Greg,
Couple things for you. In my experience there is NO laptop brand that is hands down the best thing out there. What I have found is that there are a bunch of different manufacturers that are all really good. I like the Dell stuff (good support), I like Acer (teenager and Mom hardened), Sony (always a good choice), HP (recently much better), Toshiba (always good).. It seems that with all the competition laptop manufacturers have really uped their game. I really like MAC stuff, but with your price ceiling around the $700 marker I think you'll be hard pressed to find one there. More importantly is that if you do find a machine there is it going to do the job you want without much grief and aggrevation. I mean since its for Mom, the idea is to get something that will stand the 'Mom test' without you having to jump in for a quick fix every minute.
heres a couple things you should be looking for in a laptop if you are going to non MAC route:
1. Processor - try to get something with 1.6Ghz minimum
2. Processor - try to stay away from a Celeron or Sempron if possible. As Mom becomes more familiar with the machine she'll no doubt want more from it and those 2 processor types are for basic use and will probably leave her frustrated at the lack of system response time. Try to look for Core2Duo or maybe Turino 64 x2. Those will work better for her.
3. OS - Since this is a new machine your probably end up with some version of Vista on it. If you dont have Vista you should think about installing it on your machine (so you can help her if needed) or try to find her a machine with XP. She will no doubt be calling and saying :hey Greg...I did this and am on this screen how do I...>>??? Ihave found it alot easier to work with if you both have the same types of OS running. Vista screens are totally different from the same thing in XP.
4. Memory - If you are getting a Vista laptop you will need 1G minimum. And you should seriously think of upgrading to 2G. Vista is a mem ho and will suck on all the mem you can throw on it. Most manufacturers will put 2- 512M mem boards in the machine as stock. Since the machine only has 2 slots for mem you would need to buy 2 - 1G modules. that'll probably cost ya around $100...so if you can find a machine that has 2G in it already thats a good start.
5. Screen size - most common in your price range is 15.4" screen..Since its for Mom..see if you can find her a 17" screen. she'll appreciate it.
6. on board video cam - alot come with that option now..so check it out
7. Hard drive - you should be shooting for 100 - 120G min for this one. With the sales they'll give you a low price, but the HD is only 80G. And if she starts with the pictures she'll need the extra space.
8. software - might want to consider adding MS Office...If she does any letter writing or if you can get her to start working her finances on a spreadsheet she'll use this suite of apps.
9. DVD - most should come standard with dual layer dvd now....
those things come to the top of the list
A couple place you can start to look
www.tigerdirect.com
www.newegg.com
and watch the sunday paper. Alot of places running ad's for new machines lately with some really decent prices.
I dont think you'll have a problem finding her something in you price range. These are by no means a standard, but should give you somewhere to start anyway.
If you have any questions give a yell.
art
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