notebook which to recommend?

[Muslima70]

hi,

my NEC notebook died recently and since all my attempts/repairman resurrect it have failed i have decided to get a new one

the problem is that when i walk into a shop i get cinfused. i am not IT geek, and neither are my close friends so it's bit tough deciding what the sales person is talking about when go into to the technical details. Like RAM? DDR? Intel processor? Hardrive and im like huh?

i have budget of about $1.5k. im a basic user, just emailingg, chatting, internet, maybe watch some movies on my notebook, basic printing..that's about it.. I am not into gaming and most of the time the salesperson seem to empahasing this point which i feel it not important forbasic users for like my family and me.

Anyone out there kind enough to explain to me those terms i would most appreciate it, thanks. If you have any suggestions which brands are good, i will be most grateful...

thanks

[nakatago]

Buying guide: http://www.wired.com/reviews/2010/11/re ... notebooks/

Take some time to read the comments as well.

[Ratpick_2000]

IF you're not into gaming much, the ONLY way to go with laptops these days is a Mac - my suggestion for you would be a Macbook Pro 13". You dont have to worry about RAM, GHZ etc because they are all broadly the same.

Ask them to show you a 2.4GHz Macbook Pro 13" and it will come in under your budget as well.

There is nothing better out there for casual use, and there are a multitude of online user guides for PC users converting to MAC for the first time.

Good luck

[nakatago]

IF you're not into gaming much, the ONLY way to go with laptops these days is a Mac - my suggestion for you would be a Macbook Pro 13". You dont have to worry about RAM, GHZ etc because they are all broadly the same.

Ask them to show you a 2.4GHz Macbook Pro 13" and it will come in under your budget as well.

There is nothing better out there for casual use, and there are a multitude of online user guides for PC users converting to MAC for the first time.

Good luck

Kinda biased there, kid. Macs have their own merits but it's not the ONLY way to go. For one thing, the Macbook Air could be enough. And another, your suggestion costs 1,788 SGD on the online Apple Store. OP just has 1500 SGD and there are a lot of sufficient laptops for even under a thousand out there. Just from Courts, a handful of sub-1000 dollar laptops are available and more than meet OP's requirements: http://www.courts.com.sg

Let OP educate herself so she can choose the best laptop for her chosen budget (hence my link).

A Macbook Pro is nice and all but it's too much and too expensive.

[durain]

just looked at some prices in www.hardwarezone.com.sg. one of the shop is doing a acer 4738 for S$799 (http://www.bizgramonline.com/pricelist.pdf) or a MSI CX420 with 3 years warranty for S$999 (http://hardwarezone.com.sg/promos/view/node:109850).

make sure you know what you are getting, so do your research. this is singapore, so haggle but walk away if you smell a rat.

[Ratpick_2000]

Kinda biased there, kid. Macs have their own merits but it's not the ONLY way to go. For one thing, the Macbook Air could be enough. And another, your suggestion costs 1,788 SGD on the online Apple Store. OP just has 1500 SGD and there are a lot of sufficient laptops for even under a thousand out there. Just from Courts, a handful of sub-1000 dollar laptops are available and more than meet OP's requirements: http://www.courts.com.sg

Let OP educate herself so she can choose the best laptop for her chosen budget (hence my link).

A Macbook Pro is nice and all but it's too much and too expensive.

Re-read your post and then mine - I said "Macs" and you then told the OP to go for a Mac!

And by the way I'm not biased - I still use a PC for home computing and work related activities.

And I'm not a kid

[durain]

ok, i am an old timer apple user from apple macintosh (the real mac in a cube with b&w screen), appletake, newton, apple duo, etc. and then moved on to PCs.

a few months ago, was using a macbook. stick the cd in, no problemo. but how the ffffffffffff do you eject it out!!! ok, i know it now but it wasnt obvious!

[nakatago]

IF you're not into gaming much, the ONLY way to go with laptops these days is a Mac* - my suggestion for you would be a Macbook Pro 13"...There is nothing better out there** for casual use...

Kinda biased there, kid. Macs have their own merits but it's not the ONLY way to go. For one thing, the Macbook Air could be enough. And another, your suggestion costs 1,788 SGD on the online Apple Store. OP just has 1500 SGD and there are a lot of sufficient laptops for even under a thousand out there. Just from Courts, a handful of sub-1000 dollar laptops are available and more than meet OP's requirements: http://www.courts.com.sg

Let OP educate herself so she can choose the best laptop for her chosen budget (hence my link).

A Macbook Pro is nice and all but it's too much and too expensive.

Re-read your post and then mine - I said "Macs" and you then told the OP to go for a Mac!:

Right back at you. I said, if she ever chooses a mac, she's better off with the air...which is still too expensive.

