Laptop for my dad - What to buy?

mdaudioguy

My dad is close to coming home from a more than 3 month hospital stay. He went in for what should have been a relatively minor procedure requiring a few days. One complication after another and now he's extremely weakened. He needs PT to be able to walk again. Anyhow, he was in need of a new computer anyhow, and my mom thinks he should get a laptop. He's somewhat resistant to the idea (resistant to change altogether), but has realized that he'll be able to have it with him and take it where he wants to work, rather than being forced to go to his desk, which is in the basement.

My mother has asked me to go out and buy the laptop, along with anything else he'll need - a wireless router for sure, and probably a mouse and something he can set the laptop on while sitting up in bed.

Any suggestions? I'm not a laptop guy - I have my desktop and for everything else, my iPhone. No way will he be able to deal with a Mac. Even though I think he'd eventually adapt, I'm not putting up with his initial complaining, and since I'm the one who he always calls when he needs help, a Win 7 machine would be ideal. Suggestions?

AudioGenics

Apple Mac if you can spend the $$

otherwise DELL (get the student / school discounts)

Hewlett Packard would make my third choice.....

thsmith

I bought my wife one of these and my sister inlaw has one now. If all he does is surf the net and reads email this will serve him very well.

If money is not a concern go with Dell.

http://www.frys.com/product/6048588?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

ViperZ

Thinkpad X-series - superlight, excellent battery life, LED-backlight. If want bigger/faster, T-series.

Our whole family is using Thinkpads. Ugly laptops, but built like tanks and never break.

maximillian

ViperZ wrote: »

Thinkpad X-series - superlight, excellent battery life, LED-backlight. If want bigger/faster, T-series.

Our whole family is using Thinkpads. Ugly laptops, but built like tanks and never break.

I agree with this. I have a T61 from work. I have zapped it many times with static from the couch and it doesn't even care. It is really built to last.

I asked my IT department about it and they said the T series is built really well. Other series are not as good though, at least that is their opinion.

Whatever you get it may be wise to get the extended warranty if you travel with it alot. Laptop motherboards seem to fail easily. Since they are not standardized it will cost you a good amount of money to replace. Of course, your do your research on reliability before you buy.

Kex

I recently bought two Compaq (part of HP) laptops from Best buy, for $350 each. I think they are excellent basic laptops, and look a bit more classy than the Acer Aspire model right next to them. That model has increased to $370, but a very similar model is still available online only for $330.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemplatemapper.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a~~cabcat0502000%23%230%23%23o~~nf518%7C%7C4c657373207468616e2024363030&sc=abComputerSP&sp=%2Bcurrentprice+skuid&usc=abcat0500000#storeInventoryLink

Otherwise, you can check out the Dell Inspiron 15 with similar features, and customize it as you see fit, here:

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/deals/popular_laptops?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&redirect=1

As others have said, Dell, Lenovo, HP are all good choices, depending on what deals are available. A basic 15.6" laptop today, with Windows 7, will have a very bright screen that is pleasant to use. Many of them, because of the widescreen format that is popular now, also have room for a keypad. This is a mixed blessing IMO, since they have to shrink the actual alpha-numerical keyboard to fit it in properly in most cases, so I would actually prefer a full size keyboard with no keypad ... but that's a preference, not a requirement.

Windows 7 is a vast improvement IMHO. It is much faster than before, especially to start up, and is very stable so far (but then, so was W2K for me, and so is XP still - it's just painfully slow to start up on a laptop). I added Microsoft Security Essentials for free to both Compaq laptops so I do not have to worry about paying for protection (I'm using a hardware firewall via the router).

Microsoft Works is also fine as a basic spreadsheet and word processing office suite without paying for Microsoft Office. If that isn't enough, the Open Office is always free to download and use, but like Microsoft Office, it is far more complex (and perhaps confusing for someone like your Dad).

For a mouse, which I do recommend (much easier to use than the touchpad), I wouldn't bother with cordless. A good optical (or laser) mouse is all that you need, especially since, with no batteries, they are much lighter (and often easier to use for some because of that). I like the more compact models, not the huge unwieldy ones, but don't get the tiny ones either. I would avoid those with too many buttons for someone that is not too tech-friendly.

Note: if you do get a Compaq from Best Buy, have five blank DVD disks ready when you first start it up, to burn the recovery disks that you may need if the recovery partition were to have problems for some reason.

Norm Apter

Zero wrote: »

On a budget, Toshiba is another good candidate. They've lead the way in terms of reliability (in their consumer lines). Though not perfect, they are affordable and offer performance at between $400 -$500 that should fit the bill just fine.

