new laptop, please help, hate technology.
July 19, 2015 2:14 PM Subscribe
I've had mac laptops in the past but I'm over it. My laptop is dying and I need to get a new one. I internet, stream things [netflix, hulu, mets games on sketchy websites, if that matters], type papers for school.
I also keep my photos and music on my laptop. I have an external hard drive already. I use a pc at work so that's fine. I will occasionally need to bring the laptop to work so I guess I prefer that it doesn't weigh 800 pounds. I hate dealing with technology so I'd rather pay a little more now to have it last longer. Battery time not an issue. My friend suggested this. Would that work? Seems so cheap. The man at tekserve suggested a lenovo think pad. Why? Which? Please talk to me about technology as if I was 80 years old not 29 [still don't have a smartphone!]
I also keep my photos and music on my laptop. I have an external hard drive already. I use a pc at work so that's fine. I will occasionally need to bring the laptop to work so I guess I prefer that it doesn't weigh 800 pounds. I hate dealing with technology so I'd rather pay a little more now to have it last longer. Battery time not an issue. My friend suggested this. Would that work? Seems so cheap. The man at tekserve suggested a lenovo think pad. Why? Which? Please talk to me about technology as if I was 80 years old not 29 [still don't have a smartphone!]
FWIW I got an Asus Laptop Q501LA-BB15T03 about a year and a half ago, which I really like. The touch screen display is beautiful, it's a slim metal case but not too heavy. Of course, only a mother could love Windows 8 (but that won't be a problem for you at this time).
My Mac Book Pro is now sitting in the closet doing nothing (nice machine, didn't hold up...battery, touch pad, and of course forced obsolescence on the OS). I think I am going to stick with Asus Laptops.
Of course, just count this as a single vote, see what others have to say.
posted by forthright at 2:54 PM on July 19, 2015
My Mac Book Pro is now sitting in the closet doing nothing (nice machine, didn't hold up...battery, touch pad, and of course forced obsolescence on the OS). I think I am going to stick with Asus Laptops.
Of course, just count this as a single vote, see what others have to say.
posted by forthright at 2:54 PM on July 19, 2015
Don't know about current states of laptops, but I regularly still use a ThinkPad purchased in 2002 to surf the net while watching TV. I am one data point for the durability of a ThinkPad.
posted by AugustWest at 3:03 PM on July 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by AugustWest at 3:03 PM on July 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
Once I bought my iPad and a keyboard for it, I stopped touching my laptop. And since you know you will be visiting sketchy websites, you really need to get something that doesn't get infected as easy as a pc. It has a long battery life, isn't very heavy, streams videos like a boss, and you can even add a data plan to it to watch your sketchy stuff from anywhere.
Google docs works great for accessing files between pc and iPad.
posted by myselfasme at 3:19 PM on July 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
Google docs works great for accessing files between pc and iPad.
posted by myselfasme at 3:19 PM on July 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
We bought two ThinkPads years ago after consulting with the work IT guy. Both are still going strong, even though one was the machine of choice for two teenagers for years. That one has been subjected to all sorts of abuse (dragged from room to room, dropped repeatedly, used to visit sketchy websites and streams of all sorts and I'm sure I don't know the half of it) and has never needed anything more than a good scan with Malwarebytes from time to time. My only complaint has been that the USB ports tend to crap out. I have a USB multiport hub to deal with this.
posted by Morrigan at 6:27 PM on July 19, 2015
posted by Morrigan at 6:27 PM on July 19, 2015
Follow up since others have posted: yes, I'd actually suggest a MacBook Air instead of a ThinkPad. I spend less effort taking care of my Hackintosh (not a Mac, but running MacOS) than my Microsoft Surface (which is, one assumes, the best Microsoft experience), or any other Windows 7, 8 or 10 machine in my house - you may discover you're less over Apple than you think (and yes, forthright, I feel your pain - but the post 2011 Macs have been solid). I wouldn't suggest an Asus (or Acer) that I hadn't owned long enough to be obsolete - they're hit and miss in a profound way. An iPad with a keyboard is good for somebody who isn't a tech expert, but while you can safely visit sketchy sites, you won't necessarily get what you wanted there.