She's better off getting an ASUS or Lenovo.

* saying 'ONLY' in the presence of options implies a bias
** another superlative

[Ratpick_2000]

Right back at you. I said, if she ever chooses a mac, she's better off with the air...which is still too expensive.

She's better off getting an ASUS or Lenovo.

* saying 'ONLY' in the presence of options implies a bias
** another superlative

I urge you to get out and see the real world

[nakatago]

Right back at you. I said, if she ever chooses a mac, she's better off with the air...which is still too expensive.

She's better off getting an ASUS or Lenovo.

* saying 'ONLY' in the presence of options implies a bias
** another superlative

I urge you to get out and see the real world

nice straw man you got there.

[Muslima70]

hi all, thank so much for the feedback and advice.

since my family and I are really just the average basic users, the website links, opinions and ideas you have shared are really useful to me. It also raised some points for me that I did not consider like screen resolution

All the comments and links have at least given me and idea of where to start, and I have gone from "zero" to slightly more than that.

I am still reading the links and I think it will be good idea to print 'em.

My family consists of my elderly parents, myself and some young cousins with dirty "paws." So anything with touch-screen is waste of money unless i want to have an icky screen. Also since my family is more used to PC i think it better that we stick with that.

Since my family is relying on me to make good choice for them I need to make sure I buy something that will fit all our needs. And will last us for at least 5 years.

In my work place we do have Macs..for the pupils to do their IT stuff ( Im a school librarian), but because my own work computer is a normal PC , I am more comfortable with that operating system. I do have pupils who will ask me to help with the MAC, but I find it difficult to use the Mac cos I am just not familiar. And most of the kids in my school seem to have a bit of trouble with the Macs too.

So is Mac better than PC ? Frankly I don't know and I don't care. No offence meant pple.

I did ask some colleagues and teachers at my work place and seems to me everybody has their own reason why MAC is good or why PC is good.

I suppose if I had started out using Mac and my family and workplace also use Macs, then I will like Mac better (?).

Asus and Lenovo.. a couple of other pple at work have also recommended it to me , so it is good to hear it on this site too. I have to admit I was thinking good pc= famous brand name= expensive pc. Now I know maybe brand name is not so important...and I can get a laptop for much less than $1.5k. Hey which means more savings for me and my family.

I have no idea whether you are guys or gals, but it makes no diff to me-lah.
I do value all the advice and support. Am touched by your kindness..afterall I am newbie to this forum, so it is nice to have folks like you to guide me.

Once again thanks and God bless you folks.

[nakatago]

I'm glad that you are now more confident about making a well-informed choice. At least if you want more information, you now know some more specific keywords to put into your search engine of choice.

About brand names, at least for Windows laptops, ASUS and Lenovo are known to have robust machines. There was a study done sometime ago (it was linked here before; too lazy to search for it) that these two companies make machines that are less prone to breaking down than some companies'. If I remember correctly, the worst offender was HP.

[Muslima70]

really HP? wow i had no idea ,that it is not so good...

anyways my very first notebook was a toshiba brand very reliable..I used for 7 years..which makes it ancient dinasour by the time I retired it.

then later my second one is NEC.. gif me problems after 2 years., but i kept fixing it and lasted for about 5 years.

I was thinking of getting HP brand but some pple did warn me that the brand is "over-rated".

i still like toshiba brand but i the last time i saw it at funan IT mall seems a bit too complex for me..then again this was before i read those IT links you and the others sent me.

Hmm im gg to Funan later after work..maybe I will try to see if I can check out the computers there, God willing.

[Strong Eagle]

really HP? wow i had no idea ,that it is not so good...

anyways my very first notebook was a toshiba brand very reliable..I used for 7 years..which makes it ancient dinasour by the time I retired it.

then later my second one is NEC.. gif me problems after 2 years., but i kept fixing it and lasted for about 5 years.

I was thinking of getting HP brand but some pple did warn me that the brand is "over-rated".

i still like toshiba brand but i the last time i saw it at funan IT mall seems a bit too complex for me..then again this was before i read those IT links you and the others sent me.

Hmm im gg to Funan later after work..maybe I will try to see if I can check out the computers there, God willing.

I have been very satisfied with my HP, purchased June of this year. Fact is, all computer manufacturers buy from a handful of suppliers, and specify various grades, year to year. Dell was sh*t a few years ago, much improved. Ditto for HP.

[Muslima70]

Oic..thanks for sharing...

guess it also depends on one's personal experience...

as for me I am still reading up those links and hopefully i can make a purchase before 2011....which doesn't leave me much time i know.