Have a question for you techies...

[ailsagirl]

I have to buy a new laptop (can't really afford to but it's mandatory) and I don't have the faintest idea where to go or how much to pay. Should I buy it from the Internet? Should I buy a refurbished one?
Can someone give me some advice?

Thanks much!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I am in the process of buying a new laptop too...

My best advice comes from my IT guy, who works in a computer repair place. He is advising me, and it's all good.

If you know someone like that who you trust.......I'd talk to that person.

Good luck!

[ailsagirl]

2. Thanks for responding, Peggy!

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. I am also looking to buy a new laptop

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my criteria -

buy local - then you have service and advice available.

buy on-line?, yes, better deals as to the purchase price,

but I prefer face to face with who is gonna fix the thing (as if computers ever have problems)

I think the extra dollars are worth the following necessary service/advice.

Also - I've decided on windows 7 - Gates and his gang have had time to smooth out the wrinkles - Windows 8 is new - so has to be fixed a few times before it becomes stable in my opinion

It's always been that way.

Always will be so.

Hope this helps.

CC

[OriginalGeek]

4. What do you plan to use it for?

you could spend a couple grand and get a pretty decent gaming rig or you could spend 400~500 bucks and get a pretty good email/facebook machine.

I have had good experiences with Toshiba and Asus and had bad experiences with Sony (had a couple screens go bad and we quit buying them at work) and Acer. IF I were buying for me I would get Asus but they are spendier if they have good graphics cards in them. (They make a few models with cheap cards and that's a better deal than a brand I trust less I guess).

We have close to 50 low to mid-tier HP Laptops deployed throughout the company and they are used by road warriors hauling them all over the state and have been pretty reliable. Nothing fancy, not too fast and no great graphics but they boot up every time and connect to the network and folks can use them for their spreadsheets and word docs and Powerpoint presentations without too much grief.

Get as much ram and hard drive space as you can afford. I hate Intel GMA graphics but they are the cheapest and will do non-graphics intensive things. Don't get less than an intel i5 processor (or AMD equivalent). There's just no reason to get less than that nowadays.

Folks are mad at Windows 8 (although my boss and my son have had no problems with it) so Win7 is fine if you can find it still.

I prefer a 17" screen but it's pretty heavy if you carry it a lot. Hell, mine is heavy and I just sit it in my lap (on top of one of those lap table things).

I can't tell you much about Mac except that people like them and they cost more than an equivalent Windows machine.

IF you are going to be using it to travel with, consider getting docking stations for the 2 places you use it most. Makes the connections so much easier and you can add a bigger screen (run dual screens) and have mouse and keyboard handy.

Get a wireless mouse with the tiny dongle for convenience to take with it whether you get a docking station or not. I hate using the trackpad.

[ailsagirl]

5. For me, it's becuz I'm taking a class

Thanks for the info!