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Laptops

W

wasy

Active Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
1,186
Location
Toms River, NJ
The wife has been wanting a laptop and since she puts up with me and my so called bad habits I'm going to get her one for Mothers day. She will only use it to email, surf the web, pay bills and store a boat load of photos.

Any suggestions? I'm most concerned with memory for photo storage.
 
I would encourage you to consider a Macbook. I just switched to a Macbook Pro 15" and I Love it. The ease of use, the reliability of the Macbook & all the features it comes with (not like windows where everything has to be bought seperately).

Oh Did I mention that I get to use it instead of always scanning for Viruses & crap.



Refurb Page (good deals on Macbook)
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...lm=CertifiedMac
 
Don Guido said:
I would encourage you to consider a Macbook. I just switched to a Macbook Pro 15" and I Love it. The ease of use, the reliability of the Macbook & all the features it comes with (not like windows where everything has to be bought seperately).

Oh Did I mention that I get to use it instead of always scanning for Viruses & crap.



Refurb Page
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...lm=CertifiedMac
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I agree. If your wife is only going to use it to surf the web, email, store bills, and store photos, a MacBook is all you need (you don't need the pro), unless your wife wants a bigger screen. The MacBook has a 13.3" screen and may be a bit small to her, or the 13.3" screen and the MacBook's small size might suit her perfectly.
The main differences (imho) between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro are the screen sizes and the graphics card. The MacBook has an integrated graphics processor, but if your wife isn't going to try to play NWN2 or some FPS on that computer then you'll be fine with an integrated graphics processor.

Oh, and Macs come with iLife which includes iPhoto to help with storing pictures. There are also a crap-load of other programs you can dl for storing photos, too.

If you get a Mac, get a Superdrive, of course, so your wife can burn DVD's with all of those pictures.

But yeah, MacBook is the way to go, I think. :)

Here's the tech specs on it... http://www.apple.com/macbook/specs.html

Edit: Oh, and if you're wife's one to be fashionable, a black (or white) MacBook will sit well with her friends, I think. :)

Edit:
bfisher88 said:
$400 bucks sale going on right now. Everything she will need in it. No need for macbook or stuff like that. Save your money. http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...hKeyword=F762NR
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Ok, true, this is cheaper than a MacBook, but if your wife is only going to be doing what you said she's going to be doing, then I think she'll have a lot easier and enjoyable of a time using a MacBook. You barely have to worry about viruses, trojans, etc. (Mac OS X is built from an OS made for security, and people just don't make viruses, etc. for Macs), you barely, barely, barely have to worry about crashes or freezes (if ever a program freezes on my Mac, I just force quit it and it closes. I don't have to click "End Task" 10 times before it'll do something.). And I contend that the OS AND computer themselves are just prettier.

Also, the cost issue. You're getting a more powerful computer if you get the MacBook over that Staples thing. That might not be an issue for you, but at the same time you might find that the half-a-Ghz more of processing power will help her get along with her work quicker.
 
Unless she's going to do a ton of Photoshop work on huge photos, these are pretty easy tasks. Most any solid entry level laptop should get the job done. I've had HP's and Dell's that I thought were very nice machines. I currently have an IBM laptop (now called "Lenovo") that I think is the nicest machine I've ever had. All are worth checking out.

Laptop aside, for a "boat load" of photos, storage is always an issue. You may want to consider an external hard drive that plugs into your USB port. They aren't the fastest drives on the planet, but for photo storage I think they'd be great.

I've always been freaked out about "losing everything" if my main system crashed. With the cost of hard drives at an all time low (and getting lower), I'm now running two physically separate drives. Not in a RAID array, but just separate drives. Once a week I have a piece of software that "backs up" everything in the main drive that I care about to the secondary drive. That way, unless both drives crash at exactly the same time (very unlikely), all my stuff is in two places, all the time. My wife's machine does the same thing to my secondary drive over the network once a week.

For photos, if you have a desktop machine also in the house, you could consider something similar. Takes a little fiddling to set up but IMHO it's worth it, long term.

Have fun - B.B.S.
 
There was a just a thread made similar to this... see if you can search it in the lobby... only a few days old but might have gotten lost with the backup that happened.

If it were me, I'd just go to techbargains.com... and search for dell laptop deals. Should be able to get a decent Dell laptop for the ~ $500+ neighborhood.
 
If you're price conscious, check out the bargain sites like slikdeals.net or techbargains.net for daily deals. Usually Dell or HP will give you the best deals. If you want something that you're going to lug around everywhere and quality is important, then go with a Lenovo. If its truly going to be portable, I would suggest that you don't get anything with larger than a 14.1 inch screen. Over that, they get too bulky and heavy. If you decide to go with a Lenovo, drop me a PM and I can forward you the periodic IBM employee discounts I get.
 
Try TigerDirect. Also, isn't Circuit City closing down? You might find great prices there.
 
MacBook Pro.

I've worked with PC's since 1985. Got a MacBook Pro about a year ago on a fluke. I'll never buy another PC again, ever. It just works.
 
My Windows PC "just works", too. I use a NAT router, I don't run as an Admin, don't surf to stupid sites and don't open emails from stupid people. I don't install every piece of software I come across, either. Never had a virus (been sent a few, though) or anything else.

I wonder what some of you guys do on your computers that they get so infected, they stop working...
 
half full monty said:
MacBook Pro.

I've worked with PC's since 1985. Got a MacBook Pro about a year ago on a fluke. I'll never buy another PC again, ever. It just works.
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When I find myself in times of trouble, mother mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom.

LET IT BE!

Brian
 
Macs are nice but pricey. I've been running Vista on a Dell XPS for a few months now and really like it. I reboot about once or twice a month, doesn't crash, very stable. Lots of bad press out there about Vista, however it works well for me. You just need to install it on a PC that can handle it. As far as photo software - yes, Apple includes iLife/iPhoto. For PC, you can get Picasa, which in my opinion is one of the best options for managing your photos.

It's really a personal preference. If you go PC, get a Dell.

On a side note, if you get a Mac, INSTALL ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE! A lot people say that there aren't virus's out there for Mac, however there are. I saw it first hand a few weeks ago, and it wasn't pretty. No matter what OS you choose, install anti-virus s/w.
 
You are not going to have a problem with windows in a couple of months Rod.

However, unless you are someone like B.B.S who is windows savvy, windows will give you problems at some point down the line. If it's not a virus, then it will be the way files are fragmented,
mainly in your systems, which ultimately slows down your computer. The slow down is so subtle you don't realize that it is happening.

Brian
 
But I am Windows savvy - my career is based around windows. :D

My other PC has XP on it, and has been running fine for 4 years. I put all of my computers through the ringer, and Windows does a good job at handling what I throw on it.

For a server, I only use LINUX/CentOS. For a desktop, Windows has worked great for me. Every OS has it's quirks.

Wasy - You should go to an Apple Store if there is one near you, and play with one of the laptops to get a feel for it.
 
I have never had a problem with Dell laptops. We use hundreds of them at work.

If you have too much money on hand, you could get an Apple. IMHO Apples are for people that do not want to use a computer...

Willie
 
# 30% off Over $1,299 - Use Dell Coupon 5B$SH9S?7?J7LP
# 25% off Over $999 - Use Dell Coupon 204G$$GHGQHNMV

Like Clockwork, another Dell deal.
 
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