laptop recomendations?

[flowremix]

ok, i have a problem. My girlfriend is moving to UC santa cruz. She needs a laptop. I told her to get a Dell, because i have a dell notebook and i love it. I told her she should get built-in wireless internet and bluetooth. She would only use her laptop for only internet, papers, itunes, and occassional pictures with her p&s.

So my questions is.....
What other specs should i suggest to her?

thanks for any suggestions.

[walterick]

Flow, I moved this to the Digital Imaging and Computers forum where I thought you might get better help.

I am not a computer fiend like some of these guys But what I would be looking for are: lightweight; whether or not it has a Cd/DVD burner; doesn't get too hot; long battery life; the operating system and software packages she'll need; and good internet reviews on whatever you choose to buy. I love my Dell also. Hope this helps!

GL

[mwfanelli]

ok, i have a problem. My girlfriend is moving to UC santa cruz. She needs a laptop. I told her to get a Dell, because i have a dell notebook and i love it. I told her she should get built-in wireless internet and bluetooth. She would only use her laptop for only internet, papers, itunes, and occassional pictures with her p&s.

So my questions is.....
What other specs should i suggest to her?

thanks for any suggestions.

Wireless is very good, bluetooth is nice in theory but pretty useless in reality. Dell makes good machines as does Toshiba and Gateway. I have an HP that has had a lot of problems.

Get at least 512 Meg of memory. DVD player (read only) and CD burner (usually a combined option). DVD writers are nice but the standards are changing again. I personally have never found the need for a DVD burner. Make sure the USB ports are the fast versions. Small external mouse, locking cable (Kensington) to prevent quick grab and runs. Get a memory card reader for her diigital camera.

Software... Although there are free options, nothing tops Microsoft Office. With student discounts, it is very reasonable. Firefox (free) instead of Internet Explorer. Free Zone Alarm (firewall) and free AVG virus checker. Free ipod software.

You don't say what she will be studying.If it is science or engineering, the free (don't you like that word) Scilab..

Whew!

[flowremix]

thats awesome, thanks for pointing me the right direction. I really think a Dell notebook will fit her well.

You don't say what she will be studying.If it is science or engineering, the free (don't you like that word) Scilab..

Whew!

hahaa. She'll be doing legal studies and spanish.

What is the new standard in harddrive space? I got my laptop like almost 2 years ago and i upgraded to 60 gigs. Now it is almost full with music/photos. I know she won't be taking pictures like me, I'm just curious on the new harddrive standard.

thanks everyone for your help.

[Spec A!]

80-120 is fast becoming standard, and I wouldnt want anything less for images and music!

[masdog]

What is your budget like, cause if I can avoid recommending a Dell, I will.

[masdog]

Wireless is very good, bluetooth is nice in theory but pretty useless in reality. Dell makes good machines as does Toshiba and Gateway. I have an HP that has had a lot of problems.

I've seen a lot of Gateways that I would consider lemons, and the low end (budget) Dells aren't much better in my opinion. HP used to be good until they absorbed Compaq, and then everything turned to junk. The best I have seen so far is the Thinkpad line (formerly IBM, now Lenovo).

Get at least 512 Meg of memory. DVD player (read only) and CD burner (usually a combined option). DVD writers are nice but the standards are changing again. I personally have never found the need for a DVD burner. Make sure the USB ports are the fast versions. Small external mouse, locking cable (Kensington) to prevent quick grab and runs. Get a memory card reader for her diigital camera.

If you plan on having her keep this laptop for a while, consider getting 1 GB or more of RAM. This will allow you to maximize you're laptop's use. Also, don't worry about what Drive you get - lower end laptops usually don't have swappable drives, so you won't be changing it anyway.

Also, buy extended warranties. Usually get 3-4 years extended as that will cover the life of your machine and keep you from having to pay for costly repairs. On my last two ThinkPads, the extended warranty prevented me from having to pay for four new motherboards, two new processors, a new screen, and a new hard drive in five years (it came to school with me every day and travelled with me quite a bit). Whether you get onsite or depot repair is up to you, just make sure you get an extended warranty.

