Laptop Help

[jjfanec]

My wife is looking at getting a new laptop as her current one is approaching 6 years. She wants something smaller and thinner but we cant (or dont really want to) pay for a Macbook Air. Does anyone have an thoughts on what products are good. We are trying to stay around $300-600 if that is even possible

[Baldkin]

My first thought would be, does she need a laptop? Would a tablet do?

 

Secondly, I love cnet for it's reviews, so take a peek....

 

Also, don't forget to hunt for coupons online....

 

Found this one for HP if you decide to go that route: NBQ1148 for 25% off your order.

[owbc]

There was a useful article about laptop shopping in the NYTimes last week:

 

LINK

[jjfanec]

My first thought would be, does she need a laptop? Would a tablet do?

 

Secondly, I love cnet for it's reviews, so take a peek....

 

Also, don't forget to hunt for coupons online....

 

Found this one for HP if you decide to go that route: NBQ1148 for 25% off your order.

 

She doesnt really want a tablet. She does a decent amount of writing and doesnt like the smaller keyboards. Thanks

[RockCoCougars]

I like HP or Toshiba. Though they last only 2-3 years, they are cheap enough to treat them almost as a disposable item. I'm sure there are choices galore on the net for under $400.

[nate82]

My wife is looking at getting a new laptop as her current one is approaching 6 years. She wants something smaller and thinner but we cant (or dont really want to) pay for a Macbook Air. Does anyone have an thoughts on what products are good. We are trying to stay around $300-600 if that is even possible

 

You could get a laptop for around that price but you would want to be updating and buying a new one again rather soon. I would go with an Ultrabook as they are smaller and thinner and don't skimp on the keyboard size.

 

This is about the cheapest I could find an Ultrabook which is very much like a Macbook Air.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127667

 

If you are dead set on something smaller and thinner but don't really want to pay for the price of something like an Ultrabook or a Macbook Air you might want to look at a Tablet and using an attachable keyboard with it.

 

Asus makes a Tablet with a keyboard already attached to it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230425

 

Or you could do this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127536&cm_sp=Cat_Tablet-_-YTVideo-_-YT34-127-536

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823169009

Total would be just under $500 not including shipping though Newegg at times has some free shipping offers.

[gypcasino]

My first thought would be, does she need a laptop? Would a tablet do?

 

Secondly, I love cnet for it's reviews, so take a peek....

 

Also, don't forget to hunt for coupons online....

 

Found this one for HP if you decide to go that route: NBQ1148 for 25% off your order.

 

Thanks for the info. Using that coupon code, you can get the HP Envy Sleekbook 6 (with none of the offered add ons) mentioned in the cnet link for about $550 including tax shipped. I'm still thinking about ordering one myself.

[jjfanec]

Thanks for all the help everyone. We probably have to look at exactly what our budget is right now. We dont want something we are going to have to replace every couple years since we were spoiled by our last one that has lasted almost 6 years

[Baldkin]

It really depends what you're using it for. If all you're doing is internet/writing/movies, most anything you buy new should last 6 years.

[jjfanec]

It really depends what you're using it for. If all you're doing is internet/writing/movies, most anything you buy new should last 6 years.

 

She will really just be using it for writing, internet and the occasional video to watch. She may upload pictures and video but no editing.

[1992casey]

There was a useful article about laptop shopping in the NYTimes last week:

 

LINK

That's a really good article. There's a lot to like about it.

 

I'm going to nitpick this one thing:

 

If a manufacturer tries to sneak beneath a certain price with a model that comes with under 4GB, but you can upgrade for a couple of hundred bucks, you should upgrade.

It's almost always cheaper to upgrade with third party RAM. If you're attached to a machine that ships with less than 4GB, I'd check out the cost of buying RAM from a reputable RAM vendor. My tack has generally been to buy a computer with the minimum amount of RAM, then max it out sometime during its lifetime. I've never had a machine with inadequate RAM at the time of purchase, though.

 

There's a major exception, though. In order to provide portability, some computers have their RAM built into the motherboard with no ability for the user to upgrade. In those cases, I'd consider maxing out the RAM right away in order to give the computer a chance at the longest possible useful life.