Going To Buy A Laptop This Week - Help!!!

[eclipse9678]

I'm finally giving in and buying a laptop in the near future. Problem is, I'm pretty much an idiot when it comes to computers. I'm looking to buy the cheapest notebook out there that fits my (basic) needs which are mainly:
- Fast internet speeds
- Word processing
- Storing pictures. Just occasional vacation/family photos. Nothing crazy.
- Quickbooks.

I've just started to research online, but realized I don't know what to look for in terms of speed, memory etc.

Maybe someone a little more computer savvy could offer some advice? Or at least some specs that I can look for on each model?

Thanks in advance!!

[SpaceMonkey]

Since you specifically mentioned a laptop, I want to ask: are you going to travel with it frequently? The reason I ask is that often lower-end laptops can be significantly heavier. Or is this something that you will use mostly at home, or even just something you will transport between your home and your office?

If you don't mind something on the heavy side (6.2 pounds), I would suggest you consider the Lenovo C Series (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=BEEC8C6BD4B648BFA0A074AEC15C3E7C) or the Lenovo N Series (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=E7C796E266D74BF38557DB55784F4EB0)

It only has a 40 GB drive, but if you are not collecting music or videos on your computer, it shouldn't be too much of a limitation. Family photos don't take up as much space.

For the uses that you listed, a Celeron processor (the lowest end) is fine. 512 MB of RAM (memory) may be pushing it, but it may be fine (I'm not as familiar with Windows XP's memory usage as I am with Mac OS X)--doubling it on the Lenovo site to 1 GB costs $80 extra.

[Xander]

That's not enough information to work with... do you have price ranges? What's a price you're happy/comfortable with, and what's a max?

- Fast internet speeds
Doesn't really have to do with the computer. Wireless, USB 2, and ethernet should be standard. Check for these anyway.

- Word processing
Even "ancient" computers can run WPs, so this is a non-factor

- Storing pictures. Just occasional vacation/family photos. Nothing crazy.
You'll want at least 40GB. Never fill up your hard drive though, as there will be significant performance issues (33GB out of 40GB is a good max). If you use up 30GB, I recommend a portable drive (120GB for ~$100). But if you think you'll fill up 40GB, opt for 60 or 80.

- Quickbooks.
This is a little more processor-intensive if you're crunching big numbers, but we're talking about seconds here and there, so it's not a huge issue.

Important point: what's the usage time frame you expect out of this? 1 year? 3 years? If around 3 years, I recommend you going with a system with customer service, like Dell. It'll cost a bit more, but since you're not too computer literate, that extra bit of cost is basically insurance. If something goes wrong, how much is it worth to you to have someone else fix it quickly? Dell is pretty good at that stuff. 1 year is usually covered, sometimes up to 3 standard. I don't think anyone expect more than 3 years out of their system.

Microsoft just rolled out Vista. If you're able to wait a month or two, I'm guessing prices will drop as the market makes room for Vista systems.

If you can provide more requirements and expectations, price range, etc., we can be of better assistance. Good luck!

[eclipse9678]

Thanks for the responses!

I do travel quite frequently, so portability is a concern.

I am also concerned about processing speeds. I will be doing basic maintenance on my website, so I want to be able to download photos quickly. I will not be doing any photo manipulation or graphics from this laptop.

I'll be using Quickbooks for basic accounting only.

I know Vista is now available, but I don't think I can wait that long for prices to drop. I do see Vista upgrades available for some models. I don't think I'll NEED Vista, but it would be good to have that option in the future.

As for usage time frame - I'm thinking at least 2 years. I know in the next year or two, I'll be more financially ready to buy something more expensive w/ more features.

I want to get the cheapest laptop I can find that meets those needs. I'm hoping to spend $700-750 after rebates. I'd love to find a 0% financing deal, but haven't seen anything. I'm a little nervous about the lesser known brand names.....

Thanks again for helping me out!!

[winneythepooh7]

Stay away from the Dells! I blew over a thousand on a laptop that only lasted a few short months. Getting someone to help me on the phone was an impossible task.

I bought an HP notebook and love it. I also signed up for the plan at Bestbuy, where if anything goes wrong, they will fix it. Sometimes it takes a few weeks, but at least there's someone you can talk to who can do something. I would never go with a Dell again for this reason.

[eclipse9678]

Thanks for the heads up, Winney.

