I second a macbook! My macbook is my best friend! ha ha! And I have TWO macbooks!!!! (one work, one home!)
Mac's are really expensive though. You can customize an HP or Dell on their site to have whatever ammount of memory you need. I just got a 17" HP with 3 gigs of memory an a great graphics card over the summer and love it. You'd probably be better with a 15" if you want it small though.
I have a Dell laptop & once that dies, I'll try another brand next time. I'll go through HSN or QVC again though because you get more features for a good price that normally you can't get from the stores. How about the 14" red Gateway? http://electronics.hsn.com/gateway_c-ec_a-50_xc.aspx?cm_re=billboard*Gateway*link1
Macbook you can put Windows on it also and have dual platforms Make sure you get your Hard drive out of the old Computer you can set it up as a external hard drive
I have a Toshiba Satellite and a Macbook. I have used the Macbook maybe 3 times; it is was given to me and is about 1 years old. It is actually still sitting in the box. How can you put windows on a Macbook? Is it a special Mac program?
First it has to have the dual processor then you can use a program, "bootcamp" or some other similar programs and install XP on it (I wouldn't install vista just yet)
MacBook!! I just bought a new one a couple weeks ago (upgraded from my 4 1/2 year old iBook). LOVE it
I love my macbook! And you can buy refurbished macbooks for under $1000 on the Apple site. Plus, you get an educator's discount. I have owned many, many laptops over the past 8 years. My macbook has held up the best, without a doubt. It is almost 2 years old and other than a few scratches on the case it is in perfect condition. And my macbook came with a built in webcam/camera, great software, USB and firewire, and lots more. I will never go back to a PC!
I have a 4yr. old ibook I use for most of my school stuff, but I just purchased a new macbook as well (there is an education discount available). I've been a Mac user for almost 7 years now, and I've never gone back to PCs... So I vote macbook as well.
I was going to suggest this too. My mom has a gateway and she just resently bought another one for my dad from HSN the black one. It was going to be a Birthday (oct 10) and Christmas gift, but he saw it on tv and asked her if it was in the budget to get it since it was a GREAT price. She said well I was going to get you one for your bday/christmas but if you want that one now you can have it. So he got it early and will get nothing next friday or Dec24th & dec.25th. About the Mac computers that a lot of other seem to be talking about. I have never used a mac computer. I do know a teacher though who has a mac desktop computer as her personal computer at school. I asked her how she got such a nice computer. She said she bought it one yr with some money she was given. If she ever leaves that school or quits teaching then the computer will go home with her.My hope for her is that no one steals it.
Actually any Intel based Mac can run XP or Vista and every Intel based MacBook has been a dual core processor. Contrary to what some people think the dual core really has nothing to do with supporting Windows and MacOS. There are two methods you can pick to run Windows on an Intel Mac: either a dual boot setup using Bootcamp or you can use run Windows at the same time as MacOS through VMware or Parallels. Regardless of what method you use to run Windows on a Mac you have to have either a retail or OEM copy of Windows. In other words recovery discs generally won't work. With Bootcamp you set aside a partition on of your hard drive for Windows and then you install Windows in that partition. After you are done with the install you can boot into either Windows or MacOS. One a caveat is that this was only ever supported on MacOS 10.5. Those that still have 10.4 are out of luck because the beta version that supported 10.4 is no longer available. For the full instructions and answers go to: http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/ The other option is through virtualization. Virtualization basically allows you to run mutliple operating systems at once(eg. MacOS and Windows). The advantage of this option is that you don't have to reboot. The drawback is that the performance is considerably slower because you are running both Windows and MacOS at the same time, but at least you don't have to reboot. The two major companies selling products for this are VMware and Parallels. Both products are ~$80. Running Windows on a Mac is useful albeit most people don't have a Windows disc to install Windows onto their Mac(most Windows machines stopped shipping discs years ago). Provided you have a copy of Windows getting Windows running on an Intel Mac is pretty easy.
I agree with the Mac. I have an iBook G$. It refuses to die so I can get a macbook LOL. The one thing I did not see listed as an advantages is that it doesn't get viruses.
The no viruses is huge and there service is EXCELLENT. My keyboard was broken and they had it fixed in 3 days.
Thanks I could not remember the software names Right now I use bootcamp I want to switch to VMware or Parallels
I will agree with you that Apple doesn't sell any low end laptops, but that doesn't mean that the models that they sell are always a poor deal. It really depends upon when they are in their product lifecycle. When they are brand new they often are very price competitive, but because Apple doesn't reduce the price until the model is discontinued they are often terrible deals as they approach replacement by a new model. I think of several times in the last few years where Apple was near the front of the line on an major update and were selling it ironically at the best price. While it is debatable whether a Macbook hardware wise is any more reliable than competing brands, software wise they tend to have less issues. Most of the Macs I have ever encountered with issues tend to be older Macs(5+ years old) with hardware that has finally failed. While there are certainly software issues they tend to be less severe. Having to reinstall MacOS is pretty rare, while I have encountered even saavy users who are better able to avoid issues reinstalling Windows almost every year. For the technophobe the total cost of ownership for a Mac may actually be lower. At the current moment since Apple is long overdue for an update, so I wouldn't buy a Mac right now. There are rumors of an impending update, but Apple is so secretive about updates that it is hard to say when the next update to their line is really coming. If you anyone is really interested in buying any type of Mac I would wait a few weeks if possible because there is a good chance there will be new models with significant improvements.
