I need help finding the perfect laptop...
Here's what i have now: Dell Inspiron 4000 purchased 6 years ago. I have 256k Ram, 18GB hard drive and it is literally crumbling away under my fingers. It is time to put this poor baby to rest.
Obviously this one is slow, and the hard drive is full, but we manage - so anything I purchase will be a huge upgrade by default.
I plan to use it for typical emails, message boards, etc.
Digital photography - I want something with a good monitor so I can count on accurate images. Doesn't have to be the best of the best, but good. A smaller hard drive is ok for me, I am very diligent about moving files to cd's and would rather have a backup hard drive down the road instead of one large one in the computer itself. My photography friends recommend minimally: core 2 duo, 1gb ram, 100gb+ HD, DVD burner, and to avoid Vista if possible.
Home movies - must have a dvd-rw drive. I need to transfer home movies to dvd. I have everything I need on the camera end - the software, cables whatnot- I just dont have the dvd burner.
My husband plays Age of Empires on occasion, but other than that, there isnt anything we would need special graphic/gaming type features.
Music - gotta load that Ipod...
I plan to also buy a wireless printer and will have wireless internet service through Qwest but am clueless what I will need to look for with this. This computer wont leave the house very often - maybe the occasional weekend road trip, but we want wireless so we can move it around the house, and not require its own desk - space is an issue and our current computer desk has been the source of lots of frustration lately.
I need microsoft office for my job, and would really like some kind of antivirus software.
I have to keep this under $1000 and that would ideally buy me the printer as well. I know I will have to sacrifice some features, but am clueless where to even begin. What can I do without now in order to make some room in the budget for what I really need? What types of things are easy to upgrade or add down the road if necessary? I am open to buying refurbished, and am not brand loyal. I can also probably rationalize spending more for the ideal system IF the store offers some kind of deferred payment - like 6 months no interest or something...
Thanks everyone!!
Here's what i have now: Dell Inspiron 4000 purchased 6 years ago. I have 256k Ram, 18GB hard drive and it is literally crumbling away under my fingers. It is time to put this poor baby to rest.
Obviously this one is slow, and the hard drive is full, but we manage - so anything I purchase will be a huge upgrade by default.
I plan to use it for typical emails, message boards, etc.
Digital photography - I want something with a good monitor so I can count on accurate images. Doesn't have to be the best of the best, but good. A smaller hard drive is ok for me, I am very diligent about moving files to cd's and would rather have a backup hard drive down the road instead of one large one in the computer itself. My photography friends recommend minimally: core 2 duo, 1gb ram, 100gb+ HD, DVD burner, and to avoid Vista if possible.
Home movies - must have a dvd-rw drive. I need to transfer home movies to dvd. I have everything I need on the camera end - the software, cables whatnot- I just dont have the dvd burner.
My husband plays Age of Empires on occasion, but other than that, there isnt anything we would need special graphic/gaming type features.
Music - gotta load that Ipod...
I plan to also buy a wireless printer and will have wireless internet service through Qwest but am clueless what I will need to look for with this. This computer wont leave the house very often - maybe the occasional weekend road trip, but we want wireless so we can move it around the house, and not require its own desk - space is an issue and our current computer desk has been the source of lots of frustration lately.
I need microsoft office for my job, and would really like some kind of antivirus software.
I have to keep this under $1000 and that would ideally buy me the printer as well. I know I will have to sacrifice some features, but am clueless where to even begin. What can I do without now in order to make some room in the budget for what I really need? What types of things are easy to upgrade or add down the road if necessary? I am open to buying refurbished, and am not brand loyal. I can also probably rationalize spending more for the ideal system IF the store offers some kind of deferred payment - like 6 months no interest or something...
Thanks everyone!!
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