Help choose laptop

[Jenna Whiteford]

I am looking to buy myself a new laptop as i am about to start an online course. Does anyone have any recommendations? I am tossing up between a Macbook Pro and a normal laptop?? Apart from doing my course i would just be using it for general internet emails etc and typing documents if need be, maybe storing music and photos aswell.

 

[kenrivers]

For what you would spend on a Macbook Pro you could get a PC laptop that will more than meet your needs. I'm not knocking the Macbook Pro as I have one. I use an older laptop for word processing, storing music, browsing the web, etc. and it does those tasks well. The point is that you don't need an expensive laptop to do the things you want to do. Just out of curiosity though, what online class will you be using the laptop for?

 

[Bromeh]

How much are you willing to spend ?

Do you absolutely want a Mac ?

This laptop is about 700$ and it has a pretty good value : http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/webca/LenovoPortal/en_CA/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=458&Code=59360116&category_id=6F25AD87314BC8A2F92F4CD784242A7D

If i had to buy a laptop (which i'm never going to do), i would take this one because it's pretty loaded. i7 processor, 8GB of ram, 1TB and a pretty okay graphics card.

There is a 15.6" model available (Y500) : http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/webca/LenovoPortal/en_CA/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=458&Code=95412YU&category_id=E9A8C337FA7284328C5C21BDE242DF56

They have the same specs apart from the screen.


- The Brownie

 

[edit1754]

You need to be careful when recommending and/or buying the Lenovo IdeaPad Y500. If you're looking at the Lenovo IdeaPad Y500, you need to make sure that the model you are looking at is one of the models that comes with the 1920x1080 dispaly, and not the 1366x768 display. While the Y500's 1920x1080 display is great, both in image quality and in that the resolution itself lets you fit a lot onscreen, this isn't just about how good the 1920x1080 display is, it's also about how poor the 1366x768 display is. 1366x768 resolution in a 15.6" display makes things onscreen large, and 15.6" displays that have 1366x768 resolution tend to be low-grade LCD panels with very poor image quality due to low contrast. You should make a point to avoid displays like these when it is reasonable to do so, unless you require the larger text for eyesight-related reasons.

Don't be so quick to indiscriminantly take the cheapest model available just because it's the cheapest. The cheapest model of the Y500 that's really worth considering is the $849 model, not the $799 model. $50 goes a long way in this case.

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/webca/LenovoPortal/en_CA/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000001CA:00002C67:&category-id=E9A8C337FA7284328C5C21BDE242DF56