I need to buy a laptop

[Jacko]

I sure love my Toshiba portege R835 P56X..very light..very fast..the only down side is poor speakers (due to its thinness I think) and I perhaps should not have gotten 32 bit Windows......with add-on attached speakers when I want good quality music, it may be the best laptop I ever had.

[JimmyMN]

Originally Posted by duffey

Found this Toshiba on sale Looks to have a lot at a good price.This may be the one I've been looking for.

Last week I setup that exact model (purchased from MicroCenter) for a client's daughter starting her first year of college. It's an all around performer with an extremely durable exterior. My only complaints... the touchpad left/right selection buttons are awkward to use (get a mouse) and it doesn't come with Windows7-Pro. The built-in speakers are decent.

For the money, it's a good deal. And... when you spend your money at MicroCenter, it means you're not giving it to those goobers at BestBuy.

Jimmy

[duffey]

Originally Posted by JimmyMN

Last week I setup that exact model (purchased from MicroCenter) for a client's daughter starting her first year of college. It's an all around performer with an extremely durable exterior. My only complaints... the touchpad left/right selection buttons are awkward to use (get a mouse) and it doesn't come with Windows7-Pro. The built-in speakers are decent.

For the money, it's a good deal. And... when you spend your money at MicroCenter, it means you're not giving it to those goobers at BestBuy.

Jimmy

I respect your expertise when it comes to computers.
I prefer to use a mouse anyways.That was a given for me.
I think I will take the plunge this week.


Thanks Jimmy

[JimmyMN]

MicroCenter has fairly aggressive pricing for a retail store. In fact, their instore prices are generally comparable to Amazon, NewEgg, ZipZoomFly, and Buy.Com. We're lucky enough to have one of their stores here in the Twincities but unfortunately they're on the opposite end of town from me. They're cheaper than the warehouse distributors I purchase from and they still carry a good assortment of retro parts. I spend way too much time and money there each week.

Jimmy

[queencityfan]

So, totally not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to computers.

I use my desktop at work and a laptop at home for the basics and work related excel and word.

I want to buy something to travel with that will just be used for E-mail, FB, etc..... I have a Blackberry but it's crazy expensive to use it for internet purposes once I'm out of the US.

So, do I look at tablets? Netbooks? I would just be hooking up to WiFI at my hotel etc.. What? Any specific suggestions would be great appreciated!

Needless to say, I want to pay as little as possible since I won't be using it for anything complicated.

Thanks all

[mexisv]

Originally Posted by queencityfan

So, totally not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to computers.

I use my desktop at work and a laptop at home for the basics and work related excel and word.

I want to buy something to travel with that will just be used for E-mail, FB, etc..... I have a Blackberry but it's crazy expensive to use it for internet purposes once I'm out of the US.

So, do I look at tablets? Netbooks? I would just be hooking up to WiFI at my hotel etc.. What? Any specific suggestions would be great appreciated!

Needless to say, I want to pay as little as possible since I won't be using it for anything complicated.

Thanks all

Sharon, I too am not the sharpest knife when it comes to computers. But i would think the best and cheapest would be a net book, around $200.00. But probably slower than your laptop at home. For emails and such I would think okay. If you would want to do more such as Excel I believe you would need a small laptop. I think tablets are crazy espensive for what you want to use it for. Neat though.

[roni]

For me the issue with the iPad is not its cost, not at all. I love that it does most of what I need to do on the road and it is so freaking light, small and the battery life is 10 hours. It is versatile.

It is an iPad 1 that we bought before our trip to Mexico last November. The laptop stays in the office on most of my business trips now. I would never pull my laptop out on my commute to the office (about 30 minutes), I always pull out my iPad, surf the web or read books or look at photos of our trips to Mexico .

That said, if it will not do what you want it to, there is not much point of getting one. It sounds like an iPad will do what you want it to.

There are also Android tablets, but I would be careful with them. An article yesterday revealed that most mobile device malware attacks are aimed at the Android OS, and there have been cases of apps showing up in the Android Marketplace with malware embedded in them.

Good luck with your purchase decision!!

