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Ask Slashdot: How Do You Choose a Windows Laptop?
jfruhlinger writes "I'm a Mac guy. When our 2004-era Windows XP laptop, which was used primarily by my wife, died last summer, I got myself a new MacBook Pro and she inherited my still serviceable 2008 MacBook. But after about six months, she hasn't gotten used to it, and wants a Windows machine. I don't have an ideological problem with this — it'd be her computer, and we've got a bit of money stashed away to pay for it. But trying to pick one out is my job, and I find the the whole process bewildering. Apple's product differentiation is great at defeating the paradox of choice — you have a few base models, the difference between which is quite obvious, and you can customize each. The Windows world seems totally different. Even once I've settled on a vendor for a Windows laptop (something I haven't done yet), each seems to have a bewildering array of product lines with similar specs. Often models that you find in electronics or office supply stores that seem promising in terms of form factor are exclusive to those stores and can't be found online. Obviously people do navigate this process, but I'm just feeling out of my depth. How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?"
Just install windows on the mac?
1. It must have Linux drivers, even if it requires compiling them separately.
2. It can't be from an evil corporation like Sony.
As all Macs have been Intel based since 2005 why not install Windows 7 on your 2008 MacBook. You can replace macosx or dual boot using Boot Camp.
The same way as a Linux laptop.
Math is beautiful... e^(pi*i)+1=0
and consider that i will eventually be wiping windows off and installing Linux on it...
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Why on earth would you give your MacBook Pro to your dead wife?
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
You say "she hasn't gotten used to it, and wants a Windows machine". Do you mean she hasn't gotten used to Mac OS X and wants to use Windows? Just use Boot Camp and install Windows on your MacBook, problem solved. If you mean she is using Windows on your MacBook and there is something about the MacBook itself she doesn't like, perhaps you should elaborate on what specifically it is she doesn't like about the hardware as that's probably something you should take into account in your next purchase.
Install Parallels or one of the other virtual machine and put your Windows OS on that. Don't waste the hardware.
Nate
These days almost all laptops have sucky screen resolution (13xx x 768). Particularly at the 14" and 15" sizes. Find a machine with a decent screen and you'll find a decent laptop. A few months ago I got my wife a HP Envy 14 with the 1600x900 screen, i5 CPU, and 4GB RAM. Suites her needs quite nicely.
I can't believe this actually made it this far! I have three Intel based Macs and 2 of them are running versions of Windows without any issues at all. Life is simpler than spending money. Install whichever version of windows she want and you are done.
"gotten used to it" Maybe she's more 1337 then you and can comprehend more than one button.
I think right now, the choice is between a low/medium spec Windows 7 32 bit laptop and a high-spec Windows 7 64 bit laptop. I bought a new one recently and opted for 64 bit and as much RAM as I could get.. it really is fast! But, I still prefer to do my real work on my Windows XP workstation..
Never email donotemail@WeAreSpammers.com
How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?"
What do you do to your laptops that puts them in danger of obsolescence in web surfing and document editing after two years? Gaming PCs should last you longer than that, never mind web surfing and word processing. Stick Windows on your 2008 MacBook and it should do fine.
It really doesn't matter which one you pick, unless you're running some kind of new-ish games on it, or something else that's super CPU or video intensive. The hardware is so ahead of what's needed for most people at this point, that just about anything made within the past 10 years works fine for most purposes. When I'm buying PC's (or laptops) for my company, I just find some refurbished model that has 2-4 GB RAM, and a decent hard drive. The rest of the specs really don't matter unless you have very specific needs. I don't know why a PC would be "obsolete" in the literal sense. Most of my PC's and laptops and servers were all made in the early 2000's and all run Windows XP and all do everything I need them to do just fine. I generally shoot for $300-400 for a laptop.
I don't respond to AC's.
Once you select a manufacturer of your choice, the process is similar to picking an Apple laptop. No need to invoke the "paradox of choice", unless you're trying to make this into a bigger problem than it actually is.
Or just install Windows on your macbook.
I'm not sure what the Lenovos (IBM sold their laptop division, IIRC) are like now; but the one I have is going on 5 years now and it's not obsolete. Only the battery needs to be replaced, and the left mouse button is worn out and taped on. Otherwise it's a champ. As long as XP service packs are around, I'll keep it.
When I finally decide to replace it, I'll be looking for another ThinkPad with Windows 7.
I have always used Dell laptops or ones provided by work (HP). I purchased a Dell netbook for my wife assuming that during her time at home it would be portable and easy for her to carry around. After a couple of months she decided it was just too small and underpowered for her and she wanted something else.
We only had a few requirements: built in mic and webcam (Skype with the grandparents), Windows, and a 10-key pad.
NewEgg had a Lenovo laptop which met all those requirements for ~$475. We picked it up and it arrived a few days later. Widescreen, 10-key, mic but a bit of a lame webcam. The rest of the specs are irrelevant as my wife doesn't need anything except Firefox, Word, and Excel.
But the important thing about Lenovo wasn't the hardware. The important thing was when it began shutting down unexpectedly and without warning after 30 minutes of heavy CPU usage (like when my wife was catching up on her shows on Hulu).
I contacted Lenovo support. I explained the problem and what I had done to test it. There was no usual bullshit required script I had to run through with the person on the phone. Nope. They e-mailed us the instructions on how to ship it back and we did.
It arrived at their facility in Texas on the 15th. On the 16th FedEx knocked at our door with the repaired laptop.
Lenovo will get my laptop business again and again until they break the trust level they created with that wonderful service exchange--arguably the best service I have ever received from any manufacturer in my 25 years of dealing with these things.
Good luck.
Just buy a Latitude or Thinkpad. You can't go terribly wrong with either.
If it's just for web surfing and document editing, then buying something cheap won't be obsolete in two years. As I don't buy Office every time a new version comes out. Only once every five years or more.
Since Windows 7 hasn't been out that long support for it won't die in a couple of years. So her laptop will run the same in two years as it does now if there aren't tons of programs loaded onto it(due to the extra programs themselves rather than age.)
To be on the safe side, anything with 6GB+ of ram will be more than enough to last a long time.
Netbooks tend to be on the slow side, and have a small keyboard. A 15" laptop screen should be fine unless she wants a good built in number-pad.
My desktop with XP home on it has been running since 2006, and it still runs office and firefox with zero problems. It may be considered obsolete in age, but not in it's function to me. So don't buy into the "obsolete" marketing. If it still does it's intended job in two years it's fine.
See which keyboards/track pads/screen/etc she prefers. Then buy whatever specs you need on that model.
Almost all consumer laptops are terrible. Get a business laptop if you want something that is any good. Some examples are HP's EliteBook and ProBook lines, Dell's Precision and Latitude lines, and Lenovo's ThinkPad line. Generally speaking, if a laptop doesn't have a trackpoint/pointing stick, it isn't worth having. It doesn't matter if you want to use it or not, it is a good indication of the quality of a laptop. Business laptops generally have: Better Battery life Better reliability No crapware More durable designs Higher performance Better keyboards and Anti-Glare screens Better conductivity and support for a docking station Better and longer warranties
Confucius say: Choosing Windows Laptop Easy! Open Window First!
Be relentless!
By how well it runs GNU/Linux.
The best way to pick one is to find out the minimum basics of what is wanted (screen size, and whether it will be "gaming" or just basics - web, email, an office suite, and light gaming). Then, write out minimum specs. If you have a processor brand preference, a minimum processor speed, I wouldn't go with less than 4GB RAM and a discrete 256 MB or better video card. HD space in a laptop doesn't matter to me because by the time I've picked everything else I wanted, they have more than my minimum as their minimum, so it isn't an issue. Now, to the anti-geek part. Once you have a basic idea of what you want.
Get the weekly fliers for Best Buy, Office Max, Office Depot, Sams, Costco, etc. and look through them. Find the cheapest one that fits your specs. Buy it or wait until next week.
If you have a specific brand you want, and specific specs that won't show up in a regular store, then you'll have to work much harder. But for a commodity laptop, it doesn't really matter. They are all about the same. And the plus side is that when you do it this way, you'll find out you paid less than half what you thought you would.
Learn to love Alaska
First question to ask yourself is: What does your wife want to do with her Windows laptop?
There are a bunch more factors you can consider (for example, maybe you're not planning to give Sony any more money). But until we know what your wife wants a Windows laptop for, it's pretty difficult to point you in any specific direction.
BTW, you might want to make sure she's comfortable with Windows 7, too. If all she wants is Windows XP, you might skip the stores and start looking other places (eBay, Craigslist).
Breakfast served all day!
They're almost at the point of being disposable, which kind of bothers me. I'd love to spend real money and get a good machine I can upgrade to make last 5+ years, but it's just not worth it.
Thinkpads still carry a price premium but are, from what I gather, still very nice relative to the competition (this is based on what others have written; I bought a PowerBook in 2004 and haven't looked back). Even then, however, expect a vast number of confusing options. The "X" series appears to be optimal for mobility, with 12.1" screens, while the 14" "T" series appears to be the best workhorse.
If you don't want to spend a tremendous amount of time reading, learning, and searching forums, these are probably your best bet. From what I can tell, there is no easy way to circumvent this process, much as it takes a great deal of research to figure out what you're getting when you buy a car.
Unless your wife has some very specific needs I'd say just hit Staples or Best Buy and see what's on sale. Any off the shelf name brand laptop will run Windows Fine. Strip off the factory supplied junkware (read: Norton/Symantec), add MS Office, and likely she's good to go.
Of course, I then installed Ubuntu via a Windows installer, and haven't looked back...
Three Squirrels
Make sure that the laptop that you purchase does not come with Windows. The last thing you want is to pay money for an operating system that you won't use. Wait... what?
Since CPUs and GPUs are so hard to distinguish by model numbers, check the specs on notebookcheck.net:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html
I'm partial Lenovo. Excellent construction and warranty support. Like others said, make sure to get a high resolution screen. That's easier in the business lines. You can also upgrade your memory much cheaper than through the OEM. You can get 16GB of DDR3 for $180 on Newegg instead of $480 from Lenovo. Take the replacement cost of batteries and power adapters into consideration. Lenovo & Dell are cheaper, Sony is at least twice as much.
Dell Inspiron 15R. Its not hugely powerful. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It has two significant weaknesses: No Bluetooth on board, 100Mb NIC.
Otherwise, for AU$1100 (including a spare battery), what a chilly bargain. I could have two of these babies cheaper than most IBMs, Toshibas or HP/Compaqs - even Macs. You just know that they're going to be good for the warranty - if I need it, and lets face it, I know more about PCs that 98% of their tech support department, so its not like I'm going to call them when I have anything short of a hardware failure.
I plan to own the device for two years (good god, is that planned obsolescence in hardware I hear? Who'd a thought?). After that, it will go to one of the kids, and I'll buy another one in the same class.
?
Buy a MS Notebook, complain about having to pay the Windoze tax, install Linux, configure several small but nonfunctioning items (buttons) for several hours, wonder why it doesn't go out of sleep/hibernation smoothly, rave how awesome Linux is while having Windows booted so you can play that one game you like or use that one piece software that doesn't run on Wine? /jk
You don't need a new machine and protect against obsolescence if you are just doing email and web surfing.
And, you could always Boot Camp Windows onto the Mac Book provided it is an Intel processor.
Staples, Best Buy, Fry's - what ever is cheap and has a decent comfortable keyboard for her.
If she's mostly at home and plugged in to power - get a bigger screen.
If she's on the go - get a screen that is readable but smaller to extend out battery life.
In the L500 or L650 ranges. Get an extended warranty - they're not so much more likely to fail, as bl@@dy expensive to fix when they do. Also, Toshiba's extended warranty means courier pick-up and return.
They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
Be glad Windows only has four or five viable editions for home use (including XP and Vista). If she wanted Linux... there's at least ten or twenty different suitable distros to choose between on top of the hardware choices. I'd say choose an OEM with a good reputation and talk to their salesperson... they'd be able to guide you through to a good purchase based on your requirements. Better yet, go to a third party computer store and talk to them (not one of the big box stores).
Visit the stores, try typing on the keyboard. Then, buy online. The keyboard is the one thing you must experience first hand.
I usually do either one of these:
1. Decide how much to spend, browse and see what kind of spec you can get with that price, for example in newegg.com. Of course you also have to factor in the brand, some brands are more reliable then other. I usually lean heavily toward ASUS, so I look that up first.
2. Or, decide on a spec, and see the best price you can get. Again, I usually just browse newegg.com, do a bit price comparison for certain model perhaps on different websites. Factor in also the brands reliability.
Practically, I almost do some sort of combination of 1 and 2. I usually sort of know what kind of spec I want and see if I can afford it, and then do a little bargaining with myself. I only use Linux, but the process is the same.
so basically...you're suffering from too much choice? What do you do when you've got to buy a car? Anyway, all silliness aside, start with your hardware requirements, and work from there. Find computers that fit those requirements, then make your choice based on price/extra features/etc. Check out the reviews. Bob's your uncle.
Don't buy a Dell.
Dell still isn't even building Alienware laptops that are as fast as by year old Sager / Clevo .
Just look at the blatantly displayed and advertised features, and pick the one with the best price per feature ratio. This differs from mac shopping, because with mac s, no matter what you are spending far to much for far too little.
In '07 I decided my wife needed her own computer since I was perpetually tinkering on mine. The shopping experience went like this:
We went to various stores and she "test drove" several laptops.
I had her provide feedback on keyboard, screen, and mouse. As these are the items I can't upgrade without external replacements.
After trying Sony, Dell, HP, Toshiba, and Apple the decision was the Apple MacBook.
The only complaints were the touchpad (we bought an external BT mouse) and OS X (she still liked Windows).
So I loaded up XP and she was happy to go. The point is she is the one who will primarily use the computer. Is it that she doesn't like the hardware or the OS. If she doesn't like the OS but does like the hardware, then as previously stated by others, just install Windows. As of Vista and 7 you don't even need OS X. You can load Windows straight onto the Apple and then install the BootCamp drivers.
I get this all the time from my family/relatives. Here's the rundown:
Get your preferences in order: Screen size, discrete graphics (must/may/must-not), battery life (min) and then just browse Fatwallet's laptop section or slickdeals until something that matches comes up. These days, any intel i3/i5 processor and 3-4GB of RAM will crush light-office-type tasks. I don't worry too much about the brand so long as I've heard of them before. You aren't investing enough to make spending tons of hours on research pay off.
Next up, I want to share a contrary attitude that many of us in the non-Apple community feel. I hasten to mention that I'm not saying your attitude is wrong, but I want to share a different point of view. You said you don't want something that's obsolete in 2 years, but I kind of wonder why? Spending $600 every 2 years gets you a lot further than spending $1200 every 4 years. If you had bought a $1200 laptop 4 years ago, you'd have a first-gen Core2Duo (Merom), 1GB of RAM, 802.11g whereas $600 was a first-gen (Yonah) Centrino, 1GB of RAM, 802.11g. Meanwhile, 2 years ago $600 got you a Arrandale i3, 3GB of RAM and a far better Intel GMA (one that can accelerate h264@1080p) with 802.11n and +50% battery life. So you got 2 years of a slightly faster laptop in exchange for 2 years with a much inferior one all at the same price.
Apple gets you into the habit of spending a whole heck of a lot of money for a really nice machine, I'm trying to suggest that in the Windows world, buying less laptop more often nets you more bang for your buck over time. What's more, the commodification of the laptop means you have so much less at stake regarding breakage. I love not caring about cases, biking with laptop in a backpack, traveling around with it, not investing in a laptop-lock-cable, not caring if my nephew spills apple-juice all over it (the keyboard tray got most of it, the laptop lived on). There are people for whom spending more makes sense: graphic designers need a color-accurate IPS LCD, road-warriors need something super portable, gamers need the latest mobile video cards. For the rest of everyone, get a cheapo laptop, beat the crap out of it and then replace it.
