Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

I’m in the market for one. Doesn’t have to be anything special like the Apple Air. Just give me the brand name & I’ll see what comes up here. THANKS! :p

So depending on what you want to use it for, I'll make a soft sales pitch for a Chromebook. I'm currently using an Acer. They charge quickly, excellent battery duration, very lightweight.

Good, good, good. Been looking at Acer on Amazon.

Not using it for anything special. As long as it works will be fine. Don’t need anything fancy & not spending $1k for Apple.

So I don't want to be patronizing if you already know the deal with chromebooks, but they are web-browser based laptops. If you use any software (like Photoshop or something) that has to be downloaded and run, you can't do that on a Chromebook. But you can use it for anything that is web-based. Another slight downside to a Chromebook is that generally speaking the camera doesn't tend to be as great. You can do Google Meet or Zoom on a Chromebook, but if you do a lot of videocalls you might want to pay attention to what reviews say about the camera.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

I'm also using an acer Chromebook and it works fine for me.

Don’t need a laptop for zoom or anything like that.

I’m confused. Is an Acer the same as a Chromebook?

Acer is the brand name. Chromebook is the type of computer it is. A Chromebook uses Chrome Operating System, which is different from the Microsoft Windows or the Apple/Mac operating system. There are different brands of Chromebooks available.

I have a Gateway with a 17 inch screen I bought at Walmart for about $1,000.

Yup!

I'm using an Acer, and my last Chromebook was an Acer. I also had a HiSense in my classroom and it worked really well.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

Yeah, if you're not looking for a full-on desktop replacement some level of Chromebook is almost definitely the way to go. They have really nice ones, too, but it's pretty great to get something for $200-300 which lets you browse easily and is super lightweight.

Will go check out Chromebooks. Would never have thought of this.

If I were spending this much, I would definitely buy an Apple product.

The laptop I have is considered to be a budget gaming computer. That's why it cost so much. At times I wish I had bought something cheaper because I rarely play games on it. But it's there if I want to.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

I like to shop at Walmart as much as possible. Especially electronics. It's easier to return if there's something wrong with it.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

I'm afraid none of my recommendations would be of interest, I tend to do everything different:cool:...But from what others have said...and from what it sounds like Stirch's requirement needs are, she'd be best suited by a Chromebook.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

I'd go with the mentioned brand Acer. I have a Lenovo laptop but someone else in my house has an Acer and so far so good after about three years, pretty good laptop and the battery lasts for ages and it's on most of the day.

Check out Lenovo too, seems excellent so far.

Just for context, my old Acer Chromebook lasted 7 years. And even then, it still works. The problems became (1) that it was too old to get updates and (2) one night I wasn't thinking and leaned forward suddenly while it was on my lap and extended the monitor part too far.

I got my current one barely-used for $100. New it's $150.

I was seriously considering visiting Walmart. I don’t drive, but it’s very doable to get there.

Yeah, this seems to be the opinion. Funny, because I didn’t even know what Chromebook is though I was familiar with the word.

Gotta mean something that the only ones I remember looking at on Amazon were Acers. Will check out Lenovo too.

Good price.

I wish they still made Sony Vaio. I loved my very first laptop from them. Like Takoma did with her laptop, I extended the monitor too far one evening & could never close it again.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

Checking out real soon, but thanks for the help today. Appreciate it. :)

I recommend going to the Walmart website and sign up for an account. It allows you to choose your local Walmart store. With an account, you could look for what you want and if you click on the item you're looking at, it will tell you if it's in stock or not and even tell you what aisle it's in. I love it. There's even an option to look at items that are already in the store which is convenient. I use the site info to work on my shopping list.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

The Laptop From Hell.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

Well, I have used many brands of laptop such as HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and LG. Recently one of my friend suggest me to use Apple MacBook Air (M1 chip) and now I am using Apple MacBook Air (M1 chip). Well, it has amazing performance.
Thanks

If you haven't already bought I would wait. You've got back to school sales starting in less than a few weeks, so there's going to be tons of options then. And be sure to check out Slickdeals for sales. Most of the time there will be comments on the posts that will do a good job of steering you away from the crappier sales.

And if you're not risk adverse you could go on eBay and find a B-stock laptop.

I've bought all my computers used from eBay, they are fully guaranteed and can be returned if they have a problem...none ever did.

I just bought my wife a 'new' used HP Pro Book it has more than enough CPU power, ram and HD graphics along with the bells and whistles for any project, except playing high end video games which we don't do. It looks brand new and cost only $135 with free shipping. All I had to do was insert the old SSD from the last laptop and so didn't even need to transfer any files. Easy peasy.