[MN Annie]

Jimmy, my daughter needs to buy a new laptop. She can go to MicroCenter on Monday to buy it. She will be using it for on-line grad classes. What do you suggest she buys?

Also, when I travel, I take the Acer Aspire One from work to keep up on email. It works great for that! For everyday web surfing, it is a bit small.

[JimmyMN]

Originally Posted by MN Annie

Jimmy, my daughter needs to buy a new laptop. She can go to MicroCenter on Monday to buy it. She will be using it for on-line grad classes. What do you suggest she buys?

MicroCenter carries Toshiba and Acer, either of which I'd recommend. Although they carry some Dell laptop models, I'd recommend buying them through Dell's Outlet Store where you can opt for their 3yr warranty. As for other laptops from MicroCenter, I'd pass on anything from HP/Compaq, Sony, E-Machine or Samsung.

As for your daughter, I think she'd be happy with the Toshiba mentioned a few posts back.

Jimmy

[James A.]

Originally Posted by queencityfan

I want to buy something to travel with that will just be used for E-mail, FB, etc..... So, do I look at tablets? Netbooks? I would just be hooking up to WiFI at my hotel etc.. What? Any specific suggestions would be great appreciated!

Easy...iPad. Does all of that exceptionally well and more.

[duffey]

Originally Posted by duffey

Found this Toshiba on sale Looks to have a lot at a good price.This may be the one I've been looking for.


Take a Tour
L755-S5258

I took the plunge last night.

Purchased this exact laptop from Toshiba Direct for $ 575 includes tax and free shipping.The model numbers are different through Micro Center only because it's a retail model but the specs are identical. They tossed in a free carrying case also.Toshiba had a 48 hr sale that expired last night.I believe Micro Center still has this one on sale for a few bucks more. Nevertheless it's still a good price.

[patfstich]

Originally Posted by Rissask

All I know is we have a Toshiba and it has been great. It was about $700.


And it has Vista, and we have had no problems at all with it.

Even though you'll get all the Apple guys in here saying don't buy Vista.

We have a Toshiba Satellite and love it.

[kathy.web]

Originally Posted by queencityfan

So, totally not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to computers.

I use my desktop at work and a laptop at home for the basics and work related excel and word.

I want to buy something to travel with that will just be used for E-mail, FB, etc..... I have a Blackberry but it's crazy expensive to use it for internet purposes once I'm out of the US.

So, do I look at tablets? Netbooks? I would just be hooking up to WiFI at my hotel etc.. What? Any specific suggestions would be great appreciated!

Needless to say, I want to pay as little as possible since I won't be using it for anything complicated.

Thanks all

I turn the data roaming off on my iphone and do email and FB for free in MX as long as I have a wifi connection. Is that possible on a Blackberry?

My netbook has become obsolete.

A big plus for the ipad is that it doesn't have to come out of your bag in airport security.

[queencityfan]

Originally Posted by kathy.web

I turn the data roaming off on my iphone and do email and FB for free in MX as long as I have a wifi connection. Is that possible on a Blackberry?

My netbook has become obsolete.

A big plus for the ipad is that it doesn't have to come out of your bag in airport security.

I have read so many horror stories about huge cell bills that I'm afraid to chance doing something wrong! So, how much ya want for that obselete notebook?

[duffey]

Originally Posted by duffey

I took the plunge last night.

Purchased this exact laptop from Toshiba Direct for $ 575 includes tax and free shipping.The model numbers are different through Micro Center only because it's a retail model but the specs are identical. They tossed in a free carrying case also.Toshiba had a 48 hr sale that expired last night.I believe Micro Center still has this one on sale for a few bucks more. Nevertheless it's still a good price.

I'm waiting for this laptop to arrive.I have a question.
With my desktop I currently have it's running Windows XP . I receive my e-mail into Outlook Express thru Charter ( my IP ) I also have a Gmail account. Is there a way to get Outlook e-mails that arrive thru my desktop to also arrive to the new laptop.Or do I have to pick up the e-mails thru the IP provider which is Charter ?

Hope that makes sense.