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Ask Slashdot: How Do You Choose a Windows Laptop?

Posted by samzenpus on from the throw-a-dart dept.

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?"

6 of 898 comments (clear)

  1. easy by cuby · · Score: 4, Funny

    The same way as a Linux laptop.

    --
    Math is beautiful... e^(pi*i)+1=0
  2. A bit confused... by Cylix · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why on earth would you give your MacBook Pro to your dead wife?

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    "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
    1. Re:A bit confused... by Cylix · · Score: 3, Funny

      Furthermore, I'm troubled that you continue to speak to her about how she feels about the MacBook.

      --
      "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
  3. But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    then there is no Intel inside sticker, no windows logo on the keyboard. his wife will not like this.

  4. Re:Just use the hardware you have by Penguinisto · · Score: 3, Funny

    You wuss... REAL coders use a REAL coder's keyboard!

    Seriously... why all those excess keys, anyway?

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    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  5. Ask Steve Jobs by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 5, Funny

    To send you a new wife.

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    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes