Looking for a new Laptop

paul1149 · 12 Mar 2014

I suggest you make a list of the features important to you. Then see which models match up. Then check out user reviews at Amazon and Newegg. Finally, do comparison shopping. Ebay has a lot of clunkers, but also some very good deals. The hard part is dividing between them. I know - I refurbish laptops and sell on ebay. If you buy used, the seller's rep is going to be very important.

As far as Acer v. HP v. Asus, etc - all the makes have some clunkers, but most of their stuff is very good. Dell may be more uneven than HP, for instance, but Dell has put out some really great units too. They all have strengths and weaknesses that vary by model and unit.

whs · 12 Mar 2014

This one is a few bucks over your budget, but for the money it looks like a really nice laptop from Dell.

Dell Inspiron 15.6" TouchScreen Laptop 4GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive I15RVT-6143BLK - Best Buy

pappi · 12 Mar 2014

Yeah...but one is a teenager only once in a lifetime. Teenagers do lots of high level computing...a lot more than senior citizens like I, do. I suggest get your money(rich uncle, rich girl/boyfriend or lots of babysitting...etc.) and go for it. Get your desired PC. Pay with Bill-me-later type of financing.

And be happy. No point in being a settling down unhappy youth. I GB RAM is unconstitutional for a teenager in USA. It's un-American.

whs · 12 Mar 2014

pappi said:

Yeah...but one is a teenager only once in a lifetime. Teenagers do lots of high level computing...a lot more than senior citizens like I, do. I suggest get your money(rich uncle, rich girl/boyfriend or lots of babysitting...etc.) and go for it. Get your desired PC. Pay with Bill-me-later type of financing.

And be happy. No point in being a settling down unhappy youth. I GB RAM is unconstitutional for a teenager in USA. It's un-American.

Pappi, speak for yourself.

I do a lot of high power processing and I am probably the oldest around here. The youngsters are just the opposite. All they do is content consumption. That you can do with any rinky dink laptop.

Lady Fitzgerald · 13 Mar 2014

whs said:

pappi said:

Yeah...but one is a teenager only once in a lifetime. Teenagers do lots of high level computing...a lot more than senior citizens like I, do. I suggest get your money(rich uncle, rich girl/boyfriend or lots of babysitting...etc.) and go for it. Get your desired PC. Pay with Bill-me-later type of financing.

And be happy. No point in being a settling down unhappy youth. I GB RAM is unconstitutional for a teenager in USA. It's un-American.

Pappi, speak for yourself.

I do a lot of high power processing and I am probably the oldest around here. The youngsters are just the opposite. All they do is content consumption. That you can do with any rinky dink laptop.

I'm also a senior.

pappi · 13 Mar 2014

For every Lady Fitzgerald with high level Forum titles as Guru, Gold member, etc... there are hundreds of seniors who do not know how to copy/paste or be helped in the Forum, to the point that our billionaire ex-mayor ran a free PC clinic for seniors. His motto was "It's not cute anymore not to know computers".

High Schoolers cannot do without computers. They do demonstrations, projects and such during online classes. These stuffs require good PC. They are so good with computing, they deserve better PC.

This particular teenager needs a better PC. Go, get your PC now, no matter what. (Just don't rob a bank, please)

Lady Fitzgerald · 13 Mar 2014

pappi said:

For every Lady Fitzgerald with high level Forum titles as Guru, Gold member, etc... there are hundreds of seniors who do not know how to copy/paste or be helped in the Forum, to the point that our billionaire ex-mayor ran a free PC clinic for seniors. His motto was "It's not cute anymore not to know computers".

High Schoolers cannot do without computers. They do demonstrations, projects and such during online classes. These stuffs require good PC. They are so good with computing, they deserve better PC.

This particular teenager needs a better PC. Go, get your PC now, no matter what. (Just don't rob a bank, please)

There are more seniors who are computer literate than you think. And more high schoolers who are primarily content consumers than you think. To most of them, computers are just a replacement for libraries, calculators, and typewriters.

pappi · 13 Mar 2014

Evidently we personally know different bunch of seniors and teenagers. The teenagers I know would not have 1 GB RAM PC. The seniors I know have lame excuse for their being techno-challenged, "I have secretaries to do my important computing" ...and they are games addicts, and that's why they have expensive PC's. And they are often infected. I think those online game software are malware laden.

sisrace · 13 Mar 2014

There are a lot of teenagers in my class that just use their ipad and have no computer. But my freinds and i are pretty heavy computer users. I render videos, Record videos, Playing very heavy games etc.
Everyone is different. There are elders who dont know what a computer is and there are elders that are extreme powerusers.
Us teenagers are not an exeption. Sure we know what computers is but many dont know how to use them really and some doesent even have a computer. They use their phones and tablets. And there are teenagers that put a TON of load on their machines

Also back to topic:
I just recommend what the others said. Use your old machine and save more money, Get some jobs etc.
Then you can afford a better laptop that will last you way longer and will have more than enough horsepower when you need it.. Trust me you will

pappi · 13 Mar 2014

I-pads are popular item to school and can be used instead of PC or Mac for the same purpose. They are now "must" items even in grade school. My students(grad school) don't take notes anymore. They video-tape lectures. They pass around lectures others missed in "full session". I was astonished to see charts and graphs I had shown fully displayed in their I-pads or PC's. In bad weather, those unable to attend lectures, do improvised online "attendance" and not miss a beat.

It's always difficult to generalize because of unavoidable exceptions. But in general, teenagers do much more with electronics/computers than seniors...that's if and when they get a break from obsessive texting. For those of you who would disagree, perhaps I should add a disclaimer: this is my experience with teenagers and seniors in Manhattan. I dunno about Sweden, Germany or Florida. I personally do not know any teenager who does not own either an I-pad or PC. Most of them have both plus smaller handheld electronics---for non-stop texting.