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Shopping for a Simple Laptop for Relatives
Hamurabi
MiamiRegistered User regular
MiamiRegistered User regular
So in the interest of providing some background in case it proves germaine to my selection: I'm looking for a relatively simple, but not absolutely bottom-of-the-barrel laptop for my relatives in Pakistan. Their computer setup is finnicky and prone to failure, which sometimes makes it quite difficult to Skype with them reliably. The primary use of this laptop would indeed be for Skyping, but I presume would also become a general use PC. To that end, I need it to have some minimum level of power (detailed below) and to be pretty hassle-free.
Bare minimum specs:
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I've already taken anti-virus software into account (my cousins have a bad habit of being gratuitous Flash game downloaders) and will pre-install Nod32 with an active subscription.
Poking around NewEgg with those specs in mind, I've found this one really-neat-but-somewhat-expensive option from Acer that actually comes with 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB. Would there be a big step up from four to six gigs? Is it much better from a future-proofing standpoint? I also notice this other one for $100 less that more closely matches my criteria, but I don't wanna pull the trigger until I've asked around a bit.
PS: I considered going the ultra-portable route and getting a netbook, but from what I remember they're just so small and underpowered that they don't really fit the description of what I'm after. Tablets are also out of the question as I'd really like something simple and recognizable for them to use.
Bare minimum specs:
- 4GB of RAM
- 14"-15" screen >720p
- Core i3 CPU
- Full-sized keyboard
- Webcam (though I'm having trouble finding any laptops nowadays that don't have a webcam, so this shouldn't be an issue)
- Built-in mic and speakers (again, doesn't seem like an issue)
- Windows 7 (which I guess you'll be able to use to get 8 soon)
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I've already taken anti-virus software into account (my cousins have a bad habit of being gratuitous Flash game downloaders) and will pre-install Nod32 with an active subscription.
Poking around NewEgg with those specs in mind, I've found this one really-neat-but-somewhat-expensive option from Acer that actually comes with 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB. Would there be a big step up from four to six gigs? Is it much better from a future-proofing standpoint? I also notice this other one for $100 less that more closely matches my criteria, but I don't wanna pull the trigger until I've asked around a bit.
PS: I considered going the ultra-portable route and getting a netbook, but from what I remember they're just so small and underpowered that they don't really fit the description of what I'm after. Tablets are also out of the question as I'd really like something simple and recognizable for them to use.
Hamurabi on
0