@Citizen Rules:

Yeah, my college laptop was a B-stock: a ThinkPad X61. Originally cost a little over $2k the way it was specced out, but we got it for around $1200. I still have that laptop and it still works. Albeit it can only run Linux and even then it can only browse a few webpages at once. But it’s a machine from 2007, and I’ve used the piss out of it. Fair to say it was worth the investment.

Mostly a chocolate lab laptop.

When I first joined MoFo about 8 years ago I had a Dell Dimension 8100 from 2000, worked fine but couldn't load modern web pages very fast. I used that up until six years ago.
https://www.zdnet.com/product/dell-dimension-8100/

Good to know. Didn’t know any of this.

I’m very attracted to the Apple Air, but, for my needs, the cost isn’t justified.

Good to know. For what it’s worth, I would not buy a laptop that someone else has owned. I have to have something brand-new.

LOL. That’s what I call my cheap little cell phone. This phone has a mind of its own & it enjoys devouring notifications & other items of importance to me.

Honestly, you’re not going to find a better laptop for cheaper than an Air. It’ll easily last you 5-6 years and with AppleCare any possible repairs you might need are going to be cheap. And if they can’t fix it they have been known to fully replace devices.

As far as general everyday tasks go that’s exactly what the Air was made for, so not entirely clear why you’d be against it when it sounds like exactly what you want/need.

Also, clarification: B-stock is a new laptop that can’t legally be sold as new because it was returned, but it’s still a new laptop. For instance, a business orders too many laptops and sends back the extras.

I’d love an Air, but am reluctant to pay $1,000 when people in this thread have spend much less. $1,000 is a lot of money!

Good to know about B-stock never heard of this term.

@Stirchley Maybe this will help:
Do you need your next laptop to do anything different than what you normally do on your tablet?

If you're going to do the same type of things on both devices and you don't want to spend a lot of money than a Chromebook sounds like the solution.

I’m thinking too a Chromebook might be best for my requirements such as they are.

You haven't really detailed exactly what you're trying to do with your new machine, so everything we are saying is guess work. If you're just trying to pay bills and read the news than you'd be better served with a tablet and a keyboard than a Chromebook. At least that's just my opinion.

You can source a MacBook Air with AppleCare from Best Buy for $973. And yes, while that is a lot of money you get what you pay for.

Whilst a Chromebook will save you money on the front end you could very possibly end up in a situation where either a.) Google stops providing updates for that particular version or b.) the laptop is not able to perform a task because of the nature of it being a web-based product. And then you're right back to buying yet another machine. Build quality is also usually spotty and could prove difficult for repairs down the road (i.e. you might break something that can't be fixed and then once again you gotta buy a new device), so you really gotta do your research on whichever model you do end up buying.

Here's a little information to read to get a bigger picture of what I'm talking about.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023...-updates-left/

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

@Sedai: I see what's wrong with your Apple there. Someone took a bite out of it.

Thank you very much.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

Thinkpad X220 died. Using a X1 Carbon.

It’s official. I’ve lost my ******* mind.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

I thought you were looking for a more budget friendly computer, and Apple products are among the more expensive options, but I think you'll be happy with it. I had a Macbook Air previously and thought it was a good computer. I bought a refurbished Macbook pro about five years ago, so it's 6 years old now, and I'm getting ready to replace it soon. The natural lifespan of a laptop to be running close to as well as when you initially bought it is about 5-7 years, and I'm past 6. Apple definitely makes good products, but in my opinion, and I'm speaking as someone who owns an IPHONE, an Apple TV, and a Macbook Pro, they are all grossly overpriced. For a new laptop, I think I'll need to spend $2,500 plus tax, for a base model, and that's just too much money for a laptop, in my opinion. This one will be a little larger (16.2 inches v. 15.4), and I think the screen quality will be a little better, as technology for screens has improved in the past 6 years, but there probably won't be massive differences between the two for what I use the computer for.

One thing to keep in mind when buying a new laptop is to really think through what your needs are and if the top of the line model is really essential for you. For example, for me, based on what I use the computer for, I really don't need a Macbook pro, but I want to have the largest screen possible, with the highest quality resolution, and those are only available on the Macbook pro. But, if I didn't care that much about that, based on the tasks I do with the computer, I could meet all of my needs with the significantly cheaper Macbook Air. ROKU also provides much the same product as an Apple TV as well, at a much cheaper price. I think Apple TV has a better user interface, and the picture quality is a bit better, but again, if you don't care about these features, a ROKU is a better choice for the money. The reason I'm not doing that is that I had a Macbook Air in the past, and having a smaller, worse quality screen was a noticeably negative change for me when I tried to transition (at that time Macbook Airs were 13 inches), but that may not bother everyone, and if it doesn't, the cheaper option is arguably the better choice.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

"Doesn’t have to be anything special like the Apple Air." - Yeah but.

