Laptop or Desk Top?'s

I also suggest Dell.

Ordering them online is so easy and you get to customize them anyway you wish.

I would choose laptop over desktop, more versatile, IMO.

I would say you are looking at <$500 but >$1000.

~If you are wanting cheaper you should look at BestBuy or Walmart..I have seen decent Laptops for @$350 sometimes...just all depends on how much you space and memory you need.

*Lots of people are going to suggest a Mac and I have a MacBookPro and yes, its great.... but WAY too expensive, IMO.

Lots of great advice about the techy stuff but. I will add my personal preference.

We have had laptops only in our house for many many years. Me, hubby and now almost 18 year old daughter have all had our own for years. We started with a shared one, then got a second (I got my own as I have a small home business, and hubby and dd shared...then we updated again, I got the new one again, dd got the second oldest one as she used it for school etc, and hubby got the oldest as his needs were minimal..web surfing, etc).

I will never ever even consider a big desktop again. Laptops are plenty powerful and memory filled for your average consumer. If you have a good internet connection...wireless system in your home really, you are going to love the freedom.

I can be anywhere in my home, on my patio, etc. I can take it with on vacation (when my daughter was a preteen/young teen, we IM'ed each other when my hubby and I were in remote snowmobling towns where they had a better internet connection than a phone connection or cell connections), I can take it to the coffee shop to work or study, etc.

We also have a simple wireless printer/scanner/copier, no fax feature as we have no home phone line, and its about 2 years old and we paid less than $100 for it. We have never had an issue with it.

Good luck!

I recently got a Dell Inspiron laptop and I love it! You can go on the dell website and they giive you different options, you can choose what you want (they even explainthem). I got the one with the largest screen because I photoshop a lot and like to see what I am working on. It also comes with an HDMI port for video, CDr/DVR, and SD card slot. I love it!

A little pricey, but if there are any students in your family youcan get a student discount. Also once you figure out what fetures you like, you can buy a factory reconditioned one from Dell with a full warranty etc. for less money. Mine was around 600 if I recall...

I lie it better than my desktop because it is portable!!! I can sit in the backyard with it and watch my daughter play while getting stuff done.

Good luck!

Lord it just depends on what you need. I need to take my computer with me, for work and when I was in school for school. You can only do that on a laptop.

I am typing at the moment on our desktop because I love the big screen. Can't get that with a laptop.

Everything in my home is wireless and has been for years. I can unplug and move this desktop where ever there is an outlet. Look at your house, if it is anything like mine that isn't limiting.

If I were in a nerdy mood I could hook this desktop or my laptop to my flat screen and use both with a remote keyboard so I could toggle between TV and browsing while sitting my lazy butt on the sofa.

I could go on but you get the point, the possibilities are limitless, you just need to figure out what you actually want and then some nerd like me can tell you the cheapest way to do it. :)

Oh no laptop will ever have the power of a desktop unless you want to pay, err, around five times as much, maybe more, I haven't done that comparison in a few years. I can't stand slow computers, my last laptop cost 2,500 this desktop cost 300. The desktop actually has a faster processor.

Don't buy HP they are poopy right now.

All my computers are Dells, just know the laptops are stupidly large! Well unless you get a netbook, which are stupidly slow! There is a new Samsung laptop I have been wanting to check out. Looks like it will give the Apple air(or whatever they are calling it now) a run for its money.

Honestly, it really depends on what and how you use it. Our laptop is fine for us, we use it lightly it is a Compaq Presario - but I would not reccomend it for someone who wants to do more than surf the net, host iTunes, stream movies/video, hold photos and other light "Word/Excel" work.

We are not MAC people, so I'll offer what I've learned about the PC world.

There are some better brands than others....but really it comes down to the type of processor. An Intel Pentium is MUCH better than the knock off AMD.

I'm currently researching the best computer to buy for my work, that has to be a desk top. I recently went through this to buy my laptop.

First, the difference between the laptop and desktop. The desktop has more ports for various things. At work, we have a scanner that needs to plug in to the computer.....it would not work without an adapter in a laptop. A desktop also has the feature of if you spill something on the keyboard, you potentially are only out a keyboard, and not a computer. The laptop is very convenient of course, but has a better chance of being damaged.

