NFRC I'm getting a new laptop... any recommendations? Must decide by

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dawnnys

Well-known member
Wednesday (long story) and I've been told Asus is a good brand, and is certainly affordable, but I don't like the keyboard/mousepad set-up.

Has anyone purchased one lately, and/or have any suggestions for a really basic laptop? It's be nice to have a DVD player, but I mainly use it for Word and internet. Thanks!

 
I just got a new Dell Latitude and I like it very much.

Most of my friends buy Mac but I'm a writer, so I use my laptop mainly for writing and for the internet. I bought an additional battery so my laptop lasts 8 hours cord free. I love that.

It does have a DVD player too but I never use it.

 
I'd be interested in suggestions for a new laptop too. Mine died last week and I'm using DH's

Apple (which he uses for video editing). He and my kids think I should get an Apple, but I'm not crazy about the e-mail and haven't checked out the Word processing yet. The Apple is about twice as expensive but they say has less problems and doesn't need virus protection.

 
Acording to our computer guy, he told us that owning an Apple still has the drawbacks

because eventually you will load Microsoft software for certain applications and over time as you add more of the Microsoft products you will get viruses. I know nothing about the techie part of computers, so I am just repeating what I was told. You might inquire about it.

 
I protested greatly when switched to a Mac at work BUT

it has Windows for Mac on it. I loved it so much I bought one six weeks later and will never go back. I use mine mostly just for Word and internet also. I have not had a single problem or virus since switching.

 
I've used Macs every day since 1993. I've owned 9 of them

I am forced to use PCs at my other job and am always so glad to get home to my Mac. I have never had a virus. I personally find Windows OS to be very clumsy next to Apple OS. Love the streamlined Apple OS. I love the Mac e mail program but if you don't then load Windows for Mac.

I do scan once in a while using Sophus which is a freeware virus protection application. There are viruses out there that affect Macs but they are few and far between. Apple doesn't license out its OS so nobody else (not Dell, Sony, HP, etc) can use it in their computers. Because of that, Apple has a smaller share of the computer market but has total control over the OS. Works for me.

 
I just bought a new one in January

which is 97 technology years ago, but I went back n forth and ended up with an HP Envy because I wanted the 14" size I was used to with my business laptop. At the time it was the only 14" consumer grade one on the market (I think). Also I like that it has a backlit keyboard. I did not want the "island" mac style keyboard and debated about a Lenovo so I could have one (I still wish I had that old normal style keyboard).

However with all that, part of me still wishes I'd gone back to the MAC platform. All these consumer grade laptops (this was my first purchase) seem flimsy (I had to return the first one because of it). I loved all my macs and only moved to pc because I had to learn them for work.

 
Can I ask a completely ignorant?What is the difference from a user perspective from a laptop vs.IPAD

 
I just got a Toshiba...Satellite. I realized that I will never go back to a PC again so

this thing has a bigger screen. I wanted HDMI with it, in case I do a NetFlix contract. I have a problem with the keyboard, in that some of the keys are not the old standard and it's difficult to adjust. In the old days, we used to be able to change key functions but I can't seem to find that availability now.

The sound quality is pretty awful.

For me, the most important thing was lots of USB ports. I had Dells in the past and it was a critical feature then. Much handier if they are on the side of the machine and not at the back. 3 would be minimal but I wanted 4.

The mouse pad is a consideration as well. How sensitive it is to dragging fingers.

And the type of screen you get...see what you like..back lit or otherwise....

H was always a Toshiba person but I think they have become much cheaper in quality. I always had Dells and I probably should have done Dell again. The problem there was that Dell is not easily serviceable around the world whereas Toshiba really is and Toshiba is easier to find missing parts for in odd countries as it is kind of a standard for laptops.

 
I've had a Toshiba, a Dell, and now a Samsung

We bought a second Toshiba and I'm loving my Samsung. The Dell was a piece of junk and my daughter's Dell isn't any better. If you go for Dell, be sure to go the business line of laptops, not consumer. I had very specific features I wanted and the Samsung at Costco was a great buy and was one of the few with all the features.

Our first laptop was a Toshiba and it's still going strong just old and slow by todays standards. It's probably close to 10 years old at this point. So my husband chose a Toshiba when he bought his last year. Consumer Reports really liked the Toshiba and had it rated as one of the most durable for many years though that has evened out some now.

My Dell was an XPS loaded since I worked there and got a great discount and caught it on sale. It crashed before it was one year old and when one of our top techs looked at it he couldn't get it to duplicate the problem until the day he was going to bring it back to me. They couldn't find the problem so had to replace the whole computer and I lost months of work on my family and friends cookbook. I got the second one and it had a few issues almost from minute one but they weren't big issues. Well, they grew to big issues but by then it was out of warranty. And about the time I was ready to throw my hands up with it earlier this year I sort of spilled some greens likker with hot pepper vinegar in it onto the keyboard and it got down in there and fried the motherboard.

I got my daughter a Dell Studio and it had problems within the first month and still has issues after it went out of warranty and her keys are breaking off - got it in July 2009 so it's just over two years old.

 
Barb - depends on what you want to do with them

I have a tablet (Motorola Xoom - Android)and I can do a lot of things you do on a normal laptop. It's smaller and more portable but instead of programs, you have apps. Apps are great, usually pretty simple but not as dynamic as programs. For instance I cannot put my Living Cookbook software on it. You can't plug a cd/dvd player into them and it's cumbersome to move files and such to them if you don't email them to yourself or download from the web.

 
I knew I liked you smileys/smile.gif bought our first in 1982 and have never gone back to the dark side!

Presently own 6 computers, 1 iPad, 2 iPhones - LOVE them all

 
Plus, you don't have the USB port, keyboard or disk drive that you might have on a laptop.

can't beat the portability of a pad, though, you just have to get used to typing with two fingers.

 
Thanks MCM and Cheez, I was thinking of getting one for dh for christmas, and was wondering

the difference. We have a laptop. One of the specialty stores at the mall was selling key boards for the IPAD; it included a case. I can't recall the name, I have cooking on my mind, so I think William Sonoma, but of course that is not it. ANYWAY, when I was there during the summer, the sales manager said that it was quite popular; that it allowed the flexibility of having a keyboard for the IPAD.

Thanks for the details...

 
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