new laptop - where and what should i get?

[Kelster]

well acutally it's for my mommy. she needs a new laptop, it's just for taxes and book keeping and emails.
she doesn't need any fancy sounds, gaming ability, or crazy download type shit...something that's easy cause she's not much the computer person.


so what should she get? where should she get it from?

[Willis]

toshiba

[Asheai]

Whatever you do - do NOT buy a compaq... or an HP... lol, I used to do tech support for them and I know firsthand how much they suck.. especially 2100... watch out, I tell ya...

~ Asheai

[tvmann]

I got a 15" Toshiba and it's pretty solid. A demo model from Future Shop. 2.8 P4, 512 ram, 60 GB HD, 802.11G wireless. Be careful with their sales people, you can get a good deal but you gotta know the prices as they fluctuate every week. Usually FS will put a different model on sale every week for $100 - $200 off, then it's back to the old price, and each model slowly drops in price over a few months until it gets discontinued.

I have a hi-res screen 1400x1050 that is great but most laptops have lower res.

They have a Toshiba 17" model with X-Brite screen for only about $1800. But probably too big for most people. For most people the new Centrino-type processors are best, less power and fan noise, and thinner laptops.

Also dell.ca. Dell has better higher-end XP laptops than you find in most stores and you can costomize them more than a store-bought laptop.

Maybe you should check out Mac iBook too.

[thebobman]

Originally Posted by Willis

toshiba

word to the toshiba quality.
Don't cheap out and get an entry level one, even if you don't think your mom needs the power. An extra $200 will save you $200 in time.

[diva]

Originally Posted by thebobman

An extra $200 will save you $200 in time.

Isn't that the same as if she hadn't spent the $200 in the first place?

[dj_soo]

iBook :)

[Kelster]

ok so it's between toshiba and dell

an ibook would be neat, but i don't think my mom could handle the change over too mac

[DJDeeb]

Honestly I'd stay as far away as possible from Toshibas. There crap.
I work in the IT dept at an engineering company. We have tons of laptops which are a mix of Dell and Toshiba. The Toshibas always have problems just after the warentee has expired. Dells on the other hand can be bought with an extended warentee. There service does has mixed reviews though but the quality is way beter then toshiba.

People who say that Dells are crap are probably refering to a couple years ago when they were indeed crap. But no they are pretty solid machines.

[Kelster]

how bout ibm's? like the thinkpad

it's between ibm and dell now!

[tvmann]

When I was looking for a laptop I checked out the IBMs and they had a good reputation, great keyboards (laptop keyboards can be flimsy due to trying to keep the computer small and lightweight). But I could never find an IBM for a good price.

Dell changes their deals every Thursday night. Watch the website and you'll get an idea how they work. Every week they change something, like you might get free shipping (usually about $100 cost), an upgrade to a bigger hard drive, extra RAM, DVD burner, carrying case, warranty.

[sNyx]

Originally Posted by tvmann

I got a 15" Toshiba and it's pretty solid. A demo model from Future Shop. 2.8 P4, 512 ram, 60 GB HD, 802.11G wireless. Be careful with their sales people, you can get a good deal but you gotta know the prices as they fluctuate every week. Usually FS will put a different model on sale every week for $100 - $200 off, then it's back to the old price, and each model slowly drops in price over a few months until it gets discontinued.

I have a hi-res screen 1400x1050 that is great but most laptops have lower res.

They have a Toshiba 17" model with X-Brite screen for only about $1800. But probably too big for most people. For most people the new Centrino-type processors are best, less power and fan noise, and thinner laptops.

Also dell.ca. Dell has better higher-end XP laptops than you find in most stores and you can costomize them more than a store-bought laptop.

Maybe you should check out Mac iBook too.

toshiba has a celeron model I saw at futureshop for $1000.. thats a great beginner lappy

[Gusto]

i just picked up an ibook. so nice.

[cheeseburger]

dell latop!

Mine is in the mail, you can come over sometime next week and check it out

[sNyx]

Originally Posted by gusto

i just picked up an ibook. so nice.

straight outta mocash

[Gusto]

hahaha, you know it. mo is short for nanaiMO though.

[lou_belle]

I hafta say I thought my G4 was so neat until I realized macs had a totally different configuration...now I'm a beginner again :(
Also, I'm finding I can't download a lot of the things I'd like to..like for instance the sex slave game...damn..now I can't have a sex slave;P

[mapleleaf4ever]

New Dells are pretty good... maybe check out Gateway? I'm personally not a fan of Compaq from my 4 years as a Network Admin / Tech Support. But that was mainly desktops... *shudder* I'm personally thinking about a G4 iBook.

[DJDeeb]

IBMs are good. I think you play a bit more for the IBM name though.
IMO Dell are possibly the price for value. They are also i bit beter when it comes down to getting something fixed if something does happen since you deal directly with the manufacturer instead of dealing with futureshop or who ever you bought the other laptop from who then deals with the manufacturer.

I'd go with Dell:y:

[bebu*funfun]

i say ibook too! macs are so easy to use.. im pretty comp stupid and ive been handling this mac world pretty well. and ibooks are just damn cute.


awesome place to buy laptops...london drugs. i got amazing customer service and will continue to go back for other enquiries.

[acidic_liquid]

I've had my iBooks for a few months now, and I'm very much in love with it. If you can get your mom to switch, they're great. The interface is more user friendly and everything's just so much easier to work with.

I think Dells are decent for what they are. Cheap computers! I mean, if she's not going to be a power user, then she should buy something cheap now.

[ebbomega]

in order of betterness:

1) iBook
2) Toshiba Satellite
3) Sony Vaio
4) Dell Inspiron
5) IBM Thinkpad

[acidic_liquid]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

in order of betterness:

1) iBook
2) Toshiba Satellite
3) Sony Vaio
4) Dell Inspiron
5) IBM Thinkpad

Dells are better than IBMs really?

[tvmann]

Dell sells over 120,000 computers PER DAY and are the biggest. Hard to believe that number but true. They didn't get that way by selling crappy computers that cost them a lot in returns and complaints. Well-priced - yes, but not cheaply built, efficiently built. I got better parts in my Dell tower than I expected, and they left some empty slots so I could expand the ram later, which most companies would not do because it costs them extra. Definitely better design internally than most generics.

I woulda got a Dell notebook but I found a deal on a Toshiba at FS - they will discount a discontinued model to get it outa the store and this one was what I was looking for and less $ than a similar Dell.

IBM on the other hand which was number one in PCs a long time ago has now left the business and sold their PC division recently, but the name brand continues.