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11/21/2012 04:44:43 PM · #1 |
Ok here is my prob. I have built my own pc's for years and have not purchased an off the shelf comp for a very long time. Anyway my prob is I want to buy a laptop for my mom. (I'm trying to be a good son..lol) Anyway I know all about the specs for these machines but I don't know much about the quality of these machines. I am also not looking for a top of line comp. Pretty much all she will use it for is internet. Apple I have already crossed off the list...(they tend to be fairly expensive) I guess this leave me with Dell, Gateway, HP, Toshiba, and a myriad of others. Let me know your successes or failures. Oh and it would be nice if they had good customer service. (This way I don't get calls at weird times about fixing it) She is definately not a tech person.
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11/21/2012 04:48:49 PM · #2 |
regardless of manufacturer you're still going to get the calls from her, as they only support the hardware itself
i work with a lot of dell latitudes and they've improved greatly over the years. for the consumer end though, just bought my daughter an HP pavillion (~$400) and she loves it completely, still raves about it two months later. having worked with dell and hp in the past, i can say both their warranty divisions are pretty good.
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11/21/2012 04:55:19 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by FourPointX:
regardless of manufacturer you're still going to get the calls from her, as they only support the hardware itself
i work with a lot of dell latitudes and they've improved greatly over the years. for the consumer end though, just bought my daughter an HP pavillion (~$400) and she loves it completely, still raves about it two months later. having worked with dell and hp in the past, i can say both their warranty divisions are pretty good. |
+1 Can't go wrong with the Pavillion. |
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11/21/2012 05:00:36 PM · #4 |
I'll look into the pavillon. That does sound like a good price...And yes I think she will still call...but if something happens to the hardware..it's not my fault
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11/21/2012 05:02:30 PM · #5 |
Easy.
Go to woot.com now, right now, like hurry or it will be gone.
Buy the Asus Transformer with Keyboard for $299.
Done.
...
They work like a champ, have a keyboard (or not, you can detach it), don't break easily, are stupid easy to fix, stupid easy to install programs on, and are REALLY friendly to use.
..
Problem solved.
FYI - I just bought one of these for my dad this morning, yes I really think this is the best possible idea. |
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11/21/2012 05:05:51 PM · #6 |
| At work, we switched from Dell to HP three years ago because of price, then back to Dell two years ago because of reliability problems with the HP's. But it's pretty hard to go wrong with any laptop for the kinds of things your Mom is likely to be doing. If it were my Mom, I'd probably just go to Costco and get whatever's on special. Then I'd be prepared to be her first level tech support person for life. Customer service on any consumer grade machine is going to be poor. |
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11/21/2012 05:09:55 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Cory:
Easy.
Go to woot.com now, right now, like hurry or it will be gone.
Buy the Asus Transformer with Keyboard for $299.
Done.
...
They work like a champ, have a keyboard (or not, you can detach it), don't break easily, are stupid easy to fix, stupid easy to install programs on, and are REALLY friendly to use.
..
Problem solved.
FYI - I just bought one of these for my dad this morning, yes I really think this is the best possible idea. |
I dont think she would like a tablet...She does like to play cd's etc. No CD/DVD ROM
she does need some features but not a terrible amount
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11/21/2012 05:14:31 PM · #8 |
also....yes I sound kindof like a noob....but I guess I am when it comes to prebuilt systems. It seems like when I bought my last laptop from dell...it didn't come with any software to re-install. I just seem to remember that. Is that still the case. If I get one and it crashes after the waranty is out. I really would not like to buy windows, etc..
