New Laptop for my sister

[mac9891]

I am purchasing a new laptop for my sister for college and a career in teaching after that within the next few years. She right now uses a Hp from 2008 and is looking for an upgrade. The most she will do with it is surf the internet, watch video's, and use the Microsoft office programs. Someone mentioned macbook pro but those run like 2,00 i thought. I'd be willing to spend the money but do not know if that is necessary. I'd like her computer to be fast and be able to do those things I said very well. But besides that see is not very technical at all and will not play games on it.

I'd spend up to 2,00 on it but would preffer to spend the least I could to get a good laptop. Any advice would be great thanks in advance

 

[DarkSable]

No, don't bother with a macbook pro or air.

The only reason to spend the money on a mac is if the user doesn't know anything about computers and isn't willing to learn. If your sister is using windows right now, then she's fine.

 

[DarkSable]

Also, for a laptop to just do those things, you can get a $5-600 laptop from a good brand (Asus, acer, samsung...) that'll last her forever.

The Lenovo thinkpads are also legendary for anything but gaming.

 

[mac9891]

so i found these two

1. http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215408
2. http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230457

The first one has a faster cpu and a nice video card. Would the first one be leaps and bounds better than the second in everyday stuff or would they be similar and the first just be over kill

 

[mouse24]

I would grab the first one yeah. a 1.6ghz A6 I just don't think that will cut it. Not to mention the better resolution. (I find 1366 to be extremely unusable but thats just my personal tastes)

 

[jaguarskx]

I actually recommend getting a laptop with higher than 1366x768 resolution. That low resolution will limit her ability to multi-task on a laptop especially if she is researching and writing papers at the same time. Dealing with 1366x768 resolution is a real pain; I know from experience.

I would buy the following SONY VAIO SE Series VPCSE1DGX/B for $800 after $100 rebate. It is a 15.5" laptop with a 1920x1080 resolution screen. It has a backlit keyboard and a Core i5-2430m CPU which is more than fast enough for at least the next 4 years based on what your sister is currently doing. It is less than 1" thick and weighs 4.4lbs which is pretty light for a 15.5" laptop.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127691