What laptop should my dad get?

[Whiffet]

My dad wants to get a new laptop, but he doesn't know much about them. He came to me for help because he thinks I'm a "computer expert" but I'm not even close. He insists that, since I at least know more than he does, I should have some good advice... so I'll need some help.

He will use the laptop mostly for internet (news, Facebook, and Youtube) and Word. After questioning him for a while, I managed to gather that he cares about reliability and speed. I couldn't get him to say which he thinks is more important. Knowing him, price will also be a factor.

He currently uses a Toshiba that runs Windows XP.

I can ask my dad for extra information, but he is not tech-savvy at all so I need to keep any questions simple.

[Erloas]

With the limited amount of information you've given, almost anything will work.

Speed, reliability, and price as an unsaid factor. Speed is somewhat relative, if what he has now is 8 years old and bloated with a lot of unnecessary stuff running on it then almost anything will be a large speed increase. None of the stuff mentioned is really even going to see a whole lot of change from one modern processor and another.

One rather basic question is if this is a "mobile" laptop or more of a "desktop-replacement" laptop. Because there are a lot of people that get laptops which are plugged in 95% of the time and rarely move from their spot in the house. For a desktop replacement and general use I much prefer a 17" laptop, the netbook and ultralite 13" ones I think are too small for normal use if you aren't traveling with them all the time. 15" is the inbetween size.

If you're looking for speed I would avoid the netbooks and the cheap (generally 15") laptops that are only running ATOM processors. Most of the normal use laptop processors from AMD and Intel will be good. 4GB of RAM is the minimum you want to look at, but I haven't looked enough lately to say if 6 or 8GB have become anywhere near common (which it should because the cost difference between 4 and 8GB is very small, though most places will still charge a premium for the upgrade, as in the "upgrade" will cost noticeable more then you could purchase 8GB for on your own to install in it).

A lot of the "feel" of a non-gaming system will come from the hard drive, more and more are coming with SSDs any more but they aren't necessarily common yet, especially on the lower end systems.

As for brands, I've heard nothing but good things about Asus laptops (I've used a lot of their other products, but not their laptops). I've never really liked Dell, but its been too long since I've dealt with their systems to know if their quality has changed lately. You'll find that any company you look at will have people that had problems with it, and of course those people will post their problems every time but the 100 people that didn't have any problems will not likely say anything. And of course the more that are sold the more potential problems will be seen.
And brand loyalty will skew peoples' views regardless of what happens. I had a roommate who went on about how great it Apple was about fixing the display on his laptop despite the fact that it cost him almost as much as simply replacing the laptop, but he didn't really know that and was just happy to get a 30 minute job on his laptop done within a week.

And inevitably someone is going to mention Apple. All I'll say about that is you are paying a premium for a name and the "privilege" of owning an Apple product. And I will openly admit my bias against Apple, in that I despise them as a company and disagree completely with so much of what they do. To the point that I will never own a product from them and wouldn't even accept one for free.

[Tyriont]

A reasonably simple question to ask him that might help is why does he want a new laptop? If we know in what ways his current laptop isn't meeting his needs, it'll be a lot easier to make a recommendation. As it stands, you're likely to not get much beyond personal opinion - which is still useful, but varies wildly.

I will second Erloas in suggesting you avoid Apple though. Not because of any bias or the price point but because you've mentioned that your Dad isn't tech-savvy so learning a new OS might be something that makes that route less attractive. Yes, the OS isn't that hard to learn...but still, it's something to bear in mind.

[Whiffet]

Thanks for the information.

He doesn't know any of the details about his current laptop. I asked him about the size and the RAM, and I just got "I don't know." I doubt he even understands what RAM is. He probably doesn't need 8GB, though.

About mobile vs. desktop-replacement: he wants it both ways. He uses his Toshiba in place of a desktop, but he wants to be able to travel with it easily. I consider what he's looking for to be a desktop-replacement that can't be too large.

What he really wants to know is what brand he should get.


A reasonably simple question to ask him that might help is why does he want a new laptop? If we know in what ways his current laptop isn't meeting his needs, it'll be a lot easier to make a recommendation. As it stands, you're likely to not get much beyond personal opinion - which is still useful, but varies wildly.

