What is the best type of laptop to purchase?

Question

I currently use a MacBook. I am very used to it.

But I am looking into buying a new one. I am not sure whether to go with a Mac or other brand.

The features I would like -

-fast

-internal wireless compatibility

-built in webcam

-built in camera (Photo booth in my Mac)

-built in microphone

-printer (wireless if cost effective)

I do not know anything about computers.

Also -

Where is the best place to purchase one and how much do they usually cost?

*I am not interested in one on eBay*

Thanks!!!!

Answer 1

I would go with an Acer Aspire. I have one right know and it seems to meet all your requirements (except printer). Had it for a year and it runs as fast as the day I bought it. When I bought it was about $800, but since then it has gotten much cheaper.

Also to the first poster, your right that PC's are cheaper, actually over a thousand dollars cheaper. But I have never had any problems with security, nor any viruses. So that is completely false. The only way you could compromise your system is to download a malicious program from an unreliable site, and that goes for both PC and Mac. Also how could you have been a network administrator for windows 30+ years ago when the first version of windows came out about 23 years ago... are you from the future O_o

Answer 2

Hi Penny

Your first poster above me doesn't know what she is saying. PC are cheaper, and run everything just as fast , if not faster than a Mac. I repair them enough to know the difference.

Get an Acer aspire. It has all the features you mentioned and the webcam quality is awesome and built in the screen. The mike is super sensitive and not noisy either.

If you love to play games, it can handle Simcity 4 which is a memory hogger., Not so with the ACER. it has an ATI video card, and is very sturdy and reliable. Dont buy toshiba. They are true garbage.

you might want to look at Compaq as well.

I suggest ACER Aspire for $600. It is worth every dollar and you will not nave all these issues about windows etcc because it comes with Vista which makes your system rock solid, and almost crash proof.

Answer 3

If you're used to a Mac, don't bether with a PC.  You'll just start to hate it.

Macs have better resale, are easier to use, make better (more efficient) use of the hardware, are more reliable, are more secure and their total cost of operation is lower than PCs.

PCs are cheaper, initially, than Macs. There are lot of people out there who know Windows so its easy to to find someone to comiserate with.

I have found noone with real experience in both platforms that prefers to use Windows for their desktop. Even if you're just going to use the machine for surfing the Internet, Windows and Internet Explorer are notorious for their security holes. The MacOS os layer (based on FreeBSD) is far far more securely written so it is harder to write viri for (and obviously, since Macs are a smaller part of the market, fewer people are writing viri for them to begin with).

The vast majority of large commercial software products out there have Mac versions, and its relatively easy to run either a virtual machine or "boot camp" (dual boot) if you must run Windows products on your Mac.

I have given members of my family Macs because I don't want to be their system administrator if I can help it. They can administer their own machines. If I had given them Windows, I basically would have been signing up for a no salaried system admin for as long as they had my gifts.