Rutabagared
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Which Laptop?
- Thread starter Rutabagared
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Is there anything else but a mac laptop with a dual core? (windows & mac os)
;D
NEW Get a Mac Ad - Broken Promises WINDOWS 7
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Is there anything else but a mac laptop with a dual core? (windows & mac os)
;D
NEW Get a Mac Ad - Broken Promises WINDOWS 7
.
If she won't be traveling on a regular basis and weight isn't an issue, I would go with a bigger screen, 17+". 4 MB Ram, 500+/- Gig Hard Drive. The newer models also have dedicated number keypads, which are nice, if she'll be doing much number entry. Although she may only have a few basic tasks in mind doing with it, who knows what she'll want it for in the future. The increased RAM and bigger screen will make using it more enjoyable. Sams/Costco have several models to choose from.
I picked up a bare bones Toshiba, which has worked great. Dell or HP are other models I'd look at. A nice add on, if she'll be working wireless, is a wireless printer. It's handy being able to work anywhere in the house and being able to print without bringing the laptop to the printer.
I picked up a bare bones Toshiba, which has worked great. Dell or HP are other models I'd look at. A nice add on, if she'll be working wireless, is a wireless printer. It's handy being able to work anywhere in the house and being able to print without bringing the laptop to the printer.
Joe,
If she wants a truly mobile machine and doesn't need it for more intense uses, I would recommend a netbook. It's basically a small laptop--typically with less memory and hard drive capacity, but longer battery life, less weight and lower price than the average laptop. My Acer 1410 has gotten generally good reviews and offers a bit more than most. It has an 11.6" screen (v. 10.1" standard), 2 GB RAM (v. 1 GB standard), and a 250 GB hard drive (v. 160 GB standard). Battery life can range from about about 3 to 9 hours. New ones are coming out all the time, and you might be able to find a deal. Best Buy had a Black Friday special with a couple of HP/Compaq models (10.1" screen, 1 GB RAM, 160 or 250 GB hard drive) for $180 and $250; one compromise was on the battery, which was only good for about 3 hours. Those are the best prices I've seen. Most of the netbooks seem to come with Microsoft Works, which might be all your wife needs. You could also buy Microsoft Office Home and Student edition. Many people sing the praises of free or open office software, but I can't speak to that, as I haven't used it. Good luck.
David
If she wants a truly mobile machine and doesn't need it for more intense uses, I would recommend a netbook. It's basically a small laptop--typically with less memory and hard drive capacity, but longer battery life, less weight and lower price than the average laptop. My Acer 1410 has gotten generally good reviews and offers a bit more than most. It has an 11.6" screen (v. 10.1" standard), 2 GB RAM (v. 1 GB standard), and a 250 GB hard drive (v. 160 GB standard). Battery life can range from about about 3 to 9 hours. New ones are coming out all the time, and you might be able to find a deal. Best Buy had a Black Friday special with a couple of HP/Compaq models (10.1" screen, 1 GB RAM, 160 or 250 GB hard drive) for $180 and $250; one compromise was on the battery, which was only good for about 3 hours. Those are the best prices I've seen. Most of the netbooks seem to come with Microsoft Works, which might be all your wife needs. You could also buy Microsoft Office Home and Student edition. Many people sing the praises of free or open office software, but I can't speak to that, as I haven't used it. Good luck.
David
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Joe:
I saw some really good deals at Office Max last weekend. Not everything, but there were some real standouts.
I snagged a Samsung CLX-3175FW, a color laser, multifunction printer with wireless network capability for $199.99. The closest price to that I found was around $400.
And, I didn't have to fight a crowd or get up early.
Tom
I saw some really good deals at Office Max last weekend. Not everything, but there were some real standouts.
I snagged a Samsung CLX-3175FW, a color laser, multifunction printer with wireless network capability for $199.99. The closest price to that I found was around $400.
And, I didn't have to fight a crowd or get up early.
Tom
richard.selwyn
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Roger Savatteri said:
Yes - my ancient Macbooks (2 - don't ask) with just 600mhz processors!! I'm typing this on a 2000 vintage dual core
450mhz G4 - it's still going stong, though a bit slow for watching the Get a Mac ads - it sits next to the 3rd PC I had in the same time frame [big grin] [big grin]
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Joe,
You buy Festools. She wants a laptop. You want to be able to keep buying Festools. Buy her a nicer laptop.