posted by wotsac at 11:03 PM on July 19, 2015
posted by wotsac at 11:03 PM on July 19, 2015
I bought a Chromebook (Toshiba CB2) 6 months ago and can't remember being happier with a piece of technology. Light, fast, responsive, super battery life, no maintenance, boots in 7 seconds, and cheap. It won't run Windows or Mac programs, so if you need those for work you need to get creative, but it will allow you to do everything you describe using a browser and Google Docs. Docs works offline too so you don't need to be connected to the internet to do work.
posted by pines at 1:45 AM on July 20, 2015
posted by pines at 1:45 AM on July 20, 2015
Just get the cheapest refurbished macbook air 13.
* Refurbished apple stuff is if anything better than new, and has the same warranty as new stuff.
* Dealing with visiting sketchy ass pirate sites on windows is a malware black hole, especially since a lot of ads and stuff drive-by install garbage now. Even through flash. Ugh
* There's no moving parts, they're very well made. There's not really anything to fail and they're well known for being extremely reliable.
* Extremely light and easy to carry around.
Thinkpads are extremely good if you buy the right model. They sort of diluted the brand name by introducing a bunch of junky models that have that name on them. It's mildly fiddly to figure out which one to buy since there's a crapton of models. The good ones are great, but there's no shitty mac. You can buy the basic model with confidence that it'll be a perfectly serviceable machine with no glaring omissions or chopped out features you actually want. And the cheapest one is put together just as well as the nicest one which is decided just not true for thinkpads.
When friends, family, clients, whoever ask me what to buy at this point unless a specific price point has to be hit that nixes macs or they specifically go "I want a PC and i want it because i want to do XYZ(like play games, run some piece of software), i just recommend a mac. They're easier to own, lower maintenance with updates/not having to deal with antimalware BS to even 1/50th of the same degree, and generally slot in to the upper echelon of how well made a laptop can be anyways.
posted by emptythought at 3:08 AM on July 20, 2015
* Refurbished apple stuff is if anything better than new, and has the same warranty as new stuff.
* Dealing with visiting sketchy ass pirate sites on windows is a malware black hole, especially since a lot of ads and stuff drive-by install garbage now. Even through flash. Ugh
* There's no moving parts, they're very well made. There's not really anything to fail and they're well known for being extremely reliable.
* Extremely light and easy to carry around.
Thinkpads are extremely good if you buy the right model. They sort of diluted the brand name by introducing a bunch of junky models that have that name on them. It's mildly fiddly to figure out which one to buy since there's a crapton of models. The good ones are great, but there's no shitty mac. You can buy the basic model with confidence that it'll be a perfectly serviceable machine with no glaring omissions or chopped out features you actually want. And the cheapest one is put together just as well as the nicest one which is decided just not true for thinkpads.
When friends, family, clients, whoever ask me what to buy at this point unless a specific price point has to be hit that nixes macs or they specifically go "I want a PC and i want it because i want to do XYZ(like play games, run some piece of software), i just recommend a mac. They're easier to own, lower maintenance with updates/not having to deal with antimalware BS to even 1/50th of the same degree, and generally slot in to the upper echelon of how well made a laptop can be anyways.
posted by emptythought at 3:08 AM on July 20, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
ThinkPads are regularly suggested because the business ThinkPads (the ones whose model number starts with T, W, X and maybe one other letter) are usually quite well made in the ways Macs are and the Toshiba isn't. I'd suggest going to outlet.lenovo.com and getting a refurbished T440 (14" screen) or T540 (15" screen). They aren't cheap, but should last a long time.
posted by wotsac at 2:37 PM on July 19, 2015 [1 favorite]