I had problems with my Dell desktop. Hard drive had to be replaced 4 months after I got it and I had tons of problems with it after that.

A friend just bought an HP notebook at Staples that was $700 after rebates. What model HP did you get?

I'm also looking at a Toshiba Satellite.

[winneythepooh7]

I have a HP Pavillion dv 1000 Entertainment Notebook LOL.

I think I paid around $1300 or $1400 maybe and that included the plan where it can be fixed at Best Buy.

This laptop is very light and travels easily, as well.

[internut33]

Stay away from the Dells! I blew over a thousand on a laptop that only lasted a few short months. Getting someone to help me on the phone was an impossible task.


Personally I like dell. 2 years ago I bought mine for $2,300. (had a 2 year no fault damage plan which is now up).

Its still fast and i have no issues.

[arrow]

Yeah, I have an HP Pavilion dv-5000 laptop and it's been great so far. $1500 with the 3-year warranty, which covers you even if you drop it. It's got a lot of RAM and storage space.

Had I been willing to pay more, though, I would have gotten a Mac. You can run Windows on them now, and they are higher quality. But unfortunately you get less for more money with Macs.

[winneythepooh7]

Personally I like dell. 2 years ago I bought mine for $2,300. (had a 2 year no fault damage plan which is now up).

Its still fast and i have no issues.

But wait till something happens and you need help. It's impossible from Dell.

Getting help in person and not having to stay on the phone for hours and hours to "trouble-shoot" when 99% of the time they have no clue what they are talking about, is reason enough for me to buy another brand.

[winneythepooh7]

Yeah, I have an HP Pavilion dv-5000 laptop and it's been great so far. $1500 with the 3-year warranty, which covers you even if you drop it. It's got a lot of RAM and storage space.



My fiance dropped my computer during the summer. It stopped working. We took it back to Best Buy and they replaced the hard drive for free.

[Xander]

But wait till something happens and you need help. It's impossible from Dell.
Really? Wow. I haven't used Dell support for two years or so, but they were really good with support before... That's a shame.

You might want to go with the Best Buy idea then since you can just take it in--that seems like it would fit you better.

I got a Dell laptop last year for $500 after rebates. It's fast, portable, and is my "throw away" computer--if I destroy it, no biggie. But surprisingly it has been a workhorse. There are deals popping up online all the time (how I found my deal). I'd keep an eye out for "coupon" sites.

Do you care about screen size? If portability is the most important factor, I'd go with a 12" screen.

Oh, and I'd stay away from Vista like the Plague, but most new computers will come with Vista Home, unfortunately.

[eclipse9678]

So, I've done some more research as to pricing etc and this is what I've found:

On Feb 1st I can buy a new Compaq laptop with Vista that comes to $350 after rebates:eek: from Staples. They will also have HP models that would be a little more.

I know I should avoid Vista right now, but wouldn't you think I would be ok just doing basic word processing with it? And, Vista won't have anything to do with internet usage, right? $350 to last a year would be fine by me!

[eclipse9678]

I've also found an HP DV-6105 w/o Vista for $699. I also have the option of buying the display model for $599 with the regular warranty.

[analogman]

Vista requires a lot more hardware to run well. Since you are looking for a cheap/low end system I'd stick with Windows XP.

Get a light laptop if possible, preferably under 5 pounds; you'll be glad you did each time you stand in an airport security line (they X-ray laptops in a tray outside of your bag). You don't want to get something that you need both hands to handle.

Other than that, get a decent amount of memory (512MB will probably work well for your needs). You don't need a lot of CPU speed and you can always get an external hard drive to store your pictures.

[meatwad]

I'll second the recommenation on Lenovo. Really good laptop for the money. Especially if you get one with a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo.

I'll also second the knock on Dell. Their support is shit.

[aggiegrad05]

i personally hate my sony vaio. the battery life sucks (but maybe that was my fault somehow??) and it's pretty heavy. then again, i did get it in 2005, so i'm sure the newer versions are better.

[SunDevil]

So, I've done some more research as to pricing etc and this is what I've found:

On Feb 1st I can buy a new Compaq laptop with Vista that comes to $350 after rebates:eek: from Staples. They will also have HP models that would be a little more.

I know I should avoid Vista right now, but wouldn't you think I would be ok just doing basic word processing with it? And, Vista won't have anything to do with internet usage, right? $350 to last a year would be fine by me!


