...and one request

[magnetic_pole]

Folks, I may need to buy a new laptop, and I'm woefully ignorant about these things. Two questions for you: 1) Have you have success with any relatively inexpensive laptops? or 2) Could you help me formulate some criteria or questions to ask as I start to shop? What should I be looking for?

I currently have a seven-year old Dell Inspiron, and I'm assuming I need to replace it with a laptop rather than a Chromebook or tablet. I have relatively modest computing needs--Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Photoshop, mostly--but I type for several hours a day, often without internet access. I travel a lot and would like to be able to work for a few hours without plugging in. I also need to hook up to a digital projector. (Is that even an issue?)

Thanks for whatever insight you can provide!

Comments

[venturous]

I'm a lifelong Apple snob, but in the recent past I owned an acer netbook, (which was a tiny laptop, not like a Chromebook) and I liked it fair enough. I chose it by reading lots of internet reviews. I particularly rely on cNet as a reliable source.

There are tons of inexpensive windows laptops out there these days! good luck! I recently bought a 15" macbook pro, and if I had it to do again I'd have spent a few more $$ to get the Air, for travel. It's laughable that 3 pounds feels heavy now, since my first 'portable' computer weighed 16#!!

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks for the tip about cNet--that site looks helpful!

And I hear you on our racially changing expectations for portable technology. I just saw a photo the other day of the bulky "carrying case" I used to get my first computer to college. M.

[busaikko]

*shocked* Am I that much older than you? I went off to college with a manual typewriter /o\ ...dodders away...

[magnetic_pole]

But I don't think that you are! Are you? *shifty eyes* I went to college in 1990, by the way. I think you might be a year or two older, at a time when a year or two made a big difference. I'd typed my college applications on a typewriter, just eight or nine months earlier. :) M.

[busaikko]

I went in 1988! And I'd have loved an electric typewriter (probably, now that I think about it, part of the reason I buy myself good computers! )

[out_there]

I don't have much laptop knowledge, but I do have a HP pavillion laptop at home that I really like. It's about three years old now, but we got the highest processor/memory options they had and it still works like new. I generally use it for Excel, Word and web browsing -- it's probably not the lightest or trendiest option around, but it's a good, solid computer that does what I want it to, hasn't died from being dropped on the floor once (I'm clumsy) and I find it easy to type on for hours at a time.

Probably the only drawback would be the lack of a "backlit keyboard" (I had to google for that term, heh). There's no light going through/under the keyboard so you can see keys in the dark. For me personally, I touch-type so if I'm typing in a completely dark room it's not really an issue -- plus, I like minimal distracting lights when I'm using the laptop to read fic in bed. But it depends on your usage/needs, I guess.

[magnetic_pole]

it's a good, solid computer that does what I want it to, hasn't died from being dropped on the floor once (I'm clumsy) and I find it easy to type on for hours at a time.

That's exactly the kind of things I need--thanks for the review.

I think for the short term I'm going to finally purchase Office for our bare-bones, hand-me-down Mac, which has been our internet computer till now. That will give me some more time to look into new computer options. So many options! I think I need a flow chart of some sort. M.

[busaikko]

Do you own your software? (Word, etc.) If so, you can buy just a basic comes-with-only-Windows model. Computers bundled with software are more expensive.

I buy Lenovo computers through Amazon, mostly. Lenovo used to be IBM: they aren't flashy, but they are solid and have good battery life. There's nothing that I want to do (word processing, image editing, video editing, etc.*) that I can't. If possible, I suggest buying online (probably cheaper) but visit a shop to get a feel for the actual machine, the keyboard and such. Right now I have a Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420 (actually, I have two, one at home and one at work. I used to have a darling lenovo netbook that commuted in my bicycle basket... and I think that's what killed it *sadface*).

* I do however use all free software: OpenOffice, GIMP, WMM, Opera and Firefox for browsers, Thunderbird for email. So my space requirements are less than MS Office, I think.

With the right cable (whimpers) I can connect easily to the overhead projector in my classroom. I do need actually two cables (one for video, one for audio) but that may be because the A/V stuff was put in about 15 years ago.

[magnetic_pole]

I didn't realize Lenovo was formerly IBM. Hm. I think one of the things throwing me here is the fact that even the basic brand names are different after seven or eight years. Everything's so new.

I need solid, non-flashy options--thanks.

I'm impressed you've figured out the free software! I'm being lazy on this front. M.

[busaikko]

Free software's dead easy! Let me know if you have any questions *g*