Time for a new lap-top...advice please!

[beksy]

I graduated from law school and after a year of use before school and three years of abuse in school, my computer has just about had it. I am constantly hitting control-alt-delete to get it unfrozen and the blue screens are killing me! My parents are going to get me a new laptop as a graduation present but I am not sure what kind to get. I have a Dell now and it has given me a lot of problems so I am thinking of going with a different brand. Any ideas? Also, I don't really know what specifications to look for when it comes to Ram, etc. I don't use it for gaming and only occassionally watch a movie on it so mainly but I do store a lot of photos, use the internet, Word, etc. What would you suggest looking at as I am searching? TIA!

[DizneyRox]

I have nothing but good things to say about my Dell. I would probably say that your problems are related to malware or viruses than the hardware.

Reformatting the drive and installing Windows 7 is probably all you need frankly, however that will run you about a third of what you will probably spend on a new one.

Laptops are NOT a good storage device for photos. Drive space is usually limited as opposed to desktop drives, but neither should be used for long term storage, so invest in a backup solution at some point would be another piece of advice.

Now, to answer your question... You really can't go wrong with any that are out there for your use. I've found that a 14" screen is a sweet spot for laptops. Their size usually makes them pretty portable and the CPU in them are more than capable. Stay away from a desktop replacement which I consider anything larger than a 15" screen. They are heavy, which makes them not a laptop.

I'd go for either a bluray drive with DVD burning capabilities (for backup) or spring for the bluray burner outright. 4gigs (or 9gigs if you go dual layer) in pictures goes real fast. Being able to burn 25gigs or 50gigs at a time is really nice.

And then also look at HDMI out. Being able to plug that into a TV for real movie watching is nice.

4gigs of memory is pretty standard. If the onboard video card doesn't have it's own dedicated memory though, it will use some of the system memory, and that's not a great solution. Graphics memory is usually much faster than system memory, and you can use all the memory you can muster for photo editing.

[kakn7294]

Whatever you get, make sure that the plastic shell is sturdy, especially around the LCD screen. We have all HP / Compaq and until recently, I've nothing but good things to say. However, my daughter's shell cracked around the LCD screen where she pushed up on the lid to open the laptop. That led to a cracked LCD screen which led to a $350 repair bill on a 4 month old laptop because they said it's accidental damage and not covered under warranty. They will not let me speak to a manager or the service technician directly to fight the charge and the only recourse I have is to write an actual pen and paper letter to their corporate complaint department. We had touch screen Dell's at work and I hated them. They quit working almost immediately and were gone from the unit within 6 months. However, they did seem sturdy and took a lot of physical abuse.

[Reedy Creek Buccaneer]

Time to buy a Apple!!!!! Once you switch you will never go back!

[SBETigg]

Time to buy a Apple!!!!! Once you switch you will never go back!

So true! I love my macbook pro. I never thought I would be a mac user, and as soon as I switched, I was hooked. Previously, I had Dells because my husband had a Dell connection. I went through Dell after Dell after Dell- and it wasn't a malware or virus problem. It was a fan-overheating problem that was persistent in every model I had, and is a problem with Dell in general from what I've heard from other people. Now I would go for anything but Dell. But I do love Apple.

[brivers222]

Time to buy a Apple!!!!! Once you switch you will never go back!

Being a die hard PC user for almost 18 years yeah i can say this is definetly true...

My fiancee got me to go apple after i kept getting viruses on my PC.... now i am 100% apple all the way.

Macbook, iPod and iPhone... and i couldn't be happier :)

[Magic Smiles]

I have a Toshiba laptop, but got to use my son's Mac Pro on our past vacation. What a difference. Apple is the way to go!

[rjmdds]

Time to buy a Apple!!!!! Once you switch you will never go back!

This is a fact. I was a die-hard Dell user for 15 years and have finally switched. I am in the process of completely converting over. Everything is seamless with Apple. It is truly amazing.