While searching for a computer my minimum requirements are:

*Intel Pentium processor of an i3 or better. If it doesn't have an 'i' in front of the number, it lower than an i3, and you should google it to see where it ranks. This will make the difference of your processing speed.
*4 GB Memory or more (A 2 would be ok for light use, but 4's are very affordable). This also makes a difference in how fast your computer works.
*500 GB Hard Drive or more. This part isn't as necessary as being so large if you have an external hard drive. This is the part where you store all of your pictures ect. A 350 GB would also be fine for light use.....and if there is extra storage in other places.....but many people do not come close to filling this up.
*HDMI port

You should have an external hard drive of 500 GB or 1 TB for system back-ups anyway.

The price for a laptop that has all the above is around $500. The price for a desktop (not including monitor) is around $400. Monitors are around $100 - 200.

I bought a Toshiba 750 Satellite for $370 that had an i3, 4GB Memory, and 500 GB Hard Drive on sale at Best Buy last November. It has a built in camera, and has an HDMI port (a must these days).

I found a Lenova desktop today at Best Buy (becoming popular, and my husband in IT uses one) with a lower than i3 processor (by a hair), 6GB Memory, and 1 TB hard drive for $379. The monitor is another $150. Most desktops come with a keyboard and mouse.

I've found Best Buy to be very reasonable, Walmart to only offer the knock off stuff, and www.tigerdirect.com to be ok.....but it has to be shipped....which is usually free.

I also found that Best Buy is cheaper in college towns than at other locations. I saved $40 on my computer because it was in a college town. I paid for it where I live and picked it up at another location where they sold it for more....of course I had to ask why. :)

I hope this was useful. :) Have fun shopping!

I have an HP Laptop that I bought at Best Buy for $300 about 2 years ago. Now that I work full-time I have a Dell Latitude (laptop - one year old) that is University issued. Both have a number pad to the side, which was my only "must have."

My Dell has a SD Card slot, so I can upload pictures to it. The HP does not, but newer models might have them.

My husband and I are both currently sitting in our living room and on laptops, and we are both very comfy, so we would vote laptop.

You made a comment about printing wirelessly, and I wasn't sure if you wanted to do that or not. I also have a printer in my office at work. I take my laptop home quite often (because I teach and have work to do), but I leave the printer at work. It has a USB plug, so all I have to do is plug it in. I could buy a wireless printer (and I've thought about that for our personal use), but it's not necessary. Just thought you'd like to know.

My suspicion is that no matter what you buy these days, you're going to have more than enough memory to do whatever you want. Pictures used to be a bigger deal, but computers come with so much memory that it really isn't that big a deal anymore.

Good luck!

Laptop. If you can afford it an Apple...if not a Dell

Whether a lap top or desk top... I would get a MAC computer.
Go to the Apple store.
They are great at answering ANY questions. They also have classes or work one on one with the customer if they need to learn how to do anything. Even Grandparents/elderly go there. Even my own Mom. They are very nice and helpful.

MAC computers, are VERY easy to learn, very easy to load on new software or applications etc. And very user friendly.
Even schools use it for the kids.

Most camcorders or digital cameras are very easy to load onto the MAC. You will need a USB or firewire cord to plug in your camera to the computer etc. Very easy. Again, ask your Apple Store.

The MAC computers comes with, already loaded on the computer, photo and video applications. AND it is very easy to use.
Put it this way, my 9 year old daughter... can easily load our photos onto our MAC, from our camera, and SHE knows how... and SHE can even make video movies and slideshows, on the computer with the photos we have downloaded onto our computer.
And even my 5 year old son, can use it and knows how.

For photos and videos and graphics, a MAC computer is very good. And fast and less glitches. And again, easy to use.

And many of the MAC's will come with a printer.
And ask them about being wireless.
You will also probably need a router and wireless network in your home.
And also get an external hard-drive to back-up your computer.

You WILL need to, speak to the store people... per what you want and your needs and do they can give you info and pricing.
It is very worth it.

MAC laptops or desktops are very good and very easy.
You just plug it in wherever you want. And bingo, its on and works.
You do not have to load endless amounts of CD's to get your computer updated or loaded with new software. Like you would have to do with a PC computer.
And it is very fast, to update the computer. No complicated configuring to use it.

If you choose a PC... then yes, a Dell brand is good.
I had a Dell.
But with my MAC now... I will never go back to a PC.
Love my MAC, much better.
My Mom even got a MAC laptop... after seeing us (me, my Hubby and our 2 kids), using it. She loves it. And she was a PC user all her life.