Laptop advice, please

[monkey]

A friend of mind is looking to buy a new laptop. She has not had a computer before and is just looking for something to surf the internet with, play a few games, etc. She does not want to spend alot of money. I told her I would take her shopping Monday or Tuesday. What do you suggest she buy?

[Kahlua Kid]

has not had a computer before and is just looking for something to surf the internet with, play a few games, etc. She does not want to spend alot of money. I told her I would take her shopping Monday or Tuesday. What do you suggest she buy?

I have no idea, but Newcomer probably does -he's our family's computer guru!

[Yosemite_Wolf]

All I can say is: just don't go too cheap cos it won't last.
The "e machines" are disposible crap. Gateway has some good puters, as does Dell. (I prefer Gateway). but thats all I know. (OfficeDepot sells Gateways).

[MadScot]

Circuit city has a pretty good deal on a toshiba
Toshiba notebook (http://circuitcity.com/ssm/Toshiba-Satellite-15-4-Widescreen-Notebook-PC-A135-S4407/sem/rpsm/oid/170891/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do)

$650 after rebates
It's got a 100meg HD,1 gig of ram and comes with a printer not bad for the price. If they really have them in stock. Circuit city does a lot of lost leaders.
Make sure whatever you get has 1 gig of ram.

[Nascar8Fan]

I would recommend Toshiba. I have worked with them for over 15 years and never have had any major problems with them (I am talking over 50 or so Toshiba laptops over the years with my company). The Satellite version is the least expensive of the models and they are good. The Tecra's are a step above but I don't know if your friend needs that level. If they are on sale, it would be a good investment though. Go to www.shoptoshiba.com (http://www.shoptoshiba.com) and check them out there. They have rebates online as well. http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/happy.gif

[Yosemite_Wolf]

Toshiba does make good lappies. Toshiba was one of my first lappies (man, i think it was a Pentium 1!!!!!!). verra verra nice too.

[MadScot]

Having been in the computer repair business a long time I found Toshiba and Sony the most reliable. Problem with Sony is your paying too much for the name. Compaq/HP have a lot of battery problems I'd stay away from them. Gateway and Dell made a better product a few years back they have declined somewhat recently.

[Yosemite_Wolf]

Gateway is still a step up from Dell. My next lappie will be a gateway.

[DMK]

Originally posted by monkey:
A friend of mind is looking to buy a new laptop. She has not had a computer before and is just looking for something to surf the internet with, play a few games, etc. She does not want to spend alot of money. I told her I would take her shopping Monday or Tuesday. What do you suggest she buy?


I'd go with a hp ( Hewlett Packard ). They are easy to set up and easy to use. I just got a nice hp computer at Best Buy for a very fair price.

[monkey]

Thanks for all your advice. We are going shopping today.

[Sandman]

I love my Toshiba laptop. It's the second one I've owned. I hope you found something good.

[monkey]

Yep, got a Toahiba. It was quite comical. Office Max had one on sale in the Sunday paper, so we went there first. They were out of stock, so we went next door to Circuit City and asked if they price matched, which they do. So, I said, I want this one. They went in the back and called Office Max and when they found out they were out of stock, they said they didn't have to honor the sale price. So, back to Office Max we went and had them find one at an Office Max in Selma which I had them place on hold for me. Back to Circuit City, where I had them call Selma to confirm that Selma had one holding for me and they reluctantly agreed to give us the sale price. Then, I hit them up for a $60.00 discount that Office Max had on a printer if it was bought with any laptop or desktop. The guy rolled his eyes, but gave it to us. So, I called Selma and told them to release the hold on the one they were holding. When we were walking to the register, I asked if there was a discount for paying cash. http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/laugh.gif It took some work, but we got a great deal on a good laptop and only paid $20.00 for a printer to go with it.