Finally, for those that suggest I'm creating a bunch of unnecessary waste (leaving aside that I'm getting tangible utility out of shorter cycle here), every one of my old laptops has been DBANed and sent over to FreeGeek (where I volunteer) to further their service. It's not waste if you can find a use for it!
If I were going to buy a Windows laptop right now it would almost surely be a ThinkPad. Probably their new X220 when it comes out. All the other manufacturers' stuff seems cheaply made and ridiculous to look at. It's like they're trying to add as much "bling" as they possibly can. ThinkPad's "all black" is as close as I can get in Windows-land to Mac's "all white".
WHY do you choose a Windows laptop?
My process is fairly simple What I do, is I pick a price point that I want to spend then I look at Lenovo, dell, hp, and a few of the big box stores and get the machine with the best specs I can at that price.
I used to be biased towards Thinkpads but I am not happy with the build quality or longevity of my most recent, a w500. The only thing they (in my opinion) still have going for them is they are easy to disassemble and repair or upgrade. Although parts from Lenovo are ghastly expensive.
Generally there are a few main lines that the major manufacturers stick to. There are the "entertainment laptops" that generally have more HDD capacity and discrete graphics cards amongst other features like more flashy designs etc. This would be the HP pavillion line for example. The build quality is probably OK but can be an issue with particular models. Then there are the the "business" line laptops. This would be the Toshiba Tecra or HP probook. Business laptops tend to focus on build quality, security features like fingerprint readers, HDD encryption, expansion options like docking stations/port replicators and cheap 3 year warranty upgrades. They generally don't have discrete graphics and have smaller HDD but are more likely to have more variations of the same base model with different speed CPUs and different form factors (14", 15", 17"). There is also the "professional" line of laptops, for example the HP Elitebook that focus on things like military grade build quality. Finally there are brands like Asus that are very competitive with new technology and prices, for example there are some Asus laptops with Sandy Bridge CPUs (e.g., N53SV-SZ152V) that have recently been released whereas the business lines will take a while to catch up. Asus laptops tend toward the entertainment area but often have a 2 year warranty rather than a 1 year warranty. They generally have a more confusing array of models.
In general I tend toward Asus models because they are better value and can still be pretty good quality but in general make you have a play with whatever models you like the look of first and have a look around for reviews that might reveal any major flaws.
...that won't be obsolete in two years?
Strangely enough, I was just having this conversation this afternoon about how my mindset has recently changed to looking at laptops as a disposable commodity. Now I just find the cheapest one that meets my specs and expect it to last 1-2 years. For a basic browsing laptop, that means about a $300 laptop. It's like leasing for $12.50/month, which isn't a bad deal. Give it to charity or sell it for $50 in two years.
"Once in Hawaii I had sex with a 102 year old male turtle. It is difficult to argue that it was consensual." - Steve Ma
Interestingly, this holds even within a brand/line. The Latitude D4/6/8X0 series had the pointing sticks and were decent machines. The D5XX's didn't, and they're much crappier than their contemporaries.
The only thing that I would ask her is if she plans to do any video editing. I have a Dell Studio 17 and now that I am recording and editing HiDef video the performance is not suitable. I plan to get a low end gaming desktop with one of the NVIDA cards that is supported by Adobe Premier Pro. I don't know if any of the reasonably priced laptops will be suitable.
I would suggest a Thinkpad T series or X series as her primary machine. The 420, 520, 220 series are quite modern but still rolling out. For a little less money you can get the yesteryear model which offer more choices of features. Dell Latitudes are also solid machines in my experience and I have heard good things about HP's Elite book line but lack first hand experience. As a rule of thumb if you see it in a big box store stay away; the build quality is often compromised for cost, and the Windows install is often full of crapware.
To the /. crowd who can't understand why someone would not like Windows on Mac hardware, Windows 7 on Macs as of November is a hit or miss affair (two finger mouse press sends both a right AND left click, audio is always turned down, and one other issue which eludes me). The touch pad is the best I have ever used, but it doesn't replace a touch point and three buttons. Home, del, insert, page up, page down are sorely missed. Chicklet keyboards don't feel right to me, and finally, Macs tend to have a lower screen resolution for their size than what you can find on Windows laptops.
There is nothing wrong with being gay. It's getting caught where the trouble lies.
My advice would be to go to a Microsoft store, a brick and mortar one if there's such a thing around where you live, or http://store.microsoft.com otherwise. It's a one-stop display of the best models for each niche and market segment. The redundancy will be very reduced and all the non-competitive models will be filtered out. And when you buy from them, you get your laptop with a custom system install without the brand bloat/crapware, which enhances the out-of-the-box experience considerably.
I have an Acer Netbook and an Acer gaming laptop, both are awesome! I use them both every day and I have not had one problem.
http://bit.ly/dI3hcF
I second this. I can't comment on Lenovo's consumer-focused IdeaPad line, but the ThinkPad line is top notch.
If hardware quality, good engineering, and support/warranty service are what is important to you, ThinkPads (at least the T, X, and W series) are still untouchable (even by Apple). And they're less expensive, too.
If you want a good general-purpose laptop, take a look at the T410 (which is on discount as it's being replaced) or the newer T420.
My wife and I walked this path last year after her Vista Dell POS died. I compared a variety of major brands: Dell, HP/Compaq, Lenovo, Toshiba, maybe a couple of others I don't recall. Yes I do: Acer, Gateway, Asus, eMachines, etc. Like others have suggested, I started from specs that should be good for a couple of years: Win7x64, four+ cores, big enough screen. In her case power/battery is not an issue. We wound up dialing in on a Toshiba, but Lenovo was a close second, and they do seem to be holding up the no-bullshit tradition. The Toshiba has behaved well following OEM crapware removal.
my experience with laptops is this - if you really take it on the road a lot I have found that it is more likely to break before it becomes obsolete
on my list of craptops that are not well made and break easily:
1. Dell - most of the affordable ones are pretty cheaply made - we got a deal on a master program I was in where all the students got them, in the end I offered mine up as parts help other keep theirs running - the final straw on mine was when the internal voltage regulator literally went up in smoke in an airport.
2. HP - they should have lemon laws for HP laptops - it seems if you get a dud its pretty much going to be that way forever
3. Panasonic - crap displays - the toughbooks are rugged but are usually pretty disappointing from a performance perspective
The VERY best laptops I have found to be the Sony Vaio's - they are the only ones I've owned that lasted so long that they became obsolete and even then they were so good I could pass them on to moms and sisters.... They are a little pricey bit well worth it !
Just install windows on the mac?
I have a MBP 13" Unibody. The HW is pretty much ok, but the configured options of the era show their age. The battery has swollen, 2GB of RAM is little nowadays, and a 5400rpm HDD is slow.
Do as the Parent sugests, install Windows Seven (not Vista, and certainly not XP) in the laptop, but upgrade Memory (check the manual to see the max ammount of ram supported, and check the forums to see if it can take a tad more ), change the HDD (here faster RPM or SDD is the name of the game), and buy a new (non Apple, thank you) battery. This can be done by pretty much anyone.
If you do not upgrade those options, the laptop will feel slow compared to what is in the market nowadays, and will likely fail early (HDD or battery), making your wife feel shortcharged.
Last, but not least, be smart about the windows install, and do not self-crappify your computer, Microsoft Security essentials is a nice Antivirus solution, and Windows live has a bunch of nice uttilities, which are updated from the same place as the rest of the OS, making life much simpler.
If you are competent inside the machine, a little cleanup of the fans and termal pipes with a can of compressed air is recomended too. If you are REALLY competent inside a laptop, you can re-apply the termal paste...
With the money you save, buy HER (not you) some nifty accesories, like an enclosure for the old HDD, so she has an external disk, or a usb hub, or something nice, non computer related.
PS: In windows, for many laptops, one can SW overclock the machine, I've done it, asnd as long as you do not get too greedy, works OK.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
> "... that won't be obsolete in two years?"
I'm sorry, I thought you said a XP Laptop.
They come that way out of the box.
Here's how I do it, and how I recommend others do it.
First of all.. almost any notebook that's actually in the notebook category you're going to buy -new- now is going to be powerful enough for internetting, e-mailing, organizing music, photos and video, and editing music, photos and video.
So you really have to figure out what she plans to do with it within the expected lifetime of this new notebook (say 5 years).
If she wants to do -heavy- photo editing, you'll want a slightly beefier CPU. Not a Core i3, but a Core i5. If she's doing a lot of video editing, you'll want a faster HDD (you don't want an SSD for this!) that also has room to spare. Perhaps even find a model that has 2 HDDs so you can RAID1 the things for some peace of mind - though I would go with an external HDD at this point, hook it up with FireWire or eSATA for some speed over USB2*. If she's working with programs that read/write semi-randomly a lot, an SSD might be beneficial. If she plays a lot of heavy 3d games, you'll want to make sure it has more than just an IGP on board - check review sites for what the better mobile graphics cards are these days. * On USB.. USB 3 is coming.. if you're pondering upgrades on storage and such, that might be something to keep in mind as to whether it has it on-board, etc. Working with graphics also usually means a bigger screen (think 17" or above), whereas internet/e-mail.. well, 13" (just above netbooks) should do.
Be flexible with your specs, though, as these are what limit your absolute market choices.
Now go out into that market.. i.e. visit a Best Buy or whatever other store that has lots of models on display. The reason for this is one of the most important parts of choosing any notebook.. you want it to 'feel' right and look right. By 'feel' right, I'm talking literally about feeling when it comes to typing (do you want to be stuck with a notebook for 5 years that you think is weird to type on?) but also whether things are laid out well for you, individually. This goes hand-in-hand with looks. You don't want to look at a machine that you think is ugly for whatever reason; glossy screen when you prefer matte, some swirly pattern on the housing that some designer thought looked great but you're wondering who would want to be seen with that, etc.
Yes, some of those are probably petty concerns... but remember, this is going to be your wife's notebook.. she'll be working with it a fair bit. She's already demonstrated that her dislike of a notebook can easily turn into discarding of said notebook.
So go and set out to find 5 models that fall within your tech specs and have the right feel and look. Now go online and find out what the reviews are for those.. check the positives, check the negatives.. weigh them according to your wife's desires. I.e. if somebody complains that the bluetooth is dodgy and she never uses bluetooth and doesn't see herself using bluetooth ever, but it otherwise gets glowing reviews, why rule it out?
You should be able to narrow it down to just 1 model, and that ought to be your choice.
You can then choose to order it online, or buy it in the store where you saw it.. both have their merits; for one, the store did offer you the chance to look at it in person and touch it and all that. But if they charge quite a lot more than you can get it online, that may not factor in so much.
If you really don't want to deal with this choice business, you can always go online to some review sites. Some of them have a periodically updated list of 'best notebook for X' things. The Dutch tweakers.net site is one of them, and the models recommended there may be available wherever you are, but I wouldn't count on it (EU market is fairly different from US and Asia).
http://tweakers.net/reviews/1993/notebook-best-buy-guide-februari-2011.html (base/business/gaming, from Feb 2011)
then there is no Intel inside sticker, no windows logo on the keyboard. his wife will not like this.
My best advice is the same advice I give on buying ANYTHING from a new car to an ice cream cone: once you've made your decision and bought something, just enjoy it and quit shopping them. Watching for sales, trying out the display models in stores, comparing prices and features online, even asking your friends what they bought and how much they paid -- all that is for before you buy and continuing to do that after the fact will only lead to frustration (because there's always going to be a lower price or a flashier gizmo in a few days or weeks and unless you're prepared to constantly be in "shopping mode" knowing about it will do you no good at all.)
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I've had a HP G60 for less than 2 years and they have ridiculous overheating problems, my cable melted and my fan overheated and still doesn't worked even after it's cleaned. What's best if you wanted to spend $2000 on a laptop? Something you can work with and take anywhere?
It's like the mind going AWOL, it's there somewhere
One flaw of my method is that external appearance doesn't come into play. I very nearly wound up selecting a laptop that came only in pink. This is probably quite important for non-geeks.
My biggest problem with Windows laptops is the following. Say I want a computer only for surfing the web and typing some documents. In terms of speed I could get the laptop with the lowest specs that I can find. There's one problem. If I buy a "slow" laptop it usually also means crappy engineering. If I want a laptop that'll last I've got no choice except to go with high-end models. If someone could just recommend a laptop with low specs, but with good engineering...
Settle on your budget and then pick one.
Bought my wife white EB series past summer. She likes it a lot.
I don't see Fujitsu in here, though I haven't read all the comics. I have a Lifebook T900 and I love it, the tablet is nice when I need to take notes in class, it feels really solid, and quite snappy. I can't recommend it enough!
Just look on Amazon (or something like it), and find the one with the highest stars - that's what I did.
Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
Something I have said since I sold PC's in the 80's - if you can buy it, it is already obsolete... Get a system with a good warranty. My Dell D630, and my D600 laptop before that, both came with a 3 year warranty. Most laptops come with a 1 year warranty unless you pay extra. Dell charges $39 for their Latitude systems to extend that to 3 years - well worth the price. In any case, consider 3 years a minimum life time, and 5 years max. By then she will probably be ready to trade. Mine is just 3 years old now. It is still sound and has enough power, video, memory, and disc to last a few more I think. Dell is trying to get me to reup the warrany, but I'm not sure it is worth it. At this point I think it's about an extra $150 per year.
Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real-time.
To send you a new wife.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
[quote] How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?"[/quote]
The answer is two fold. First, even a top of the line PC/laptop is going to be obsolete before it even gets shipped to you, whether it comes from Dell, HP, or Apple. If by obsolete you mean "so slow it's no longer reasonably usable" then any PC/laptop purchased new after 2005 will probably be quite usable for the next two years without any issue.
And as for the other part, about picking a solid, basic laptop for web surfing and document editing... Any PC/laptop is going to be FAR more than sufficient for those means. Heck, even a $200 netbook is going to have plenty of power to do that. The things that are mostly make or break for most users are the interface. So take your wife into [insert your favorite electronics store] and have her test out a few keyboard and touchpad combos. For example my touchpad scrolls with a two-finger drag, my wife's scrolls with a special section on the right side of the touchpad. I pretty much hate hers and she hates mine, it's personal preference. Also, balancing screen size with battery life and weight. Those are the things I'd concern myself with first. Then, once you find out you want a screen size of approximately X, with a minimum battery life of Y, and touch-pad/keyboard type Z, your choices will be fairly limited. Don't get too caught up in the processor/memory for this machine since it's apparently for casual use only, and you can upgrade the memory a couple years down the road to extend the life of the machine. I do recommend paying the extra for the faster hard drives. It makes a LOT of difference. Other than that, just hunt for the cheapest one.
What do you want? If you are going to do graphics get lots of memory.
Choose a brand that has good tech support. Dell used to have the best tech support in the business, but it's now probably the worst. I lean toward Lenovo, Fujitsu and Toshiba. If you are doing a lot of multimedia, Sony is ok, but temperamental.
"The mind works quicker than you think!"
Something you always end up paying for in the Windows world when buying cheaply made laptops are the drivers produced by shitty companies.
Following list of companies make terrible drivers:
- Dell
- HP
- Realtek
- Conexant
- Synaptics (OK, not much choice here...)
- JMicron (I guess they're ok if the drivers are working)
- Chicony
- probably many more
Some of the best drivers IME:
- Intel (they make non-chipset stuff too, e.g. Wi-Fi adapters)
- AMD
- Nvidia
- Microsoft
- Atheros
In my opinion, keyboard and touchpad characteristics are probably the most important factors in PC laptops. Other than that, good internal hardware hardware is very cheap and similar among brands (Caveats being Intel chips tend to run a bit cooler for the same performance vs. AMD, and if you care about discrete video go for one that has that, otherwise ram and hard drives are easily accessible/upgradeable, but I'm sure other threads are covering that).
