS.

My niece's university uses Windows as well, so compatibility-wise, it's best she stays with Windows.

In other words, we're all comfortable with our own OS for our own reasons :)

[finnman69]

get an entry level Dell w/ wireless.

No need to go fancy for what she's doing.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/featured_basnb?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Cheap Inspirons for around $500. Note, the MS Office software alone is a big chunk of the cost of the computer and often is extra, unless a friend wants to 'loan' her a Microsoft office CD to pirate.

If she spends a tad more, $650, she can get a fast Intel Core Dual chip.

[PissAndVinegar]

I recently purhcased an Acer. I can't recommend them enough.

A ton of features and power for lesser money than the Dells everyone is recommending. It wasn't filled with the crapware and 'support' software Dell uses.

When looking for the best price / selection / service - Newegg is the only way to go (they're on Resellerratings.com which a previous poster mentioned)

[Kaylee Frye]

I had thought Gateway was a good brand. Until just last week my year-old Gateway laptop died, taking with it all my data. No problems so far with the much younger HP... I also like Dell. Sony is just overpriced... Good luck!!