Any computer experts?

[Alex Wheeler]

My lap top just died, it was its time Anyhow I need a new one and I dont know the first hing about them and theres just too many options. I just need something thats fast for uploading and playing video as well as basic office and quickbooks stuff. Any recommendations would be very appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Dos XX]

I am far from an expert. However, I have bought 2 refurbished Lenovo T420 over the last couple of years. I have one for work and one for the house. You can get them on Newegg, Overstock.com, and a couple of other places for $200 to $300, depending on how much RAM they have. They have have Windows 7 Professional on them. I never liked Windows 8, and I haven't tried Windows 10. I ran XP until I had to quit for support reasons.

 

[M99]

Don't buy the latest, greatest anything. The cost ratio is steep when you do that. For what you describe, virtually any computer being sold today will be far faster than you need. I'd suggest a computer with Windows 7 Professional installed rather than Windows 10. AVOID Windows 8 or 8.1 like a plague. Windows 7 Professional is much easier to use and nearly all of them offer a "free upgrade to Windows 10" if you decide you need that later. TigerDirect.com offers some of the best deals on computers such as HP's which I have come to like. You need an Intel Core I3 Processor or higher (I5 or I7 are faster and much more expensive but you don't need them for your uses), 4 Gig of Ram or more and 500 Gig of Hard Drive or more. Aside form that its more a matter of what size screen you want. Note that if you can use a Desk Top computer instead of a Laptop, they are far less expensive for more power. If you are heavy duty gamer on computers, then you need a lot of power and memory, but not for normal use. I hate typing on a laptop. I wrote code for years and although not in that industry now, do have a lot of IT experience.

Thanks for your tips on Actions in the competition thread.

 

[M99]

I am far from an expert. However, I have bought 2 refurbished Lenovo T420 over the last couple of years. I have one for work and one for the house. You can get them on Newegg, Overstock.com, and a couple of other places for $200 to $300, depending on how much RAM they have. They have have Windows 7 Professional on them. I never liked Windows 8, and I haven't tried Windows 10. I ran XP until I had to quit for support reasons.

There's nothing wrong with Lenovo, and sometimes refurb can even be better than new because they have been checked over by a human. Very inexpensive too.

 

[Dos XX]

This is where I bought my last one.

http://www.tekmobilitypc.com/about-us/

 

[JRS]

My old lap top died also. I dropped it off at the Genius-Bar, they performed some overdue housecleaning on it, and it works as new.

 

[SS427]

Dell computers are still my favorite. They seem to last longer than anything else. We buy and have bought thousands of computers over the years where I work and I wish Dell was still our vendor. We purchase extended warranties on the Lenovo products for a good reason...they die an early death and their batteries are terrible.

Windows 10 is the future, so you may as well take the plunge now. $500 should buy you more than what you need. Beyond price, 8 gig of RAM is about the only number you need to know about.

 

[370bc]

My lap top just died, it was its time Anyhow I need a new one and I dont know the first hing about them and theres just too many options. I just need something thats fast for uploading and playing video as well as basic office and quickbooks stuff. Any recommendations would be very appreciated.
Thanks

My 2009 macbook pro died last fall. Almost had a refurbished one, but the deal fell through. I then used that failing deal to get a discount on a new, 2015, 15 inch MBP. Cry once. More than I need, but the speed and the 15 inch screen is awesome. It is my hobby tho. I spend a lot of time on it. I also got the extended warranty. When these things go bad, nothing is cheap. I bought insurance for my iPhone 6 + also awhile back. I just had it repaired yesterday for very little $$$. And I use that like a rented mule too.

 

[M99]

I used to buy Dell for a company when I managed their IT department. I also ordered their 3 year, 24 Hr on site warrantee's because we needed these machines to work and I wasn't always available. That was fine until we actually needed their 24 hr on site repair. 3 weeks later and more than a dozen telephone calls with long holds, they finally shipped parts to us so I could install them and do the repair. We never bought another Dell computer after that customer service experience.

