New Laptop(s)

[canuckfan77]

We are home schooling and need some new hardware.

What should I be looking for?

I was thinking minimum 750 gb with 8mb RAM

I know a lot of people say mac is best but for the price of a macbook I can get 2 laptops

Please tell me what you like and why, hoping to get some quality laptops that will last 3 yrs or so and not want to throw it off my deck :toast:

I know this has been covered before, so please forgive me :0008

 

[The Joker]

hoping to get some quality laptops that will last 3 yrs or so and not want to throw it off my deck :toast:

This is why you buy a Mac and not a Shitty Dell.

Now, if all you are doing is using a web browser, every old man doing just that will say "durrr....I had my HP and....drrrrr.....it's been running fine for 99 years."


If that is what these kids are doing.....surfing the web etc.....then yeah, by all means. Get them a regular ol' laptop.

But if these kids are using software, creating things and whatnot - do them a favor a buy th?m a MacBook Pro. If they need more than one and you're on a budget - two PC laptops will do but expect to replace them in 3 years.

Please stay the fuck away from windows piece of shit 8.

A laptop company just reintroduced Windows 7. Fir the love of all that is holy - do that if you don't do the MacBook.

In 5 years the Mac will be signing like a hummingbird. The PC will be choking on its own shit.



Good luck.

Josh will be by soon.

 

[LuvThemDogs]

This is why you buy a Mac and not a Shitty Dell.

Now, if all you are doing is using a web browser, every old man doing just that will say "durrr....I had my HP and....drrrrr.....it's been running fine for 99 years."


If that is what these kids are doing.....surfing the web etc.....then yeah, by all means. Get them a regular ol' laptop.

But if these kids are using software, creating things and whatnot - do them a favor a buy th?m a MacBook Pro. If they need more than one and you're on a budget - two PC laptops will do but expect to replace them in 3 years.

Please stay the fuck away from windows piece of shit 8.

A laptop company just reintroduced Windows 7. Fir the love of all that is holy - do that if you don't do the MacBook.

In 5 years the Mac will be signing like a hummingbird. The PC will be choking on its own shit.



Good luck.

Josh will be by soon.

Good advice. Macs don't need an assload of spy software and antivirus crap. I've never had to buy any of that for my Macbooks. Anything graphic intensive and speed wise, go with a Mac. Spend money getting ram and don't get all the other bells and whistles. Get an external hard drive, save yourself money there, get a 13 in. monitor, save money there and you should have a reasonably priced Macbook Pro. In Feb they should have the 2014 releases....Students get a $200 discount if you buy from Apple. I've gotten great prices for mine on Ebay. Yes, I know the risks, but there are a lot of new ones that people list on there. If you know what you're doing on Ebay, you can get one at a great price. Good luck....

Oh. ANd. There is no better customer service and tech support than what you get at the Apple store. That's worth it alone.

 

[kickserv]

What Joker said.






MACS rule.

 

[canuckfan77]

Thanks guys :0008

I need 2 and we are on a budget, otherwise it probably wouldn't be much of a debate :toast:

They will be mostly used for some online courses and video chatting with their teachers.

I think I had heard before that Asus is decent :shrug:

 

[The Boys]

Thanks guys :0008

I need 2 and we are on a budget, otherwise it probably wouldn't be much of a debate :toast:

They will be mostly used for some online courses and video chatting with their teachers.

I think I had heard before that Asus is decent :shrug:

While doing my weekly walk thru at my neighborhood Costco a few weeks ago I noticed a 10.5 inch screen Acer Aspire on display for $250 so I picked one up. I consider it a throw away if it dies on me. Costco has a 90 no questions asked and a one year fix it for free quarantee. Yes this the same Costco that took my Vizio back and replaced it with a new one after 5 years.

 

[JOSHNAUDI]

Pressed for time through the end of the month but I would recommend the i7 pentium processor as well.

500 gb of hd space should be enough but it is so cheap you might find a TB at the same price.

I own and have owned Toshiba's - Some people are not fans but I have not had problems with mine/ours.

I would not buy a Dell - I work on Dells more than any other brand - Not a fan of HP's either.

Last decision you need to make is whether you want to get touch screen or not

price difference will be about a hundred dollars

Below
This is from office depot - The prices are pretty good for the specs - being after Xmas you might want to shop around and see if there are any better deals. I would be surprised if you found one new under $500 - What ever you do - please let me know which direction you went and how it works out so I can use that info next time someone asks

Toshiba i7 750gb hd w/ 8 Ram - $599 -
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/419357/Toshiba-Satellite-S55-A5294-Laptop-Computer/

Toshiba i7 750gb hd w/ 8 Ram - Touch Screen - $699 -
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/257735/Toshiba-Satellite-S55t-A5389-Laptop-Computer/

 

[marine]

for the kids, 8gb of RAM might be overkill. They would be fine with 4GB of RAM, in my opinion.
I'd recommend going with the bigger 17inch screen laptop just to make it easier on their eyes if they are going to be reading and using it a lot.

 

[hammer1]

Thanks guys :0008

I need 2 and we are on a budget, otherwise it probably wouldn't be much of a debate :toast:

They will be mostly used for some online courses and video chatting with their teachers.

