Laptop recommendations

[Surveyor1653]

I need some recommendations for good laptops that fit the needs of our family, please.

We don't game, use CAD, or do anything else that requires ridiculous amounts of data processing or transfer capabilities.

We take a lot of digital photos which are transferred via SD to an external hard drive, with occasional light editing.
We use Rosetta Stone, including the audio capabilities of the software (headset, etc.).
We use Skype.
I use SDR# and other radio programs.
We use the Office suite to occasionally create documents, spreadsheets and PP presentations with photos & video.

I need some recommendations on laptops that don't cost an arm and a leg (sub $750), will do what we need one to do, and which won't die a quick and unexpected death at the end of a short life (as has been our experience). I have no brand loyalty except to ones with a proven and current quality track record. I also have no idea how realistic my budget expectations are, since this and everything else related to the topic are things on which we don't stay current.

I know we have a pretty savvy tech presence here and appreciate their input.

 

[NightShade]

My recommendation is more based around specs than anything else. For something to be good now and a few years in the future I tell everyone I know 8GB of RAM. If you can get one with dual storage SSD and HDD that is one of the better things you can do. SSD will hold your OS and most of the programs, doesn't have to be extremely large and will make things feel very fast. The HDD can hold your large programs and ISO's so Rosetta Stone would live on the HDD along with all the language packs. You can load music and a few movies on the HDD as well for when you travel and not worry about filling up a smaller drive.

Core i5 is a good cpu to look at and while you may not game it's still worth looking at as it will handle movies a bit more efficiently and give some eye candy when you need it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232753R
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315165

Would probably suit you well for now and into the future.

 

[doctorjj]

Get a Mac

 

[Podman]

Get a Mac. Windows sucks.

 

[YukonGlocker]

.Mac.

 

[Shadowrider]

It's going to be hard to get a Mac on your budget. But that's what you need to do. Don't let the sticker price on their computers scare you off because you can't really compare them to Windows machines. Reason being is that for your stated use, you can bank on it lasting about 5 years minimum. I'm running an iMac that is a mid 2011 model and its in flawless working order. I'd likely be close to buying a 3rd windoze box. Maybe just the second but I just can't get Windows to go much past a year before I need to format the disk and start over fresh. By that time I'm so disenchanted with it, I replace the whole thing. I don't have to deal with any of that nonsense anymore.

If money is really that tight buy a 3 or 4 year old used Mac, fresh install the latest version of OS X that machine will run (likely the newest release) and enjoy. My niece bought one off of eBay that was a couple years old. That was 3 years ago and it still runs fine.

Edit: There is no better platform for photo/video work than a Mac. I was quite taken aback at just how awesome they are for that, but that's kinda what their niche was for a long time so....

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[YukonGlocker]

My son saved up money for a laptop and we found a $999 Macbook Air for $749. Watch for deals. This model (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-m...lver/1581921.p?id=1219056464137&skuId=1581921) was $200 off at Best Buy, and we secured another $50 off education coupon from Best Buy. Great deal!

This site also has rotating deals on Macs: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/.

When Apple comes out with new models, the "old" models will often be available in their "refurbished" line, although they are brand new. Start looking around. Deals are out there, you just have to catch them on the right day.

 

[cody6766]

The wife and I have Lenovo Yoga 2 pros...I think. they're 13'ish inch, touch screen laptops that will work as normal laptops, folded over as tablets and in 'tent' mode, best used for movies and the like. Some like this will quickly run $1200, but we gave about $400, or less, I can't remember. I use mine for the internet, email and some occasional photo editing with light room, and it does the trick. It could use some more processor, but not $400+ more. It's portable, a good usable size (I came from a 17" laptop), and ALMSOT has enough USB ports to be great. I use a roller ball mouse, so it eats up one of the USB 3.0 ports. That leaves one and an SD card slot available for use, but it's nothing a USB splitter can't fix. Mine has a 120gb SSD, but you can get a larger HDD if you want. I went the SSD route because we back up photos on an external drive and my desktop's HDD and like the faster boot time.

Pop into Best Buy and look at their offerings, then go online and research the laptop, along with it's competitors. Research is easier when you have a baseline, even if you don't buy the one you looked at in store.

 

[Wheel Gun]

It's hard to beat the "loss leader" notebook deals at Best Buy. They typically price those below their cost, expecting you to buy one and then load up on high-margin accessories. A good deal can be had if one bought the most notebook one could afford from their advertised specials and had the fortitude to ignore warranty/service offers and shiny accessories. That's my $.02.

 

[Surveyor1653]

I appreciate the input.

I had a MacBook Pro for over a year at work. It was partitioned with Windows on one side and that's what I used for work. The keyboard obviously sucked for that since it was meant to drive IOS. I've stumbled around in IOS before and didn't really care for it. It was very cumbersome and folder structures, icons, etc. gave me fits. I've been using Windows since...well, there was Windows. I'm not in a huge hurry to drop that kind of coin to buy something I'll have to take some after work adult education class to learn how to use efficiently.

I can afford more computer than what I posted, I just didn't think it would take more to get what I need. Again, I've been out of this game for a minute. I spent about $1200 on an HP that was supposed to be the best thing ever for video and photo editing for a family and came with a full license of Office, etc. The screen died in two years. I spent over a month reading online reviews and test driving different machines before buying that one. If I can get a computer for $500-750 that's obsolete/giving up the ghost after two years, and does what I want it to do, then I'm money ahead on that kind of program.

Frankly, going into countless computer/electronics stores and comparison shopping the web sounds eerily familiar to shopping for a car (which is just a step above getting continually monkey stomped in the nuts on my "least favorite things to do" list). It's got to be done, I'm just not looking forward to it. I was really hoping that someone in that industry could make some recommendations. Looks like it's time to gird up and go take my punishment.