Keyboards:
One of the main things about PC keyboards is the Ctrl vs. Fn key. You will find yourself using the Ctrl key very often (less so than in a mac since right click is built in, but still); it's generally more ergonomically comfortable to use the leftmost edge of your left hand to hit the ctrl button if that's where it's located. I know for many laptops I've purchased the Ctrl and Fn key are swapped, and getting to do anything like copy/paste ctrl + C, Ctrl + v, Ctrl + tab, ctrl + click, ctrl + whatever is a minor hand-cramp inducing PITA. If you like keyboard hotkeys, best advice is to find one with the Ctrl keys taking the spotlight.
Mice:
Not only do the designs vary by quite a large bit between manufacturers as far as hardware implementation--Some that have one smooth metallic surface that only does tap response, some that have rough textured surfaces for tactile response, to Thinkpads with a nipple and touchpad and about six different ways to click and doubleclick--but it's also important to keep in mind that the mice action will almost NEVER feel as intuitive or as good as a Mac. The hardware is assembled from various OEM distributors, and depending on who they sourced their touchpad to and how good their driver development is, you will either get basic "scroll bars along edge of pad" functionality, or very poorly implemented pinch-zoom. On top of that, I have an Ideapad G-560 with a touchpad so insensitive slash oversensitive at exactly the wrong times you'd think it was steam driven. One HUGE annoyance is the cursor clicking to some random spot when your palm touches it while you're typing an essay. Have that happen a couple times and your document gets swiss cheesed with sentence fragments.
Unless every review you read for the lappy you're about to get has no qualms about keyboard or touchpad, definitely try to poke around, maybe play solitaire to test out the tap-click-hold-drag functionality, and try typing a couple paragraphs in a word document to make sure the cursor doesn't go Ouija board on you.
by dropping them and seeing which one hits the ground first.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
However, you'll be stuck with 32-bit Windows unless you remaster your Windows 7 disc to use the EFI boot files from a 32-bit version, and even if you do that it's a pain to install the drivers because you can't do it automatically.
If you're not wanting to mess with it, I'd check the usual review sites. Avoid Sony like the plague, and remember that you get what you pay for.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
My wife needed a Windows license to run the requisite software to allow her to work from home. She found the retail version of WIndows 7 Professional going for $80 and Windows 7 Ultimate for $90 on the local area Craig's List.
Just saying.
I will post my Linux criteria, while it does not necessarily need to be that, by following this criteria you will at least have a pain free alternative route for the hardware leaving windows.
1. AMD processor - Mainly because intel IS #1 and they play and get away with the word games on processors, you never really know what you are gonna get, and usually discover you got less than you expected. AMD while being #2 has had to meet or beat Intels price point for performance, so usually similar priced laptops, the AMD ones will have better performance.
2. nVidia chip set - ATI may be better in performance respects but on Linux what matters more is will you be able to get the graphics to work. AMD usually just works - ATI you are rolling dice. I translate that to the companies support for their product and customers. ATI does not really care about their customers' interests, and nVidia does.
3. Not consumer HP - of the few HPs Iv'e worked with (desktops) their compatibility with linux has been disappointing, and their outsourced support, will not help you unless you are talking about Windows.
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
You said "that won't be obsolete in two years"
Rick B.
This is one of those questions that is asked frequently. This thread breaks down the differences and I agree with the poster as an owner of both.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1886760&cid=34370614
Get an IBM Thinkpad T-Series. T61, T410
Backward compatible to Windows NT with intelligent hardware and a really, really good keyboard and trackstick.
Good luck!
I don't do much development or admin on the laptop. It's basically just the Linux kernel and a browser and a few free and non-free codec and browser plugins, so I don't really care how well it runs "GNU".
Try:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pc-scout/
From their site:
Our interactive guide will recommend just the right PC. We'll fill you in on laptop basics, and match your needs against a pool of PCs recommended by the experts here at Windows.
You can use the 'Get Started' link to begin a guided selection or use the Icons below that to select a laptop type. :)
This will give you a much better idea of of what (you and) your wife are looking for along with prices for your region/area
Why do people insist on using laptops for doing anything other than browsing the net while watching TV? And they can do that on a tablet now.
I have a work laptop, for when I am on call. All it has to do is VPN and run a Remote Desktop Connection to my office PC. I could use it to browse the net while on the sofa. There are no more uses for a laptop. Their power/price is poor in comparison to almost any decent PC. You either pay too much money or you get lousy performance.
Another problem with laptops is the tiny/cramped keyboard, a $5 keyboard has to be more comfortable than any laptop keyboard - certainly no worse. A good quality keyboard is even better.
There is no way any laptop pointing device is going to be easier, faster or more accurate than a mouse. Bizarrely, Microsoft make (or badge) really good ones but there is plenty choice.
As I look at my screen, I am trying to decide what size of screen to replace it with. 24" sounds nice. If I want to look at a 15" screen, I will get a tablet. It would be no use for gaming, coding or writing.
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
Lenovo also has great tech support in my experience. Now I speak as a tech support person, not as a normal user so perhaps it is not as good if you don't know what you are doing but they are great.
Example:
One of our students had a Thinkpad, started having weird problems. He decided to give it a Memtest, as we usually do in those situations. Sure enough, bad memory. He called Lenovo, told them what he'd done, they said "Ok we'll ship you new RAM." He gave them all his info. The next morning, his RAM was there. In less than 24 hours they got him replacement parts, and he was just a normal consumer, this wasn't on a business account.
Lenovo really has grade-A support in my experience. Also, they are way better about drivers than most vendors. Many, Dell in particular, seem to update drivers for a bit and then neglect it. This is particularly a problem with video drivers since they can still need updating for features years down the road. Lenovo is pretty good about that.
If your lappy is important, like you can't afford a lot of downtime, I'd go Lenovo.
Personally I got an MSI laptop because I liked the offerings and downtime is acceptable, my desktop is my primary machine. I like MSI and they make good geek laptops (real easy to get at all the components) but I do not have the experience with their tech support to recommend them for people who need their stuff in a hurry.
An apple guy who doesn't know computer specs...how did that happen? Look at different models, determine what screen size works first, then go with core i3 or a core i5 for the cpu, at least 4GB RAM, 64 bit version of Windows, 7200 rpm hard drive, and the graphics card will vary, so google it and check out the wiki page, or read reviews and see if it's worth a darn, depends on what you're trying to do - if you want a 720p or 1080p screen you'll need at least a dedicated video card if you don't want any fuss
For web surfing, email and basic document editing, just get her an iPad. =)
Be done with this unsavory task.
How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?"
Think about this for a second - you're looking for something that does the most basic, routine tasks out there. A bottom-of-the-barrel laptop these days ($3-400?) has about 1000x the power you need to surf the web and run MS Office. And it won't be obsolete in 2 years. The same software you run today will work just fine in 2 years, and will take care of any web/office task you could possibly conceive of.
These days, spending more than $500 on a laptop is pointless unless you use it for games, or as a fullblown desktop replacement (video editing, etc). But web use? Office docs? Email? A 5 year old laptop would suffice.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Is that computers really do have staying power these days. They are just real powerful. For a non-gamer, I think a laptop can easily do 4 years. CPUs are damn good now and you can get a lot of memory. If you get an i5 with 4 or 8GB, sucker should still be just fine in 4 years. Even for gamers things aren't as "Gotta have an upgrade," as they used to be. I've got a Q9550 in my desktop and it is still just fine. Runs the latest games well, despite being a 3 year old product.
However, you are right in that it is better to buy somethign a little more economical, but that meets your needs, and upgrade more often, than to try and get something that lasts forever and ever. You'll be happier overall. That is particularly true with games, since graphics cards DO move faster than other things. Even an extremely high end GPU is going to be problematic in 4 years. Better to spend less, more often.
My Linux hibernation works twice as well as Windows.
The color of it. She didn't want a plain black, silver, grey, bronze, or white one.
She liked the red one.
So that's what she got.
Her preferences are hers.
Let your wife pick something she likes looking at.
I've been selling supporting and doinking around with my own and clients laptops since they were invented. (Yup, that 25lb Compaq was my first)! I have little to say but here's what it is. 1).. Don't be buying a laptop at the same store where you buy fridges and washing machines. Why? Because you can CUSTOMIZE! 2).. Buy Online. 3).. Go for the clean install config. - i.e. no crapware (HP IS THE WORST for crapware these days) 4).. Buy a Sony. (if you still care about points with the spousal unit then you'll get a couple) Avoid the malaise in NA thinking ".... I got a great deal..." - there ain't no such thing!
May the lies we live by make us strong, healthy, happy and wise - Kurt Vonnegut.
What is she going to use it for? Does she want to take it with her when she leaves the home? For example, my laptop stays at home most of the time and is used for Multimedia, so i got a HP Multimedia laptop. Cheap and effective. If I wasn't worrying about money I would find a laptop that can dock. It's all about her habits and what she wants to do with it. If she wants to put it in her backpack or in the car and take it with her then maybe find her a slim laptop with a crystal clear screen. I'm sure you can find other features that will make her really love her laptop,such as power and wireless everything.. but for me I like a big screen and keyboard and want to hear the sound without having to hook up a lot of gadgets..
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
Your post sounds like the anxious confused ramblings of a prisoner in a grocery store after years of choosing between the slop or the gruel at the mess hall. Hang in there, being an empowered consumer is a little scary at first.
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You don't.
On a more serious note, I generally just go to Dell and pick out whatever's cheapest. Check out their small business line too, you can get a laptop with nearly identical specs for a decent bit less sometimes. I generally also compare prices with HP too, but usually Dell has the better deals. Their service is pretty good too as long as your problems occur before the warranty expires, and they're hardware faults. When my motherboard died, I was on the phone with them for less than half an hour, and I had a fully functional machine back within a week...and they specifically told me to keep the hard drive, which allowed me to retain access to my data since I had a SATA USB dock. Software (or driver) faults you'll get nowhere with though - they'll just try to tell you it's a virus. But this is Slashdot, so I assume you are capable of dealing with such issues yourself.
Haw, haw! Loser.
I abandoned Windows in the late 90's for linux and then went mac when they went intel. One of the greatest joys I've had as a result was being able to tell all of my friends and family that looked to me to support their Windows installations that I don't really know Windows and they should always buy systems that come with support.
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain
So is communism! There are those who can't handle choice. We should give them the *choice* of moving to a communist regime!
From what I found, ASUS was top on reliability with Sony, Dell and Toshiba higher up. Looking from there I wanted a gaming computer and prefer ATI over nVidia at the moment though I'm not sure there is a major difference, Toshiba seems to have more nVidia so that dropped off for me. I've had issues with older Dells (though newer ones look better) and good luck with Sony but the prices of both for high performance were a tad higher than I wanted. Eventually I found the Asus G73 to meet everything I wanted for a tad lower price and found a refurbished one which had everything I wanted at a much lower price.
1) I start with the screen. My 5 year old dell has a 1920x1200 dpi screen, and would hate to have anything with less. 2) Then find a keyboard and large touchpad that I like. 3) graphics card. 4) rest of specs, processor, memory, etc.
How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?
If you can buy it, it is already obsolete and overpriced.
But, since you already have an X86 Mac, just use Parallels, "boot Campt" to dual boot, or simply install XP.
Macs are built solid; why not just use Boot Camp and install Windows 7 on that mac. Problem solved.
If you do want a PC however, you have a lot of choices. I tend to pick a laptop out of what will annoy me: I say no-thanks to any laptop where the tilda or delete key is next to the spacebar, or where the Windows logo key isn't in its rightful place next to the Ctrl key. When I'm spending that kind of money, I don't want to be pestered with illogical keyboard layouts every time I use my device.
Laptops are also more notorious for coming preloaded with a superfluous amount of crapware, trial-ware, and other junk you don't want. While any slashdotter worth their salt is of course knowledgeable enough to remove this (or wipe the drive and re-install the OS cleanly), you might want to take the Windows Signature approach. Not only are these PC's shipped clean -- with absolutely no trial programs (not even trial versions of Office, mind you), no anti-virus that's going to expire in 90 days (it comes with Microsoft Security Essentials, which is free for life and (in my opinion) all the protection you need. They even vette the hardware drivers; kicking aside any provider who is going to add a context menu handler to the desktop right-click menu (they do this because such menu choices are seldom needed (do you change your laptop color depth every day?) and because those menu options usually cause the desktop right-click to delay to the point of agony. All in all, Signature will mean you'll get a machine that is as polished as a Mac.
Everything else is really you're preference.
The 2008 Aluminium Macbook is pretty much indestructible... My 2005 Powerbook is still going strong. Macs usually have working lives of more than 5 years and can be found still in production use at 10 years old.
you had me at #!
The HP Envy line is looking pretty good to me.
the 17" is probably going to be my next machine (following 2004 ibook G4 and 2009 Macbook 13").
At ~$1500 the specs are as good as the top end Macs that cost about twice as much. (or more by the time you factor in all the silly proprietary adapters you need to hook up to anything)
2004 era Windows laptop suggests Windows XP.
If your wife hasn't adjusted to Mac OSX in 6 months, Windows 7 may not be the answer.
Since you own a license of XP (you harvested from your 2004 laptop, right?) just install that in a virtual machine. Also try a linux in a virtual machine.
Both of those things can be done without spending any money.
If your wife can't adjust to MAX OSX, test her on linux. If she can't adjust to linux, Windows7 is probably a waste of money.
So then, you're really stuck with XP. For XP, anything on the market is more than adequate. So it's almost all about price then.
Almost. I'd still avoid anything from HP. Once you buy from them, you become the enemy. Contrast that with comments re: Lenovo elsewhere on this thread.
"How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?""
No one would go about doing that because it's impossible. Every laptop made yesterday will be obsolete in about a year and a half from yesterday, at best.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
There's no guaranteed answer to your issue(s). Based on what I understand you are asking for a machine that:
A. Will be capable to support web surfing and document editing.
B. You will not need to be replaced a few years.
Issue A has a very simple answer. Any. Pretty much any laptop or netbook out there has sufficient power. That will last for as many years as you keep using the same software. Experience tells me that users whom are not comfortable switching from Windows with Mac are quite happy with the same software until they are forced to upgrade so this should not be an issue.
Issue B has a more tricky answer. Picking a brand does not mean a whole lot nowadays. I work in an IT department and most employees use laptops. I have seen all the major brands, including Lenovo, Dell, HP, Toshiba, Sony, Apple, etc., having hardware failures at fairly random times and with fairly random components. Yes, that's right, I have seen MacBooks that failed in their second year. At the same time, with each of these brands, I've had very good experiences too. I can think of a few examples in each that have lasted for more than 5 years. I actually still have a few laptops running Windows XP and still being used. I won't suggest any brand because it seems to be a bit of a lottery with any of them.
In conclusion, as many have already suggested here, if installing Windows on that MacBook is not an option or you're not interested in that saving, pick a brand and model based on what you need. If you like the capabilities of the MacBook Pro, try finding something with similar hardware specs. You won't find many that have a reasonable multi-gesture touch-pad or illuminated keyboard but you can find roughly the same hardware in terms of graphics, cpu, memory and hard drive. Good luck.
I have the book, the Paradox of Choice, on my bookshelf and have read it cover to cover (not that it's a hard read). The principle argument of the guy who wrote it begins that we in the modern world have an amazing array of choices. I can't disagree with him there. He points out that when we go to the average grocery store there are, you know, 47 varieties of potato chip, that sort of stuff and that this choice can be bewildering. All true.
