laptop advice

A buddy is looking to buy his wife a laptop and calls me for advice...welp, I've never owned one so I'm not much help for him. He's had some friends recommend HP and toshiba. He would like to stick with a $500 dollar budget. It will be used for typical stuff...email, Facebook, general surfing and she will need to be able to use it to work from home occasionally. Doesn't need to be feature laden, just simple and reliable. Help me help him out and make sure he doesn't buy a turd. What say you?

Also, he's telling me he was looking at some Verizon mobile hotspot thingy for internet connection....I think he should go broadband with his cable company. Thoughts, experience, opinions on this?

TYIA

 

Aspire is around that budget.

 

any experience with them?

 

From what you've said so far, any lap top out there nowadays would handle all of that no problem. He can find a decent one for well under $300. My grandmother told my mother she wanted to get a lap top pc computer to go on space book.. We got her a $300 15.4" Toshiba at BestBuy and it has more than she will ever need, and sounds like plenty for your friend as well.

To help your friend narrow it down, start with size, does he want a 17" computer he's going to have to lug around or something more portable with a smaller screen like a 13, 14 or 15 inch. How long of a battery life does he need, that kinda stuff. Sounds like he won't need much file storage, so the run of the mill 160-300 gigabyte hard drive will be fine. Even 1 gigabyte of RAM and a 1.8 gigahertz processor will work for what he wants to do. Go down to your local Bestbuy and find the most pimple faced kid in the computer section. Tell him that you're in the market for a laptop and that you want to "surf the internet" and are on a budget, look over the laptops, find one you like, then tell him you're going to think about it. If you saw one your friend likes, go online and see if you can get it for a better price, if he wants it right then, tell him to go ahead and make the purchase.

As far as any broadband card goes, that's up to him.

 

I just got this Sony Vaio, it's my second one and by far my favorite laptop that I've owned (2 Vaios, 1 HP). Great comp and fast!!

 

CHeck out bestbuy http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...lack/1552571.p?id=1218268438309&skuId=1552571
This is a good price on a nice Toshiba that should be fairly up to date for some time. Has the newest I3 Pentium processor and plenty of ram/memory.

Or this HP http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+La...lver/1572092.p?id=1218270208589&skuId=1572092

For $429 it is plenty fast and has HDMI output. If your buddy has a nice HD tv he could plug the laptop in and stream movies or Tv shows to his set.

 

Tell him to go with an Android phone (like a DroidX) from Verizon and get the cheapest unlimited data plan. With a bit of know how he could unlock the phone and turn it into a wifi router that would wireless connect up to 5 devices for his house. I would only do this if he is in a high/good reception area for Verizon, but they already have the best coverage in the US. No need to pay for a home internet service if your already paying for internet on your phone.

 

At work we only use Lenovo, Toshiba, or Dell laptops. We do not - DO NOT - use HPs. Almost all of the laptops are made from the same basic parts; just screwed to different frames. Lenovo, Toshiba, and Dell are all really easy to deal with if you have a warranty situation. HP has always been a nightmare. I cannot recommened HP to anyone I like or don't want mad at me.

 

I like my ASUS.

 

The most inexpensive and most reliable (next to Apple) laptop that we have currently is the Asus K52F-BBR5 (SKU 1257145).

It's going to be great for what he will be doing on the computer. Can't really beat that. HP currently has one with similar specs with an AMD CPU and in a 14".

But, skip the HP and get the Asus if he still can. They're discontinuing it.

 

Slow, and data/voice gets interrupted when call comes in and vice versa.

 

I've not been impressed with Sony. Some of the models (mostly the older ones) are hell to work on. We use Dells at work and they are very nice but they are top of the line and fastest processors every time they buy us new ones.

Tell your bud to look for something with an Intel Core I3 or I5. The I3 should be able to be found around $500 if you look hard enough. If he digs around long enough he might be able to find a nice laptop with an I5 processor sub $600 range. Get at least 4GB of RAM and a hard drive at least 320GB (5400RPM is fairly standard but if you can find one with a 7200RPM drive all the better). My wife and I bought her sister a Dell laptop with an I3 for an early birthday/christmas present and it's a very peppy laptop. IIRC it was less than $500 but that was around April.

For the mobile hotspot thing I've no clue on that. Never used one. Cable internet will no doubt be faster though and probably cheaper.

 

I've just purchased a iPad, I have a desk top, a Dell, a laptop, a Toshiba. I know it's not a true computer, but it's great for sitting and watching TV, surfing checking email etc. I've only had it a few days, but so far I love it..

 

Acer would be the first laptop I'd own besides an Apple. Good hardware and your not paying for a computer to have the dell or hp logo on it.

 

All my parents use in the Civil service are Dells. Never had a problem with them, and they are a great company to work with.

 

I think the OP is talking about something like this

I have used an older model Sprint device that is sort of like this for work. It couldn't hold a candle to home internet, but it did work great for on-the-job and could be faster than hotel internet.

I would not advise getting it though.
-it's $270 for the device (not sure if there's an option to lease?)
-a $50 plan caps at 10GB with a speed of 1.4Mbps
-typically supports 5 devices
-2 year commitment

Home internet has no cap with a speed of 10Mbps or so, and can support as many devices as you would like.

If you need the mobility, Clear Wireless might have better options.

 

I've had an aspire 1412 for over a year now...no complaints. I carry it around without a case and it gets beat up on. It's very powerful too and the HDMI out is a nice feature for watching hulu on the big screen.

If my roommate didn't need such a fast connection, I'd just cancel my home connection and tether on my EVO. I get 8 mb/s and sprint doesn't cap their 4g.