I think I had heard before that Asus is decent :shrug:

I know u said laptop but u can get a Mini Mac desk top for $600 bucks $500 refurb sometimes from apple.

I have 2 that are 5 years old and one i has a hard drive issue..but else i am an apple convert.

My laptops are HP 17 inch screens and i got em refurb for $400 I-5?both still running fine. 2 and 4 years old.

 

[canuckfan77]

Thanks for your suggestions guys :0008

They do need to be laptops though :toast:

 

[canuckfan77]

Ok, I got some more info. We can use some of our home school funds for the computers, but they will only buy direct from dell or apple. So apple it is........

So my last question is this, how much better is the i7 than the i5? Is it worth the extra 150 + tax to upgrade to the i7?

I am also going to contact apple to see if they have any refurbished macbooks and what the price difference is.

With educational pricing I am looking at the 13" with 4gb ram and 500mb hard drive and i5 processor and super drive for 1000 + tax

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate it :0008

 

[The Joker]

Ok, I got some more info. We can use some of our home school funds for the computers, but they will only buy direct from dell or apple. So apple it is........

So my last question is this, how much better is the i7 than the i5? Is it worth the extra 150 + tax to upgrade to the i7?

I am also going to contact apple to see if they have any refurbished macbooks and what the price difference is.

With educational pricing I am looking at the 13" with 4gb ram and 500mb hard drive and i5 processor and super drive for 1000 + tax

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate it :0008

Canuck, please do whatever you can to go above and beyond a 13".
15" is okay but 17" is what you really want.

If you HAVE to have a laptop so be it. But a desktop would serve you better here.

Worst case is get the 13" and use a cable to connect it to a bigger TV or monitor or something....

 

[gardenweasel]

Canuck, please do whatever you can to go above and beyond a 13".
15" is okay but 17" is what you really want.

If you HAVE to have a laptop so be it. But a desktop would serve you better here.

Worst case is get the 13" and use a cable to connect it to a bigger TV or monitor or something....

if you go 13",shoot over to amazon and order yourself a "blue rigger" hdmi cable so you can hook up to a bigger screen t.v....shit is hard on the eyes(even young ones)...i have 50 and 35 foot blue rigger hdmi cables and don`t notice any diminution of signal on either....they`re cheaper and better quality than you`ll find at a brick and mortar store(at least from my experience)...

g.l. with the home schooling....i would think hooking up to a t.v. would make it much easier for the child and your wife(or whomever is doing the teaching)to view and interact with their work materials....:toast:

 

[JOSHNAUDI]

The i5 processor will be fine

If you find a link to what you are looking at, you can post it here so I/we can look at the specs

*** Maybe some of these guys that have Dells have had better luck - I know they will be a lot cheaper than Apples price wise.

 

[The Joker]

if you go 13",shoot over to amazon and order yourself a "blue rigger" hdmi cable so you can hook up to a bigger screen t.v....shit is hard on the eyes(even young ones)...i have 50 and 35 foot blue rigger hdmi cables and don`t notice any diminution of signal on either....they`re cheaper and better quality than you`ll find at a brick and mortar store(at least from my experience)...

g.l. with the home schooling....i would think hooking up to a t.v. would make it much easier for the child and your wife(or whomever is doing the teaching)to view and interact with their work materials....:toast:

I can't agree with you more on Blue Rigger. My entire home theater is set up with it.:0074:0074:0074

 

[canuckfan77]

Josh I was thinking something along these lines...

http://www.dell.com/ca/p/inspiron-15r-5537/pd?oc=ni15romsh_btw7_s1175e&model_id=inspiron-15r-5537

 

[JOSHNAUDI]

Josh I was thinking something along these lines...

http://www.dell.com/ca/p/inspiron-15r-5537/pd?oc=ni15romsh_btw7_s1175e&model_id=inspiron-15r-5537

That's a good computer and one that I would recommend to a business person.

High end processor and 8 gb of ram would allow for quite a bit of multi tasking.

Windows 7 is more business friendly - Windows 8 has the smart phone design. The youngsters would probably prefer Windows 8 and letting them learn the ends and outs of the new operating system may allow you to have your own, computer helpers, when you get a new win8 computer for yourself.

It has an HDMI port so it will easily connect to a new monitor or tv. Also 4 usb drives is nice

but...

For school purposes - try this one - http://www.dell.com/ca/p/inspiron-17r-5737/pd?oc=ni17romsh_bt_h511e&model_id=inspiron-17r-5737

Go to the i5 with 6gb of ram and cut the hard drive in half - Save the $150 plus you get the bigger screen. same hdmi and usb ports. This will still be a fast computer.

I also think that you could go to a 4gb ram like Marine said, but the one up above isn't bad.

 

[canuckfan77]

Thanks Josh, waiting for a reply on educational pricing :toast:

 

[canuckfan77]

No pricing leeway on Insprion, but there is on XPS and Latitude.

Taking a look now

 

[JOSHNAUDI]

:toast::toast::toast:

Let me know how you/they like it and I'll file that away in my recommendation bank