Seriously, based on what you have described as usage, which is not at the power user level, you could go the gamut from netbook to 500 dollar laptop.
We now have 8 laptops or smaller. Last year I bought my wife a netbook and she loved it. One issue I had with it was that the display wasn't bright enough. If you buy a netbook, you will either need to download software or have a portable cd dvd drive.
She uses her Macbook Pro 13 for almost everything now. I have laptops from 17 inches down. I use my Macbook Pro 15 for everything I can. I bought a Mac wired keyboard for times when number crunching is required.
She lets you buy the Good Stuff. Buy her the Good Stuff.
Peter
You buy Festools. She wants a laptop. You want to be able to keep buying Festools. Buy her a nicer laptop.
Seriously, based on what you have described as usage, which is not at the power user level, you could go the gamut from netbook to 500 dollar laptop.
We now have 8 laptops or smaller. Last year I bought my wife a netbook and she loved it. One issue I had with it was that the display wasn't bright enough. If you buy a netbook, you will either need to download software or have a portable cd dvd drive.
She uses her Macbook Pro 13 for almost everything now. I have laptops from 17 inches down. I use my Macbook Pro 15 for everything I can. I bought a Mac wired keyboard for times when number crunching is required.
She lets you buy the Good Stuff. Buy her the Good Stuff.
Peter
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Rutabagared said:
Joe,
I personally have been happy with all of my computers except for one. And that was my fault, not the computer. I consider the Macbook Pros to be the best computers I've bought.
I don't think that the learning curve is steep at all. My wife didn't have much trouble at all with hers, but most people only learn what they need to know. Then they look up other things in books.
Peter
Brice Burrell
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Rutabagared said:
That's a good question. I would assume it isn't much but you know what they say about when you assume (I've not used a Mac since the 80s).
I switched from PCs to a new Macbook nearly a year ago. I can honestly say it's about half an hour to get used to where things are on a mac and then away you go. I love it to bits, and like with the festools I now look forward to using it, whereas before the mac it was always something of a chore.
Rick
Rick
Corwin
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I bought my wife a MacBook about a year ago and she had no problem with the switch. And I just switched to the Macbook last week and am very happy with it. No problem learning the differences. Best thing is how much quicker the machine is at starting up and connecting to the internet -- so much better!
My MacBook has been pretty darn reliable over the last 3 years. It boots quickly and suspends nearly flawlessly. (I think it has crashed twice of the last 3 years). My Windows XP system is not as favorable in terms of shutdown/startup, but has been generally reliable. My Linux system generally would be either of them for uptime expect it's dearth of applications. Video/Audio Codex's are Linux week points unless the distro comes with them.
Comes down to the apps you want to run. OSX has a lot of nice stuff built in, the Mac pkgs aren't too expensive for the general stuff. OpenOffice on my Linux box has opened all the DOC files I've sent it's way.
Our newest Win7 laptop seems very nice too. Despite being a fairly large proponent for Linux, I'd say pick any one and you'd be happy.
Mark
Comes down to the apps you want to run. OSX has a lot of nice stuff built in, the Mac pkgs aren't too expensive for the general stuff. OpenOffice on my Linux box has opened all the DOC files I've sent it's way.
Our newest Win7 laptop seems very nice too. Despite being a fairly large proponent for Linux, I'd say pick any one and you'd be happy.
Mark
Joe,
For email, browsing the web, and simple apps like Excel and Word, almost any laptop or netbook will probably work. However, one critical element is portability. How will your wife use it? Only sitting on a desk or in the kitchen? (My laptop is almost always on the kitchen counter.) Moving it around occasionally? Always on the go?
Semi-stationary? 17" screen.
Moving occasionally? 15" screen.
On the go? 13-14" screen and very light.
Regarding your other requirements...
- If she does a LOT of Excel, get the biggest screen you can.
- If she does a lot of email or word processing, get an external keyboard.
- An external mouse is usually important for fixed-base use.
- If she needs mobility and fixed base use, a smaller laptop with an external mouse, keyboard, and monitor gives her flexibility.