If you buy it from a store like Circuit City, Best Buy, Staples, Office Max, CompUSA, Fry's... you might have a hard time finding a computer until Jan 30th. And after that, everything will be shipping with Vista pre-installed most likely.

$350 does sound like a good deal on a computer, but it might not be the fastest thing if it has Vista on it.

(If you get a laptop with Vista on it, I think T-Mobile will give free access for 3 months(Feb-April) to their hot spots throughout the country)

[meatwad]

i personally hate my sony vaio. the battery life sucks (but maybe that was my fault somehow??) and it's pretty heavy. then again, i did get it in 2005, so i'm sure the newer versions are better.

Check with Sony. There may be a recall on it.

[Xander]

I know I should avoid Vista right now, but wouldn't you think I would be ok just doing basic word processing with it? And, Vista won't have anything to do with internet usage, right? $350 to last a year would be fine by me!
That's a fantastic price! Basic word processing should be fine. But you might have internet issues since Vista has serious issues with plug-ins and drivers and such. After a while, these issues should be ironed out, but I personally don't have the patience to be Microsoft's guinea pig.

If I were you, I'd opt for no OS, or have XP installed instead.

Also, what analogman said.

If I were in the market for a new computer, it would be a tablet-type laptop between 8"-12". Purely for email/internet and word processing...

[old_school_soul]

Go for a MacBook. Simple, elegant, and runs all the programs you mentioned.

[playingbyheart]

Go for a MacBook. Simple, elegant, and runs all the programs you mentioned.
If you're willing to pay a little extra, go for a MacBook. I bought a Compaq two and a half years ago and the piece of crap is already dead. Customer Service is a joke. Also, don't ever buy a laptop from Best Buy!

[SpaceMonkey]

Go for a MacBook. Simple, elegant, and runs all the programs you mentioned.

Depending on what exactly the OP does with QuickBooks, a Mac might not be an option. QuickBooks for Mac doesn't have feature parity with QuickBooks for Windows.

(Yes, I know, there is Boot Camp. But then the OP would have to buy another copy of Windows)

[eclipse9678]

Wow, thanks for all the info!

I definitely want to avoid Vista now. I won't have the patience (or knowledge) to deal with any problems.

I've realized there aren't many stores that have XP-loaded laptops left. At least in my price range. Frys.com has a few models, specifically a Compaq V5310us for $599. I'm probably going to make the purchase today.

Another question is, it only comes with an Office trial. What other basic word processing program can I use besides buying Office for $300?

Thanks again, you guys have helped a lot.

[cheshrcarol]

I want to point out that even if you're doing mostly internet applications, you may still need a decent processor and amount of RAM. I'd say that most of my applications are MS office related and Internet stuff. But that means I have Firefox going with 3-4 tabs, google desktop, trillian (instant messenger), thunderbird for my email, plus firewall/anti-virus stuff running. That all takes about 50-75% of my 1GB ram. My computer also has a core duo processor and runs very well.

If you think you'll be running a bunch of things at once, I would really say stay away from a celeron processor.

I actually haven't had too many problems with Dell. My current laptop is a refurbished model with 120gb hard drive, core duo processor, 1gb ram, XP/vista capable, 14" screen, for $675. At 5 pounds it's not super light, but definitely fine for carrying around campus and traveling.

[and1grad]

Go for a MacBook. Simple, elegant, and runs all the programs you mentioned.
Man, I need you to convince me to spend the extra money for a Macbook. I WANT to buy one but its hard to pull the trigger on that pricetag.

[old_school_soul]

Man, I need you to convince me to spend the extra money for a Macbook. I WANT to buy one but its hard to pull the trigger on that pricetag.

Oh it's not hard. Lets see.. People often want to buy a PC for the fact that they are cheaper, that's a given. The money you save on a PC you will spend in time managing the damn thing. Spyware, Viruses, Trojans, etc. The interface is more elegant. The equivalent OSX apps always look better than their Windows counter parts (yes, even MS Office for Mac is way better than the Windows version). If you need to run Windows on a Mac, you can, but you can never run OSX on a PC (legitimatly). The support is great, I've had no problems with sending in my Mac.

Managing applications is easy -- installing applications 90% just means dragging an icon into your Applications folder.. and removing them is just highlighting the icon and pressing delete.. No "Add/Remove Programs" nightmare of Windows... Networking (and especially wireless) is dumb easy compare to Windows.