This is something people often forget when considering Macs. $40 a year for AV software adds up to $120 in three years, which is for most people is pretty typical lifespan before they start considering a new laptop. Ultimately, especially if one is a total technophobe the total cost of ownership can easily be much lower for Mac than a similarly equipped Windows machine. For all the hype mac fans are correct that Apple consistently is rated amongst the best for their tech support, which is hardly surprising. Unlike HP or Dell most of the software out of the box is made by Apple whereas most Windows machines include a mish mash of programs made by different vendors some of which don't always play nice together and none of which is made by the company that is providing the tech support. While the company that makes something doesn't always provide the best support, most third parties will do a worse job than the company that made the software in question.
I just went with my mom to buy a new laptop tonight...she ended up with an HP that is nice, but it ended up pretty pricey with the service agreement and all her other gadgets. I have a Toshiba that has kept me going for about 6 years now, and I love it. I have heard from a techie friend to stay away from Dell (especially the lower-priced ones), and that HP and Gateway are usually good. I know nothing about macbooks, but after reading this I might have to look into it.
I heard the same thing but my Dells are still running and the HPs are the ones giving me a problem. But I also heard to stay away from Gateway, go figure
I bought a MacBook Pro over the summer and I've been so happy with it. The selling point for me was that it came all ready to go once I had the Geek Squad install microsoft word. It's worth the price to me to not have to worry about viruses. I wonder what features the new Macs will have. Hmmm...
Wow! Thanks guys for all the input. Seems like I'm a pc girl in a world going mac. Every computer I come in contact with is a pc, and I've had terrific service and equipment from Dell. I'll just have to go cruise those sites though - keep those thoughts and recs coming!
I too was going to say this but only if other did to. My sister and I both got Dell laptops when we graduated from Highschool and they got viruses on them. We did not go to any bad sites. I don't know why it did that on both computers. The guy who tried to fix mine (friend from church who works on computers for a living) lost one of the peices so my uncle (who helped buy our computers) can not get it fixed(from guys he knows). We have a dell desktop however that has withstood the test of time. I don't know how long we have had it but its been I think 4plus yrs.
My son talked me into a iMac and I am so glad he did. I will never go back to a PC. Now I really want a Macbook Air.
I bought a Dell Inspirion 1525 and LOVE it. Out of 40+ reviews, I would say 90% were very positive so I trust that feedback! Especially considering that I think more people like to give reviews on a BAD product rather than good! My laptop runs like a race car, unlike my emachines desktop that is slow as a snail.
If you're looking for a PC, I just got a Gateway M-Series and LOVE it!!! DH uses HP laptops, but I'm just not a fan. I had a Dell a few years ago, and looked at them this time but my M-Series has more power and functionality for a lot less money. I got mine from Best Buy.
Did the same because of my 13 yr. old! At the time, Apple was offering the IPod free!!! I already got my rebate check!
Well, I use a windows laptop at home and at school along with a macbook. I personally don't like macbooks for anything other than for making movies podcasts or slideshows. I prefer a PC for documents and powerpoints and the 'office-y' things. At school all our lab computers are Macs. I just recently switched to Vista and its a dream-you can always switch back to XP if you have the CD I found out if I could before I bought my home computer and laptop because I was nervous about trying Vista. I would make sure it has a dual processor, as much memory as you can get (HP was having a deal to upgrade to 3gigs for free), make sure the hard drive is one of the best and the latest graphics card (I like NVidia)
I heard that Dell desktops are great, but not their laptops & now that my 1st laptop ever is a Dell, I can believe it & would probably never get a Dell laptop again. I have 2 Dell desktops that are wonderful, but my Dell laptop has been funny here & there & it's not even 2 yrs old yet.
I got a Dell laptop this summer and it's been terrific! When we installed a wireless printer, I had a problem and tech support solved the problem immediately over the phone. I love mine! FYI - QVC has a special value laptop today. colors!
I was going to get an Air, too, until I read some of the more detailed product info. The down sides to me was, a) no disc drive. If you wanted to install something you had to use a remote install system which involved having another computer nearby that DID have a disc drive. And b) only 1 USB port. I'll frequently have two things plugged in at once so one wouldn't cut it for me. The Air is super cool though (oh-so-thin and only 3 lbs!) and has a ton of memory...
We went with the C series of Gateway ... tablet pc (with the write-on screen). So far, so fabulous. http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529598090.php
