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Thread: Laptop Recommendations?

  1. #1
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    Question Laptop Recommendations?

    We are thinking about getting a laptop for the first time and honestly have no idea what to look for. So far we have had good luck with Dell for our desktops but my wife would like to start typing up family stories and yet have something portable so she can show photos to her aging sister. She really likes the 17" screens...

    I personally want a laptop that will still be able to handle the internet in 5 years... so a fairly fast processor and memory would be important... to me!

    Any suggestions?

    Thanks!!
    Steve

    “You never know what you got til it's gone!”
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  2. #2
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    A 17" laptop gets old if you have to move it around much. I like the Dell Latitude series of laptops personally. I got a Latitude E5520 last November and really like it. This is a business/corporate laptop and tends to last longer as they are a bit better built. I bought mine from the Dell Outlet when they had a coupon for something like 25% off.

  3. #3
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    If you have a flat screen on your desktop, your wife can use it with a laptop to show photos to her sister and you can go with a smaller screen on the laptop...
    Recommend min of 15" screen though....

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Schlumpf View Post
    We are thinking about getting a laptop for the first time and honestly have no idea what to look for. So far we have had good luck with Dell for our desktops but my wife would like to start typing up family stories and yet have something portable so she can show photos to her aging sister. She really likes the 17" screens...

    I personally want a laptop that will still be able to handle the internet in 5 years... so a fairly fast processor and memory would be important... to me!

    Any suggestions?

    Thanks!!
    I would go with an Apple product personally as they are high in quality and the OS is fairly resistant to viruses. The problem is they are more expensive than the average laptop. I never understood why they don't become more competitive on price. That said maybe a Dell or a Lenovo with Windows 7 pro installed. And possibly with an upgrade coupon to windows 8.
    Last edited by Chuck Wintle; 04-18-2012 at 7:11 PM.

  5. #5
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    Thanks for the input everyone, I appreciate it! I should have mentioned that Colleen's sister is disabled and she wants to be able to share photos/movies with her... so that is why the 17" screen.... easier viewing.
    Steve

    “You never know what you got til it's gone!”
    Please don’t let that happen!
    Become a financial Contributor today!

  6. #6
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    Steve .... check out the ASUS K73SV-DH51, We've had an ASUS with a slightly smaller screen size for 6 months without a hitch.

    Tim

  7. #7
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    I have had good luck with Toshiba but would not recommend Lenovo. We use those at work and they are behind the times. The Toshiba's seem to be a good value price vs performance.

  8. #8
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    I have a Toshiba laptop at home. Had it almost 2 years now and it's been perfect. We bought it at Costco.

    My work computer is a Dell laptop that stays docked almost all the time. It's been fine also.

    PHM

  9. #9
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    I have a Toshiba that is about 4 years pld and my wifes Toshiba is about 7 years

  10. #10
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    We have 3 Toshiba laptops & are happy with all of them, I think they are 15" screens.
    The Toshiba Qosmio 775 (which appears to be the top of the line, or at least the most expensive at Costco & Best Buy, & has a 17" screen) is $1300 at Costco & $1673 at Best Buy (I'm not sure if they are exactly the same machine)
    Dennis

  11. #11
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    17" to me is more luggable than portable but if you're not traveling with it much that might work fine. You should get a near-desktop keyboard & screen. Most of my laptops have been Thinkpads. There is or was a difference between Lenovos and Thinkpads with Thinkpads having a higher build quality. All my Thinkpads were manufacturered when IBM was still involved so I don't know about the current generation. I still use a 2002 vintage PIII Thinkpad R-31 with a light weight Linux distro (Lubuntu) on it. It works fine for web browsing, word processing etc. It does not run flash worth crap.
    Last edited by Curt Harms; 04-19-2012 at 6:52 AM.

  12. #12
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    Given your location it might be a little more difficult, but my recommendation on laptops is to go to the store and look. My old work laptop is a 19" and its heavy and huge. We get to choose from a couple choices and I went smaller on the second. The first, I bought from work for 10% of the original price and its my personal laptop now. Its now 5 years old and is still plenty for word processing, internet use, woodworking-sized Sketchup projects, iTunes, etc. My wifes HP which was a clearance special at Best Buy (during one of the periodic times where I give them another chance) is also still going strong. Its a 15" and much more manageable. Even the $300 Acer we bought my daughter at Wal-Mart is decent though I'd probably go slightly better next time.

    Over the years I've had a Toshiba, a number of Dells, and 2 Thinkpads. All were fine except the Thinkpads. BOTH thinkpads, a few years apart just did wierd stuff. It took hours to get the wireless working on the one, finally fixed by uninstalling the IBM software that "managed" the card. That same one would randomly just freeze for 5s. Didn't matter what you were doing, just random 5s freezes.
    Last edited by Matt Meiser; 04-19-2012 at 7:54 AM.


  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Curt Harms View Post
    It does not run flash worth crap.
    No worries there--Apple says Flash is dead so it must be so!


  14. #14
    I believe many of the newer machines from HP, Toshiba, Sony, etc., are made by a common manufacturer (I'm thinking Foxconn, Acer, or Asus). Used to be, machines were designed here in the states (or IBM Japan, where the ThinkPads were designed, I believe), and then manufactured in China, etc. There were substantial differences from one brand, to another.

    Now I think what is going on is Foxconn, Acer, and Asus are developing designs and shopping them to major manufacturers. So it isn't unusual for the same basic design to be marketing under multiple brands.

    Also, I've seen an increase in the # of machines with hard drives that are not easily removed. Dell and some others have designs now where the hard drive is screwed to the motherboard. Seeing as the hard drive is about the most likely part to fail, this is unacceptable. So whatever you buy, I'd make sure you can easily get to the hard drive.

  15. #15
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    I've been an Apple fan for some years now but when it was time to get a laptop I found the price gap far too extreme to be justified. I found a great deal on a Lenovo loaded with Windows 7 for $300. It is a pretty barebones system at that price but I don't need more than what I can do with this machine.
    I connect laptops and tablets and just about any other device you can imagine up to the FIOS service I install every day. I see all of the different laptops out there. I can't overstate how much the Lenovo touchpad impresses me compared to most other machines I come across. The machine boots quickly, runs MS Office Professional flawlessly and surfs with no problems. Compare that to a $1200 Dell I had used for a little while that was running Vista. Wireless connection errors constantly, touchpad was only okay, and it was slower.
    My 3 sons (11,9 and 6) use this to make Powerpoints watch youtube and play (gasp) flash games and it has never been broken or frozen one time in 8 or so months of use.
    If I were buying another laptop today in any price range I would get a Lenovo based on a good experience.
    I hope this helps.
    PS. I am not running ANY antivirus software.
    I could cry for the time I've wasted, but thats a waste of time and tears.

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