Help Picking Out A Laptop

[clayton86]

I need to get a laptop befor I deploy its been out to get one and well I don't own a computor never have. So I have no clue what to look for in a laptop it needs to be able to play movies and skype is there any thing specific I should look for or stay away from. Arnt apples like the best.

Thanks

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Apple makes a very good laptop, but they are VERY proud of them. What's your price range?

[clayton86]

I'm not sure depends how long I wait if I get one now maybe 700 if I wait till I'm at mob station then like 1500. My wife says just get one from walmart but I think that's a bad idea yeah there cheap but u get what u paid for.

[Red]

I had to return two laptops in the same day from Walmart. After the second I went to Bestbuy and got one and have had no issues for over two years now. I would go to Bestbuy and talk with a rep. Tell them your budget and what you want the thing to do. I am sure they can hook you up.

Cliff

[hookingem]

Made the switch to apple products and have never been happier.

[Packard]

I purchased a Apple Macbook Pro this year and couldn't be happier. I has been going strong and fast as ever. I can watch movies on Netflix and Skype friends and family without issues. It has a hefty price tag but the HP laptop we bought last year isn't anywhere near as fast as it was when we bought it. Our windows laptops still get viruses and such even with Norton 360. My mac doesn't have any virus protection on it and it is very rare to receive on a Mac OS.

[SirSnookalot]

A computer purchased from Walmart is not an issue, they don't make them. I'd have no qualms in buying one from them if they carried the brand and model I wanted, but you are on your own as they have no tech help there. They may or may not stock a computer that fits your needs.

I would suggest doing you're homework, as you should in buying any high lines equipment, know what you want and look for a deal. I generally buy direct on line from the manufacture and have been very pleased with prices I have paid. There are scores of articles about most computer companies and the products they offer, note those guys are professionals in that area and I'm not.

[clayton86]

Thanks guys I have to buy 2 of them one for the house and one to take with me so I will probably buy hers first and go to best buy or the apple store and do some scoping around to see what will suit our needs the best. I don't mind paying the extra money because this is something we really need and will benifit from I mean I'll be able to talk and see my boys being half a world away because smart phones ain't gonna cut it especialy over there lol.

[deep]

I'm not sure why you need something really fancy just for playing movies and using skype. But if an Apple is what you want, go for it.

I have a customized Lenovo Ideapad Y550, but then I need a really fast computer for my research (running memory intensive simulations). It cost me only $800 or so two years back, but I got it during a black Friday sale.

IMO windows computers pick up more viruses (or it it viri lol) only because way more people use windows than Mac, Linux etc. I have always been a windows user; I do use Linux in my lab sometimes; never had a virus attack. You just need to be careful, and use a good anti-virus/ spyware program.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

I'd say wait and buy the Apple. You definitely get the most bang for your buck. However as everyone else is stating, go talk with the people at best buy about it. I know you'll get a biased answer but go to the Apple store too. Another thought, what about a tablet, don't they do every thing a laptop does?

[BrianinMD]

For your price range and what you need it for do not even bother paying the premium for an Apple laptop. There should be plenty of options with a windows system, load Firefox as your internet browser with ****, **** Plus and be smart with your surfing. You will be fine with it, stopping by a Best Buy is a good idea.

And yes the Apple "never getting a virus" is untrue, why bother writing something to infect a small percentage of systems when you can infect a huge number more. As for their actual security, in a test of a new, patched Apple system it took 8 minutes for the tester to completely pown it.

[clayton86]

It will be used for more then just skype and movies I'll use the crap outa it the plt sgt just used skype,movies,music as examples. Can u get them with built in CAC(common access car) readers because that would be a huge help as well.

[Stasher1]

A computer purchased from Walmart is not an issue, they don't make them. I'd have no qualms in buying one from them if they carried the brand and model I wanted, but you are on your own as they have no tech help there. They may or may not stock a computer that fits your needs.