Another vote for Toshiba. I've owned two, after owning a Compaq (before it was taken over by HP) back in the day which I wasn't happy with at all, and both Toshibas have been great.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but if somewhere in the neighborhood of $500-550 sounds reasonable you may consider this one from Best Buy.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor+-+Graphite/9705221.p?id=1218154378233&skuId=9705221

I got my most recent Toshiba over 2 years ago but with about 1/3 the memory, 1/3 the RAM (until I upgraded) and unfortunately mine runs on Vista as opposed to Windows 7 (like this and all the new ones) for about the same price as the one linked above, but mine is still running great. The key is having a good Processor. All the cheapest models (no matter which brand) in the $350-400 price range will most likely have Intel Celeron and I think you would be best avoiding that. This model by Toshiba has an Intel Pentium processor which is pretty good for this price range (I've heard that in general Intel will trump AMD, but I'm not sure if there's any truth to that).

markmarc

First, which operating system is he used to? That will make the decision between Mac or Windows. Second, at his age a netbook is out of the question, they're best for younger eyes so find one with a decent size screen. Third, if he isn't going to do video watching try and find a model with the traditional "square" screen (Lenovo still sells a few models if memory serves). Fourth, get as much memory as you can afford. Last, locate the the wireless where he'll get good reception from anywhere in the house.

timpeace

I bought a compaq cq60-420us from staples in june of 09 and couldnt be more pleased. 319.00 plus tax.. havent run into anything it can't do. Do you yourself a favor.. get it with
a pentium dual core and you'll be very satisfied.

Polk addict

I'd like to put in another vote for Toshiba... We have three in the family, and they have all taken their share of physical abuse...

Two of these laptops were bought for the $400 dollar price range, and mine has a dual core, and it is plenty of power to run practically all my programs and launch a game... The battery life on my machine is above 6 hours. There is practically no other computer that is capable of this except from Apple...

Also, IBM should definitely be considered. They are well built, and have always had ample processing power.

Sherardp

Dell is pretty good, I have an XPS that's custom built with everything maxed out( use it for work) and it has performed pretty good. CS was pretty decent, since the hard drive was making some noise so they simply sent me another one out over express and had me drop the used one in the mail.

I also have a new HP I use for work it too has been very good up to this point. Pick the one that has the best price.

Grimster74

Here is the Samsung I currently have and it is a sweet laptop for the price, no complaints at all with it's performance. For what ever reason BB can't seem to keep them in stock online but I went into BB and had them order it through BB.com and delivered to my house. It's bright 17.3 LED-LCD monitor should be plenty bright for your dad and even for it's size it is extremely light, almost feels to light for a 17" laptop.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+-+Red/Black/9728443.p?id=1218161511080&skuId=9728443

Systems

My wife has been using Dell. Has had two, an Inspiron which we had zero issues and her sister is now using. She's currently running a Studio 15, also zero issues...

Make sure you get a Core i5 in it, preferrably the 650, 4 gigs of ram will be fine along with a seperate video card(don't get integrated video). A definate yes on the seperate mouse, he'll be cussing that touchpad.

mdaudioguy

Thanks so much guys! You've given me some great advice. I'm going to do my research this afternoon and hopefully order something today! Thank you, thank you! I'm hoping to get him something he'll really be pleased with. I'm thinking that a 17" will be a necessity for him.

nguyendot

Get him a Dell Latitude. I've had a D620, D630, and E6400 thus far. The D6xx series are built like a tank and last forever.

I've worked on hundreds if not thousands and as a whole they're some of the best. You can find off-lease refurbs for around $300 all the time. I was about to pull the trigger on one yesterday for $269 and upgrade the ram to 4gb. I used one for work for 3 years and loved it. I dropped it probably 15 times and it never died or broke, or had a loose hinge. And these are drops from standing height directly onto a hard floor.

virtualdean

mdaudioguy wrote: »

My dad is close to coming home from a more than 3 month hospital stay. He went in for what should have been a relatively minor procedure requiring a few days. One complication after another and now he's extremely weakened. He needs PT to be able to walk again. Anyhow, he was in need of a new computer anyhow, and my mom thinks he should get a laptop. He's somewhat resistant to the idea (resistant to change altogether), but has realized that he'll be able to have it with him and take it where he wants to work, rather than being forced to go to his desk, which is in the basement.

My mother has asked me to go out and buy the laptop, along with anything else he'll need - a wireless router for sure, and probably a mouse and something he can set the laptop on while sitting up in bed.

Any suggestions? I'm not a laptop guy - I have my desktop and for everything else, my iPhone. No way will he be able to deal with a Mac. Even though I think he'd eventually adapt, I'm not putting up with his initial complaining, and since I'm the one who he always calls when he needs help, a Win 7 machine would be ideal. Suggestions?

I vote for Dell Latitude or IBM thinkpad...all 3 of mine suffered abuse and are still ticking.
Whatever you do, MAKE SURE it comes with a Restore Disc that will enable it to be reloaded to the software load it was sold with.

jojomgee

mac mac mac windows blowz

Polk addict

virtualdean wrote: »

Whatever you do, MAKE SURE it comes with a Restore Disc that will enable it to be reloaded to the software load it was sold with.

I've found that Best Buy does not provide one, because the computers being sold now have a system recovery/backup program made by their manufacturer when they are sold... So, I just made one the day I got mine...

phuz

Dell.

/thread