Why? Because his current laptop takes too long to boot up and crashes too often.

Don't tell me he has too much crap on there (and possibly a virus). I've already tried telling him. It's no good. I figure if he's this set on getting a new one, he's getting a new one.

[Erloas]

You can get the basic specs fairly easily, the Windows System screen gives most of the basics, which is in the control panel or right-clicking on My Computer icon and hitting properties.

15" is probably a reasonable size for a laptop you will be moving some. Of course almost the only use I get out of my 17" laptop is when I got somewhere and I don't have a problem with its size or weight. But I don't actually use it all that much because I don't end up going too many places with it. Its sort of, is the traveling every week or month, or maybe once or twice a year?

I would probably look at the Asus options first and see if you can find something that fits your basic requirements and if not then look at other options. Newegg.com is my first stop for any computer parts shopping.

[Tyriont]

Here's a possible suggestion (I second Newegg as the vendor, they're fantastic):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214469
I've suggested that one to a friend before and they were quite happy with it. Personally, I'm quite fond of Toshiba as a manufacturer. Back when I used to work as a tech, we generally saw a lower ratio of those come in compared to sales and I had good experiences with their techs for the few we had to send back DOA.

Asus are great for cheaper options, but I've found their post-sale support to be lacking at times.

[Eloel]

While I don't have any specific advice - you might want to look into chromebooks, afaik they boot up quite fast, and are quite reliable, yet only run with simple stuff, which if I understood, is exactly what your dad wants.

[Whiffet]

Apparently he went out today and looked at a netbook. He thinks it looks really nice. I had to spend some time talking him out of it. He wants more speed than he can get out of one, plus he struggles with small keyboards.

Right now I'm thinking of telling him to get the machine Tyriont linked to. Dad is familiar with Toshiba, after all.

[factotum]

I will second Erloas in suggesting you avoid Apple though. Not because of any bias or the price point but because you've mentioned that your Dad isn't tech-savvy so learning a new OS might be something that makes that route less attractive.

While I grant second place to no man in dislike of Apple and their products, I feel required to point out that any new laptop he gets today will be running Windows 7, which is going to have its own learning requirements for someone used to Windows XP.

[Erloas]

Apparently he went out today and looked at a netbook. He thinks it looks really nice. I had to spend some time talking him out of it. He wants more speed than he can get out of one, plus he struggles with small keyboards.

Right now I'm thinking of telling him to get the machine Tyriont linked to. Dad is familiar with Toshiba, after all.

The one Tyriont linked is sort of inbetween a netbook and a laptop (the distinction was never that great to begin with though). Its going to have a bit smaller keyboard, so if thats a problem I would look for one a bit larger, but the specs and price on that one are a good place to compare to. Of course you don't get to the full size keyboards until 17", which is when they add the numeric keypad, which isn't necessary but I find them useful, though not required in general use.

[snoopy13a]

If all your dad uses is youtube, the internet, and word, then an entry-level laptop is probably best. 4 Gb of Ram is not necessary. My new laptop has 1.9 Gb, and it is perfectly fine for everyday use. High-end computers are useful for a small collection of people who need them for their careers (e.g., graphic designers) and gamers. Average people can use an entry-level machine with no problems.

[Erloas]

If all your dad uses is youtube, the internet, and word, then an entry-level laptop is probably best. 4 Gb of Ram is not necessary. My new laptop has 1.9 Gb, and it is perfectly fine for everyday use. High-end computers are useful for a small collection of people who need them for their careers (e.g., graphic designers) and gamers. Average people can use an entry-level machine with no problems.

You realize that (at least retail, they always trick to stick you with "upgrade" prices) the cost difference between 2GB of RAM and 4GB of RAM is maybe $10? There is absolutely no reason to not get 4GB. Even for normal every day use on the internet you can easily use more then 2GB of RAM. Having more will require less caching, less access to the slower hard drive, and overall a smoother more responsive feel to the system.
4GB is the entry-level point for RAM at this point. 8GB is a mid-range system right now, and 16GB is a high end system.

