What kind of laptop do I need?

Question

I do not need all the bells & whistles, just want to do email, check internet and instant message. I have no clue what to look for

Answer 1

My favorite brands are Toshiba and Dell for Windows based laptops.  I'd avoid Compaq/HP and eMachines.

For what you want to do, anything you buy brand new will be fine for email and IM.

Places like Best Buy and Circuit City often have "open box" items which are really items that people bought, used for a couple of days and returned for one reason or another. If you're buying something new from a retail chain, you should ask about those first because those items are usually 25%-50% off.

I've been repairing computers for over 10 years and I've found Toshiba's have the best track record for quality. Dell's are good because they are usually repairable if they break. HP / Compaq / eMachines seem to have a lot of quality issues and I do not recommend them at all.

In case you need a technical breakdown of common components people talk about when purchasing a laptop:

CPU: That is the computer's equivalent of a car's engine. The more Ghz (and now Core's) the CPU has, the faster the computer goes. A 1.5Ghz CPU would be a safe start point but when considering a laptop, the CPU is usually not upgradeable by very much (if at all) and you should get the fastest CPU your wallet allows with relation to your need. I'm still running a 1.1Ghz CPU with 1GB RAM 200GB HDD. It does everything you described wanting and can even handle GTA Vice City (video game).

RAM: Windows XP and now Vista like to use between 128MB and 512MB just for themselves.  I would recommend a minimum of 1GB for anything running these Operating Systems. RAM allows you to have many small programs like AIM, Outlook, Yahoo! Messenger or a one or two large programs like Photoshop, AutoCad or video games, open at the same time. Easiest aftermarket upgrade to make to a laptop (in most cases!).

HDD (Storage or Hard Drive): Different names, same thing.  The amounts here are usually measured in GB. Hard drives come in many sizes and anything over 40GB is plenty for what you've described.  Windows XP takes up 1.5GB by itself, whereas AIM might take up 0.05GB (or 50MB). Music/MP3s tend to add up if you end up using the computer for that. Can't go wrong with a big hard drive. Upgradeable later if you need more space.

Those are the big factors to look for. Hope this helped a little.

Good luck!

Answer 2

any and any modern laptop should more than suffice for your needs

a good budget & value for money deal presently going

Compaq - Presario Laptop with AMD Turion™ X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor RM-70

Model: CQ50-115NR SKU: 8898357

AMD Turion™ X2 mobile processor RM-70; 3GB DDR2 memory; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 15.4" widescreen; 200GB hard drive; Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1

$449.99

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...

Answer 3

Get a HP laptop or Fujitsu laptop :)

Answer 4

anything that is toshiba is good.

and if you can afford it go with a mac