[Will2]

Hi guys and gals!!

I face the dreaded prospect of my treasured eldest daughter heading off for boarding school.  To make matters worse, the school doesn't do Apple, so "santa" brought her a laptop but was too lazy to pick one out so just left a picture .  So, here we are sitting together trying to pick one out and finding it very difficult to intelligently narrow the field.  Here are her preferences:

• not far off 5 lbs
• 13-14 inch screen
• built-in camera and mic
• not snail-paced start-up etc (does that mean 2Ghz processor?)
• touchpad
• can't be Apple

Any recommendations or places we can go to help narrow our search (an AudioCircle equivalent for PC's would be GREAT) would be much appreciated.

Thanks ..... from Will and Tania

[zybar]

Will,

Here are a few places you can check out:

http://www.cnet.com

http://www.notebookreview.com/

http://www.pcmag.com


If you decide on a Dell laptop, you might want to check out Dell's outlet center (http://www.dell.com/outlet) to get a better deal.

Good luck.

George

[TheChairGuy]

Will,

Your requirements are probably simple to meet....particularly as you didn't leave a budget 

I think all full size laptops have camera and microphone built in now...and there are scads of 13-14" laptops that weigh ~ 5 lbs (unless the charger is added...which adds another ~1lb to the package)

I'd visit a store with a good selection to touch and feel....the innards of most laptops are hidden from view and if you stick with the name brands you can rarely go wrong...but the tactile feel and look of one laptop or another can differ and may matter as much or more to your daughter. 

Best Buy has a great selection at all times and worth visiting if you have one around. EDIT: I now see you are in Bermuda; not sure what you have in retail computer stores there to choose from

Enjoy, John

 

Hi guys and gals!!

I face the dreaded prospect of my treasured eldest daughter heading off for boarding school.  To make matters worse, the school doesn't do Apple, so "santa" brought her a laptop but was too lazy to pick one out so just left a picture .  So, here we are sitting together trying to pick one out and finding it very difficult to intelligently narrow the field.  Here are her preferences:

• not far off 5 lbs
• 13-14 inch screen
• built-in camera and mic
• not snail-paced start-up etc (does that mean 2Ghz processor?)
• touchpad
• can't be Apple

Any recommendations or places we can go to help narrow our search (an AudioCircle equivalent for PC's would be GREAT) would be much appreciated.

Thanks ..... from Will and Tania

[Will2]

George and John - thanks for the pointers.

John .... yup, as George already knows from my speaker search, I'm in Bermuda so look, feel or audition are off the table - there is literally nothing stocked here so I have to research and look for 1st hand experience from others.

I've had a look through various sites this morning and it looks like this is an extremely competitive market so there is little to tell between the different brands.  Looks to me like picking a brand and choosing the most appropriate model is the best time/payoff mix.  Lenovo looks to be highly rated so I checked that out.  The T500 series are discounted and look to provide the best bang for the buck but Tania thinks they are a bit heavy for her at 0.4lbs more than her current older MacBook Pro.  The Y650 looks sexy but is more expensive/lower spec and I was very proud of her when she said it wasn't good value.  So, The T400 looks to be the current front runner.  I'm going to "sit" on the decision for a few days while I see if other views come in or I uncover something else I've missed.

Cheers - & have a great New Year all
Will

[zybar]

Will,

Keep an eye out for some good after Christmas deals as that might put one selection over the top for you.

Here are a couple of good sites for bargain hunting:

dealcatcher.com

techbargains.com

I am sure there are lots others out there as well.

George

[satfrat]

Retrived from today's Trash files (cuz I've got no loose money to shop with) , http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/WEM2139.asp?SRCCODE=WEM2139BY&cm_mmc=Email-_-Main-_-WEM2139-_-post
 
Might be of some use to others. 
 
Cheers & Happy Holidays,
Robin

[srb]

For a student, the next most important feature to weight and size is battery life.  I would avoid the 'T' series processors in favor of the power-saving 'P', 'SU' or 'ULV' models.
 
I would also avoid the Celeron or single core processors, if snappy performance is desired.
 
The Acer Timeline series has been very favorably reviewed and have an 8 hour battery life.  They also have LED backlit screens and DDR3 memory.  The 13.3" model is only 3.5 lbs., but does not have a DVD drive built-in.  If you were to choose the smaller 13.3" model over the 14.1", you would need a separate external USB DVD drive.
 