I would suggest doing you're homework, as you should in buying any high lines equipment, know what you want and look for a deal. I generally buy direct on line from the manufacture and have been very pleased with prices I have paid. There are scores of articles about most computer companies and the products they offer, note those guys are professionals in that area and I'm not.

x2

I've had good luck with Dell laptops for the past several years, and I can buy them online. They also have sales and clearance models that you probably won't see in a local store. The one I'm using right now was about $100 cheaper than the other comparable Dell laptops of the same model because it's orange.

[slonezp]

My brotherinlaw is an IT guy. He recommends HP or Compaq which are the same company or Apple, for your run of the mill laptop. My 7 year old HP recently took a dump and I replaced it with another HP.

[GrundleLove]

Tips from an I.T. Professional:

I would say, avoid an apple. Apple products are marked up beyond human comprehestion. For example, back in 2009 they were selling the new Ipod Nano devices for $250. Do you know how much it cost them to make? almost 60 bucks. THAT BEING SAID: They do tend to last a lot longer than PC's right now, almost double the life span, so does the cost outway the aggrivation? possibly. Also another tidbit: One of our clients had an IMac all in one. The power supply went on the machine and he needed us to get him a new one. Now, a Power Supply...is a power supply..is a power supply...the one difference is wattage. Wanna know how much apple wanted for a 300W power supply? $900.00. Those two examples should give you an idea of their business model....

[clayton86]

Tips from an I.T. Professional:

I would say, avoid an apple. Apple products are marked up beyond human comprehestion. For example, back in 2009 they were selling the new Ipod Nano devices for $250. Do you know how much it cost them to make? almost 60 bucks. THAT BEING SAID: They do tend to last a lot longer than PC's right now, almost double the life span, so does the cost outway the aggrivation? possibly. Also another tidbit: One of our clients had an IMac all in one. The power supply went on the machine and he needed us to get him a new one. Now, a Power Supply...is a power supply..is a power supply...the one difference is wattage. Wanna know how much apple wanted for a 300W power supply? $900.00. Those two examples should give you an idea of their business model....

So what your sayins an apple laptop will cost me a months salary lol I'm headed to best buy this week to upgrade my pos ally to an iphone I'm gonna look at laptops well I'm there along with either a zune or ipod

[Raider Nation Fisher]

So what your sayins an apple laptop will cost me a months salary lol I'm headed to best buy this week to upgrade my pos ally to an iphone I'm gonna look at laptops well I'm there along with either a zune or ipod

They still make zunes?

[clayton86]

They still make zunes?

Idk I just know a few people who have them thought they were good. Iv never had a mp3 player of any sort I still have an old arse sony cd player I use and still pay for cds for 12 crappy songs and 1 good one well now a days its more like 7 crappy songs and 1 good one no one ever releases that many songs anymore.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

If they still make em, they are IMO better than an iPod. Only reason I still have a iPod is cause my younger brother have me one of his, when my old one broke. Unless the iTunes rules have changed since I last was on there in january, then their music rights garbage sucks.

[clayton86]

Well we went to best buy today and looked at some laptops. Me and my wife have 2 completly diffrent views on what we want. She wants the smallest laptop possible because there "cute" and fit in her purse. Me I want the biggest, fastest, most powerful one there is or something like it. She likes this little dinky gateway or toshiba one they techie there said there not really worth it because she can't multi task and there slow which is very bad for my wife she wants everything instant she has no patience.

I was looking at this toshiba satalite I think its called it was fairly good sized can't remeber specs but it was like 750gb and price was either 7 or 800. The other one I likes was a sony v some thing lol sorry not a computor guy can't remember or know what half were.

So is toshiba or sony a good brand? I'm not gonna make the purchase till like end of october unless we get one threw like RAC but I don't know how I feel bout getting one threw there.