However, he says that this choice causes bad emotions and that we'd all be a lot better off if we just settled on the easiest choice to come along without second thought and without dwelling or regret. He seems to think this is a logical solution to the paradox of choice. But this seemed like a horrible, even nightmarish idea to me. Let me break it down into terms the average Slashdotter can understand though. Essentially, according to Barry Schwartz, the solution to the paradox of choice is to relinquish choice and choose the easiest thing and thus the solution to the paradox of choice is that we:
Run Windows.
Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.
is the mac. by far. sorry if its expensive to buy windows. the bootcamp drivers disk is the best support package ever by a laptop vendor.
i used to have a lenovo laptop. i've had lots of dell & hp workstations. windows installs easiest on a mac. windows crashes least on a mac. bluetooth and 802.11 work better on windows on a mac then any other windows laptop you'll ever find. the trackpad on the mac is better than anything except lenovo's pointer.
sorry. apple makes the best laptops. by far. even if they are the most evil empire in computing. i ain't no fan boy. just a user.
Is that system builder licenses aren't transferable. It is 100% fine to use them on systems you do yourself, that's why Newegg sells them. However they are designed like OEM licenses that Dell et al sell which means that they are tied to that system, which in this case means a motherboard. So you install it, and life is good. However if you get a new computer later and want to transfer it, no deal, it is tied to the computer you put it on.
That's more or less what you are paying for with retail Windows is a "transfer tax" if you like, or having the license be like a book. You can only have it on one thing, but you are free to change what that thing is.
I'm not saying that is a big deal, just that it is something to know and recognize.
being a former SONY VAIO owner I can tell you I don't know how SONY does it but they make HP laptops seem reliable. I've never had so many heat related problems. I had to start carry a laptop fan with my laptop if I didn't want that thing to crash after a couple hours of use.
Buy a MS-class laptop with Linux already installed - skipping the WinTax altogether so no need to complain - everything is already configured, except for the custom key strokes you're going to do anyway. Sleep / Hibernate works as well as any other line (and in this post coldboot attack era ACPI S3 can be very foolish to use) , Grab VirtualBox and a retail copy of Win if you really need it. Relax and have a stable system that can operate for years without a crash and enjoy life for a change.
Worked for me .
Back on point as to OP's request: Put Win-whatever-the-wife-needs on the Mac and call it a day. This ain't a purely technical matter ;)
She's the one that is going to be using it. She should decide on what model she wants. Is it light enough for her to carry around? Does the battery last long enough? Does she want a 13", 15", or 17" screen? Things only she can really answer.
I'm going to answer the original question as posed. You choose a Windows laptop by process of elimination, kind of like the Mac/PC commercials show. The commercial was snarky but not far from the truth. With the breadth of the field you have to choose from this is the only way to do it.
First, establish your budget and eliminate everything not in that range. "Solid" is the $400-800, "awesome" range is $800-1500, "gigitty" range is $1500+. Loosely.
Non-negotiable specs: 4GB RAM, Windows 7.
Can go either way: Intel i5/7 or Core 2 Quad - Core 2 Duo 2GHz+ if you must - as your budget allows. For general use it doesn't make much difference at this point. (Its been a long time since I've had any computer where I felt like the processor was the bottleneck in a general purpose machine's performance.)
Find out if there are any features she can't do without, like backlit keyboard (I didn't think it was a big deal but now I'll never go back.), trackpoint, super thin, super light, super long battery life, etc. With Windows PCs the bewildering array of machines is usually the result of one unique feature per model line. For every new feature a manufacture comes up with they build a model line around it. If you find out what particular things she just can't do without then a couple models may jump out of the crowd.
When you've narrowed the field down to a few models check the manufacturer forums and sales outlets feedback and see if you can spot any patterns in the complaints or kudos. Random gripes and generally worded pooh-poohing don't mean a thing...anything that pops up repeatedly is a problem that will eliminate a model from consideration.
At this point you should have it narrowed down to a handful of machines. Pull out the one machine you think is styled best for each unique or cool feature. Present the short list, along with the best pics you can find so she can see styling, to your wife and have her pick.
And you can sell the other 11 after you open the crate.
Apple doesn't seem to have good ACPI drivers for Windows so it cannot manage power as effectively as it should. So you'll find that Windows gets less battery than OS-X, and also less than on a comparable non-Apple laptop. It isn't horrible, but it is noticeable.
Am I the only one who scanned this and thought, "This SOB's wife died, and he's asking /. for opinions on reformatting her laptop?"
yeah .... i replaced vista on my laptop with ubuntu. before it would run at 1005 in sleep or hibernate mode, battery would be dead in no time. switching from wired to wireless was a PITA. and, something was broken as word would only accept and process around 6 letter/min. on Ubuntu, sleep and hibernate work great. it even powers off the windows vm before the battery drains out and it powers off. and switching wired/wiress is about as fast and i can unplug the cable. ps: i only have a windows vm because i have a class that requires a specific plugin for excel 2008.
You're used to not having choice, so when it comes to deciding between models you're getting confused. Instead, you should figure out what laptop specs you want, and then look for models available that meet your criteria. Once you know exactly what you want, finding an ideal laptop is usually a piece of cake.
It's GNU/Linux dammit!
You can get a nice Samsung from Best Buy for less than $800. The specs are good, and the design is nice.
Samsung - Laptop / Intel® Core i5 Processor / 14" Display / 4GB Memory / 640GB Hard Drive - Aluminum
(Disclaimer: I do not work for Best Buy, I do not work for Samsung. I don't get compensated one way or the other if you buy this unit. I'm a Mac guy too, and recently went through this same decision, and this is what I found.)
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pc-scout/
This is a nice tool. Enter the parameters you want, and there's a list of suggestions.
The most expensive one is usually best.
I would take it one step more... two words - screen resolution. Without resolution on your screen, graphics card is pretty much crippled.
You can use windows, but I am not going to help you with the computer. She now has been running Ubuntu for 3 years .
I guess that's what the cult of iSteve does to people. Maybe instead of crying about there being too many, you can consider exactly why you are being given those choices and research the options yourself so you'll know what you are getting instead of asking slashdot to provide you with the "answer". In effect you are asking the teacher to do your homework problem and will end up learning nothing in the process. I'll give one example: do you really need 1gb of memory on a discrete graphics card on a laptop? Believe it or not, yes people have written about this topic and a friend with that question learned quite a bit which will be factored into his future purchases. You could too.
You check for Ubuntu compatibility because the first thing you do will be to get rid of that Windows garbage.
Get her a Lenovo laptop. Solid build, and the best feeling keyboard I've ever come across.
Step 1: Find the cheapest laptop available (note: I said laptop not netbook, so your target price is $300-400, not $200-300).
Step 2: Buy that laptop.
Step 3. Profit (relative to your moron friends who spend $600+ on a laptop).
Here is what I understand your requirements are based on the original post: "How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?" I would advocate buying used, and beefing it up in the "sweet spots" (EG: battery / RAM). Depending on what version of Windows you want to run, you could score a very sweet system online using the "recommended specs" for your target version of the OS. Since you did not indicate it would be used for gaming, most stuff you could get off of eBay (as an example) would give you years of service. Alternately, perhaps there is someone who refurbishes laptops (EG: off-lease units) in your general area which you could potentially get some support behind. Either way, you get the benefit of something with some mileage behind it, to see how the unit faired after the "new unit" shine wore off. Good hunting. :-)
"solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?"
Good grief, machines that are already over three years old aren't obsolete for those uses. I have an old Dell Latitude D410 with 512 MB of RAM and maybe an 800 MHz Pentium 3m that is just fine for web surfing and document editing. That machine must be at least six years old! It's running Windows XP and it still works. The hinges busted right after the 3-year warranty ran out; I think it should have lasted longer but maybe I'm being unreasonable. At any rate I still keep it around for when I need a Windows machine. I just prop the screen up.
If all you need is a machine for basic uses, pick it out with respect for the prejudices of you and your wife. I hate glossy screens, so I avoid those. Maybe you don't care about that or maybe you like glossy. Maybe you want something cheap. Maybe you want a numeric keypad. Maybe you want a webcam. Maybe you like to go to the store and look at them. Maybe you hate going to the store so you just want to hit Amazon or Newegg. For basic Web surfing and MS Word no new machine will do you wrong so don't worry too much. Don't let the paradox of choice flummox you; all these machines have the same OS and the same software and processors that are way overpowered for what you're doing. Any "choice" you face is more like the choice between Post and Kellogg's raisin bran, not like the choice between Hoover Dam or Fukushima Daiichi or even like the choice between a cat or a dog.
Penny - plain text accounting
Actually, MS got DOS by buying QDOS from Seattle Computer Products. At the time, Digital Research's CP/M was the leading OS. It was a failure to negotiate a contract with DR that sent IBM to MS, who licensed them an OS they didn't have, but bought QDOS and created DOS 1.0 from that.
Mission: To provide products that consume time and energy as entertainingly as permitted by the laws of thermodynamics.
This is being modded troll, but it's too often true.
It's offered in what is sure to be a humorous to some, offensive to others manner, sure. Maybe that's why it's being modded troll. But there's truth to it.
Almost all laptops today come with 1366x768 LCDs. I make screen resolution my first criteria when selecting a laptop, since higher resolutions are so rare. If she uses the machine for multitasking and wants to see more than one window on the screen at a time, this will suck.
Of course, it appears the non-Pro Macbook has a 1280x800 screen, so if she's happy with that, then get whatever is on sale at Slickdeals.
Make sure you check out the touchpad in detail on the HP ProBook if you go that route. Work brought me a brand-new one and I cannot stand the touchpad. It's offset to be centered under the keyboard (not centered under the keyboard + numpad) so to me it's in a really awkward position on the left side of the laptop. Added to that is the all-together-no-seperation of the buttons at the bottom of the touchpad which are way too easy to hit with the touchpad in the location that they put it. I absolutely abhor using that touchpad.
SYS 64738
I would first suggest dual booting or virtualizing Windows on the Mac. Boot Camp, Parallels, and Virtualbox are all good solutions.
If the goal is to run Windows, with a real two or three-button touch pad or trackpointer, I would look for a notebook which is solidly built, for which you can get decent customer service, and parts are available well out of warranty.
Build quality limits you to Dell (Latitude and Precision lines only), HP, Lenovo, and Sony.
Customer service limits you to Dell, HP, and to a lesser extent, Lenovo,
Long-term (post-warranty) parts availability limits you to Dell and HP, and to a lesser extent, Lenovo.
What are her requirements? If she needs massive storage or wants mirrored storage, look for a notebook with internal RAID - like the Dell Precision M6500 (I have the M6400, which is the M6500's predecessor, and I love it - desktop chipset, RGB-LED backlit display, it's built like a tank, and is uber-serviceable so easy to upgrade and maintain) or if you don't want to spend that much on a notebook, consider the Latitude line, which generally use the same chassis as the Precision line (so they are also built like tanks) but with mobile chipsets and tend to be slightly lighter. Another option to save money is to call the Dell Outlet and see if they have the model you want as an "open box" return. It would still be marked with a refurb SKU but would be in perfect, as-new condition, and you can save up to $3K on the notebook like I did. Availability from the outlet can be spotty though - I had to call to get the configuration I wanted. They could have 20 of the exact config you want on hand today, and zero tomorrow, and three the next day. People often scour the outlet and flip them on feeBay and at computer fairs.
The items you want to check:
* How solid is the chassis? Will the screen hinges hold up?
On consumer models if you are not careful opening and closing the screen by grasping it at the sides near the hinges you will flex and eventually break the frame. On business models, you can just press down at the top of the screen and it won't flex, and it will close properly. I actually dropped my M6400 at a customer site, and it fell 3' to the tiled-covered concrete floor. It didn't damage it at all but for a consumer chassis I would have had to buy a whole new screen/lid/hinge assembly
* How serviceable is it? Download the service manuals of the model you are looking at. Are you going to hate the tedium of the four-hour project of upgrading the processor and hard drives, or will it be a 15 minute task? How accessible are the SO-DIMM slots?
* Does it offer all the connectivity you need?
* How easily can you get at the heat sinks to clean out the inevitable dust and lint?
You really didn't mention her needs in detail other than "it needs to run Windows" so if she is happy with the virtual second button and no middle button, just install Windows on the Mac (see first paragraph above). My next notebook will most likely be another Precision mobile workstation (but will check out Lenovo again), and my next desktop an iMac (why no macbook pro? I have one and never use it - I like the three-button layout, numeric keypad, screen, performance, and trackpointer + touchpad on the Precision)
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Primarily because they do "Next Business Day, On SIte Support" for a large number of their "Small Business" laptops. And it works. I've rung up Dell and had someone on-site, the next day, to replace my screen/harddrive/keyboard on three different continents.
The other reason I used to buy Dell was 1920x1200 on 15.1/15.4/15.6 inch screen. Those days seem to be gone now. If you look in the Dell Outlet, you can still find some (Lattitude 6500, Precision M4400, etc)
Given that you're a Mac guy, NBD style service would be completely foreign to you and you just might never buy a Mac again.
But you should start the purchasing decision for your next laptop like anything else: determine the requirements first.
An old Pentium 4 with 2GB of memory is good enough for running XP for web surfing.
Nobody could've foreseen the nightmare of drivers compatability Vista introduced that haunts Windows 7 to this day.
Get an intel based unit, large screen, make sure it can be expanded, and throw 4gb of memory with win7 64 bit on it. Dell Studio's are the line of laptop by which you should be benchmarking all else.
The difference is that PC vendors don't artificially hold the market, so alongside model X you will have 3 older revisions hanging around people's warehouses and being flogged off cheap.
So given you have multiple vendors all with varying stock levels of different specced *lines* of models, you end up with that 'bewildering array'.
The only choice is to get serious. Rule out the vendors you don't want (anything other than Toshiba or HP, IMO) then compare the specs. It won't make sense because all the pricing isn't set by one head office, but that's the beauty - decide on some base specs and go bargain hunting dude!
How to buy a perfectly fine laptop in 2 easy steps:
1. Decide how much you want to spend
2. Go to any laptop manufacturers website. Spend slightly more than that.
Congratulations! You have now mastered the most common way us normal folks buy computers. It may feel strange to a Mac guy, but most of the world has figured out long ago that there is no use in worrying about the details when you're looking for a bog standard PC. Get on with your life.
-Lod
Upgrade to a mac-compatible wife.
I choose a Windows laptop by asking several poignant questions:
1. How does it respond to a hammer?
2. Does it smoke, do sparks fly?
3. What happens if I drop it from a ten-story window?
I'm a regular listener to Windows Weekly, with Paul Thurott and Leo Laporte. He mentioned Microsoft Signature at the Microsoft store. Here is a link to the article. It is apparently a very Apple store like experience, and they clean the computers of all the crud that is on the laptops originally. They sell several different brands. Hope this helps.
NDxTreme Content on the Edge.
For $350-400 these days and a little time spent researching, you can get a decent modern laptop that meets the standards for modern computing (at least dual core, 3-4GB RAM). For the price of one MacBook Pro, you can get 4+ regular PC laptops that have similar functionality.
If a tighter form factor is a concern, you can get a 14" for the same price.
Just monitor the fliers for your local carriers (Staples, Best Buy, Office Max, etc) and one will come along every few weeks.
Personally, I'm a fan of HP/Compaq, but then again that's all I've bought for the past 10 years
(disclaimer- I also own some shares)
I'm sorry you've had such a hard time coping. Maybe spooky unfamilar operating systems aren't your thing.
Smooth sailing (with Fedora) for me, though. Painless install. Not a gamer myself, but everything else is covered. Total software investment $0, all kept up-to-the-minute with zero hassle. No malware, crapware, nagware, adware, anti-virus. Swimming in a fresh, clean pond now, and never miss all of the turds floating around.
So tell me again why I should ditch all of this and go back to Windows?
