Choosing laptop.

[PL_Kuba]

Hey laptop experts!

I need your help for choosing a good laptop for a 16-year old girl. It is meant to be used for school and general work I guess - storing pictures, music, videos, chatting and all this crap teenegers do.

Since I was asked to help the family buy one the price is unknown, but I would say around $1500 should cover all those requirements. What do you think?

What are good brands for laptops/which ones should I avoid? Anything hot out there? Anyone really happy with one?
What is your opinion about buying one via internet. What are the odds that it might be defective, for instance bad pixels on the screen. (I just found a good one here -what do you think? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...984&CatId=2289 )

What are the most important things to consider? (should I be more conserned with a cpu speed or ram?, how low can I go with a graphics card,) things like that.

Just lead me on the right path and I will do research myself.
Please share.
Thanks a lot for any input.

[mairving]

You might just read some of the threads here for advice given to others. You can't go wrong with Dell, IBM, Acer, Apple. I wouldn't buy Gateway, Sony or HP.

The computer listed is a fine computer but it might be overkill. She may be better with a less beefer but lighter more mobile laptop. I would also never buy anything from TigerDirect.

[glc]

I would recommend a light compact laptop for a teen girl - a Dell XPS M1210 would be ideal if that's in budget. It's brand new, you can't configure it yet, but it starts at $1300. Otherwise, a Dell Inspiron E1405 or E1505 would be an excellent machine for the money.

[rspassey]

Hello.

On the home page, thefultonhow has provided us with a wonderful laptop buying guide, which I would recommend you read / look over before deciding the drop 1000$ on a laptop
http://www.pcmech.com/show/internal/946/

I have been a long time Dell laptop fan because they provide top notch support, build quality products, and the costs are relatively low.

Basically, you need to sit down with the girl and find out her needs. If she is a gamer, then more money will be spent on RAM and the Video Card. If not, then 512MB Ram or more (I personally recommend 1GB) and integrated video will do fine. If she has tons of videos, then more harddrive space is worth looking into. If not, I would put that money toward RAM or processor speed (depending on how much it cost to increase).

[thefultonhow]

The Inspiron E1405 should probably be a relatively good match, and it's nice and cheap. If the girl doesn't do any particularly demanding stuff, configure the laptop with few options but spend a lot on the warranty. Warranties, especially those that cover accidental damage, are very useful on a laptop because laptop parts fail more often and laptops are more likely to be dropped or be fried by having stuff spilled on them.

I helped my mom buy a Dell Inspiron 700m and she got pretty basic options but got a four-year CompleteCare (accidental-damage) warranty. It works great for her -- she doesn't listen to music or watch videos, but I'm sure it would do that no problem. And the E1405 is a much beefier laptop than the 700m -- dual-core processor, etc.

Keep in mind that Dell has coupon codes that bring the price down significantly. They can be found at the following site:

http://www.xpbargains.com/dell_coupons/

Currently they are giving 30% off laptops priced $999 or greater, but the discounts change from week to week. The discount is off the original price before any other discounts, which is usually in smaller text and crossed out above the price they would charge without you using coupons.

[Kareeser]

I also vouch for the 700m. It's small, sleek, and has a nice finish. If you're not a fan of IBM's business black, then the 700m is good.

(Actually, fulton, I believe Dell has replaced the 700m with the 710m)

The only fault was that it runs a little warm... and the lid sensor stick snapped off after I accidentally brushed it with my hand.

[thefultonhow]

Actually, my number-one problem with the 700m/710m (and hopefully the M1210 won't have this problem too) is the cramped keyboard with too-narrow period and comma keys. The E1405 has a full keyboard.

[Kareeser]

I'll mention that as well.

I completely forgot about that issue because, quite frankly, I got used to it. I actually type faster with the cramped keyboard.

The downside, however, is that I have to re-learn how to type properly on a normal sized keyboard

Edit: Doesn't seem like the E1405 is offered in Canada, kind of like how I can't find the 700m/710m on the USA website. I'm on the USA Website now. The E1405 looks like a more rounded (visually) version of the 700m. Looks like a great laptop