Laptop Recommendation Request

[oneextraid]

I want to purchase a laptop for my daughter. She will use it for Facebook and listening to music. Anyone have any recommendations?

I have heard bad things about HP and some negative about Dell. I want to spend about $400-$500.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Dell and HP are the only two brands I would purchase, to be honest. Once you decide on a size for the laptop, just hit up both sites and compare them, and keep your eyes open for deals and free shipping.

 

[rsvr85]

Dell is the best........:sarc:

I personally own a HP and the build quality is great, in 2 years only the DVD drive has had a minor fit, customer service is a bit to be desired but good value for money never-the-less

If your daughter only needs it for basic tasks, have you considered a netbook?

 

[Dwarf]

Have a browse through these: Amazon.com: laptops computers

Here are some suggestions:

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AOD150-1...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259689057&sr=8-4
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-A...7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259688631&sr=8-7
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-NC10-...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259688781&sr=8-19
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AOD150-1...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259688781&sr=8-22
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AOA150-1...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259688781&sr=8-26
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-A...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259688849&sr=8-48
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-A...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259688880&sr=8-49

 

[bigseb]

I'm an Acer man through and through...

To be honest it's all down to personal tastes. Since she's not doing anything hectic with it why not let her choose?

 

[BadHairSpray]

Check out bestbuy too, I saw some awesome deals on Vaio over the holiday weekend sales for the price range mentioned

 

[oneextraid]

I have looked at Netbooks. However, they don't have DVD/CD drives and when added the price is not that competitive. Also, most come with XP not W7.

 

[rsvr85]

Ah! you didn't say it needed to be W7 and have a DVD drive (then again you didn't say it had to be pink with fluffy buttons either!)!!
Doesn't that seem a little overkill for someone who will only surf the net and listen to music?

Anyways, if you subscribe to Lifehackers RSS feed, you'll see over the course of the next week their deals of the day, they really are very good at finding excellent deals. Defo worth a look IMO.

http://lifehacker.com/5412758/gadget-and-gear-deals-of-the-day-black-friday-edition

 

[pparks1]

I've had Dell Latitudes for work for a number of years and they have been fantastic. I've even got one of the E6400 that the web claims "Dell is trying to cover up a massive problem with" and it's been solid.

My wife currently has an HP laptop and it's been decent too. She used to have an Acer and it worked fine, but they have no phone support...just email...so when it does break it's a bit of a pain to deal with.

 

[Flashy1941]

laptop Recommendation Request

Try buying her a Samsung R60 Plus, Its good looking, the specs are great, and the price for a good solid laptop is wonderful, Go to where I got mine from, LAPTOPSDIRECT.

 

[DeaconFrost]

I've even got one of the E6400 that the web claims "Dell is trying to cover up a massive problem with" and it's been solid.

What are the alleged issues? I have an E6400, and I'm planning to buy 4 more next year. Mine's been great too, once I removed some of the Dell crapware.

 

[pparks1]

I've even got one of the E6400 that the web claims "Dell is trying to cover up a massive problem with" and it's been solid.

What are the alleged issues? I have an E6400, and I'm planning to buy 4 more next year. Mine's been great too, once I removed some of the Dell crapware.

http://www.sevenforums.com/news/43422-dell-covering-up-laptop-issue.html

 

[RogerR]

I have looked at Netbooks. However, they don't have DVD/CD drives and when added the price is not that competitive. Also, most come with XP not W7.

Why does she need a DVD drive or Win7 ? Get a bootable flash drive if she needs to swap music / video with friends, I just saw a 16GB thumb drive today for under $40.. Netbooks are designed just for her - small, light and portable. You can pick one up at Costco for under $400.

 

[pparks1]

You can get Windows 7 on a netbook. In fact, it's getting hard to find anything but that.

As far as a DVD drive..maybe she will want to watch DVD's on the machine and doesn't want an external drive? Plus, some notebooks aren't hardly any more expensive than a netbook and they have a full size keyboard, optical drive, etc.

 

[antt]

Dell is the best........:sarc:

I personally own a HP and the build quality is great, in 2 years only the DVD drive has had a minor fit, customer service is a bit to be desired but good value for money never-the-less

If your daughter only needs it for basic tasks, have you considered a netbook?

lol HP personally affected me.
I vote Dell. I have an inspiron 1545 and it has been absolutely fantastic. See if you can find a voucher (google online) for cheaper deals on Dells from the website.

 

[Frostmourne]

Netbooks are rubbish. Forget the basics. Why would you pay for a stripped down version of 7 on hardware that can barely play mkv files or anything that needs a good cpu? Not to mention the chiropractor and optometrist bills for squinting hunched over on a uselessly small screen.

Go for an XPS 13.3".

 

[beman36]

I used HP laptops religously and stand behind them, but the only thing I hate is the heat issue. now I just got myself a ASUS k60 and its awesome so far! there is 0 heat problems and its fast too boot! dedicated 512 vid card makes applications fly and minor gaming is a breeze! so far the best laptop I ever bought, well see how long that lasts! LOL and yea I wouldnt get her a netbook, its too limited for a school computer/entertainment/cd burning ect ect...

 

[intwtl]

When purchasing a laptop (or anything else) look for service after purchase.

I have had many laptops but for the most part have bought Acer, HP, and Dell. I have had good success with all.

At this time I am using a Dell Latitude D630. As I travel internationally for work this has been the best yet. I have had to have a motherboard replaced (due to my own fault) when I was in SE Asia and Dell came out and replaced it the next day. I also have a Dell desktop in the US and when a repair was required it was the same. Acer and HP do not have this service.

Of course, there are different opinions from many people. At this time I would purchase another Dell as the products have been dependable and the service excellent.

 

[RogerR]

Netbooks are rubbish. Forget the basics. Why would you pay for a stripped down version of 7 on hardware that can barely play mkv files or anything that needs a good cpu? Not to mention the chiropractor and optometrist bills for squinting hunched over on a uselessly small screen.

Why is it the fastest growing segment of the computer market? Because it what young people want for recreational computing. They don't run heavy duty programs - they chat, you-tube and twitter.

 

[antt]

Why is it the fastest growing segment of the computer market? Because it what young people want for recreational computing. They don't run heavy duty programs - they chat, you-tube and twitter.

gahhhh twitter. I personally don't see the point of buying a netbook, when they cost the same (sometimes more!) than a cheap full size computer. And its always when you need to do something processor intensive that you realise your netbook can't do it. I enjoyed moving from my 7inch eeepc to my full sizer because I could do anything anyone threw at me.

+1 intwl. My Dell shipped with a crackly right speaker, rang up support and they did a bit of diagnostics, determined it was a faulty speaker, and the next day a guy came to fix it on my dining table. Awesome. Just make sure that you get that support option when buying it.