Steve

[jackman]

I'm not a compute expert by any stretch but I bought my wife a new laptop for Christmas and she loves it.  It's an HP DV4-2045dx.  It has a dvd/cd burner, a card reader built in, a webcam and microphone built in, hdmi output and you can add a tv tuner.  She wanted a macbook but I didn't want to spend a grand so I bought this one for $579.  It's got a dual core processor, 4 g ram, and a 350g hard drive. 

Also, it's got a cool pearl white shell and keyboard.  Kind've girly so my wife likes it. 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+with+AMD+Turion%26%23153%3B+II+Dual-Core+Mobile+Processor+-+Moonlight+White/9554671.p?id=1218123526907&skuId=9554671

[JEaton]

If she's going to be using it mostly in classes I'd go smaller.  More and more people, particularly students, are turning to 'netbooks', very small laptops that are in the 2.75-3.5 lb range.  They're fast enough for everything but gaming and high-end video playback.  Their attractiveness is in battery life, portability, and price ($300-450).  Battery life can be anywhere from 5-8 hours, which is awesome if you'll be using it while out all day.

Right now the standard for these netbooks is an Atom N270 or N280 processor, 10.1" 1024x768 display, 1 or 2GB of RAM and either Windows 7 Starter Edition or Windows XP Home.  Intel just announced the Atom N450 processor, which gives no performance boost over the N2x0, but promises better battery life.  Manufacturers have netbooks built around this processor waiting to go in early January.  Early tests show battery life may be over 10 hours on some models.

Moving up the food chain a bit are netbooks with 11.6" screens at 1366x768 pixels, some with Atom processors, some with higher powered ULV processors, 2-4GB RAM, and Windows 7 Home Premium.  You give up just a little bit of size and weight, but the battery life is what takes a bigger hit - maybe 4-5 hours tops.

These can all be hooked up to a monitor, USB keyboard and mouse for comfortable use back home, but if the usage model is going to be that the computer is used mostly at home, you probably might as well go with a larger notebook and not worry about battery life so much.

[jqp]

You will want to get 64-bit capable processor, with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and 4GB RAM, 13.3" screen

I recommend Dell from my experiences

This one is VERY nice - It has the same technology as a Macbook Pro - except for the 1-piece aluminum body - actually the video could do the Macbook Pro 1 better with a NVIDIA® GeForce® 9500M card - at the low consumption setting you get 4 hours battery

http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/laptop-studio-xps-13/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-studio-xps-13&s=dhs&cs=19

not the cheapest but among the best IMO - 1 year on site-hardware service warranty

you can go refurbished and get the same new warranty at Outlet.Dell.com if you have some patience to get a Windows 7 64-bit refurb (usually brand new)

Here is a refurbished example for $919

   
Windows® . Life without WallsTM . Dell recommends Windows 7.
System Specification
System Specification
Studio XPS 13 - 1340
(System Identifier: EJ8LEL1P)

    * Studio XPS 13 (1340) Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 (3MB cache/2.53GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
    * Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium

System Price   :   $919.00

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home PremiumMemory
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (2 DIMMs)Hard Disk Drive
320 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)System Color
Obsidian BlackCertified Refurbished
Certified RefurbishedHardware Upgrade
6 Cell Primary Battery
125V Power Cord
90W AC AdapterSoftware Upgrade
Windows Live
Microsoft Works 9.0
Facial Recognition Version 2.3
64BIT Operating System DVD
64BIT Operating System CDLaptop Screen
13.3 inch HD WXGA Edge-to-Edge Laptop screen with 2.0 Megapixel CameraBase
Studio XPS 13 (1340) Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 (3MB cache/2.53GHz/1066Mhz FSB)Media Bay
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capabilityNetwork Interface Card
Dell Wireless 1510 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card

(This one does not have the LED backlit screen - look for the ones with the 1.3MPixel webcam)
   

[konut]

Sorry for being dense. Macs make the best Windows machines. Why can't your daughter install Parallels or use Boot Camp and install 7?

