lap top questions

[Yvonne G]

My daughter wants to buy my son-in-law a lap top for Christmas. She doesn't have a computer at home, and is a total illerate when it comes to them. Can you give me any pointers for her? I've told her to price them at Costco and to look for the highest number after "RAM." Anything else?

 

[jaizei]

How computer literate is your son in law?

 

[Yvonne G]

Not too. He uses his old dial-up at home computer to get on the motorcycle forum, post pictures and do minor surfing. But during the week he works in Monterey and there he has wi-fi.

 

[wellington]

I would look for it to have built in wireless.

 

[Len B]

Battery life is important also, I remember a few years ago someone was selling laptops at a real good price but the battery only held a charge for for a very short time.

 

[dannel]

Decently fast processor Mines 2.4 ghz

 

[jaizei]

I think computers are a tough gift to buy - laptops even more so. I think it would be made even tougher by not being able to look online or research. I would normally recommend looking at newegg.com or tigerdirect.com.

I think a good minimum should be at least 4 GB RAM and at least a dual core CPU 2.0GHz. It's something of a balancing act. A ton of RAM with a slow processor is a waste, as is a super fast processor with too little RAM.

 

[Madkins007]

It is easier if we know the basic needs and uses. Most people don't need blazingly fast processors, etc. unless they are gamers or doing a lot of things like video editing. Is this going to be the main family computer? Does it need to be really portable and have a lot of battery life. Will it be mostly for typical things like email, web surfing, etc.?

Most typical users would be fine with a basic laptop from HP, Acer, etc. and as much as I hate them, Walmart generally has a decent selection at a decent price- although they don't usually know a lot about them.

 

[Yvonne G]

My S-I-L lives in Clovis, but works in Monterey. He commutes home on week-ends. While in Monterey he has access to Wi-Fi, but at home he just has dial-up. Because he's alone up in Monterey, he'll probably use the computer a lot for surfing, maybe playing games, talking on a m/c forum. He's not real computer literate. Because he has nothing now, and is used to his old (and I mean OLD) computer at home with dial-up, he'll probably be pretty happy with whatever she buys for him. He says it sometimes takes ALL DAY for his income tax stuff to get processed when he does it online.

 

[Kerryann]

It is easier if we know the basic needs and uses. Most people don't need blazingly fast processors, etc. unless they are gamers or doing a lot of things like video editing. Is this going to be the main family computer? Does it need to be really portable and have a lot of battery life. Will it be mostly for typical things like email, web surfing, etc.?

Most typical users would be fine with a basic laptop from HP, Acer, etc. and as much as I hate them, Walmart generally has a decent selection at a decent price- although they don't usually know a lot about them.

The basic needs will be built into even the lowest dollar laptops these days. You can buy a 350-450 laptop at walmart or best buy and it will exceed the needs of most basic users.
Another option is a tablet..
Cons- Not as fast for processing
No attached keyboard
No standard operating system usually

Pros
Light
Portable
Man does it look cool.. you could even get it in white.
Has a camera
Apps are very non technical people friendly.