What type of laptop should I buy?

cheerful1_gw

13 years ago

I'm going to be retiring in the near future, and want a laptop at home.

I'll be using WordPerfect, Excel, and will eventually get TurboTax for some tax returns I prepare.

I'll also be web surfing and accessing emails.

For all the years I've used a computer at work, I have no idea about how much memory, speed, etc., I'll need.

I have an iPhone, and was thinking about tethering it to a laptop instead of getting internet from my cable company.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Comments (7)

mikie_gw
13 years ago
Speed and memory really shouldn't matter very much to windows in a laptop unless you are doing heavy video, games or lots of graphic editing or engineered cad type drawings.

Even budget new laptops will have 4gb of memory which is adequate for most people. About 6gb is the peak use most will utilize for your type of usage, but 4gb is fine unless you're doing a constant word processor or crunching speadsheets.

The win8 thing, a quad core processor I think might be best - its doing two operating systems at same time 'sort of.. performance hit on a dual core.
cheerful1_gw
Original Author
13 years ago
I noticed that people don't seem to like Windows 8, but I don't know what the specific complaints are.
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owbist
13 years ago
There really is nothing wrong with Windows 8, more the fact that we all resent change. Also Microsoft apparently are going to replace the start button that is currently not on Win8, this will help many. Lots of great tutorials out there for Win 8.

Also as Mickie notes greater amounts of memory, this is due to Windows 8 being offered in 64 bit which is the way to go. 32 bit computers can only access something less than 4 gigs of RAM (memory)

Are you familiar with Wordperfect and Excel? I ask because that would mean buying two office programs unless you already have them of course. Corel Office comes with Wordperfect and Quattro Pro for spreadsheets. MS Office comes with Word and XL. Both are offered in various flavours. Both are now owned by MS.

For a bargain you might watch for the back to school sales which should kick off soon I s'pose.
cheerful1_gw
Original Author
13 years ago
I use Wordperfect, Excel and Word at work.

Not crazy about Word, but it's probably cheaper for me to get MS Office.

Hadn't thought about the back to school sales - they're already starting!
DA_Mccoy
13 years ago
For an office suite, how about the free Apache Open Office? There is a learning curve, but not that much.

O's reference to user resistance to change is right on point, and though I could expand for this thread it is not necessary. W8 is just fine.

DA
gloriam
13 years ago
I love Windows 8, you can use a browser say "Google Chrome" and its just like Windows 7. I got a HP 17 inch moniter, 8 megs of ram and its fast and I just love it.

If you use YouTube there are alote of video's how to learn
Windows 8.
llaatt22
13 years ago
Windows 8 is speedy and with your favorite browser etc. stuck over it for surfing, you can almost completely ignore it if you want.

What type of laptop should I buy?

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What type of laptop should I buy?

Comments (7)

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