There was another tech spinoff from IBM some years before Lenovo's laptop business: Lexmark was formerly IBM's consumer printer division. Look how that spinoff turned out: they try to use DRM and the DMCA to hog the toner market and have one of the worst capacity-to-cost ratios for inkjet ink. I bought one Lexmark inkjet printer, and it was my last.
I guess I am a bit late to this party. Any how, I recommend a Lenovo laptop. They have a solid build quality but are slightly expensive (compared to Dell). Check out the Lenovo laptop chooser (shop.lenovo.com) to help you decide your specs, even if you are not going to buy from them. And like some others mentioned giving preference to business laptops may be better in the long run. Good luck!
if I were going to buy a Windows machine, that is... ... is Linux hardware compatibility -- because inevitably it will end up running after a number of years.
I got the Dell Latitude E5510 for my wife. The change from XP to Windows 7 was not a problem. Do not, repeat, do not bring up technical specs--that would be like her asking your opinion on nuances of fabric colors (assuming you really don't have a strong opinion about fabric colors). Just buy a good, business-grade laptop and leave it at that. "Honey, here is a new laptop that should last you at least five years or so..."
...and buy the pink one with the hearts on it. That's what I did for my wife and she loves it. You probably don't need a spec'd out uber-machine if all she's going to be doing is Facebook, e-mail, and web surfing.
ASUS or Toshiba, with them you can't go wrong. If if you don't mind giving up some functionality, try the MSI.
Keep the Mac, change the wife...
If the point of the computer is to run a few applications then that is a needlessly expensive way of doing it. Buy a $300 Toshiba and put the wife on a limited account. Done and done.
Have they bought into the Mac reliability myth?
http://www.binplay.com/2010/09/reason-5-why-i-will-not-buy-macbook-not.html
Toshiba and Mac rate much higher than HP and Gateway when it comes to reliability.
Never go to a store for PC laptops as your fist step. This is very basic, but here we go: Define your needs. What are you going to be doing with it? (work/play, screensize, storage, batteries power). Find a couple of brands and READ THE REVIEWS of models that have what you need. Then go to a store and pick them up, make sure they look alright to you in person. Then go home and order them. Also I find it a myth that stores offer store only models unless you are going to bad stores or looking at off brands. In any case, know the models you want to check BEFORE you go to the store. The store should be a place like FRYs or bestbuy but not a place like staples or office depot.
Are you kidding us? You managed to pick a wife and cannot pick a Windows laptop? Are you trying to fool us thinking Bill Gates is much more evil than God himself?
Achille Talon
Hop!
Coming from a Mac World the most convenient and logical path would be like the Apple store, go to the Microsoft store.
http://www.microsoftstore.com
Then select [Computers] from the Nav list to the Left.
It's not one to one, but its ideology is very similar. You have a limited number of laptops, desktops and tablets. I favor HP, Lenovo and Samsung for their build quality and aftersale notifications and updates, specific to the hardware.
Microsoft spends extra time customizing the OS so that its optimized for the hardware, tweaked as it were, and does not allow salesware, adware or demoware on their version of the Microsoft OS store experience.
Based on your wifes preferences you might want to consider a Business class of the OS, generally called "Professional" which means it comes with remote support and corporate networking features like Active Directory "join" support.
There is not an "Appstore" experience that I'm aware of yet.. but Intel has an App Market of sorts..Microsoft did have an App store experience at one time but discontinued it. Apple subsequently started their App store experience and succeeded (prior Art?) so you'll still have to purchase Office.. but you can take advantage of her business relationships (such as does she work for a School, State or Federal government agency) to get the product at reduced pricing. Family packs were also tried with Microsoft and come and go periodically.
Office is also not a prerequesite.. there are free alternatives like Libre Office, check Wikipedia for the history. However many products in the Microsoft ecosystem require or share common files with the Office suite.. and installing one without the Office suite already installed may lead to dependencies being automatically installed which could be hard to keep up with. Its rather like YUM on Linux you have to have some common points of reference for software libraries and they do the best they can to do them for you you. .Net is Microsoft's version of Java its also called "Managed Code" and generally you have to have one installed for many management apps to work. Windows 7 I believe is the first to even include a version of .Net as part of the base install. Like Java however one version of .Net is generally not enough.. your mileage may vary but the call interface between versions varies.. new calls are added old one removed.. sometimes with warning.. sometimes not.
Java is a manual install.. and you generally need that for many things. Microsoft can no longer install it for you.. so you have to do it yourself. Again one version is generally not enough. The Java update mechanism is also very annoying.
Flash is yet another call interface you'll need for most things and updates rapidly.
And alternative browsers like Safari, Chrome, IE (depends on flavor of the month), and Firefox.. one browser is usually not enough.. we need a bookmark manager that selects the browser based on the URL.. funnily enough.. the fragmentation is really that bad.
There is a lot of drama over whether to hunt down and disable "all" updaters.. or whether thats safe behavior.. generally update mechanisms are going through a breakdown right now where they conflict and can easily leave a system unusable. Some discussion over an Update API for the OS to manage conflicts of interest are underway... to lock out Updaters that don't ask for permission.. many antivirus programs mistake rouge updaters as "Viral" activity. UAC just wasn't flexible enough.. and often gets disabled.. more so than usually admitted.
Microsoft makes Security Essentials for home users.. its basic anitvirus and antispam for free and gets updated regularly.. but if the laptop is joined to a domain there may be reporting requirements.. like this system has been scanned on such an dsuch a day back to the domain admins.. or XYZ virus was detected and fixed.. or WUV patch was applied on such and such a date to prevent FritzwillyConficker18 infections. Then you
I would choose a Windows laptop based on the availability of Linux drivers for every chip in the thing.
Yes, this does mean that I have not bought a Windows laptop since 1997.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
depends, toss "aluminium unibody construction" on the list of features or "firewire", and you are right back up in apple prices, if you can even find the first outside on an apple. Also, look at the high resolution option of the 15" pro, now find me a "windows" laptop with the same size&&resolution, and see if it is cheaper.
Sorry, i don't own an apple product(anymore, my ipod from circa 2003, broke about 4 years ago), but if you are looking for a high res screen, and a metal case, just about the only player is apple. It's a shame they seem to not want to sell the 13" pro though, what with it's i3, and low res screen...
All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
No, He should just use the hardware he has, AND stick to Mac OS; he should, however, get a new spouse.
(Him being a Mac user, I hesitate to make assumptions on the gender indentity of his future partner.)
Let me get this straight: You say you're a "Mac guy" and you need to buy a laptop that will run Windows and you find the process "bewildering". In fact, the author uses the term "bewildered" or "bewildering" at least three times in one paragraph.
I don't want to say that your statement confirms my belief about most Mac users, but it's really not all that hard. The only difference is that instead of relying on advertisements alone, you can peruse some of the extensive and exhaustive reviews of current laptops from various manufacturers that you can find online. I'm betting that if you Google "Windows laptops reviews 2011" you'll get exactly what you need. Or you can use Consumer Reports if you find the reviews "bewildering". They have little green or black dots for things like reliability, and features and so forth. You can even visit a Microcenter or Tiger Direct in your area and let your wife look them over. The ones that run Windows have these stickers on them that say so.
You'll be pleased with the prices.
You are welcome on my lawn.
It is far more likely to "solve" the problem and make her happier, which is what you really want. I use both Macs and PC's. I bought a Lenovo G560 from NewEgg.com for $399, and it was a terrific deal. The best I could find anywhere, and it is a pretty fast Windows 7 PC.
I've picked a few laptops for people recently. The most important thing to find out up front is your screen size - do you want a huge 17" or do you want a 10" netbook? or something in between? Once you've figured that out, find one that has a reasonable resolution. A lot of laptop vendors are getting away with selling screens that have a low vertical pixel count - which is not OK with me... Find a nice screen with the size that you're looking for. Then find out which vendor is running a good deal on something that size. Also be careful picking your vendor - they're all made out of the same stuff, but some tend to break more easily than others. Pay for the upgrades that are reasonably priced - get a decent processor. Spend the extra hundred or so on an SSD (not sure if the vendors offer this yet, you might have to get your own) - it'll improve performance dramatically.
Go to newegg.com
Click PCs & Laptops -> Laptops / Notebooks
On the Left Panel click "More Options"
Under "Graphic Type" choose "Dedicated Card" then click "Search" at the bottom
On the top right Sort By "Lowest Price"
Then choose the best laptop you want for the metric you desire: Lowest Price, Size/Weight, Performance/Features
How many more years will slashdot have an off-by-one error on your Score in your profile?
So his wife's laptop dies, and he goes and buys a new MacBook for himself and tries to pawn off the leftovers to his wife, putting her in unfamiliar territory for 6 months? That's pretty harsh man.
My girlfriend has a Mac and I have a Windows laptop.
I had an HP laptop but it ran so loud that she said it sounded like a 747 taking off. I have to admit it was noisy. But it was also very hot and left a red mark on my leg.
So what to do?
I ended up with an Acer 5820T. It's quiet, runs cool and the battery lasts over 5 hours with normal use. I am happier and so is she!
Just buy a Sony laptop within your price range as they are the only ones that look kewl. It's a simple decision. Looks count more with a laptop! ;)
Well, 17 in laptops do have dedicated numpads.
But, strangely, ever so strangely, regardless of the huge amount of horizontal space 17inchers have, they add a numpad, but then delete the menu key.
That's that key to the left of the Ctrl key on most (desktop) keyboards with a picture of a menu on it and a mouse arrow. Yeah, it was added by Microsoft with their PC 95 specifications, but it's all kinds of handy.
For people who know how to type, and prefer to keep their hands on the keyboard, it brings up what would otherwise be the "right-click menu". It works in Nautilus, Thunderbird, gedit, gnome-terminal, many/most Windows programs, etc.
Anyway, different people have different ways of working. But there's no excuse to not have it on a 17 inch laptop.
I'm looking at you, Dell Studio 17, but there are others with the same disease.
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
something was broken as word would only accept and process around 6 letter/min.
Ignorant mother fucker. No doubt the cause was all the pre-installed crapware running in the background that you did absolutely nothing to remove. Lazy, stupid fuck. I ran Ubuntu on a netbook after the main hard drive failed. It always showed showed the batter was at 100% up until it died. Sleep and hibernate also didn't work, you dick.
And this time, let's choose one that actually has good taste and isn't learning disabled, OK?
You can buy a laptop with Linux on you know
2001 called, they want their troll post back
Ask Slashdot: Where bad ideas meet poor googling skills.
I agree that a ThinkPad is near-indestructible. However add a stoner daughter college kid, cat who repeatedly likes to knock over drinks into the laptop, and boyfriend who decides to dry it out with her industrial-strength hairdryer. Hilarity ensues.
I delved deep into the heart of reddit and slashdot, amazon and best buy reviews, various PC manufacturers' help forums, complaint forums, tech review websites, and even youtube. I slithered past reviews citing unexplainable ear-splitting whiny noises, dick-melting fan heat, and horrendous customer support. I viewed so much marketing bullcrap from the likes of Dell and HP that my eyes nearly fell out of my skull.
I did this in search of The One: the laptop I knew I would grow to depend on for constant usage 12-15 hours per day for the next 3-5 years, the laptop that would meet all of my insane expectations like good customer support, a manufacturer that employs engineers who have their heads on straight, and steep technical requirements that I thought would be impossible to find. I needed a laptop with a 250+GB hard drive, a 2.0+ghz processor, 2+GB RAM, plus no-bull-crap, honest, actual, reportedly GOOD battery life, a 13"+ screen, AND here's the kicker. It had to weigh less than 4 pounds AND be under $800.
Netbooks and tablets were too small, too weak. All the well-known laptops like Dells and HP's were cheap but too heavy, their battery life ephemeral at best, and their small hard drives loaded with bloatware.
You can all thank God that I did not give up then and there.
I now hold in my hands The One. The best bang-for-your-buck laptop on the market today. I'll be god damned if you can find a better deal.
I chose to buy a Toshiba Portege R705-P35 for $700 flat.
It has a 13.3" screen, which is kind of small, but still big enough to do some serious reading on it. It's a very small price to pay for:
Even better, in 2009, Toshiba was ranked #2 by Squaretrade in terms of lowest laptop malfunction rates after 3 years. My R705 looks and feels solid. I'll admit it doesn't feel as nice as a Macbook Air, but considering that I saved over $500 vs a less well-equipped Macbook Air and didn't bend to Steve Jobs' will, it's good enough. Also, the R705 comes with an optical drive (take THAT, Macbook Air).
TLDR: I love my Toshiba Portege R705-P35 and would kill anyone who comes near it with bad intentions.
For a solid notebook, I generally just look at the 3 big boy enterprise notebook brands.
Dell Latitudes, T-Series from Lenovo, and whatever naming-convention I can't figure out for HP's business grade stuff (just look at the warranty, if it's anything less than 3 years standard, stay away.)
If you follow these simple rules, you'll find a laptop that will have terrific long term support, decent performance, features, and durability.
Sure there are lots of other vendors, options, etc - and they often have great machines, but it's not consistant. You may get a good "pavilion" or a good "gateway\acer\some other asian pc here" that is good, but not all of them. The enterprise machines are all, as a general rule, safe bets. No, they are not for games, but that was not a listed desire.
Happy shopping.
Determine what she wants and rank the features, then find what matches those features.
I just bought a new Windows Laptop, a HP DM4T, and this is the process that I used.
I was looking for a laptop for travel that supported HD MKV videos (light, long battery life, i5 processor, 500GB+ HD), graduate level school work (decent keyboard), photo editing (good screen), and the ability to play video through a TV (HDMI port). This narrowed down the list of laptops to the Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, HP DM4T, Sony Vio, a Dell, and a Thinkpad.
I ended up choosing the 14" LED HD widescreen, 4.5lbs, core i5, 8GB RAM, 640GB 7200 RPM hard drive DM4T. I took it recently on a two week vacation to Cancun and it worked perfectly with everything that I threw at it.
Thanks,
David
The keyboard makes the biggest difference. When somebody asks me what kind of laptop I should get, I tell them "Anything except e-Machines, Gateway, Acer and Sony" and then "just get one that has a keyboard you like and make sure it has at least 4GB ram."
And that is my suggestion to you.
Nobodies Prefect
Tidbits for Techs Technology Blog
There are a number of slashdotters commenting about how stupid the layout of PC keyboards are. I have tended to find the reverse true of PC keyboards. Particularly ones with media keys.
You like what you are used to.
I find Mac stuff tends to hide complexity and unneeded features, but doesn't treat you like an idiot. The features are usually there and easily discoverable, but you have to want to learn. In particular the command and option keys bring power that Linux/Windows users wouldn't even think of existing. But you have to be smart enough to notice it is there and not only look skin deep.
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
My condolences on your wife passing away.
Is it really that hard to discover the difference between models (screen size, ram, cpu speed etc), and find out what is sufficient for your needs? Then do some basic consumer research to find reviews to see what other people thought and discovered. Once you have it narrowed down to a few models, follow up your research by going into a store to touch and feel them and finalize your decision.
This all seems so basic, simple, and intuitive. Has the average Mac user forgotten how to make educated decisions?
because she wants him too.
Get it?
Women aren't rational creatures. Period.
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
couldn't you just install Windows on the MacBook 2008?
why do you want buy a whole new computer if all you want is a different OS?
Search Google for:
macbook 2008 windows 7
macbook 2008 windows xp
We installed Windows XP Professional on a 32GB partition on our new 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo powered MacBook with 2GBs of RAM.
What a waste to ditch a computer just because you want to use a different OS.
The GP's advice (pick by picture) is not so good, in general.
But it may work well with the GP and his wife (or girlfriend, I suppose).
Women are all different.
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
If your wife doesn't need intensive gaming or complicated environments and only uses a laptop for web browsing, office work or other rudimentary tasks then I would also say go for Linux to save money. You can buy a basic laptop for pittance or, if she doesn't mind the design, just install it on the mac.