I can't comment on a Mac (I don't own one), but with PC laptops, check out each system's expandability. Are there enough ports (typically USB) for mouse, keyboard, etc?
Regarding Mac vs PC, both are good. But each has its pros and cons.
The first issue is price. Unless they has some special deals not showing on their website, a Mac laptop starts at $1,000 and that's with only 2 Gb of memory. Add $100 for another 2Gb and you're up to $1,100.
OTOH, you can get this Lenovo (good brand) for $650 at Best Buy: Lenovo.
On the issue of operating systems, unless you go with a Mac, I would strongly recommend Win 7. Virtually all new laptops have it as the standard OS. Some vendors may still have some stock with Vista. They might offer an upgrade to Win7 for free, but I would avoid that option. Stick with Win7.
The other issue is consistency with your other systems. Since it looks like you have only PCs in your house, it's probably a good idea to stick with a PC to keep things simple. OTOH, if you like a Mac and believe that it's the way to go, I'd suggest setting up an all-Mac household.
The big issue is integrating the two systems together to share printers and other network resources. Or sharing files over your network. Or connecting to the internet using a WiFi router. It's relatively easy to deal with these issues if you have a single type of computer. It becomes more difficult when you have two types of systems.
One note about Win7 vs OS X... Before Win7, I would have agreed that PCs were more of a hassle than Macs. I.e., Microsoft spent too much time focusing on "nifty" features and forgot what was important to users - speed and ease of use. With Win7, they got religion and focused on the important stuff. Win7 is faster than XP and much easier to use. Is Win7 faster and easier than a OS X? I don't think so. OTOH, I don't think you'd see much difference either.
Regards,
Dan.
For email, browsing the web, and simple apps like Excel and Word, almost any laptop or netbook will probably work. However, one critical element is portability. How will your wife use it? Only sitting on a desk or in the kitchen? (My laptop is almost always on the kitchen counter.) Moving it around occasionally? Always on the go?
Semi-stationary? 17" screen.
Moving occasionally? 15" screen.
On the go? 13-14" screen and very light.
Regarding your other requirements...
- If she does a LOT of Excel, get the biggest screen you can.
- If she does a lot of email or word processing, get an external keyboard.
- An external mouse is usually important for fixed-base use.
- If she needs mobility and fixed base use, a smaller laptop with an external mouse, keyboard, and monitor gives her flexibility.
I can't comment on a Mac (I don't own one), but with PC laptops, check out each system's expandability. Are there enough ports (typically USB) for mouse, keyboard, etc?
Regarding Mac vs PC, both are good. But each has its pros and cons.
The first issue is price. Unless they has some special deals not showing on their website, a Mac laptop starts at $1,000 and that's with only 2 Gb of memory. Add $100 for another 2Gb and you're up to $1,100.
OTOH, you can get this Lenovo (good brand) for $650 at Best Buy: Lenovo.
On the issue of operating systems, unless you go with a Mac, I would strongly recommend Win 7. Virtually all new laptops have it as the standard OS. Some vendors may still have some stock with Vista. They might offer an upgrade to Win7 for free, but I would avoid that option. Stick with Win7.
The other issue is consistency with your other systems. Since it looks like you have only PCs in your house, it's probably a good idea to stick with a PC to keep things simple. OTOH, if you like a Mac and believe that it's the way to go, I'd suggest setting up an all-Mac household.
The big issue is integrating the two systems together to share printers and other network resources. Or sharing files over your network. Or connecting to the internet using a WiFi router. It's relatively easy to deal with these issues if you have a single type of computer. It becomes more difficult when you have two types of systems.
One note about Win7 vs OS X... Before Win7, I would have agreed that PCs were more of a hassle than Macs. I.e., Microsoft spent too much time focusing on "nifty" features and forgot what was important to users - speed and ease of use. With Win7, they got religion and focused on the important stuff. Win7 is faster than XP and much easier to use. Is Win7 faster and easier than a OS X? I don't think so. OTOH, I don't think you'd see much difference either.
Regards,
Dan.
You should read this article about reliability. Its not to say I would go 100% by it, but it gives you a general idea.
http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/laptop-reliability-1109/
http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/laptop-reliability-1109/
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