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11/21/2012 06:46:55 PM · #9 |
| dell comes with an os reinstall disc, as well as a features disc to restore everything that came preloaded |
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11/21/2012 07:53:40 PM · #10 |
i would recommend based on what she will use it for a samsung
//www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP530U3C-A01US
the above is a good one! and isnt horrendously expensinve and light...
dell support is not that great...i have been a tech for a long time before returning to my art and have seen manufactorers go up and down, toshiba top of line are best but you pay, apple and sony too expensive, compag and hp are low end options worthy of looking at... ASUS are gaining great ground and are leading in some of the price performance realms... so they would be up there if you have a distributer around for them... ive seen the samsung ultra books up close and they are really good so maybe a low end one of those, very light and quick! but if Hard disk space is needed maybe an external drive for backing up photos etc...
hope that helps? |
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11/21/2012 08:25:16 PM · #11 |
| I have a Pavillion I bought as a cheap/light way to back up photos and browse the web on the go, absolutely no issues with it after a year of use throwing it in backpacks etc. Only thing I remember being a bit of a pain with it was the amount of crap that came pre-installed (I mean, there was probably more crapware on it than programs I install on any pc to actually use) but that was more a momentary annoyance than anything and easy to rectify. With the new tablet/laptop hybrids though have you considered one of those perhaps? |
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11/22/2012 08:47:50 AM · #12 |
I have tried machines from the following (still alive companies i mean) so far:
HP.
Dell,
Samsung
Toshiba,
Acer,
Gateway,
Asus,
IBM(lenovo now i suppose?).
Between these machines, i've liked IBM and Asus the most. Between price, lack of bloatware, and support, Asus is the current champ in my house. I got the brother and his wife laptops last thanksgiving. i3 processors for about $350 a piece (it was a sale i believe) with 4g of ram and 500 gigs of space. So far, no real issues with the machines. The big issue one may have is that you have to burn restore discs yourself and i suggest doing it when you get the computer.
Keep in mind that machine quality tends to trend over time. About 5+ years ago, i wouldn't have touched an HP, but 2 years ago, i found a decent enough machine that i was able to recommend it for a local temple (it worked well and was the least expensive option). Samsung is also making a few decent models. These two would probably be my runner ups.
Hope this helps
Message edited by author 2012-11-22 08:51:07. |
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11/22/2012 12:38:36 PM · #13 |
At the level your mom might require from a laptop it might not matter which brand. Just like Nikon vs Canon, it's probably going to be a feel thing. Personally, I eliminated a lot of laptops just because they felt flimsy, had awful looking covers, or didn't have a full keyboard.
Ultimately, I ended up with an HP Pavilion dv6t a few months ago "for school" that I'm pretty happy with. I used HP's online build website to customize it to pretty close to exactly what I wanted. I tried doing this with other manufacturer websites, but couldn't get the flexibility I needed. HP's website is also well designed in terms of navigation and flow, which could be helpful for your mom if she needed to use it. Each of the brands seem to go through phases. I remember when the Samsung Satellite was the laptop to have. HP used to be crap, and I swore I would never purchase an HP laptop, but here I sit happy as a clam... whatever that means. :) |
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11/22/2012 07:47:42 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by aliqui:
At the level your mom might require from a laptop it might not matter which brand. Just like Nikon vs Canon, it's probably going to be a feel thing. Personally, I eliminated a lot of laptops just because they felt flimsy, had awful looking covers, or didn't have a full keyboard.
Ultimately, I ended up with an HP Pavilion dv6t a few months ago "for school" that I'm pretty happy with. I used HP's online build website to customize it to pretty close to exactly what I wanted. I tried doing this with other manufacturer websites, but couldn't get the flexibility I needed. HP's website is also well designed in terms of navigation and flow, which could be helpful for your mom if she needed to use it. Each of the brands seem to go through phases. I remember when the Samsung Satellite was the laptop to have. HP used to be crap, and I swore I would never purchase an HP laptop, but here I sit happy as a clam... whatever that means. :) |
i'd agree wth you on some of that.. as i consulted on IT i would always try to ascertain the needs before advising, so i'd agree hp have gotten better but they and compaq have also gone to the bottom of the market low end is fine cheap and relevant to consumers for a couple of years, but now ASUS is showing all competitiors where demand and price performance should be, only samsung has stepped up lately against apple in my opinion, Lennovo(IBM) has been reasonably cosistant but still lacking at times...
but go with a system that is light, cheap and big screen for your mum as aesthetics, keyboard, mouse and big screen will see her much happier than bloat and functions and hardware she wont use or need... even a large tablet an android would work for her... keep it simple and everything neat tidy and large for ease and funtionality :O) thats my opinion
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