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?"

Comments

Just use the hardware you have

[imashination]

Just install windows on the mac?

Re:Just use the hardware you have

[jo_ham]

+1 to this.

A Macbook makes a great Windows laptop, and since you already have it it'll be more cost effective to just buy a copy of Windows.

Set up a bootcamp partition (Apps > Utils > Boot Camp Assistant) and give it the lion's share of the disk if it's going to be her primary OS and then install.

Once you have Windows on there, the OS X software disks that came with it (or the ones for your MBP) have all the necessary drivers that are set up via install wizard - just pop it in after Windows boots for the first time.

Re:Just use the hardware you have

[jedidiah]

> Just install windows on the mac?

That only works if you don't despise Apple keyboards.

Try using the thing first. Then work from there.

Re:Just use the hardware you have

[mjwx]

Yeah, that's probably the best answer of all. Just run Windows on it. Also, I might say "make it dual boot" so that she has something to fall back on when her machine gets trashed and/or unusable... as we all know it will.

Actually it's about the worst answer.

1. the laptop is 2.5 years old. The battery will be almost gone and there will likely be other HW issues developing.

2. the wife does not like it.

I can tell that everyone suggesting you just put Windows on the Mac has never been married, or probably had a LT girlfriend but if the wife wants something, a half arsed solution like slapping Windows on top of it wont help, in fact it will make things a lot worse.

My advice for the OP, let the wife choose. Pick about 5 different models that you know are good (Dell Latitude, Lenovo Thinkpad, Asus and Toshiba, wife will probably like the look of the Asus) put some pictures into a document and let her pick which one she wants. That way the onus is on her to like it, having her make the decision reduces the likelihood that she'll turn around and blame you for any issues (as she is currently doing with the Mac).

Re:Just use the hardware you have

[Mr. DOS]

...so that guys like you don't know the difference.

Then please explain: in implementation (on either platform), what is the functional difference between Enter and Return?

the windows key is useless, no one really uses it.

Unless you're 1) on Windows and 2) like saving time. In my case, Win+E and Win+R get used multiple times per hour, Win+L gets used every time I leave my desk, and Win+Pause is one of the first things I hit when I start work on someone else's computer.

Also, one thing that hasn't been brought up yet (that I've seen) is the misbehaving Home and End keys. They're supposed to move the input cursor to the beginning and end of the current line of input, not... whatever it is they do under OS X – I've never managed to figure out exactly what that is.

easy

[cuby]

The same way as a Linux laptop.

i choose by hardware specs

[FudRucker]

and consider that i will eventually be wiping windows off and installing Linux on it...

Why hasn't she gotten used to it?

[thinbits]

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.

Lenovo

[garcia]

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.

Re:Lenovo

[lophophore]

I will throw out my vote for ThinkPads.

If you travel through a major airport, and watch the business people go through security, you will see a ton of ThinkPads. Why? The damn things are nearly indestructible. When it came time to buy my kid a laptop for college, we looked at the deals the school had (a major university) and they had Mac, Dell, and Lenovo. My kid now is using a Lenovo T510 with an i5 and Windows 7. Her friends' Dell machines have all had to be serviced in the first semester. That's right, the Dells did not even make it through a semester.

At work they recently bought me a fancy-schmancy Dell notebook. I compared the build quality to my personally-owned T61 Thinkpad, and thought to myself "this Dell is junk". The Dell did not make it three months before it had to be serviced. I've been using my three year old T61 for the duration, and I cannot imagine why the three year old $1000 thinkpad is superior in almost every way to the brand new $1000 Dell laptop.

Here's another thought. Just like cheap tools are not worth the money, unless you plan to use them only once... cheap laptops are not worth the money, either. Buy a commercial strength unit. Don't buy a consumer-class laptop. You can usually tell the difference by looking for a docking connector. The consumer class laptops don't have a dock, the commercial strength ones do. Sure, it is a few more bucks up front, but after a couple years the consumer grade laptops are junk, but the commercial ones are still kicking.

Good luck with your purchase.

Latitude or Thinkpad

[Animal Farm Pig]

Just buy a Latitude or Thinkpad. You can't go terribly wrong with either.

Business laptop

[loosescrews]

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

Quick version of the laptop buying guide:

[Wrath0fb0b]

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!

Ask Steve Jobs

[Vinegar Joe]

To send you a new wife.

The only downside

[Sycraft-fu]

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.

Re:The only downside

[hedwards]

Unless something has changed recently, that's not entirely true. An OEM disc which comes bundled with a computer frequently has 2 keys available, one is on the disc and is valid for any number of computers as a part of the OEM computers and the one which is stuck to the side for that particular computer.

I've used OEM discs on upgraded computers many times and as long as you use the computer specific one on only one computer at a time you're fine. From time to time if you upgrade too quickly it will refuse to activate, but if you let it set for a period of time it'll install just fine. Otherwise you have to call MS for them to clear the previous install.