need help with a lap top

[last real pirate]

My mom's ( disney_princess_mom ) computer got zapped by a pretty nasty virus this morning and wont do anything. :badpc:Since it is kind of old she is going to replace it with a new lap top. She is a school teacher and is looking for something she can use at school and also bring home to work on as well. Neither of us know anything about lap tops and was looking for some advice on picking one out. What is a good brand? :confused:Is a big screen better because you can see more or is a small screen better cause it is light to carry? :confused:Looking for anything that we should make sure to get or stay away from. Thanks for any help and she hopes to be back online soon. She is already going through intercot withdrawls. :crazy:

[DizneyRox]

My mom's ( disney_princess_mom ) computer got zapped by a pretty nasty virus this morning and wont do anything. :badpc:Since it is kind of old she is going to replace it with a new lap top.
For most people, it's probably fine for them. I'm not sure I can recommend getting a new one over ust flattening the old one and starting from scratch. In either case, you're starting from the same point. But, I know that newer is often more fun.


She is a school teacher and is looking for something she can use at school and also bring home to work on as well. Neither of us know anything about lap tops and was looking for some advice on picking one out.
Don't go to Best Buy, they will spin you in circles and you'll end up spending up more than you need to. You need to decide what you want to do with it.


What is a good brand? :confused:

Anything advertised in the Sunday paper as probably junk. I would stay very far away from Acer and other no name bands. I've had good luck with Toshiba, I've heard great things about Sony (although I would never buy one), and I've got a couple Dell machines I'm happy with. I'm my own support so that doesn't pbother me, and actually, any support you get is probably going to just be reinstalling the OS and sending you on your way.

If you want to get away from Microsoft, Apple makes a very nice product, although for the price I just can't seem to bring myself around to picking one up. I'm a business person, so Windows is very important.


Is a big screen better because you can see more or is a small screen better cause it is light to carry? :confused:
My latest Notebook is a 14.1" screen and it's probably the sweet spot for keyboard functionality and weight. I picked mine up through Dell Small Business (I don't own a small business, they just offer different types of laptops in that part of the site). It's very small, easy to carry, has decent battery life, etc. Been very happy with it, I recemmend them highly. Took it on my last vacation and did some basic video editing on it without too much aggrivation, yet still didn't mind lugging it through the airport. It' under 4lbs which makes a huge difference over the 8lbs monstrosity we used to carry around.


Looking for anything that we should make sure to get or stay away from.
Extended warranties are a rip off with the prices of laptops today they are mostly disposable. As I said, most tech support is really just going to tell you to reinstall the OS and then they will send you on your way.

For a laptop, memory seems to be king. Don't settle for less than 2G, especially if you're runing Vista of Win7. Go for 4G if it uses system memory for the video.

I don't think I'd bother with BluRay in a laptop.

I don't know if I'd go for any special type of display. I got an upgraded display on my first laptop, not on the last and I personally like the newer one better.


Thanks for any help and she hopes to be back online soon. She is already going through intercot withdrawls. :crazy:
You're welcome..

FYI - My latest laptop is a Dell Latitude D630. It's an Intel Core2 Duo based machine, runs great like I said.

[MNNHFLTX]

I've got a Toshiba Satellite, with 4 GB RAM and 320 GB Hard Drive and I just love it. It runs fast and quiet. Only two negatives--I wish it had better battery life and the 15.4 display makes the unit just a tad bit too big to be easily totable. If I had it to do over again I think the 14.1 inches screen size might have been a better choice.

The processor is an AMD Turion X2 dual core, which made the laptop a little cheaper than the Intel dual core models, and it runs just fine.

[VWL Mom]

Good luck in your search. If she is interested in a MacBook the Apple site does offer a discount for teachers and school staff.

[Magic Smiles]

I purchased in the summer a Toshiba Special Edition made for Best Buy. We now own 2 Toshiba laptops and love them both. Never had any problems with them. I personally love Best Buy for electronics. We also do buy the extended warranties and have definitely got our monies worth out of them, in regards to DS desktop computer. If you can afford a Mac, go for it. Our next laptop will be a Mac for DS when he enters university next fall. I have heard that Sony's have a high repair rate, but have no first hand experience with Sony's.

[VWL Mom]

Our next laptop will be a Mac for DS when he enters university next fall.

Ours too! I was actually on the Apple site today. I'm thinking of getting it for him at Christmas and making it a combined Christmas/Graduation present. :mickey:

[DisneyAggies]

Dell.
But we're a wee bit biased in this household. ;)