Notebook advice for a parent

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Quattro Pete

Quattro Pete

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Mother wants to buy herself a notebook for basic web browsing, email, music listening, and viewing photos. She's asking me if this HP one will be OK.

Sorry, it's not in English, but you can see the basic specs. It has an iCore3-330M CPU with 3GB RAM.


I told her that it'll be just fine, but also suggested she looks at this Lenovo one which costs about the same but has iCore5-450M CPU with 4GB RAM and 64-bit Win7. It comes with a 2-year warranty (vs. 1 year on the HP).

For the most part, she won't be running around with it, so weight isn't really an issue.

Any thoughts about these two?
 
I prefer the Lenovo.

I had the same debate when buying my mom a laptop last Christmas. I hate the HP touchpad. They are shiny and the finger sticks to it.

The lenovo had a textured trackpad, and it's easily the best trackpad I've ever used.

It doesn't look like that HP has the "shiny" trackpad - but FWIW I prefer Lenovo laptops.
 
Neither. I'd go Toshiba or Asus. They have the lowest 18 month hardware failure rate. And Toshiba especially is priced pretty well for what you get within a given model/segment.
 
Got our daughter a Toshiba a year ago and it's been trouble-free. My work laptop is a Dell and has already had the motherboard replaced.
 
I'm avoiding HP laptops after having two develop serious problems, along with frequent replacement of the power supplies and repairs of minor glitches along the way. By contrast, my 4-year old Toshiba is still going strong with no problems in that time. I have also read good things about Asus, but have no first-hand experience with one. If mother isn't carrying the thing around you can get a lot more power etc. in a desktop that will be much more reliable and cheaper to repair if something does break. The bigger screen is much nicer for old eyes (I know!).
 
Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
The bigger screen is much nicer for old eyes (I know!).


I second. I'd also recommend an "old-style" matte screen. Also much nicer on the eyes, at any age. I really hate all the reflections on the glossy screens...who's idea was that?
 
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
The bigger screen is much nicer for old eyes (I know!).


I second. I'd also recommend an "old-style" matte screen. Also much nicer on the eyes, at any age. I really hate all the reflections on the glossy screens...who's idea was that?


Excellent question. The netbook and laptop that I've bought recently both have the glossy reflective types and pretty well anyplace but a dark room, you have to bump up the backlight and still deal with the reflections.

There goes battery life and still have issues with seeing the screen.
33.gif


Why have they gone to that? My Dells that I've had over the years (incl the one work provides) have matte screens. I sure like those much better over the glossy.
 
I just went through this little wile ago and the guy's here recommended Asus so thats what i went with and so far so good.

my self i would look for a little stronger processor like a i5 and at least 2.5GHz you never know how you'll be using it in the future.
 
I believe the glossy screens are to give color images more "pop," just like you'll see on photography books and calendars. They all use glossy paper for the same reason. A matte screen will not be quite as sharp looking and the colors won't look quite as vivid. You'll notice that the Kindle uses a very matte screen, which eliminates glare, requires almost no power, and makes plain black & white type easy to read. But, a movie would look lousy on a KIndle screen. Again, this is an argument for going with a desktop as you have a huge variety of screens to choose from and it is much easier to find something you like.

I was in a WM the other day trying to operate the credit card reader and the glare was so bad that I had to squat way down to see anything on the screen. I was thinking to myself what a lousy set up. When I looked up the clerk was laughing at me--she said the screen was adjusted for the previous customer who was in a wheelchair.
 
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Originally Posted By: ET16
How about an ipad?


That's not a real computer, you can't run flash on it.

I got my mom a Dell Lattitude E series, good quality construction and still fast enough. She's tough on the car so I figure she'll be tough on computer as well.
 
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Flash is a thing of the past. dying rapidly.

For Windows notebook, I've had nothing but trouble with HP and Dell. Lots of good Toshibas.

But there is nothing better than a Mac, and the touch pad keeps you from ever thinking about plugging in a mouse.

The Ipad is great for a lot of things, but no camera (yet), and typing is weird. I use mine when I'm not near my Mac Book Pro, want to navigate a little, read books, play games or animated books with the grandkids. My 5 yr old granddaughter has told every Santa in Virginia she "has to have an Ipad" She also send Santa a card: "Isabelle has to have an Ipad".
 
Originally Posted By: widman
Flash is a thing of the past. dying rapidly.


Try booking a plane ticket without it. I just tried over the last several days, no luck.

If you have a computer to go back to when these incompatibility happen, that's all good. However if iPad is going to be the only computer, you're hosed.
 
Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
I believe the glossy screens are to give color images more "pop," just like you'll see on photography books and calendars. They all use glossy paper for the same reason. A matte screen will not be quite as sharp looking and the colors won't look quite as vivid.


Yea, that part I understand from my photography experience. However, there are other considerations, particularly in a mobile environment. For instance, what happens to color fidelity, saturation & sharpness when you're outdoors, you see the reflection of your light-colored shirt in the screen and the image is awash in glare & reflections?

It must be cheaper to use glossy screens, as most manufacturers will cut corners anywhere-they-can.

I called Apple years ago and said the new glossy screens were a deal killer for me. When were they going to offer a matte option? The kid on the other end said something about 'we don't hear much about reflections' or 'people don't seem to be bothered with it'. I replied I'm old enough to remember when the Apple stores all had exposed flourescent lighting in the ceilings. They added diffusers on all their fixtures, in all their stores, once they made the switch to glossy screens. If it wasn't a big deal, Apple never would have spent all that money. He didn't have a reply...

Just my two cents....and change!
 
We found a Toshiba Satellite Pro L670-1EC. It has Core i5-460M 2.53GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 video card, 17.3" matte screen and a 3-year warranty. She's probably going to get that.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
We found a Toshiba Satellite Pro L670-1EC. It has Core i5-460M 2.53GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 video card, 17.3" matte screen and a 3-year warranty. She's probably going to get that.



Apparently the Pro series are alright.
I wouldn't touch a Toshiba laptop with a 10 foot pole generally, but I've talked with one of the guys at the Toshiba dealer where I buy other things, and he says those are the only thing that doesn't come back regularly.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
We found a Toshiba Satellite Pro L670-1EC. It has Core i5-460M 2.53GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 video card, 17.3" matte screen and a 3-year warranty. She's probably going to get that.



Seems like a good choice, 17" matte that doesn't move around much is good, 3 year warranty is excellent.
 
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