I'm doing this on a MacBook Pro that now has 6 years on it, has a terrific screen, and still works as well as day one. They're not cheap, but they are fast, have great screens and work really well. On the dollar-per-day calculation it's been fairly cheap.

I am happy to hear that you feel this has been a good choice for you and am especially pleased to hear it is still running so well, but this is just not true for the average person, and here's why, in my opinion. The vast majority of people who buy laptops use them for basic things, such as Word processing and web browsing. Potentially also using basic software applications such as Excel or PPT, and maybe watching the occasional show on streaming, though more people probably do that on their TVs. For these types of routine tasks, a computer for $500 will do the job. Most people don't buy a Macbook pro because they are a gamer that benefits from the best graphics card money can buy, or because of the pristine high resolution screen that they really value at a $2,000 premium. Most people buy Apple products because they are ubiquitous throughout the society and buying an IPHONE seems like the right choice when everyone else they know has one. They don't actually consider whether or not the premium they pay is something they value, or whether a much cheaper product may work just as well for them. For you, a Macbook pro may be worth it. I can't speak to that, as that's a personal choice, but for the masses, it's often arguably not worth the incredible premium, especially when it concerns Mac laptops vs. other brands. There are many brands that also can last many years if well taken care of, and many laptops that are much cheaper have the requisite power to reliably do the type of routine tasks of the average consumer.

I'll just add that the laptop is "upstairs". The downstairs computer is a Mac Mini that's been turned on 24 X 7 since 2010. Longevity seems to be a track record. Both are used for basic things like browsing, memos, e mail, etc. Lasting this long, it cost me $62 per year, which really is not expensive at all. I'm well aware of value and these computers have it. I bought mine so I could see something at home that was different from the PCs I saw at work as a network admin. I've never looked back on either purchase.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

I saw a reply about Lenovo. I use Lenovo as well, but the battery life is faulty. (Thinkpad L13 Yoga), which would be perfect if not for the aforementioned reason. I haven't used any other laptops from them though, so I don't think there should be any problems if you get a model other than the one I own. :D

I've never owned a Lenovo but their ThinkPad series are beloved by the Linux community. At least I keep hearing them recommend.

Hmm, I wonder if it’s just my laptop in particular with poor battery life. It’s weird that it even happened though, considering thinkpads have adaptive battery.

Batteries can go bad, even newer ones. Maybe look online for info about battery life and you're specific model of laptop.

No one buys a MacBook to play video games. So let’s just make that clear.

People buy MacBooks because, service wise, they are unmatched in the business. AppleCare is unparalleled.

Spec wise, the entry level devices are a mess of proprietary shit. But when you pair it with a next level service agreement it outshines the competition.

As someone who works on computers regularly for all different socioeconomic groups the Apple is by and large the most common device desired. Because it works and, when it doesn’t, they largely stand behind it.

But you’d be surprised to know that the king of laptops in the USA is not Dell, not Lenovo, not Apple, but HP. Really!

Internationally, tho, it’s Lenovo but the margins is close and HP is number 2.

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Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

A black one.

Oh let me guess. You bought it at Walmart? I bought an msi gaming laptop at Walmart and a few days later it wouldn't let me log into it. I took it back to Walmart and bought a Gateway laptop.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

It's a giant retailer that sells everything.

Oh you live in the land down under. Sorry. I didn't know that.

and they specialize in souls

and soles.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

and sales.

That's not surprising at all. In my past life as a network admin, I was involved in purchasing and know that most of those decisions are made because someone offers a good price on a bunch of them, offers tech support and because those computers are locked down so that the business user can only do what the admins say they can do. It makes them much more stable, especially compared to home users, who do all sorts of things that admins say they should not and visit web sites that are problematic. The "standard" for exchanging files in the business world is geared to MS Office, so Windows, Office and PC's are what gets put on desks.

Re: Please tell me what kind of laptop you use.
 

Dell's gaming laptop that I bought in 2017. I don't need a new one as I don't play new games anymore. It works just fine.

If/when it breaks down or its technology is not sufficient enough, I'll probably buy another gaming laptop even if I'm not interested in playing computer games. High-performance is always good.