[Starwulf]

You realize that (at least retail, they always trick to stick you with "upgrade" prices) the cost difference between 2GB of RAM and 4GB of RAM is maybe $10? There is absolutely no reason to not get 4GB. Even for normal every day use on the internet you can easily use more then 2GB of RAM. Having more will require less caching, less access to the slower hard drive, and overall a smoother more responsive feel to the system.
4GB is the entry-level point for RAM at this point. 8GB is a mid-range system right now, and 16GB is a high end system.

Unless your using a computer for cinematography or the likes, you will NEVER use 8 GB of ram, let alone 16. There isn't a game out there that utilizes 8GB of ram, and I'm damn confident in saying there aren't many software programs that require that much either, and they are all stuff related to Television and the graphic arts. 4GB is the standard, and 8GB is future-proofing for when games and other programs start being able to utilize that much. 16GB is a waste unless your producing movies.

[Erloas]

Yes, there aren't any games that can use more then 4GB of RAM, but there are plenty of programs that can use close to that much. And of course the point is you always want more RAM then you need so you don't run out. No one uses just one program at a time. I'm currently sitting at about 1.5GB of RAM used and I'm not doing anything at all other then having 2 web sites up. Given Steam is running in the background, printer drivers (they are always way more bloated then I think they should be), a messenger program, anti-virus, the normal windows things, etc. And my system is clean compared to most people. At this point a game would only have to use a bit over 2GB of RAM (really easy) to start running out with 4GB installed.

And given, the OP isn't looking for a gaming system, which is why 4GB is what she should be looking at. RAM is really cheap, there is no reason at all to even potentially run into RAM issues when you don't have to.

[factotum]

I agree with Erloas--RAM is cheap, and with the relatively slow hard drives you typically get in laptops (ignoring SSDs for the moment), you really don't want to be in a situation where the machine is having to swap to disc. More RAM makes it less likely that will happen.

Also, saying that there aren't any games out there that use more than 4Gb is very likely true, considering they're mostly 32-bit applications, but it doesn't mean it'll *always* be true.

[Jallorn]

I'm a big fan of HP these days. For a few years now I've found their computers to be excellent. My only other piece of real input is that you should keep in mind the battery life of the computer.

[Starwulf]

I agree with Erloas--RAM is cheap, and with the relatively slow hard drives you typically get in laptops (ignoring SSDs for the moment), you really don't want to be in a situation where the machine is having to swap to disc. More RAM makes it less likely that will happen.

Also, saying that there aren't any games out there that use more than 4Gb is very likely true, considering they're mostly 32-bit applications, but it doesn't mean it'll *always* be true.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I fully agree that more RAM is better, and if I had a system that could use it, I'd run 8GB myself, I was more actually arguing that 16GB is "Top-End". It's not "Top-End" it's entirely unnecessary now and for a good long time in the future unless you're making movies or what-not. Even a multi-tasker is NOT going to need 16GB of ram, you could have 6 Web-Browsers open, playing a game while writing a novel in Word and creating p;ictures in Adobe and still not need more then 8GB of ram, let alone 16GB of ram. I'm all for system optimizing, but it's a pure waste of money to ever bother with 16GB of ram, unless, again, you're making a movie or something similar, and that really doesn't sound like it's the case with the OP.

[Runestar]

Any computer these days would be more than capable of surfing the net, watching the videos or typing documents. Heck, even an ipad+wireless keyboard can do all these, albeit with some limitations. :smalltongue:


About mobile vs. desktop-replacement: he wants it both ways. He uses his Toshiba in place of a desktop, but he wants to be able to travel with it easily. I consider what he's looking for to be a desktop-replacement that can't be too large.

What about buying a smaller laptop / notebook (aim for 11-13 inches), then spend a little more on a cheap 20+ inch screen, a cheap keyboard and logitech mouse (heck, there are probably places which give them away for free).

More specifically, something like this (but it doesn't have to be an apple laptop).
Note: I am not interested in starting a windows vs apple flame war, just that I happened to have that pic at the moment.:smallsmile:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1131849&page=6&highlight=post+macbook+air+setup

[Whiffet]

Thanks for all the input, guys.