With so many out there with all kinds of different bells and whistles, and everyone is always running a special somewhere on them, I can fully appreciate how difficult it would be to pick out the “perfect one” to suit your needs. So I’ll give you a few pointers but it will come down to what kind of deal you can get at the point in time you go shopping.
Ultimately you need to decide what YOU want/need. Including functionality vs price. Keep in mind I wrote this with the idea that the laptop is not going to be the sole computer in the house and that there is a desktop involved somewhere. Because of the nature of the laptop I would not buy a laptop to be my only computer. I would have a good desktop to run the heavy computing programs like adobe photoshop and such.
If you need a high end laptop for portability and power this is not for you.
So here we go.
Rule number 1. Laptops are disposable. In most cases when they go bad they will cost more to fix then they are worth. It is better to buy a cheap laptop that you don’t mind throwing out when it comes time to upgrade or if you drop it. (Chances are you will drop it, Spill something on it, etc.) Over all Laptops were not designed to be the desktop. They are designed to be portable. Portable = higher risk of damage.
Hardware specs. More is better. But don’t go overboard.
Keep rule 1 in mind.
But if it does last a long time because you took good care of it you don’t want it to be obsolete by the time you cut the tape off the box
RAM – no less then 1Gb. 2 or 3 Gb is preferable. By the time you run out of room with 3gb you might be looking at upgrading the whole computer… 4Gb might be pushing it too much now.
If it is not much more then certainly go higher.
Spending more here is a worth while investment. This will keep the computer ahead of new technology to come, longer.
Hard drive – unless she plans on putting a lot of music and such on it you don’t need to go overboard on a hard drive. 60- 100GB. A lot of notes from school and reports and research and all these ‘text documents’ do NOT take up a lot of room. Do not be fooled by thinking you need a big hard drive…. Most of the time you will be wasting your money.
Invest in an external drive and/or use the DVD burner to back stuff up!!!!
If you do want to put music and movies on it (and I mean save it on the computer not just pop in a dvd or cd in the dvd slot and watch it!!) Music and movies will require a lot of HD space. (250GB would be good.)
Keep in mind you still need to back it all up.
Screen – This is a “Coolness” factor part. Most laptops have decent screens! But the better it looks the longer you will be happy with it.
IMO - remember rule 1- any screen will do.
Sacrifice here to spend more on Ram or Processor if need be.
Processor – no less then dual core! No less then 1.8 Ghz.
This is another area where you should spend more to keep the laptop ahead of the new technology to come and keep you happy with it longer.
DVD Drive – more the better but don’t think you need “Light Scribe” or “Dual Layer”… Look for DVD R +/- /RW+/-.
Light scribe and Dual layer require special DVD discs… you can use normal discs in them but to use the functionality of Light Scribe or dual layer you need to buy those special discs.
Software. This is an important part mainly for this reason…..
If you buy it with a computer it is usually cheaper….If the laptop does not survive long you can always reuse the software in a replacement computer. Without buying it again…
Be careful to know what you want. And make sure you get it. Don’t be fooled by “trial offers” get the programs out right.
Like MS office. (I would recommend Student / Teacher edition) but depending on what she is taking…she may need a more inclusive program.
There is a free office package out there that you can try…it is www.openoffice.org it works with MS office but I have not worked extensively with it to say one way or another if it is as good, better or worse the MS office.
Get virus protection
Again you can get free stuff….and it’s not bad….but I would never recommend free antivirus over a program you pay for.
Brand Names.
If you see the word “Sony” on a laptop…turn and run.
Acer – not bad. Had a difficult reputation a while ago but has come back quite strong.
Gateway – uh no.
Dell – I have 2 dells.. usually you get more for your buck with Dell but their service dept leaves a lot to be desired
HP – Compaq – good solid computers – but pricier then others unless you can find a good deal.
IBM / Lenovo same company – good solid computers usually the businessman’s special. Nice and portable. Check Dan’s out.
Make sure to shop around…and be vocal about it when you are… make sure the salesmen know you are shopping around. They will make sure you know of any other offers that are out there.
Check out Costco too….they have some decent ones.
Size and weight!!!
Size and weight are a big factor…Trust me after lugging my 15” screen around I’m sorry I went for it. Now if your going off to school or some other reason, you might be more inclined to watch movies on it… then it’s up to you if you want to get the heavier one with the larger screen so you can watch movies in a dorm room or something… rather then the smaller lighter one that will not be as good to watch movies on.
All this to say “know what you want before going to look.” Yes, sometimes you can find something you didn’t know about before but keep in mind what is important to the goal and what is not.
Last- Always remember, Laptops are disposable don’t go overboard because they are not as “upgradeable” as a desktop, and since they are portable they are much more prone to being damaged accidentally.