Best Laptop for my Mother

Need some opionions for the best laptop for my mother. She phoned me up and asked, so I suggested an Apple being a mac fan, but she doesn't want one of those. I don't keep up with PC laptops at all, so would like some advice.

It won't get used very much other than for a bit of word processing I would imagine, but you never know what she could get up to (although I think it will be a cold day in hell if she ever does video editing ).

I just didn't want to see her ripped off by PC world guys, selling her something she doesn't really need.

Any ideas?

 

Does she travel a lot? If not, I would suggest her to buy a nice desktop pc.

 

woolworths or equivalent in your country - I got asked the same recently from my folks, cheap cheerful with modern processor and ram and they should be happy as larry - think they got an Acer.

just tell them to treat it like the car - disposable and needs to be updated every few years

 

What about DELL? Something basic if she's not all tech-y (so don't get sony VAIO because they come with tons of softwares )

 

You can go for Dell - Cheaper and reliable.

 

Hp is my recomandation

Or if you whant and have the money Sony Vayo a litlle bit expensive then HP

 

For word processing any $599 laptop would do. I would suggest rounding up a few laptop choices yourself and then creating a poll.

You could still buy an Apple notebook for her as Apple Bootcamp supports installing XP. Infact the latest beta even supports Vista 32bit.

ARonald

 

Any idea how much it costs to install XP or VIStA? I was considering getting a macbook and installing PC into it

 

If it's only going to be used for word processing I would get a refurbished Dell laptop on eBay

 

I don't think it's a good idea to buy a laptop on eBay. Why not to buy directly form Dell? It's much safer. eBay is full of crappy products and scammers. You gotta be out of your mind or have serious financial problems to buy a dell laptop(or any other) on eBay.....

 

I found Acer @ Mesco the cheapest and the best as well

 

I think the bootcamp software costs $29.99. Would suggest waiting till Apple releases Leopard as bootcamp is integrated into it and Leopard will most probably be a 64bit version. Leopard + Vista + Macbook =

 

so cheap! What is bootcamps? So this is all I need to run XP or VISTA on my macbook??

 

The word cheaper comes to mind. Nothing wrong with used Dell laptops on eBay. Mine served me well. Just use your due diligence when buying and look into the sellers feedback, etc I would have to say you would have to be out of your mind for wanting to spend more then you need to

 

You need WindowsXP CD as well . The exact procedure is listed here.

 

This is useful ..

 

Cheaper? You can already get quite decent, NEW laptops from Dell for $500-600 (with rebate, coupons etc). Your computer may have served your good but, eBay has always been and still is full of crappy products and scammers.

Anyways, my response was more directed to the OP than to you, because, the purpose of the thread is to find the best solution for him/his mom. And I think, "Buy a Dell laptop on eBay" is not a good advice for a person who is not an experienced eBayer (someone who isn't familiar with feedback system, scam schemes etc.).

eBay is a place for buying all sorts of junk (I buy a lot of things there myself ) but, not laptops or expensive gadgets, equipment etc.

 

I have to agree with not purchasing a laptop on eBay. eBay may be alright for cheaper items but I would not gamble that much money to a user on eBay because you might end up getting scammed or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I use eBay a lot. I have well over 100 positive transactions, but have been scammed 5-6 times for a total of over $300.

If you are looking for a budget computer, I'd go with a Dell. They aren't as bad as people say they are. Otherwise, you could go with Toshiba. I have one and they are very reliable. Compaq/HP laptops are alright but my Aunt has had a few problems with hers.

 

Fujitsu Siemens is good.

 

HP laptops a good.