 

[Joe R]

M99 said:
Don't buy the latest, greatest anything. The cost ratio is steep when you do that. For what you describe, virtually any computer being sold today will be far faster than you need. I'd suggest a computer with Windows 7 Professional installed rather than Windows 10. AVOID Windows 8 or 8.1 like a plague. Windows 7 Professional is much easier to use and nearly all of them offer a "free upgrade to Windows 10" if you decide you need that later. TigerDirect.com offers some of the best deals on computers such as HP's which I have come to like. You need an Intel Core I3 Processor or higher (I5 or I7 are faster and much more expensive but you don't need them for your uses), 4 Gig of Ram or more and 500 Gig of Hard Drive or more. Aside form that its more a matter of what size screen you want. Note that if you can use a Desk Top computer instead of a Laptop, they are far less expensive for more power. If you are heavy duty gamer on computers, then you need a lot of power and memory, but not for normal use. I hate typing on a laptop. I wrote code for years and although not in that industry now, do have a lot of IT experience.

Thanks for your tips on Actions in the competition thread.

Alex,
M99 gave you good advice. I'm not an IT pro but I've been playing with computers since the days of MS-DOS 1.1 (1983) and I agree with everything he said. If you don't have to have a laptop then you should definitely consider a desktop. I have both but only use the laptop when I have to, and it's nowhere near as functional as a desktop. Also if you go with a desktop you could also consider a computer with an AMD processor which are a bit cheaper than an Intel processors. However, if you go with a laptop than you should only consider an Intel processor as M99 suggested. The AMD processors for laptops run a bit too hot (temperature wise) and may cause issues.

Personally I wouldn't buy an Core I3, I would consider a Core I5 because there is so little difference in price between them. If you need some specific links to computers, say so and I'm sure me or many others here will be glad to help.

By the way, I really liked your video on finding the lands. Me and my friends here in Houston now refer to it as the Wheeler method. Beware, if you're considering doing videos on your computer, you will want a more powerful machine. Video is a real computer hog.

Kindest regards,

Joe

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I do video on a camera and download it to my computer. Would that require more power? Some models would be great, I really have no idea. Thanks!

 

[M99]

Alex, you don't need any more power for video. Any of the current computers can easily handle video.

By the way, Joe, my first computers I had to build with a soldering iron, and there was no such thing as DOS or Microsoft yet. They came years later. I started in the late 70's on my kitchen table, long before the term "PC" was invented. I had to also figure out how to write my own operating system, drivers for I/O, Printers, etc. all in Assembler or raw Machine language. Micropolis (long gone) came out a couple years later with a dual, 5-1/4" floppy disk drive based on the S100 buss, and their own DOS, before anyone ever heard of Microsoft. I was a beta tester for their drives and DOS. When IBM "invented" the PC, they adopted the S100 Buss because they didn't have time to actually invent their own, and they decided to buy a license for the Microsoft DOS 1.0 from Bill Gates, that he didn't actually own yet, because Microsoft didn't actually write DOS 1.0. All they really owned was a distribution license for it from a couple of guys that had written it. Gates did have big brass ones back then.

 

[pressedRat]

i make my living on computers. for instance i run windows server 2012r2 datacenter on my laptop. my main machine is a workstation with a bunch of SSDs and 15k rpm SAS drives hybrided. its also win2k12r2 datacenter. i run VMs and databases on both.

so here's my suggestion. this is what i suggest to family members and friends. if you have best buys, microcenter, frys etc that you can go to, go see what you like in size and cost. once you know that you can shop online if you want. all my laptops are dells and i've had good luck with those over the years. lenovos are good too. you can spend as little as 2 or 3 hundred or as much as 6 or 7k. i find that around 1200 or a bit less you can get more machine than you need but its power will last you 4 or 5 years and keep up with most apps. this is what i suggested for a niece when she went off to college and it has worked out well for her.

one other suggestion and this is just me personally. i like the 15 inch +/- laptops. I dont like the 17 inch models. if you fly and you want to use the laptop on the plane, 15 inch fits, 17 gets a bit hard to handle. but if you just wanna stay at home and not move it around 17 inch is ok.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Thanks guys, I think I found what I need!

 

[fx77]

Used windows type computers since 1994...this year switched to Mac..never look back, best thing i ever did for home and business..
Costly, but Mac Book Pro and U will be happy...

 

[Dans40X]

Since Dell,HP,IBM,MS,Bank of America,Wells Fargo to name a few are not second amendment supporters,the aforementioned will never get a dime of my money.

Apple/Mac's have worked well do decades.