laptop advice

[patrickgpe]

want to get my wife an entry level laptop for Christmas. She would just use it to surf the web and some word processing.

 

Am thinking of getting a chromebook but was wondering if others have had good experiences with them. or if they could recommend a windows laptop about 300 or so?

[CheezWizHed]

In reading your description, I thought about a Chromebook, but I've not used one either. If you don't use a cloud based storage system (Google Drive, Dropbox), that might not work the best for you given the limited storage they have. You might also consider a tablet and Bluetooth keyboard.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

In reading your description, I thought about a Chromebook, but I've not used one either. If you don't use a cloud based storage system (Google Drive, Dropbox), that might not work the best for you given the limited storage they have. You might also consider a tablet and Bluetooth keyboard.

 

I would think a Chromebook with an inexpensive external hard drive would work just fine.

[TURBO]

I have a chromebook for school and am pretty happy with it.

 

Granted, we have endless storage through our school server, but you can just use google for storage, right?

[patrickgpe]

thanks the external hard drive is a good idea that I did not consider.

 

I did think about a google drive subscription that isn't that expensive to house a couple word documents

[nodakfan17]

I bought a laptop in 2017 that only had 4GB of RAM and it was an absolute lemon. I stopped using it after a few months and just gutted it out with just a tablet and my work laptop for 3 years. When I decided I wanted a personal laptop again, a friend (who is a manager at Best Buy) told me to go with 8GB of RAM to avoid performance issues. I did and have been pleased with my purchase.

[CheezWizHed]

thanks the external hard drive is a good idea that I did not consider.

 

I did think about a google drive subscription that isn't that expensive to house a couple word documents

 

You shouldn't need a subscription if you are only doing a few documents. Both Google Drive and Dropbox have free versions that will do thousands of documents.

[patrickgpe]

I bought a laptop in 2017 that only had 4GB of RAM and it was an absolute lemon. I stopped using it after a few months and just gutted it out with just a tablet and my work laptop for 3 years. When I decided I wanted a personal laptop again, a friend (who is a manager at Best Buy) told me to go with 8GB of RAM to avoid performance issues. I did and have been pleased with my purchase.

Thank you this is the type of advice I was looking for and knew I could count on. I have a nice work laptop that bring home and have a tablet for personal use too. I wanted to get something of her own. I know she would be mad if I spent a lot on one and I know she doesn’t need anything fancy

[nodakfan17]

You’re welcome. Maybe my experience is an anomaly. I bought the 4GB laptop years ago for $300 and it took 30 seconds to launch a web browser. My new(er) 8GB laptop cost $600, but runs seamlessly. Even though my needs are modest, I’d never go cheap again due to this experience.

 

I didn’t mean to dissuade you from the Chrome books. I’m sure they work great for browsing.

[NievesNoNO]

I think a Chrome book will be fine for the use you're describing. You can store things locally or in the "cloud"; you get I think 10 gb of free storage when you sign up for google/gmail account.

 

If you've only used Microsoft based products then it'll take a bit of getting used to, kind of in the same way getting a new phone takes a bit of time to navigate.

 

For mostly browsing and light word processing they're great. Also work fine for accessing your streaming services and viewing movies, etc if you have an interest there.

[LouisEly]

One thing to consider is screen size. I've had 14" laptops for work for years and I can't stand a screen that small. I connect my work laptop to a separate 22" monitor. When I bought a fairly basic laptop 6 months ago or so I made sure to buy a 15.6" screen. Take that into account if you're considering a tablet or Chromebook.

 

FWIW, I bought a Lenovo PC w/8GB ram and Intel Core i5 10th gen processor on eBay for ~$500 and have been very happy with the performance.

[FVBrewerFan]

True, but when comparing to a phone or even tablet a chromebook is an improvement in screen size, and that's the application he's looking for it seems. I have a couple around the house, and it's exactly what we use them for.

[patrickgpe]

I did find a early black friday deal on a chromebook that I went for. It was a lenovo that was 379 full price that i got for 149. I understand the small hard drive is less than Ideal but if its to surf the web and do minimal word processing, i think this will cover it

[reillymcshane]

My son got a Chromebook for grad school a few months ago and has really liked it.

 

He uses it for web surfing and does all his word processing in Google Docs. For him, it's been great. Small, light, inexpensive and easy to use.

 

The downside is you MUST have an Internet connection. My son's grad school was interrupted by a deployment (he's a Marine reservist) that started a week ago (six weeks of taking classes down the drain), and he found that the base they are going to be at for the next 5-6 months has crappy WiFi - so he can't bring it there - which would have been ideal.

[patrickgpe]

its too bad that Microsoft has stopped supporting MS office on chromebooks just 2 months ago and now pushing an online experience for office, so there is no difference than using google docs, which is included.

 

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/27/microsoft-is-discontinuing-its-office-apps-for-chromebook-users-in-favor-of-web-versions/

[DHonks]

Don’t go cheap if you get a crapbook chromebook.

I’ve used them off and on at my school for about 8 years. The biggest frustration is many have terrible builds, poor trackpads, and are severely underpowered. I use my MacBook Air and MacBook at home, but in our recent work refresh I traded in my work Mac for a Pixelbook Go because our touchscreen TVs run a version of Android, and the Mac touchscreen drivers aren’t supported anymore. It’s easily the nicest Chromebook I’ve used. It’s adequately powered and has a decent trackpad (not as good as a Mac, but better than most Windows or Chromebooks I’ve used).