I need a new computer, but I haven’t bought one in ages, so I’m behind the times. What should I be looking for if I want to Skype and surf the net, with occasional word processing and spreadsheets? Not a gamer, but I am something of a packrat about files. I’ll also be adding a Linux partition to dual boot. Thanks.
I bought an HP Envy dv7 late last year to replace an aging and inadequate Lenovo. 17" screen, about 750GB, Core i5. Four USB ports, an HDMI port, a camera for Skype and a DVD drive. Also a slot for a camera card. I’ve had zero problems so far with it, but I haven’t loaded it up with a lot of photos or other space hogs. Picked it up at Costco for (I think) about $800.
There many different brands and sixes of notebook systems. I’d recommend that you visit a retail store. My local Best Buy store, for instance, has about twenty notebook systems on display from half a dozen different manufacturers. Everything from the big 17" models down to the tiny Ultrabook systems. Try typing on various models and seek which you find comfortable to type on. Try lifting the systems to see if the weight is manageble (although that’s less of an issue if it’s never going to leave your desk).
I agree. When we shopped for my mom’s laptop, we knew she wouldn’t be taking it anywhere and would be using it for typing emails and web surfing. The most important thing for her then was keyboard comfort, not weight or even screen size.
We settled on an HP. I forget what model. She chose it on comfort first then price. Didn’t worry too much about HDD size or even speed.
Same went for me. I needed power though so I got a Toshiba. A big heavy one.
Just about any laptop without a solid state hard drive would fit that criteria. Just about any laptop from 5 years ago would, too. If you’re not more discriminatory, it really doesn’t matter… any laptop you find on the market can easily do all of that.
If you’re uber rich you can get a laptop with a big solid state drive that’ll be fast and still hold a bunch of files.
If you’re uber cheap you can get a $200 Chromebook and a USB hard drive and do all of that, as long as you don’t need Office (Google Docs is fine for casual home use).
I disagree that just about any laptop will be able to dual boot linux. At least, not easily or with full functionality. If you’re not ok with doing a virtual machine for your linux needs, then this is going to be the limiting factor.
Why is that? Do you mean because of driver issues?
I can tell you one not to buy.
Just bought a Sony Vaio Fit 14 A.
I needed to replace a 4 year old Sony which is starting to have screen issues.
My wife uses it for stats, spreadsheets, and frequent hard use.
Over $800 at Best Buy. Reviews said due to Windows 8 issues it needed a specific start up and update sequence in order to function well. Followed instructions and still having problems. Screen jumps around, zooms in and out with no input and curser has a mind of it’s own. I’m going to give it one more chance and see if I can resolve it’s issues tomorrow, but I’m not confident.
Every other computer I’ve ever owned worked fine out of the box.
I’ve gone though multiple laptops in the last few years. The only one that has lasted longer than six months without a problem is my Asus. I bought it last September and have not had a problem since purchase. I would not buy anything from Panasonic. The plastic housing on it is too fragile IMO. Also buy a warrantee.
For Windows boxes, my company uses Lenovo. I currently have a T430. Dependable. If I had my druthers, probably something from Apple.
I just bought a laptop - a late 2011 17" Macbook Pro. Looks just like my old one, only several years newer, way hell faster, and with huge storage. It also came loaded with a bunch of software I’ll probably never use, but that’s OK. I’m pissed that Apple discontinued the 17" line, but this will do for awhile. Maybe they’ll come back to their senses. Maybe with Jobs gone they’ll stop hating buttons.
Other than video cards or dial-up modems, I don’t know of any drivers that tend to have problems. For video cards, if you want to be able to actually use them, be sure to go with Nvidia. That’s probably the big limiting factor for Linux use–that the defaults are either ATI or Intel GPUs. It definitely gets in the way of getting a cheap laptop.
Yeah, ATI support is getting better on Linux, but it’s not there. I don’t know if Intel has improved or not. But I doubt it.
I just bought one of these. If you’re anything like me - that is, you don’t need your laptop to be very portable, just something you can take with you every once in a while, and don’t want to play the latest games - you’ll like it a lot. You won’t find another 17-inch monitor in that price range (sub-$500.)
Note that it doesn’t have a touchscreen, however.
Wireless cards are the other big issue.