[slonezp]

Bro inlaw told me to stay away from Toshiba when I was shopping. My step daughter had purchased one a few years back and if memory serves me correct it didn't last too long.

[NorcalBassin]

Surprised to hear negative comments on the Toshiba. I did a lot of research prior to picking up a laptop 3 years ago and went with the Toshiba due to it seeming to have the least problems versus the competition. No problems 3 years later and it gets a lot of use. If you happen to have a membership at Costco, they have some killer deals on laptops, the best return policy around, and they extend the manufacturer's warranty.

I have a buddy that is a "Mac snob" that won't buy anything else. They don't have many of the problems that PC's do in regards to viruses, but if you run anti-virus software and only go to reputable sites you should be fine. Guys that do a lot of "internet research" tend to get a lot of viruses, but if you stay away from that stuff a non-Mac should be perfect for your needs and leave you with some $$$ left over.

[clayton86]

The guy helping us recomended all toshiba laptops for what we were looking for it to do he said they were the best bang for our buck pretty much without going over board. I'm gonna look some more on Friday when I go back to get the iphone maybe take down some specs and look up more on what they are and reviews.

[GrundleLove]

To be honest, if I were to try and accurately figure out the top 3 computers that come in the most often for repairs at my work the ist would go like this:

1. Emachine/Gateway

2. Toshiba

3.Acer...HP is a close third tho. same with Dell

THAT BEING SAID: (i should of actually posted advice in buying a new laptop in my previous thread instead of hating on apple) When considering what you want in a new laptop is this:

1. what you want it to be able to do: Do you want to play the newest PC games? Do you edit photos and use Photoshop to the extreme? do you edit video? Or are you like 90% of all typical consumers: Do you want to be able to look at porn, Facebook, netflix, and play minecraft without problems.

2. THE MOST IMPORTANT: Price . This is where everything comes into play. Price. I think i said earlier that do not pay less than $650. Why? Well here is an example. Dell. Dell has 2 lines of computers, home, and business. Home includes, inspirons, XPS, and vostro..kind of. And business includes: Latitude, precision, and vostro..kind of.

What is the main difference between the two? Price . Business are more. Why? because they are made with HIGHER GRADE COMPONENTS. which is the reason "home" laptops do NOT last as long as business, home meaning 90% of the laptops you will buy at best buy.

Lo and behold, I can pretty much tell you EXACTLY what to get when speccing a machine IMHO: get 6gb of ram, get at least a 320GB HDD, get an Intel i5 or i7. Bam thats it(unless you want to do that high end video/photo/game stuff then you want to get a dedicated video card as well). The rest is colored bubbles. Blueray, fingerprint log ins, screen resolution and size etc etc etc...its all extra. Focus on those specs and you will be fine.

I am using a home line machine from Dell. Their new XPS laptops. ITS UNREAL. I have 8gb of ram, a 3GB dedicated Nvidia GPU, core i7, 720GB HDD, blueray, its full HD 1080p display, facial recognition software, USB 3.0, HDMI out etc etc etc. Cost me $1024. Thats it. Such a deal. But this is what i need it for, maybe you dont need all this crap. Thats why i say focus on the basics.

also, do NOT get one of those little crap netbooks, tell your wife if she wants a thin and light one to refinance the house and get a Macbook Air

[jeb2]

Also, do NOT get one of those little crap netbooks,

+100. My wife had to have one of those stupid little Netbooks. What a slow piece of crap it turned out to be. We now use it strictly for our "emergency backup" system, even though it's less than a year old. Wife ended up taking my Lenovo Thinkpad and I bought a new high end Sony system that I've been very happy with.

I'd just stay don't focus on fashion. The Apple stuff is cool. They are a very innovative company. But compare specs and actually study which gives you more of what YOU need and want. I found the higher end Apple laptops very lacking on the spec sheet for processor, DASD, disc drive, etc. And the iPhone has been outdone by a lot of the Android phones. So just look past the wrappers.