What Laptop should i buy?

[European-DJ]

HI Sosuave,

Well, since i am not that much into laptops and computers, i am interested in some help for buying my baby sister an laptop, she just started in high school.
- I was going to buy her a Macbook Pro, but it is 2000$, and to be honest, i think it should be possible to find as good specs, for an better price.


Whats your recommendation, my budget is 2.000$?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Desdinova]

Today's computers are able to do most things, even the somewhat low end ones. If she's not using it for hardcore gaming, then you don't need to spend a ton of money on it.

As long as it has a good operating system, it'll be able to handle most of what you throw at it. My sincerest apologies in advance for her having to suffer with Windows 8 which comes pre-installed on pretty much every PC you buy.

 

[Upside]

Which is why a) build your own computer (if you want to veer away from laptops, much cheaper too) or b) pirate (ARRRR!!!!) or buy windows 7/XP and reinstall the OS. Much butter to do that and get road of all the bloatware anyway.

Honestly, 400 dollars will fulfill your sister's facebook, twitter, and skyping needs. Buying apple gets you inflated prices for the same hardware. (Think designer purses....same function...but no different than a $15 knockoff).

 

[Eph]

Like the others said, don't get anything Apple. If she really needs horsepower, the Microsoft Surface Pro would be her best bet. Its a production tablet; Everything you'd use a laptop for except in the lighter form factor of a tablet. All the games and apps she could/would use an iPad for, AND all the programs she needs (like Microsoft Office) for school. Its $1000 though.

Just about anything will get her through what she needs though (provided it has Windows installed). You could likely find sub-$400 laptops on ebay, and I know I've seen a 15in screen laptop go for $300 at Walmart. If you really want to get her the best, go for an ultrabook. It'll cost you anywhere from $599 to $999.

 

[donking]

http://wiredout.osu.edu/FileStore/PDFs/Apple Computer sheet 6-13 web.pdf

macbook pro 13 for $909+tax

most sites also have educational discounts as long as you have a .edu address

for myself, i'm using an asus i got for 570 2 years ago, but the build quality is suspect. u get what u pay for, especially in a laptop.

 

[White Boy]

MAC BOOK PRO!!!

hell yeah nothing better.

 

[synergy1]

Been doing some research here for myslef - looking for something to watch movies, browse the web, and do excell/word on. Aka nothing big. Don't game anymore so you don't need to shell out a ton of money for that.

Macs are expensive and you are paying for the brand and nothing more. Their reliability does not exceed other good PC laptop brands such as lenovo or dell. You just pay because it looks cool and has a different OS.

I am personally looking at lenovo brands. There are a few on newegg with the new intel I5 or i7 processors, the non generic video card ( as opposed to the built in intel graphics 4000), decent ram and the like. Most will have bloatware, but you can get rid of that. other brands I am interested in are sony's vaio, or a dell ( inspiron, XPS are good brands).

In my humble opinion, all laptops and PC technology is basically commodity products so the name is nothing more than that as manufacturing practices and materials are probably pretty standard across all brands. The simple fact that most processors, motherboards, and video cards are one of several brands leads me to believe this.

Read some reviews, find something in your price range and if you want, post the link here and I'll give you my 0.02.