Someone mentioned you get less for more with a Mac, but you really don't.. Once you weigh in the applications (iLife is free), you get a whole bunch of stuff you can't get with a Windows machine. Plus the new ones have the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and can run either Windows and OSX super fast.

[SpaceMonkey]

Man, I need you to convince me to spend the extra money for a Macbook. I WANT to buy one but its hard to pull the trigger on that pricetag.

The MacBook isn't really much more than similarly-equipped Windows laptops. For example, the Lenovo V Series (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=33BE5A810C284B02888CE73C889458DE) is almost identical at only $100 less than the base model MacBook (the Lenovo has a slightly slower processor and a larger hard drive)

[SunDevil]

Another question is, it only comes with an Office trial. What other basic word processing program can I use besides buying Office for $300?


Open Office!

http://www.openoffice.org/

If you don't use Visual Basic macros or anything out of the ordinary, it will work just fine. And it might even be able to do macros, I don't know. There is a Word application, spreadsheet, and presentation. I use it at work on my Linux computer and it does everything I need it to do.

Price: $0

It runs on Windows and Linux just fine, but when I tried it on the Mac, it had some problems. But this was ~8 months ago.

[and1grad]

The MacBook isn't really much more than similarly-equipped Windows laptops. For example, the Lenovo V Series (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=33BE5A810C284B02888CE73C889458DE) is almost identical at only $100 less than the base model MacBook (the Lenovo has a slightly slower processor and a larger hard drive)
I already have a 500gb external hard drive so I'm not worried about the size of that. Another question, is there compatibility issues with using an external hard drive with both a mac and a pc?

[SpaceMonkey]

I already have a 500gb external hard drive so I'm not worried about the size of that. Another question, is there compatibility issues with using an external hard drive with both a mac and a pc?

There are some issues, but they are not too significant. They have to do with how the drive is formatted. If you are not already aware, there are three formatting protocols that are in common use: HFS+, FAT32, and NTFS. The Mac operating system defaults to (and, for boot volumes, requires) formatting new drives as HFS+. Windows XP defaults to NTFS. Macs can read drives formatted as NTFS, but they cannot write to them. Windows can neither read nor write to drives formatted as HFS+ (although there is a third-party utility called MacDrive that will allow you to do this). Both Macs and Windows can read and write to FAT32 drives.

So, the only way to seamlessly use an external drive with both a Mac and a Windows machine is to format it as FAT32. Of course, to re-format a drive, you will need to back up all of the data that is on it, because re-formatting will wipe the drive. It will also be easier if you re-format the drive to FAT32 using a Mac, because Windows XP imposes a maximum volume size of 32 GB when you format to FAT32. So, using a Windows machine, you would not be able to re-format your entire external drive to FAT32. A Mac will let you do that, though, and I am sure that there are third-party disk utilities for Windows that will let you do it as well, I'm just not familiar with them.

(Of course, if the drive is already FAT32, then this is all moot -- it will work fine.)

[caddymac]

I purchased a Dell 600m about a year ago on sale for $450 and it has been a great laptop. Much lighter than my old Toshiba it replaced, wireless works great, and it uses standard Dell parts you can find anywhere. My only complaint is that it is a Celeron, and it really shows sometimes.

At work I use a Dell Latitude D610. It's been a great laptop, although not a perfect desktop replacement. At work, as well as at home, I have a docking station which allows for me to use a regular keyboard, lcd panel, and mouse. It's super nice, so nice I try to avoid using my laptops as a laptop as much as I can.

I've only had personal experience with Dell, Toshiba, and Compaq laptops. Out of all those, I like Dell the most. The Compaq was the company laptop during my internship days a long time ago (different company, different hardware solutions), and I was impressed given the general bad name Compaq and HP have had in the last 5 years for computers. I thnk it was a decent computer because it was a business class model, which I feel is a good path to venture on if you want a solid, reliable computer. Along the same lines, I think the Dell Latitude line (business class) is pretty decent, but their Inspiron line looks cheap and cheesy.

Lenovo, I have no personal experience with using on a daily basis, but they seem to be rock solid computers and everyone I've talked to has loved them. Same with Mac notebooks. I've always wanted a Macbook, but now that I have a bunch of Dell accessories (dock, power supplies, dvd drives, etc.) I think I'm going to stick with Dell for my next laptop purchase. Plus I don't think a Macbook really fits my personality.

So my order of preference:
1) Lenovo
2) Dell Latitude
3) Macbook