Dell or HP

I didn't like HP in the past, but they have really come around in terms of performance. If you are looking for more gaming or external connections, HP would be my first glance. For something that doesn't need as much flashy stuff I'd go Dell. This is just my initial thoughts without looking at models, of course.

If you want something basic, the Dell Inspiron 15R is a pretty good performer for the price. NOTICE: On the Dell website, you can choose "Home" or you can choose "Small Business". The Small Business section will offer slightly slower (or even the exact same) processor as the Home section, but the Small Business offering will cost much less... sometimes $100 less! When it comes to most end users, they won't know the difference in speed, either.

 

Yeah stick with Dell, I've had about ten of them over the years, only problem is one hard drive failure covered under standard warranty. Had two HP's at work, both failed catastrophically within a year.

 

hp ftw

 

That sound like my brother's and my Dell desktops did. except we had them 2 year and thats what happen but in the course of the two year there was MANY MANY MANY MANY problems. I talking like two a month for each computer. Never had a problem with the macs. Have had them longer then the all the PCs we have had.

 

I think when buying for the wife, the largest things to consider are case design and cost.

Nobody cares if their wife has a ballin laptop or not, and since any processor speed at this point is fast enough for emails/facebook/word docs, you aren't going to need to upgrade her computer for a while, so you might as well get something as durable as possible.

Keeping dust out is a much bigger concern than everybody thinks. If she's going to have this thing for 5 years, that's a lot of dust slowing down your components. It's one of the main reasons Apple uses unibody construction in their laptops. If you want more info on this, ask me. This isn't the place.

That being said, buy a 2008 MacBook Pro refurbished. It's similar in price to a 2010 Dell, and the aluminum unibody construction literally makes the Dell look like a pile of trash.

Case design = durability, dust prevention and overall sex appeal.

 

Good advice perhaps but the Mrs does not want a mac, My son bought an apple desk top and before he hardly had it fired up he tried to partition the drive to run windows on it and had to call apple to walk him through the mess, this kind of scared my wife away from macs

 

That's a pretty sexist statement, bub. I have female friends and relatives who are programmers, heavy gamers, and highly intelligent individuals. I'm related to a woman in her 80s that gets higher 3Dmark scores than I do.

Ha I remember doing stuff like that as a kid. It's why I've got a software job that has an opening pay that rivals my dad's current pay. You need to get one computer for junior and one for the wife. Soon enough he'll be fixing your computers instead of always breaking them.

 

I dont know if your only bound to Dell or HP but another good brand is Lenovo, if its just gonna be for average use like email,web browsing,watching videos online then your may want to consider a netbook or net top. But if your set on Dell or HP then I say go with Dell they have pretty good support when it comes to replacing defective hardware

 

Dell, HP, Compaq, Sony... they all use similar parts so it doesn't matter.

 

Get a MAC and run Parallels if you need window's only applications. You get the best of both worlds!

 

MAC = Overpriced and Over rated. Just get your Wife a Toshiba, or a Sony Vaio. Dell's are decent i have a AlienWare laptop and they are owned by Dell, but i built my Desktop......

 

X2 if it's a bang for your buck buy a Dell I prefer them over Hp most of the hardware is the same I just like to look of the Dell's over the HP's.

Mac's are over rated and way over priced they to have the same hardware the only thing Apple has over PC is the OS the Apple OS is fantastic! but windows 7 has defiantly narrowed the gap between Windows and Apple. I considered Mac because I'm a photographer and Photographers like to be in that "Elite Group" of Mac users but I did a lot of research on Mac & Windows 7 and diced to stick with PC.

 

i own a pc but if i had to do it all over again i would have gotten a mac

macs are more money but less maintenance, i have bought 2 pc's in the time that my brother has bought one mac, hence Ill spend more $$$ on computers than him. pc= piece of crap!

 

Look more at the specs for both. Compare apples to apples, or processor to processor, ram to ram. I personally like whatever my company supplies. Right now its a Dell.

I like Lenovos a little more than Dell, but both better than HP. JMHO

 

dell

 

Dell

 

I've had some really solid Dells, and some that weren't so great, but overall they were worth it. I've owned one that survived 3 falls on concrete and ran like a champ.
HP used to be god awful. The power supplies were faulty and the batteries were basically DOA. As I said earlier, they have come a long way.
Toshiba are more overpriced than Macs. Sony are less expensive, but even more overpriced in terms of what you get.

If the Dell R15 I listed earlier is not powerful enough or you don't like the companies we've listed, Sager is going to be the best choice.

Sager, Alienware, and Voodoo all get their hardware from the same source and just repackage with a different shell and different name. In general, Sager is the first to market with the fastest machines, but they sell at a more reasonable price due to a lesser-known name and their cases are pretty basic (square and black). I used to own one and I have never been more impressed with a laptop as when I first got mine.

For an entry-level model, choose this.

 

Lenovo Thinkpad. I've had a few over the years and am still using a X61s that's 3 years old & I paid $900 for it. They're durable as hell, reliable, and affordable.

For gaming, +1 on Sager. I love 'em.

 

Yes, you're correct and I'm sorry to anyone I've offended. I was second guessing myself as I was typing it.

It is wrong to assume, I know, but on the contrary to both things I've just stated, he did say he was buying a computer for his wife. If he's the one buying it for her, we can assume she doesn't involve herself in any of the activities you listed, as she would likely purchase her own computer if she did.

 

No worries, just sayin'

He might just be in control of the purse strings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ShiCJ5RpKI