I still choose windows because I'm a hardcore gamer and on that front, Linux still disappoints me.
If you want to buy a new windows laptop, here's what I did. First look at a competent company, as far as construction is concerned. Then look at the work space the laptop offers and then match specs which, as far as I can see, are not different from the mac.
I got a Toshiba Satellite L500 which is big and wide with a full keyboard, from a company that built my wife's still going eight year old machine. It has a decent CPU, GPU combo that can even run Crysis well. Perfect for my gaming needs.
If you only want one for office work, I'd go with a Lenovo laptop which are usually smaller, has a very comfortable design for long periods of work (I just love the joystick, they have) and they are also a very competent company (my brother has one which he has worked on for several years now). You don't need a very powerful CPU so just pick one of the Intel E brand or an AMD Athlon. And unless some high def video is involved, pretty much any GPU would do. I wouldn't go for less than 2GB of memory either way. And you might want to try breaking a 500GB HD in half and make it dual boot with Linux.
No one ever said being a Heretic was easy.
Let us meet again in "Less Interesting Times"
Helping a person choose for him or herself is the best general approach I've found when people ask me for advice on buying computers. (Well, when I feel obliged for some reason to help.)
But choosing from pictures is only good for the wife that likes catalog shopping. Hands-on is always a good thing.
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
First decide on the anti virus you want to buy, then the amount of disk space for viruses and updates. Then the frequency of this great feature called defragmentation
One question I'd ask before even suggesting installing MSWindows on the older Mac:
Did he just give her the Mac and let her try to figure it out for herself, or is he making sure to be in calling distance part of her working time? Even if installing MSWindows virtualized on the old Mac (if it supports it), he should be sure that he is available to get her over at least some of the speed bumps she hits. Maybe make a work date where they work together.
A little TLC goes a long ways to help people handle context and paradigm shifts.
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
The first question you should be asking yourself is what do you want to do with it? or in your case how will she use it?
Many people over pay for laptops because they don't ask themselves this simple question. This question determines the specs you will need.
For example if you want to play the latest games, then you need a laptop with gaming video card (often found under the gaming laptops on most sites).
If your just going to use it for office work then you probably will never need more than 1.5GHz dual core (for stability), with 1-2GB of ram and a basic video card. (yes they are fairly cheap but it is all you really need.)
If you plan on using it for art (or as a tablet) then you will probably want one with pen input and maybe a touchscreen or multi-touchscreen.
There are a few major components of laptops that you should be aware of.
First and most important is the video card. This is an often overlooked component by manufacturers, but it is probably the most important spec. This is because laptop video-cards are often integrated with the motherboard, and even if they aren't they can be extremely difficult to upgrade or change after your purchase. I wouldn't buy anything that uses a Intell graphics chipset, unless the laptop is strictly business. However, both AMD and NVIDIA are good graphics vendors. Be sure to check their sites and make sure the graphics chipset you are getting will work for what you want it to do.
Next is the processor, while this can usually be changed at a later date. Matching the chip to the board you are using can be a pain, and I have yet to change a processor on a laptop for just this reason. Intell's chips are usually cooler (meaning they are less likely to overheat), but AMD's are often cheaper. I personally would not buy a laptop that has less than 2 cores on it's processor. This is because background software can interfere with whatever you are doing and having a second core prevents this from interfering with whatever your doing. (more than 2 cores doesn't seem to help as much, but having the extra power for parallel processing can come in handy. (multiple apps open at once))
The next thing you really need to pay attention to is tendency to overheat. This can be a big factor especially since some manufacturers consider 90 Degrees Celsius to be normal, it's not most chips are not designed to operate above 80 Degrees Celsius, operating that hot can and will shorten the life of your laptop. And in some rare cases laptops that get that hot can even give you burns. Unfortunately you can only find out about this from reviews of the laptop you are purchasing.
The next thing is noise, many people find fan noise to be disturbing and go to great lengths to avoid it. Try to find reviews that tell you how loud or quiet the laptop is. This may help you make a good choice.
Now we come to ram, WNIC (Wireless network interface cards), and hard drives, i placed these last because they really aren't that important. Most laptops have an fairly easy way to upgrade these, and they are fairly cheap. It's nice to get what you want up front but if you can't then don't worry too much about it. You can always find these either online or at a computer electronics store, and upgrade them if necessary.
Other considerations, if your getting a laptop for a special purpose. For example office presentations, make sure it has the options to do what you want. Such as the correct video connectors, and check reviews to make sure they are easy to work with. For example: tablets should have a good touch screen and buttons for screen rotation and power on that are easy to use and don't break easily.
one last thing is you might want to check reviews on your manufacture, for example HP has a nice line of appropriately priced laptops. But their tech support is in India, and they have the highest ratio of warranty use of any manufacture. (meaning that they have the highest rate of defective equipment)
Also it's just good practice to ensure that your laptop has accidental damage warra
Don;t bother with a laptop - underpowered, minimal HDD, constrained memory, only one display, and loaded with all kinds of crap software from the vendors -
so build your own.
Built a new mini tower, nice modular PS (700 W+), a decent mobo with a multi core processor that supports Raid 5 (ASUS with AMD if you want to save some $$), Win 7 64 bit, 4+ GB of RAM, put in 3 or 4 2 TB HDD and make this your Raid 5 storage, a smaller boot HDD or even better - 64 Gig SSD for almost instantaneous boots, some fans, DVD burner (blu ray if you want to splurge), a nice video card and a couple of decent 22-24" wide screen monitors. You can probably do the entire thing for under 1500, and it'll be the way you want, not what some other geek think you need. Built my own last year and couldn;t be happier.
Actually,what she probably wants is a little face time with him. I'm not talking about how close, just that he probably mostly needs to give her a little more of his time.
So, first, he should be their while she's working on the thing, and answer questions and ask questions.
Second, shoot a little cash on an OEM copy of MSWindows, max out the RAM, install MSWindows virtualized, and let her use that while they do the third step.
Third step, if it's necessary, make some dates to go shopping with her, on-line and in brick-and-mortar stores. Get her some brochures. Hold her hand while she's trying things in the stores.
Let her make the final decision.
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
You should choose a configuration sufficient to cater to your work.
Thiet ke web
Get a new wife.
Make buying the new notebook an excuse for shopping dates. Let her make as many of the decisions as she will, except, when she settles on something she really likes, max the RAM and HD like everyone says.
Then take it home, install Linux on it and re-install MSWindows virtualized in that. Erm, well, since the guy who is asking doesn't mention using Linux himself, maybe not that.
Anyway, after they get it home, he needs to plan time he can be around when she's working, so he can help her over the speedbumps.
(Actually, I would start and end with making sure he's around to help her. If he forgot that part when he gave her his old Mac, that's part of the problem.)
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
The great majority of these "features" don't matter. I'd get something multicore, with double Windows' base RAM requirement, shun the bottom barrel "home edition" of the OS, and the rest is price and size. But that's me.
If she's only going to surf the web and play Solitaire, I'd get the cheapest laptop I could find. Any modern sub-$500 laptop will fulfill the requirement of a casual surfer. Even the lowest end Mac would be way overkill.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
A little bit late to be posting this, but, ...
What she might really be asking for is some of your time.
First, make some work dates with her, where you are both working in the same room for some extended time. When she has problems, don't tell, ask. Get her opinion, write it down in a notebook so you can refer to it later when you go shopping, then say, "... well, anyway, here's how I do it." Be careful not to say or imply she has to do it that way.
(This can be hard with people close to you, you may have to re-think how you are interacting with her. But it's worth the effort.)
Now, if she really has issues with the Mac UI, the next step is to max the RAM on it, get a virtualization environment, and install MSWindows on it. Preferably in a VM, if the machine supports virtualization.
But you're still not done. You'll still need to be around to help her over the speedbumps.
Well, if it's clear that the peculiarities of the Mac keyboard are an issue, you may need to skip that step.
The 3rd step is to make getting the new machine for her a series of dates, both on the web and in real stores. Let her choose what she looks at and tries out, make sure she gets hands-on time with the software she uses most, and do your homework after you get home with literature and the notes you took. (Don't forget the notebook. At least think about paper and pencil instead of the MacBook.) You'll know what to check on by what she shows interest in.
4th step -- don't just drop the dates after she has her new machine. The new versions of the software, all of that is going to be more speedbumps. Besides,regularly giving your wife some of your time is a good habit to keep. Rewarding for you, too.
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
There are so many things to consider.
1. Are you handy? If a screen goes bad, can you replace it if you had the parts? If you are handy then buy from a manufacturer which sells spare parts and can advise on replacement strategy (Lenovo is good that way, Fujitsu is horrible just as an example).
If you are not handy then you should buy a cheaper laptop so if it breaks you can buy another one without breaking the bank. Do not count on repair services from any vendor to be any good and backup often.
2. Are you planning to upgrade when Windows 8 comes out next year or whenever? If yes, then buy a laptop with specs to spare. The thing is still not near the point where hardware requirements are clear but assume a significantly more taxing OS than Windows 7. Also, if you do plan to upgrade, consider getting something with a multi-touch screen because your wife will likely want that shiny feature especially when Windows 8 makes it usable in Windows (at least that is the expectation right now).
2a. Does your wife want a laptop, a convertible, or a slate?
3. Make sure the ports on the laptop are to your liking: do you need displayport? USB 3.0? You cannot easily expand laptop external interfaces so choose carefully.
4. There is a tradeoff between screen size, existence of optical drive, and battery life vs weight and portability. Make sure you hit the balance where your wife wants it.
5. Do looks matter? An Apple product may not be easy to replace in that regard.
Now as far as choosing the models: Go to a few sites that reviews laptops (e.g. notebookreview.com). Make a list of manufacturers. Now go to their websites and make a list of all laptops they make which would meet your needs. Now go back a read reviews to see what flaws you can live with. I would also do a few targeted Google searches to figure out if anyone has what you are looking for in a roadmap coming up in the next 2-3 months. Remember that when new stuff comes out, old stuff drops in price so consider the timing of your purchase relative to leaked roadmaps.
I would say that buying a Windows laptop requires a good week of full-time research up-front but you can often get exactly what you want for a price that reflects having just that and no more and because there are many vendors and they compete, you can actually catch a good discount.
Personal advice: buy a laptop with a replaceable battery. These things not only decline in capacity quickly but also sometimes a batch of batteries will be bad and are then either recalled by the manufacturer (good option) or the maker tries to bury the issue and your best recourse is to buy a newer battery and replace existing one (bad option). So if you cannot just take out the battery you run significant risks of being without a laptop for a while even if you do get the option of sending your laptop for service. These risks are both short term and long term.
Listen you can't force it down her throat obviously, but go to make use of and download the free mac manual for her to read then try again... she needs to be informed of why the mac OS is better and why it is worth it for her to stick with it. My girl is no technophile ad she figured it out I think it more has to do with your girl not trying.
The best purchase I ever made was a Dell V13, which, including an upgraded SSD drive, cost me around 500$. It is about the size of a MacBook Air but it still feel very sturdy, actually much more than my Dell Inspiron (which is heavy and not so great).
I have bigger and stronger machines but the V13 is so light and well-built that it is the one I use most of the time at home, and it's the one I carry when I travel. It is so small I don't even need to bring a laptop case, I simply put it in the side pocket of my carry-on luggage.
Dell products are usually not top of the line, but they offer a lot for a low price tag. I don't think any PC manufacturer can offer a service as good as Apple (with the Apple Stores and friendly staff) but Dell is pretty good.
lucm, indeed.
Then overwrite the Windows system with Linux at the first opportunity. That's what I usually do anyway.
The difficult bit is getting your Microsoft tax back.
Yes, the Apple touchpad offers all the awful features that make OS X unbearable to many users such as myself. And it does them MUCH worse since their Windows driver for the touchpad is the one driver that works like shit under Windows. Mind you, I don't even have OS X on my MacBook, I bought it specifically to use as a Windows machine. I use my Mac Mini as the Mac at our house and use iRapp to use the Mac via remote. That way I can use XCode for making iPhone apps without haven't to use the Mac desktop.
Let's also cover some other problems.
1) Games
Using the Mac Touchpad is utter crap for that. External mouse mandatory. It's just too damn big and there is no tactile feedback to let you know when you're touching the right place. Decent notebooks have a border that lets you know your finger is at the edge of the pad either because of a beveled boundary or because of a change in the texture of the surface of the pad itself. This is just one HUGE surface that feels the same as the laptop case itself.
2) The keyboard
OMFG with a major emphasis on the 'F'. It is by far the worst keyboard EVER!!!! It's missing so many keys it's useless and then the Alt key is so damn small that you might as well just go out, get an external mini keyboard and glue it on top of the Mac keyboard. I mean, really. What were they thinking? Let's not forget the totally absent home, end, pg up and pg dn keys. If I have to program ON A MAC, I do it from the terminal using VI since document navigation is at least possible that way. I'm just waiting for them to remove the '!' key as it could be considered offense to someone... or the colon as it is an archaic method of preceding ordered lists and should use fancy icons instead in the future.
3) The CD eject button
If and when it works... great.... but every version of bootcamp screws it up more.
My other 4 work notebooks are toshibas... best machines ever!
At least when choosing a laptop with Linux pre-installed you're not spoilt for choice!
You can change the Macbook to run Windoze, but Apple's problem has always been overpriced hardware.
BETTER, buy the best performing, value priced Windoze laptop, and hackintosh it!
(The difference in price and performance on desktop's are stunning.)
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
"I can tell that everyone suggesting you just put Windows on the Mac has never been married, or probably had a LT girlfriend"
On Slashdot? You think?
Captain Obvious: My job here is done.
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
Get her an etch-a-sketch. Need to reboot? Just shake it. :D
http://www.prisjakt.nu/kategori.php?k=353
Unfortunately, it's in swedish. But many words are similar to english so it may be of help anyway?
Try clicking the "Fler sökkriterier" button to get a massive list of option filters.
Have you considered moving to Wife 2.0?
I think a business notebook is - even for home users - the right choice. ...
I had two home notebooks and they are all rubbish. After two years, it seems impossible to get new drivers for a new operating system (bought a Windows XP notebook and there were no drivers for Vista or Windows 7). Although, Windows is getting slower and slower every day. But on a home device, Windows is getting slower in a more fast way than on a business device. The builtin hardware for business devices are better and you have great addons such as docking stations
So my advice: buy a business notebook (It mustn be the best one, choose a device at a price level of 800 to 1500) and you will have a long useable notebook for your woman. I think devices from HP, Sony and Lenovo are good.
If your wife goes back to Windows, you must make sure she accepts that she has to solve her own problems. Trivial things like things refusing to work, random crashes, updated ad infinitum (which typically happen when you're working), the need to defrag, the need to slow down the box with anti-virus (and the worry that a zero-day will still get her) - I mean, she should know you care but that it really is her problem.
Apart from that, re-cycle the Mac with either bootcamp or parallels. The latter has the advantage that there's less transition. As for SW, make sure you use Kaspersky for anti virus, and Acronis Home Image for backup - that allows at least a bare metal restore when Windows does what it does best (fail)..
Good luck!
Insert
I'm a Mac guy
I see the problem.. you need someone with intelligence.
It really depends on your budget but the biggest single price issue is screen size - the best deals are for 15.6 screens but if she wants something larger or smaller then the prices for decent machines go up wildly. Look for a powerful processor with a good GPU that has dedicated RAM, as much non-graphics RAM as you can afford and x64 Windows 7 with good build quality and you should have a machine which will perform well and last a long time. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ is really handy for checking on what's good/not for processor and GPU deals Both Lenovo and Samsung make excellent machines which both look good (which could be important, quite a few of my female friends use Samsung) and have great build quality
If you want the apple. Get the Apple, even if you have to put windows on it. If you don't like the trackpad, buy a mouse (god I hate trackpads.)