Software... Although there are free options, nothing tops Microsoft Office. With student discounts, it is very reasonable. Firefox (free) instead of Internet Explorer. Free Zone Alarm (firewall) and free AVG virus checker. Free ipod software.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that MS Office is the best, especially for its price. Outlook is decent, but its the only PIM that works with Pocket PCs. If you're looking to keep the costs down as much as possible, look at OpenOffice. Its free, it reads and writes to MS Office formats, it outputs to PDF, and it works with OpenDocument, which is possibly the next up-and-coming document format. It does spreadsheets, word processing, and presentations, so you really can't beat its price.

Also, don't forget (free) Mozilla Thunderbird. I recommend this to everyone over Outlook Express.

[flowremix]

I've seen a lot of Gateways that I would consider lemons, and the low end (budget) Dells aren't much better in my opinion. HP used to be good until they absorbed Compaq, and then everything turned to junk. The best I have seen so far is the Thinkpad line (formerly IBM, now Lenovo).

She wants to have this laptop for at least 5 years, so she is investing a lot of money into it. Her mom was asking me about 'alienware' but i was not really familar with their stuff besides being good for games. thats all i really know. But i've been doig some research with them (gf and her mom) on Dell or IBM. After Masdog's comments, i think i'll be leaning toward IBM.

[masdog]

She wants to have this laptop for at least 5 years, so she is investing a lot of money into it. Her mom was asking me about 'alienware' but i was not really familar with their stuff besides being good for games. thats all i really know. But i've been doig some research with them (gf and her mom) on Dell or IBM. After Masdog's comments, i think i'll be leaning toward IBM.

Alienware is a good series of machines. They're like mobile workstations used for high performance gaming and such. They use AMD processors exclusively, but the company was recently purchased by Dell.

I would lean towards the IBM personally. They have the best support or any of the PC manufacturers.

[Lionheart]

Sounds like a MacBook Pro or even a regular MacBook would suit her needs better, especially on the multimedia side of things. If I didn't need a laptop that runs Dentrix at the office (only runs on Windblows XtraPee) I'd be using a Mac pretty exclusively-has all the things you're looking for with a robust OS that makes sense, and a heck of a lot less worries about viruses, spyware, and it runs faster and smoother because it has less overhead than Windblows. just my two apples of course. btw, i've been building my own pc's for 13 years now, have had 4 windblows laptops in 5 years, tend 41 pc's at the office, and bought my first Mac this year for my wife. NOT a contest. Windblows drools, Apple Roolz.

[mwfanelli]

I've seen a lot of Gateways that I would consider lemons, and the low end (budget) Dells aren't much better in my opinion. HP used to be good until they absorbed Compaq, and then everything turned to junk. The best I have seen so far is the Thinkpad line (formerly IBM, now Lenovo).

Also, buy extended warranties. Usually get 3-4 years extended as that will cover the life of your machine and keep you from having to pay for costly repairs. On my last two ThinkPads, the extended warranty prevented me from having to pay for four new motherboards, two new processors, a new screen, and a new hard drive in five years (it came to school with me every day and travelled with me quite a bit). Whether you get onsite or depot repair is up to you, just make sure you get an extended warranty.

All those problems and Dells are bad? Wow! Even my "bad" HP hasn't had as many problems as you list for your Thinkpads! The school here buys from Dell and the laptops have been excellent. Several students have Gateways (from the web site, not in-store) with no problems.

FWIW, those who don't know, IBM is out of the PC business. Thinkpads are owned and manufactured by Lenovo.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that MS Office is the best, especially for its price.

The price for students is $150. Very reasonable.

Outlook is decent, but its the only PIM that works with Pocket PCs. If you're looking to keep the costs down as much as possible, look at OpenOffice. Its free, it reads and writes to MS Office formats, it outputs to PDF, and it works with OpenDocument, which is possibly the next up-and-coming document format. It does spreadsheets, word processing, and presentations, so you really can't beat its price.

Outlook is excellent although I admit to using Thunderbird instead. Express stinks. But the core applications, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are heads above OpenOffice. Yeah, Open Office does a fair job but still messes up formatting, doesn't have the security or teamwork features, and has no Excel macro conversion. She is going into legal studies. At some point, she will need the stuff that Open Office is missing. Might as well get Office up front.

FWIW, Office also outputs to PDF. The Office math editor is magnitudes better than OO. Open document is a maybe, someday, perhaps, keep your fingers crossed future standard that may or not be actually used. She needs what is used today.