NER: Laptops

rik20101

My step dad said he would buy me a new laptop!! He usually buys me a 'big' present every 2-3 years so that he is covered for a few years...LOL. Well, he called me and said it has been 2 years now ...so would I like a new laptop!!

 Ok, I had a Dell years ago and I have a Gateway now. I don't remember much about the dell...and I like my gateway fine. What kind should I get??

If you have vista, how do you like it? 

I am looking at less than $1200

johnsoar

I have an HP laptop and I like it.  I do not use Vista though...I have heard lots of bad things and I don't want to switch.  At work we have Dell desktops and they are also wonderful.  I have never used a Dell laptop but I'm sure the quality is just as good.

rik20101

See, I haven't heard good things about Vista either but it seems like everything comes with Vista now!

kiliwicket

we have one of the Dell Inspiron notebooks and its great.  I like Vista a lot.  Wish I had it on this computer.

mrsmikey

I was able to find a Dell through their website that had XP on it.  I think that's about the only way you can get it.  When you search, search under the small business category, not home office.  That's where you'll find XP, and you get more bang for your buck.

phillybride1206

i have a dell lattitude for work and i have beat the crap out of it and have been very happy with it; I am planning to buy another one for personal use.

and pp is right, on the dell website, you can option to get the xp downgrade for $100.

MrsAHoffman

I have a Dell Latitude (It's about 4 years old) and it's still going strong. DH just got one of the new M series Gateways and it's been great so far, but he's only had it for about 2 months.

If you have a laptop that does not have a good amount of memory on it, Vista will run horribly. They are still doing this - selling computers with only 2 Gigs of memory that use the Vista operating system...This makes them run really slowly. So if you can swing it, try to get 4 Gigs of memory, but definitely no less than 3.

 

HTH

Dobie_Mama

I have a Vaio and love it.  They are the only laptop that can withstand me.  Seriously ... give me any other brand laptop and I will break it for you within the hour.

Alirebco

How about a MacBook? ?I used to be a PC person and got my mac laptop last year and loooove it! ?I think they're coming out with a new one soon. ?

rik20101

OK, good to know about the memory and vista. I found this one, anyone have an opinion on it?

 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8779404&type=product&id=1204332257046

Temp76535187505890

I'm a Mac fan as well.  I had an iBook that served me well for about 5 years, now I'm using a desktop Mac but plan on getting another laptop soon.  Depending on what you want out of a computer you can definitely get one under $1k.

 I'll never go back to a PC.

nluvntexas

i'm going to have to ditto the mac comments. i am writing this on my 3 yr old iBook that is still working just as well as the day i opened it. i have had to buy a new battery, but that is b/c DH thinks everything should be on the charger if there is one close. all.the.time. but really, they have a bit of a 'learning curve,' if you can even call it that, b/c it does take a while to get used to things like closing a window on the left instead of the right. but operationally, so much better. and the entry level ones are definitely under the 1200 mark-you might be able to get a new printer/ipod with them if you are a student of any kind too
 

triumphantreturnofplanningbug

Ditto the "get a Mac."  I have the basic Macbook, which I use for word processing, data keeping, photo editing, and music, and it runs around $1100.  I had a Dell desktop as well as a Dell laptop.  Both exploded beyond repair within three months of each other (six months after warranties ran out), taking with them seven years' worth of work (I'm a grad student, so that's huge and terrible), pictures, and music.  Obviously, not all Dells explode, but the stability and virus-resistant nature of Macs is really wonderful.  My office now runs Vista, and switched about the same time that I switched over to a Macbook.  I had a much easier time switching to the Mac OS than I did switching to Vista.

rik20101

I would be happy to try a mac bbut I am not too keep on paying that much for a 13 inch screen. If I get the screen size I want I am look at close to 2k!

MrsAHoffman

This link didn't work for me... it went to a general Best Buy page.