If you want to get a strictly windows laptop, get a Dell (their website is as good as Apple's), but you'll have to make a few sacrifices. My least favorite part of Dell's is that they deviate significantly from what you find in other equally-as-good machines, so you don't get to tinker.
Everyone's elses site tends to be way to fricken terrible, HP, Toshiba, Lenovo (why the hell is it 10 clicks just to get to a price?)
Let her chose the computer herself. I would never help anyone get a Windows computer because i know whatever happens to it down the line, i will be held responsible when it brakes down and is full of virii.
HTTP/1.1 400
on your wife's untimely demise.
Has she BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO IT?
Don't let English die through laziness.
[quote]If she wants to do -heavy- photo editing, you'll want a slightly beefier CPU. Not a Core i3, but a Core i5.[/quote]
A Core i5 is not "beefier" than an i3. They're both dual cores. The i5 can operate 10% faster when loaded, but that's meaningless if the i3's top clock is the same speed as the i5's turboboosted. The i3's will invariably be cheaper than the i5's. If you're going to get an i5, it better be the quad core one without the graphics on a chip, and only because its cheaper than a comparable i7 (which is soon becoming . Don't fall for marketing hype.
And your approach is all wrong for the purchaser (the wife). You're presuming she's a geek that will meltdown if one feature is missing or substandard. I have yet to meet the chick that zeroed in on technical specs like that. All they care about is if the laptop does what they want reasonably well. And other aesthetic features which defy characterization. (roll eyes)
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
Man I wish I had a mod point to give you.
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
Well what a simple question, you simply browse around and .... wait a minute :
"that won't be obsolete in two years?"
AHAH, nice try, even a MAC is obsolete in 2 years, nice one. Anyways. simple solution, install windows on the mac. Next step up, pick a company, acer (lol no) dell, HP, etc etc, pick the one that is the best fit for you, then pick a price, decide what the wife needs (does she want to play crysis 2) and go with it.
Be warned, I work on government projects dealing with laptops and netbooks in great numbers, I've already had a machine go out of service (discontinued) midway through purchasing thousands of them. So even 2 years is asking a lot.
But going from your post, and the majority of comments, this is merely a "MACS are better" discussion in disguise. A mouse on a non mac will never "FEEL as INTUITIVE" give me a freaking break, get over it, you bought a stupid mac that cost 3 times that of a decent windows or linux laptop, it's busted, and because it's a MAC you a screwed.
I say give the wife the credit card and let her pick whatever machine she wants, I suggest something in the 3 grand range to give you the what for as I'm sure the mac was similarly priced.
Almost right, but don't ever buy a laptop without touching it. Specs may be nice but if the hinges are floppy new, the lid or the whole thing bends like a twig when lifted by one corner and plastic feels thin and cheap then your money is better spent elsewhere. Your machine will soon die of simple physical fatigue. And avoid HP Pavilion type huge laptops. From what I hear from people who bought theirs last year, their cooling STILL sucks and they are still prone to heat death the moment warranty runs out after a year from purchase.
Assuming your wife is 30+ another consideration is Windows 7. 7 is VERY different from XP out of the box and many previously standard options have been moved\renamed. Combined with MS Office 2007+ changes it may be worth it for your wife to learn the MAC vs continue with Windows. The learning curve is there either way and she has 6 months on the MAC. For my relatives I have to scour to still find XP. The two times I tried to upgrade my father-in-law and my aunt to Win 7 with O2k7 I was back to supporting the most basic of features (how do I print?) from people who have been using Win95\Xp for 10 years.
I've been a windows guys since 1994 but when my home PC finally dies I will be switching full time to Linux. If I have to relearn a basic OS I might as well make it a free one.
Beware old son! This is the age-old religion.. do not breed with this woman! *Worried look* Imagine your kids.. they'll fall far from grace completely.. probably use dumb VT220 terminals and a VAX with OpenVMS on it! Fjeary++
I recommend the Dell M6300. And no, I am not selling one on Ebay. They run about $400 and they are solid. Nice and big like an XP PC should be. You can get it with XP installed. I am typing on one now and it is great.
Plus, if you're a good responsible user, your laptop will last a long while.
I bough myself and my mom a cheap compaq on a black friday 5 years ago. Her laptopt died in less than two years. I suspect streaming videos for hours, if not days turned on a day, and running on top of the carpet might have overheated things.
I consider myself a power user and even run autocad and 3dsmax on the laptop, but it has been chugging along this far. I still tether some equipment to it for work with no problems.
In the PC laptop world, second place is empty. Thinkpads rock.
Of course, if wife wants to maintain her own machine, and/or you don't, Mac. She might like a newer Mac (like the Air).
Personally, I'd consider replacing the wife. Who can't use a Mac? It's the toaster of the IT world. She needs to get with the program. If anyone ever hears that she dumped it, your kids will suffer terminal embarrassment. Think of the children!
The HP Envy is a pretty fantastic notebook. The price is a little higher than your stock consumer-oriented HP notebook, but then it's quite a bit better than your average stock consumer-oriented HP notebook. I just got one for my wife and I can say the name is very appropriate... I am envious.
Summary: I buy Apple laptops.
I went through so many troubles simply trying to buy a Windows (well actually Linux) laptop that I even do not want to recall it.
First of all, what with the shit private vs. corporate customers?? Hey HP and Dell and Toshiba - why all I as a private person could buy from you was the cheap plastic shit?? If you do not what me to buy from you...
And the retailers are f****ing dumb. And the producers produce only the configuration which are right now in stock. WTF? I would never forget the sale guy who told me that there is no difference between this $3000 ThinkPad and this $1200 Acer, it's just IBM is always more expensive.
So I went Apple. Keyboard layout - check. Consistent model numbers so that I know what I buy (and can find a review for it) - check. Competent support - check.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
I am sure that you have got a huge number of responses that is equally confusing! :)
The thing is, on a windows laptop, they are all pretty much the same with only minor differences in technology.
I am going to try and step back and give you a different peice of advice. ASk your wife to go to a local computer store and see each model one by one, and try and use it. Test the ergonomics, and so on. And choose based on that.
Thats my advice.
Have a nice day!
In my *limited* personal experience Hibernation is the feature that works least well on Linux vs. Windows. Whilst I use Ubuntu as my main OS on desktop and laptop, both are slower to hibernate and slower to resume on Ubuntu than Windows 7, and Linux frequently fails to hibernate at all. I find resume from hibernate to be 3-5x slower on Ubuntu than Windows 7. That said, I still prefer Ubuntu (and will be trying out some other Linux flavours on my various machines in the near future as well), and although it's inconvenient and not desirable that hibernation is buggy/slow comparted to windows, the cost of the OS and the other desirable features outweigh this rather minor disadvantage.
For web browsing and document editing ANY $300 15" notebook off the shelf at Best Buy will suffice. Even a netbook would probably do if you can live with a 10" screen, and in that case the whole machine will likely cost less than a retail Windows license for 'recycling' the old MAC.
It was actually a netbook, but same deal.
I went to Best Buy, and typed on every single netbook on display under $800.
Then I bought the one with the best keyboard. Simple, eh?
My logic: They are all "good enough" to run a browser and an ssh client. What else would you use a Windows box for?
FWIW, I wound up with an Acer Aspire something-something. They came in three colours, so I bought blue, because that's the company colour. It was even the right shade!
It has 3GB of ram, a 2GHz or better CPU (probably single core) and a really big harddrive (350GB?). It came with a Vista license and a free upgrade to Windows 7. I think it was like $350 or something.
And, of course, a web cam, wifi, ethernet, bluetooth, some USB ports, maybe a card reader..
Fan-freaking-tastic machine as far as I am concerned. Runs like a champ. I even put Office '97 on it. It flies!
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
If your wife can't get used to a Mac in 6 months, I'd replace the wife.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
...that Apple users are the most technologically inept people in the computer world.
I check the major manufactures' sites, and custom configure setups I'm looking for specifically. Most laptop makers allow for CTO (Configured to Order) configuration, which really let you chose the components of the laptop.
after having come closest to what I need at each manufacturer's site, I compare the various end results, and then chose :)
How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?
Few laptops will be anything but "obsolete" in two years. But that's the same if you buy an HP, Apple, Dell, Acer, or whatever. Just keep an eye out on any forthcoming tech bumps (Wireless-N, Blue-ray, # of cores, discrete vs. shared video ram) and you'll do fine.
I pick laptops on vendor first (Gateway didn't get their reputation for crappy computers for nothing, for example -- and I like HP, as I have a bunch of laptops that all use the same power cords), features second (I'm a sucker for the touchsmart laptop), and price third.
Price on the web first, but don't forget to check your local big-box stores. I scored a sweet deal on my first laptop from best buy -- they had it for the same price it would have been built and shipped from HP, but with more options than I needed.
(FWIW, My current recommendation would be at least a dual-core CPU, Wireless-N if you have it now or will before you replace the laptop, and skip the blue-ray or DVD player unless there's no additional charge or they're very important to you. Discrete RAM is entirely dependent on if you're going to do any gaming with the laptop; if it's just email and word docs, don't bother. If you're going to fire up The Sims or City of Heroes or Eve Online, it's a must.)
You forget how shiny it looks, and you judge it by the content. So you do something called r-e-a-d-i-n-g and "read" the label in the store. It will tell you what CPU and graphics card it has, how much RAM it comes with, and how much hard disk space. You will also see the clock speed. Using your knowledge of processors (gained from "reading" articles on the internet) you will be able to understand the difference between a 64 bit AMD Athlon, an Intel Centrino, and a Quad Core i7. Then, instead of buying the laptop that Steve Jobs tells you you need, you do something called "using your judgement" and you can CHOOSE a laptop.
Please note that the "choosing" part is hard to do, especially the first few times. There is a chance you can "get it wrong". But then again just think, since your new non mac laptop costs 1/2 the price of a Mac, at worst case you can just buy another one, and still come out ahead... /troll
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Microsoft antivirus software. Seriously?
The un-upgraded laptop will not feel slow compared to other products if she's not using those other products. Most people's computer usage (by which I mean facebook and maybe a little word processing) is satisfied by a single-core 1 Ghz processor; consider yourself an exceptional case.
Installing any version of Windows is crappifying the system. No other OS needs antivirus, any other OS has a simple updating solution. Sounds like an unsolvable problem on the wife front; my S.O. uses linux just fine.
Btw, you know there's no such thing as software overclocking, right? I mean, you're an idiot, but you really should have some understanding of what BIOS calls are, or even the difference between software and hardware. You're probably too dumb to realize that there's no fucking way in hell that any program designed to interact with a PC BIOS is going to work with an EFI-based Mac, though, so I guess I can't be surprised. I'm still laughing at the idea that re-applying thermal paste is for someone who is 'REALLY competent'. Good luck on your A+ exam.
When our 2004-era Windows XP laptop .... she inherited my still serviceable 2008 MacBook. But after about six months, she hasn't gotten used to it, and wants a Windows machine....How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?
You've got bigger problems. If she can't tolerate the relatively simple and painless transition from XP to OSX, she will certainly not survive the transition to Vista or newer and will not survive the transition to the latest version of Office with its ribbon abomination.
Soooo. Your problem isn't buying a windoze laptop, your problem is purchasing and maintaining a complete 2004 era infrastructure, in its entirety, including maintenance of "unsupported" software. Possible / tolerable / no problem in opensource land, not possible in windoze land.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
just a lenovo x series
get a lenovo thinkpad
My recommendation is a ThinkPad. I bought a ThinkPad T510 recently and can't be more happier with it.
This ThinkPad T510 is the second laptop I bought, my first laptop was a Dell XPS M1530, and if I knew about ThinkPads I would have never bought a Dell in the first place.
ThinkPad quality is incredible.
I realize you are just trolling but out of the four laptops in my home Linux has installed on all of them very smoothly:
2 Acers (Cheap $200 Wal*Mart specials): I had to connect an ethernet cable so Ubuntu could download and install the wireless driver. Suspend to RAM/disk works perfectly as do all the function buttons.
1 Toshiba A665: I had to connect the ethernet cable and manually download the wireless driver from RealTek's website. The illuminated keyboard does not work with ACPI turned on (I am working on this issue) but suspend to RAM/disk works perfectly as do all the function buttons.
1 MSI GT627: Everything worked out of the box (including Suspend to RAM/disk and the function buttons) except the "Eco" and "Turbo" buttons. The "Eco" button I assigned to change the powerstate and the "Turbo" button doesn't register at all.
None of these installs took more than 45 minutes to get to a completely usable state.
I hear you can get a piece of shit WinCE laptop from a Google Shopping affiliate. For under 100 dollars. You can thank me later.
Pick several name brand manufacturers of machines that will run Windows natively. Figure out which machines from their lineup are "business class" machines (i.e., not the cheap consumer-class stuff with fantastic looking specs but that don't hold up in the long run). From these, find the ones that have the peripheral support you want (USB, Bluetooth, 802.11 a/g/b/n, video cards, resolutions, etc.) For basic needs, probably most business class machines will have what you need built-in (businesses tend to want to buy hardware once, not buy and then add crap on later). Compare price/Mhz to make sure you are not out at the bleeding edge of the performance curve (i.e., paying too much for the best speed possible) - sometimes the best pricing is in the middle of the pack, sometimes its on the model they want to clear out because a new leader is on the way. If you have the time/want to torture yourself, take the time to understand which processors are used in which. Make sure your final choices have enough memory (or that you have a plan to add quality aftermarket memory more cheaply). If you want an extended support agreement, throw in the cost of that as well. With this winnowed down list, read reviews. Make sure that any reviews you read are a) about the exact model you plan to buy, and b) are by people who aren't complete idiots.
Pick the one of these that you feel best about buying after reading some reviews, looking at the prices, etc. Then don't look at any new ads. Whatever you buy will be much cheaper in 6 months, why torture yourself?
I haven't seen any posts yet that are answering the OP's actual question, so here It goes.....
Last week, my fiancee needed to buy a new laptop. She dropped her old fossil and broke the screen (6 years old, ran XP with no Service Pack). Her only hangups was that it had to have internet, gmail, google docs, and her iTunes. I know that she isn't a power user and that she'd like to hang onto a machine for as long as possible, so I wanted to find something that would last her well. The main things I looked for in a machine were:
15in screen
500gb+ HD
DVD-RW
Dual core processor over 2.4ghz
4gb ram
Less than $600
It had to be a recognizable brand to her - HP, Sony, Toshiba, etc.
After some time at Fry's (I'm a really anti-big box store person, but they always have good deals with big purchases), we came across their refurbished machine and found the specs I was looking for on an HP for $450 with HDMI out and a free $50 canon printer, printer cable, ink, and HDMI cable.
She was a happy camper, and I got a much needed new printer for printing Astros and Texans tickets.I'd recommend that! Good luck!
You can easily go to the brand name sites, HP, Lenovo (formally an IBM line), Acer, etc.
The non-brand names may have exactly the same internal parts.
When owned and ran a computer store we had our 'house' brand. Exact same internal parts as HP at the time.
The key words are internal parts... how much time do you spend looking at the internal parts of man handling the internal parts while pounding out an email? My point is they are all about the same while the biggest difference is the screen and the key board. The brand names tend to have better Screens and key boards. Go to the big box store and try out the ones on display. Type and play with ones you like and do not look at the price or brand. Once you have found one that looks good on the eyes and feels good on the figures then you know what brand you like. Work from there and buy one with the money you have... do not worry about the specs so much (only the cosmetic this that you want: web cam, DVD or blue ray player, etc) - your individual price level will determine the specs you can afford. Since you will know the brand or maybe even non-brand you like you can shop around with what money you have to get the best price. Use the specs from the big box store as a starting point for the amount of money you have. You will quickly find that the big box price tag is not so bad, it may be a bit more but you have a physical place to return it. I know it the uniqueness and individuality of the PC world maybe a bit strange from a individual that comes from the cult of one but it creativity and freedom may grow on you after a while.