[Will2]

Thanks for all the advice guys .... really appreciated.  Just about to hit the sack here - we're 1hr ahead of eastern - but before I do that - Konut, that is what I thought of doing but is the software and interface exactly the same?  I dread the thought of her being off at boarding school with nobody to help her sort out her esoteric compatibility problems on an apple platform when everyone is on Windows.  Anyhow ..... more, and this time better informed, research tomorrow.

Thanks again ... and keep it coming if there is more.

Cheers
Will

[konut]

Hi Will. I cannot give you a definitive answer, as I have not used a Mac since '06. I still am interested in Macs and try to keep up on developments in the Mac world in anticipation of the day when my Toshiba laptop gives up the ghost. From what I have read, it is the other students who will query your daughter when their machines stop functioning, and she will be one of the few who will soldier on.  When I find out the answer to your question I will surely post a link here.

[WGH]

Your decision will have to balance laptop reviews, reliability reviews and price.

PC World http://www.pcworld.com/products/computers/laptops.html has reviews.

Zybar suggested PC Mag for reviews but they also have an annual readers satisfaction survey for Laptops, Desktops, Notebooks, Printers, HDTVs, Portable Media Players, Network Routers, Cell Phones, VoIP, Digital Cameras, Cell Phone Services, ISPs, Game Consoles, and GPS Devices.
http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,1626131,00.asp

Tom's hardware also has a reliability survey http://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-asus-lenovo-computer-reliability,7364.html

Tired of registering for websites to read a single article? Use Bug-Me-Not http://www.bugmenot.com/, public passwords that will get you into sites without registering.

Wayne

[jqp]

Hi Will. I cannot give you a definitive answer, as I have not used a Mac since '06. I still am interested in Macs and try to keep up on developments in the Mac world in anticipation of the day when my Toshiba laptop gives up the ghost. From what I have read, it is the other students who will query your daughter when their machines stop functioning, and she will be one of the few who will soldier on.  When I find out the answer to your question I will surely post a link here.

You sure are sure that Apple is the one to go with

Others are not so sure       see the comments for laptops  - not saying apple is bad but lets be realistic here

http://gizmodo.com/5435561/my-second-imac-is-busted-too

[srb]

Whichever make/model you decide on, I bet your daughter will be less happy with one that gets 3-4 hours on a battery versus one that gets 6-8 hours.
 
Steve

[konut]

Hi Will. I cannot give you a definitive answer, as I have not used a Mac since '06. I still am interested in Macs and try to keep up on developments in the Mac world in anticipation of the day when my Toshiba laptop gives up the ghost. From what I have read, it is the other students who will query your daughter when their machines stop functioning, and she will be one of the few who will soldier on.  When I find out the answer to your question I will surely post a link here.

You sure are sure that Apple is the one to go with

Others are not so sure       see the comments for laptops  - not saying apple is bad but lets be realistic here

http://gizmodo.com/5435561/my-second-imac-is-busted-too

I am assuming Wills' daughter is not having any trouble with her laptop. One of the comments in the link you posted summed it up nicely.

 "It is intriguing that a company synonymous with amazing products and customer service could have failures like this. However, I have to admit that this is no more a failure of Apple than any other mass product problem. Nearly every one of the computer manufacturers outsources the process overseas, and they all have about the same actual reliability issues. It just happens that, overall, people are happier with Apple. Why? It likely has as much to do with marketing as with the actual customer service experience. Regardless, they do have remarkably happy customers.

That said, I agree with you that we have problems with Mac computers in recent years, though have had very few issues with flash based iPod players. So, I suppose it depends on the product type what your experiences will be like. Much like every other manufacturer."

Realistic indeed.

Sorry for going off topic, but jqps' post required a reply.

[goldlizsts]

Will,

Here are a few places you can check out:

http://www.cnet.com

http://www.notebookreview.com/

http://www.pcmag.com


If you decide on a Dell laptop, you might want to check out Dell's outlet center (http://www.dell.com/outlet) to get a better deal.

Good luck.

George

Dell outlet store often has deals at great prices.  They often have new units, but because customer cancelling, they couldn't sell them as new because of configuration reason.....  You get a deal.  But, check for sure the features, which usually are more than you'd need.  But, don't tell your school-bound kid that it's not brand new (in fact they are, depending on how you look at it).

Then, also check www.dealnews.com.  They compile current deals, all in one place.

Good luck.