I've come to the conclusion that even though my kiddos are finishing up as far as school and home life in general, the grands are still going to be keeping me busy lol. I decided to no longer let kids be my excuse and decided to try to go back to school. I found out I was pregnant with Joyce right after starting back to school 18 yrs ago. I only went one semester and put life on hold until now. I put in an application with the the military's VRAP program and was accepted so I will hopefully be starting school in January along with Joyce. All I need is my admissions fee and I can put in my application. Using this program will allow me to have the transportation need taken care of along with expenses in general. I'm very excited and very nervous at the same time. Back to the point of this thread lol - I will be able to purchase a personal laptop once my funding is straight. All I'm looking for is something to use for school along with basic email, fb, and Spot type work. I'm looking for input into something very inexpensive but practical at sturdy at the same time. Am I asking for too much lol?!
I have a Dell laptop that I use for everything. It got me through school and a whole lot more without a lot of trouble
No idea about the laptop but SCHOOL?! That is HUGE! I am so proud of you! Best of luck and don't get too busy to check in with us here.
I am a loyal customer of Lenovo. This is the company that took over IBM's PC business, and they've maintained their quality. Recently, I've seen some really good prices for Lenovo laptops. Dell computers are solid, but their reputation for support has gone downhill. Unless you pay money for a premium support plan, you'll struggle to get any help from them should anything go wrong. Whatever you decide, track sale prices for several weeks to get a good sense of what is a good price. You'll save quite a bit by timing your purchase right.
I do agree with this statement. Shortly after I went back to school, I downloaded a virus (was supposed to be an upgrade for my virus program... yeah right, it deleted the good one and downloaded the viirus). Knowing very little about computers, I called Dell for support.... they wanted an outrageous amount of money to fix the problem.... so I wiped the hard drive clean and started fresh and fixed it myself. The couple times they called me to offer an extended warranty, I declined.
I'm a Toshiba girl. My last one took a lickin' and kept on tickin' That thing was dropped, spilled on, hit, shook, everything you can imagine and I just replaced it last year because it was getting slow and didn't have an HDMI jack-which I wanted for homeschool purposes. It's still working. Hubby now uses it rather than his 1 1/2 year old netbook that is slower and in worse shape than the like 6 year old Toshiba. I'm brand loyal but know nothing of details like memory, speed, etc. LOL
I recommend the following brands. HP or Compaq (the same company) for the following reasons: They have the largest market share and the most parts available on ebay etc later when your keyboard or battery needs replaced. They have a separate partition that has the software as it was shipped from the factory. YOu can just install it fresh over the virus infested partition later if needed, leaving you with the need to back up only your files and downloads. Toshiba: makes okay computers for the money, but keyboards tend to be a trouble with time. They also have a recovery partition as do the HP/Compaqs. Acer: they usually have a mid priced computer with a nice upscale set of audio video features. HDMI out, loud surround speaker system compared to most laptops. Be sure to consider the sound needs and test the sound of the machines before buying. If you are looking for super cheap go with HP/Compq, you will get better build quality for the money. If you are looking into 450.00 and up look for Toshiba, and Acer as well as the others. We use our laptops as TV substitutes so the audio video features are more important then power and hard drive size. Either way, consider a laptop a 3 year purchase. BUy what you can live with replacing in 3 years. Divide by 3 and consider what you think is okay to spend a year. Compare the yearly laptop expense to sneakers, eating out etc. DO not consider a laptop 5 or more years purchase, if it last this long it is a bonus, you can pass it on to kids, a grand parent of have more than one in the house. A 2K laptop does not have a better hard drive, memory chips, battery, battery charger or keyboard than a 3oo.oo model. IT is just a limited in terms of the week points. In 3 years, a laptop that is more powerful than the 2k model today will only cost 4-500.00. So buying a 400 dollar laptop now and a 400 dollar laptop in 3 years will be cheaper over all than getting a 1200.00 or even 2K laptop today and trying to depend on it for 6 years. If you like dell, or already have a dell credit line you want to use, go for it, but they are not a great laptop if buying the entry level. THey did not used to ship with a partition for recovery, but rather gave you an option to make a copy or to buy one. They tended to lag behind on the latest connectors and ports. Alsmot any laptop will have wifi, but if you are techy get one with blue tooth built in also. If you are into bookeeping or accounting or used to a 10 key, get one with a full keyboard. Also, the 10 key pad gives you a second chance for keys that commonly wear out. Most people can find a machine to be quite happy with between 400 and 650. Staples runs the older models on really great specials when bringing newones in. You might have to drive to another store to find a good by in the box still. DO NOT BUY a DISPLAY laptop.
while I do have an HP.... its fine... I don't know anybetter because its my first one, but when we were picking desk top computers and there were basicly 2 kinds of computers in our price range....... ASUS and LENOVO....... never hearing of either one... we went with ASUS...... wish I had gone with the LEVOVO.... because just asking the guy at Best Buy does no good........ I think those guys are idiots now. :roll:
you know they should make computers that can withstand that stuff........ it happens to everyone...... sounds like a good one.
First off to Beth - you made me cry lol! You are the first to say this to me. I had to laugh because the day we went up to the school to get some info on my VA benefits Joyce said to me with awe in her voice "I can't believe you are doing this!" which felt really good. I know this is going to be a challenge. I'm not sure how much support I will get from my dh but I have to do this. I'm shooting for morning classes, Joyce in the afternoon, and my oldest plans on going after work. Add on a new grand coming in February and it's going to be interesting lol!! Laptop input - thank you so much to everyone!! Joyce's laptop is a Toshiba. At the time it was an inpulse buy and we've only had minor issues with it so I've been hoping it's a good choice. I need to have the issues looked at but right now it's our only computer so we are just dealing with it lol. She loves it but hates that it went from being "hers" to "ours". I love my nook but I can't type on it like I can a regular computer. I'm thinking about trying to laptops for both my dh and I and staying away from a desktop altogether. I'm going to print out this thread for future reference!
We have had different ones and currently have two Sony Vaio's, thankfully with the anything goes warrently. Laptop puts up with a lot from me except had to go in because of user (don't tell hubby I admit its my fault). My daughter's Vaio is going strong with no issues. I had a Dell and I called it my Dell from H---. It was a horrible desktop and it wsa the first I ever had Dell (it was refurbished) and due to the experience with it I won't go Dell. My friend really likes her Tobshiba laptop.
Does anyone have any knowledge of the Chromebooks? For myself I'm just going to be looking for something for schoolwork and net surfing.
