Looking for Suggestions on Buying a Windows PC
Yep, that’s right. In this case, a Mac doesn’t fit, and while I have some fair leads myself, I want to investigate every possible avenue to give the best advice to a friend.
That friend is looking for a new Windows laptop. Size should be 14~16“, less than a thousand dollars, not a powerhouse but reasonable. Form factor is not a heavy consideration–this will likely be used on a desktop at home most of the time (it needs to be a laptop as the user will move to a new country with it)–but a relatively slim and light machine would be nice, so long as it’s not so much as to jack up the price.
As for specs, the user will not be doing heavy lifting, so something like a basic Core 2 Duo with 4 gigs of RAM and the usual accoutrements (WiFi, webcam, etc.) should do nicely. While extra bells and whistles like Blu-ray or HDMI slots are not bad, neither will they be really necessary. More important is a good, solid build that will last over time, and a generally comfortable user experience. Win 7 is acceptable, but an XP setup would be best, as the person is most familiar with that and would probably not want to deal with post-XP disorientation.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Luis,
Frances (my wife) is quite happy with her Toshiba Satellite. Hers is a 16-incher, but 15.6 is also common. I think the HDMI comes standard, but Blu-Ray is not so common. XP has not been available on laptops for the past year, so Windows 7 would normally come installed. Most people feel it is a smooth transition from XP to 7 anyhow…
Normally costs range from $450-600 with the Intel Dual-Core T4400 processor and 3 or 4 Megs of RAM. Or you might want to try a lesser-know name brand such as Asus or Lenovo which are comparable in components and quality.
Check out Fry’s or Best Buy.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Laptop-Computers/Everyday-Laptops/pcmcat196200050013.c?id=pcmcat196200050013
Tell him to check out the Dell Vostro line. They allow “downgrades” to Windows XP still, no HDMI or Blu-ray, but the BIG bonus is the Vostro line comes with NO trial software. None. Zip. Zero. So none of those annoying things to delete. I have switched almost exclusively to Vostro laptops and desktops.
If possible, I’d wait for USB 3 for future-proofness.
Anyhoo, if you can’t wait the several months for this, newegg is my go-to place for PC stuff.
Laptops, Notebooks & Netbooks > Laptops / Notebooks (x) > Screen Size : 15″ – 15.6″ (x) > Memory : 4GB (x) > WLAN : 802.11n Wireless LAN (x) > Webcam : Yes (x)
Here are the top 20 ratings:
The List
Adding Core i3 —
The List
Adding Bluetooth —
The List
My VAIO NS25G fits that description : )
I think that you can’t really go wrong with Win7, either. It’s not so much different from WinXP (or other variants) that it’ll throw anyone off.
Plus, as far as I can tell from my netbook that runs Win7, it’s rock-solid. I haven’t had a crash with it yet. Then again, XP on my home machine hasn’t crashed more than once or twice in years anyway… that whole “Windows crashes all the time” stereotype just doesn’t hold water anymore.
As far as which machine, I think it’s far more a matter of touch and feel of the keyboard and the look of the LCD screen; the guts are more or less a commodity that are going to be similarly priced no matter what brand someone goes with.