Unless she's going to be playing graphics intensive computer games, just buy a copy of Windows 7 and dual-boot it using OSX's built-in Bootcamp. Simply make the default startup disk the Windows partition. If you have kids or relatives in school or teaching, it's pretty easy to get a legit copy for a little over $100. You can also find legit copies on Craigslist for about $75 (or "backup disks" for $25 if you feel like keeping that $50 in your pocket is worth the price of your soul). Also, if she ever crashes it, it's unbelievably easy to restore drives with Disk Utility.
If she doesn't think OSX is simple or straightforward enough, she's definitely not going to like Windows 7, so I recommend having XP install disks on hand, regardless of what you decide to do.
Whenever I'm about to go shopping for an expensive product wih many different choices available, in a field that I do not consistently read consumer reports about so as to be immediately informed about the choices and quality, one of the first things I am going to do is to ask the people I know online for help in choosing something, because one of them is bound to know much more about the subject than I do. I don't see what's so lazy about a guy soliciting for help about purchasing a product - hell, I call that the smart way to go.
Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
You don't. Simple as that.
while you are correct that the plethora of choices makes choosing a laptop hard (r u listening, linux fork people ?) the key, as with any purchase, is to try and define what it is you want the product to do.
Also, since wintel boxes are so much cheaper then macs, for running the software you want, you can afford to buy two, so, rather then thinking of them as super $ things that have to last a long time, a wintel box is something you can throw out every few years; sounds strange but it works
If you just want email and an occaisional word doc, then go light with good battery life.
If you want to run complex solidworks models, go hog wild on the latest ram and ssd
do spring for more HD then you think you need; HD space is always precious.
Get at least 3 gig ram
Most "features" are just not that important; sure, you will be slightly annoyed if you don't have this or that, but that is true for any laptop; there is always something the other guy has; thats life. If you are not sure, the almost invariable rule of thumb, which works for laptops, toasters and cars, is to pick the middle of the market; that is where volume gives good value. If you go to cheap, you get less per dollar (why, I'm not sure, but cheap crap is cc) and if you go $ you are paying more for the same features with some bells and whistles (look at performance of a 20K camry vs a 40K lexus or 80K BMW - really 2X or 4X car there ? even more pronunced in stereo equipment)
right now, the sweet spot is about 500-600 bucks/laptop, maybe 700 if you really want light weight - and check staples, their instore closeouts are reasonable.
Search for a laptop with the biggest spec numbers at the lowest price numbers. Buy that one. FIN
You can get a 27" refurbished iMac for a little over $1400 with AppleCare (get it- it's like no-questions-asked car insurance with no deductible). Apple makes great laptops, but their desktops are light years ahead of the competition when it comes to form factor and space economy (plus, a 27" screen is freaking huge, I got my wife a 24" a few years ago, and it makes lesson planning for teaching a cinch because she can have so many things open and viewable at once). Why get yet another laptop when you can dual-boot the one you have and add the best real desktop around (is it really a desktop if you have to find a place to hide a tower the size of 2 cinderblocks?). Once you go iMac, you never go back.
Just buy a real mouse-- the magic mouse, mighty mouse, and whatever other maxi pad mouse they'll have coming out next year are inferior to pretty much any $10 mouse you can find at WalMart.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB952LL/A?mco=MTU3ODU5MzY
How do you make sure your Windows computer won't be obsolete? Buy a Macbook, install Windows, get the Applecare plan and in three years it'll retain a lot of its resale value.
The choice is easy... You just buy a MacBook. If you *really* need a Windows *notebook*, then okay, get a good one. And never keep the Windows you get with your machine. Lend a CD of an approperiate Windows version and install it with your product key. You just lost 1234 gigabytes of bloatware, congratulations!
More eveidence that women are more intelligent than men . . . . .
Mac user here, the only game I've wanted to run that I couldn't get to run under Crossover (Wine) was one that wouldn't have run well on the hardware anyway.
Sucks to be stuck on a machine with old crappy Intel graphics.
One thing I recently found is more important than any other -- hard drive rotation speed. I bought a new laptop with a 7200 rpm drive and the increase in performance against a comparable machine with a 5400 rpm drive is impressive. HP offers the 7200 rpm drive for $10 or so. Best investment in a computer you'll ever make.
Apple has class packages specifically for folks like your wife. They aren't expensive and forestall a lot of frustration. I have a neighbor who is bipolar (so concentration problems) who converted from Windows XP to OS X; her husband enrolled her in the class and now she is completely comfortable with OS X. It is difficult to impossible to teach a spouse for host of psychological reasons. If she is open to it, buy her a class package and encourage her to bring her questions to class.
I agree with the comments on the build quality of Lenovo laptops. I bought my daughter a new Lenovo last August (I forget the model) and the machine has been excellent for her. A friend bought a "higher" end Dell and has already been out for repairs. Just buy a Lenovo...
I used to work at a privately owned computer store after I got A+ certified, and I used to get people in that asked me about the same question. I always told them "You probably want something that will last instead of something that is shiny." and that's when I got the funny looks. When I explained that they really aren't going to need the top of the line because they're not using it more than what you would use a public terminal for. My personal opinion, is that Toshiba and Lenovo/IBM laptops are the longest lasting ones out there now. They're built well, have longer warranties than any other, and are spec'd for business usage and wear-and-tear. Note that they cost just about the same as a higher end Dell or HP, but either one of those laptops won't last half as long without serious problems occurring. And Toshiba and Lenovo/IBM are better about not installing a ton of useless software onto the machine.
Just go into your local Buy More store and ask the salesman which is the best one. ;)
exactly. I have been trying to find a cheap version of windows 7 for a while. I have even hunted down some wholesalers, and I can't seem to find it for less than retail, unless I am part of some ultra special group.
You used to be able to buy XP OEM disks from certain builders but I can't even do that anymore.
Check out Pricewatch. They have reasonable prices ($70 - 80) for Win 7. That's for a full install, not an upgrade.
ThinkPad's are god awfully ugly.
ThinkPad's what are ugly?
But beyond pointing out your wanton disregard for apostrophe usage, that's a matter of opinion. I think the unassuming, form-fits-function design of ThinkPads is beautiful and I personally much prefer it to anything else out there.
Let me get this straight: You say you're a "Mac guy" and you need to buy a laptop that will run Windows and you find the process "bewildering". In fact, the author uses the term "bewildered" or "bewildering" at least three times in one paragraph.
I don't want to say that your statement confirms my belief about most Mac users, but it's really not all that hard. The only difference is that instead of relying on advertisements alone, you can peruse some of the extensive and exhaustive reviews of current laptops from various manufacturers that you can find online. I'm betting that if you Google "Windows laptops reviews 2011" you'll get exactly what you need. Or you can use Consumer Reports if you find the reviews "bewildering". They have little green or black dots for things like reliability, and features and so forth. You can even visit a Microcenter or Tiger Direct in your area and let your wife look them over. The ones that run Windows have these stickers on them that say so.
You'll be pleased with the prices.
Okay, I'm a dumb Mac user, so please bear with me and my obviously low IQ.
I've looked at the Windows laptop market, and it's a total clusterfuck to me. A hundred manufacturers, each producing three dozen models with incoherent name and numbering schemes. Worthless distinctions like "home office" vs. "small business" vs. "business" vs. "enterprise."
The reviews to don't help; if anything the confound the process. Do that google search and open a few tabs. Great. Okay, now I want to filter out the cheesy plastic "consumer" laptops from the "business" laptops. No way to do that. No way to filter out by dedicated vs. integrated graphics. So you open a bunch of tabs and start comparing them yourself.
Half of the reviews are obsolete. Most of the reviews are of odd configurations that you wouldn't have considered in the first place. Want to know if a Lenovo has a better screen than a Dell? Good luck, since you (1) can't find a review that directly compares the two models, (2) can't even find two separate reviews by the same organization, (3) Probably can't find the Dell in any Microcenter or Tiger Direct in your area (4) Probably can't find the Lenovo either, and (5) Might not have anything but a Best Buy in your area to begin with.
The manufacturers' websites are no help either. Do I want an (for example) X series or an L Series or a T series? Or an E5410 or an E5420 or an E5510 or an E5520? (How the hell should I know? Where's the comparison table...oh, nice, there isn't one.) I have to open a new tab on each series and compare them myself.
It's just not possible to find the perfect Windows laptop. The best you can hope for is that you'll get one that's good enough, and not waste too much time doing it.
I have to say that as a writer the PC keyboard is infinitely easier and faster to use ... for writing. Mac is way too mouse-oriented. That said, my iMac is a breeze in every other way and I loaded Parallels for Mac in order to run a "PC" within the Mac OS. However, it's still a Mac keyboard, and it's just not as good for writing.
If your wife wants a PC laptop, I urge you to look at HP products. I've had IBM, Dell, Compaq and HP PCs and laptops. HP has the fastest performance and most reliability. Also, you seem to get slightly more intelligent "offshore" support.
but the X220 can be had with an IPS panel while the T420 has a larger screen and optional discreet [sic] graphics. I hate compromising...
The day IPS displays return as an option to the T-series is the day I buy another one even if I don't need it.
I was disappointed to see the T420 move to a 16:9 screen from the 16:10 ratio I much prefer on a computer, but they made the right choice in increasing the screen resolution with the change, so I can't really complain too much as there's move usable real estate.
i've experienced over the years that toshiba has some of the best laptops around.
thinkpads were great when IBM was manufacturing them, lenova QC is getting better, but not as good as IBM was back in the day.
whitebooks/barebooks from sager/ocz whitebooks are great, but fit and finish are not as good as they could be...
go to best buy/microcenter/fry's/tiger and kick around a few laptops.
take a look at satellites and tecra models.
wipe the HDD and install just the OS(unless the recover disc restores OS+bloat, then get OEM XP or 7), drivers, and the software your wife needs.
three can keep a secret, if two are dead - benjamin franklin
So, there's only one button for the power window?
Yeah, press it and the window goes down.
What if I want it to go up?
Press Fn and the window button and the window goes up.
OIC. There's only one button for the power locks?
Yeah, press it and the door unlocks.
What if I want to lock the door.
Press Fn and the door lock button and the door locks.
Why is there only one pedal?
Depress the pedal to accelerate. Hold down Fn and depress the pedal to stop. Duh!
My wife's WinXP laptop died recently. Her brother suggested she get an Apple. She didn't want one, found her mom's confusing. Wanted to go with what she was used to. Unfortunately, the new laptop had Win7 on it, and she has been trying to get used to that. I find it seems a lot like Apple (I admit my experience with Apple and Win7 has been limited.) In ways I don't like. Win7 seems like a huge step backwards in user friendly-ness. I can't customize the start menu like I did in XP. The menu seems to be a disaster. The taskbar seems confusing, pointing at an icon and looking at pictures seems slower than finding what you were using in XP. I don't much care for the combining of the "quick launch" and the taskbar icons. Maybe sounds like a lot of "Get off my lawn!", but if your wife is used to XP, you may be screwed no matter what!! (On that note, new versions of Office (what for?) are confusing as hell too!)
I disable the touch-to-click on trackpads, because I'll be typing and some part of one of my hands will hit the trackpad and the cursor jumps somewhere or clicks a button or something.
Under OSX the Apple trackpads don't do that unless you enable Tap to Click, since the entire pad is also a mechanical button - so the cursor doesn't move if you inadvertently touch the trackpad unless you press it hard enough to also operate the mechanical switch. The older trackpads with the separate click button didn't do Tap to Click by default, either, since it's a feature that annoys as many people as those who like it.
You can designate a two-finger click to do the same thing as a right-click, or designate one of the lower (ie. the right or left) corners to operate as a right-click, or both, or neither (for old-timers who think ctrl-click is a good idea; it isn't, but it's still supported).
Putting moderation advice in your
I am surprised that no one has suggested the easiest solution would be for the person to get a new wife who is Apple friendly.
Ninjas don't carry tic tacs
Some features to look forward to are things like a higher quality chipset and/or bios, security features in the bios, hard drive speed, quality of the power brick and durability of its cords, signal strength of the wireless card, quality contrast & color accuracy screen, aluminum or matte chasis, and elegance in the internal components for repair or upgrade. You can configure these for some features that are really out there but great choices for a consumer laptop, like Raid 0 solid state hard drives or fingerprint readers $40 for fingerprint reader is completely frivolous but I love them because I like to pretend I'm James Bond when I use mine.
From Dell I bought my Vostro notebook and my Precision workstation and they have been great computers while the Inspiron is a joke.
Buy a real good laptop from ASUS or PANASONIC, like the CF-52: http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/semi-rugged-laptop-toughbook-52.asp if you have the coin... Or bite the bullet and install winblows on your Mac using boot camp and buy her a freaking wireless Microsoft keyboard and mouse combo...
WTF?!!!
Other than building your own those are the top two companies for hardware that comes with Winblows.
As far as becoming obsolete, figure out a way to stop time... Otherwise > Everything becomes obsolete!
Measuring your or her needs for using a computer; settle on the software you need to use, find your PC and never upgrade it.
Therefore you just stopped time for you. Oh, and buy an extra battery and AC adapter.
One more thing; look for a laptop with LED backlighting or you may find yourself replacing the inverter and CFL bulb(s) in about 4-5 years... Your Milage may vary
C-ya in 10 years.
pretty much anything, really.
2GB of RAM (win7 does not need 4GB) and any dual core CPU will do you fine.
as long as it doesnt break, everything else is superfluous or a luxury.
Unlike choosing a mac, you choose the one with the most features you require for the best price.
Ooh, hit a nerve there, did he?
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
At the risk of sounding snarky, you're looking for something pretty basic.
Go to Futureshop/Bestbuy, look for one that meets your requirements, pretty much all of them will. Now buy the cheapest one. It'll cost you about 500$.
Done.
2001 called??? Did you warn them about 9/11 and Katrina and Haiti and Japan????
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is kinky.
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2061048&cid=35681060
(Hairyfeet's SUCH a dumbass, he doesn't know the diff. between STATICALLY ADDRESS IP BASED banners & DYNAMICALLY ADDRESSED ONES using host/domain names!)
LOL, I mean, ok - listen to his b.s. ALL YOU WANT, but only AFTER you read the URL from this website above, lol!
(He sure is a "big talker" though, isn't he? Ripping others' work but he can't show he's done better... & he CERTAINLY SHOWED he is a fuckup in his "tech know-how" above!)
Another instance of his "big talking b.s." is here:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2029850&cid=35450222
He says "automating McDonalds would be 'easy'" but he's NEVER DONE THAT... I have (one of the programmers for them, Boston Market, & Burger King's "bump bar" system).
Big talker is ALL he is, & of course... merely a "techie" that uses the work of OTHERS, & then he tries to pass himself off as "smart"... what a JOKE!
"I've sat there and talked to the guys that actually built the things" - by hairyfeet (841228) on Wednesday March 30, @12:55PM (#35668182)
LMAO - and yet? SHOWN ABOVE?? YOU??? You haven't built a DAMNED THING yourself (certainly nothing well noted either by peers in publications, trade shows, commercial software & the whole 9 yards... I have!)
There is a BIG difference between being a "talker" & just a mere "ITT Tech Techies" (which you are both), and doing the job douchebag... & you know who said it best? Michael Caine in "The PRESTIGE":
"Oh, no sir... this wasn't built by a Magician: This was built, by a WIZARD - A man that can actually DO, what Magicians only PRETEND to do!"
Eat that, hairyfeet...
APK
P.S.=> Just "too, Too, TOO EASY - Man... just '2EZ'", but then again? "Pwuffesuh HaiwyPheet" is only an "ITT Tech Boy" techie... lol! apk