Laptop and data plan opinions?

[SchoolGirlHeart]

OMG THANKS FOR THAT INFO!!!! My son has been wanting a notebook but I was going to have him wait till Windows 2009 or whatever it's called comes out. Now he doesn't have to wait!!

Buy a MacBook.

if you're gonna spend that kind of money you might as well install fusion and you can use all your pc applications

however if you take the pc and install FreeBSD and a GUI (graphical user interface, what most people use, i.e. the 'windows') such as Gnome or KDE you achieve the same underpinnings as MAC OS X without the high cost as OS X is just a custom GUI on top of BSD.

I'm *sure* this is English but it might as well be Latin....

I love my MacBook. It doesn't crash like my old PC and while viruses are not unheard of they're far less prevalent than with a PC.

In this case my friend prefers a PC due to her work requirements, but if someone is looking for a laptop and can afford a Mac, I would recommend considering it. I bought my Mac about 2 1/2 years ago. At the time I priced out both PC and Mac, including the software I needed. The Mac was $300 more. Worth it, to me.

[creeky]

I recently got a Toshiba Satellite - cheapest model available with vista home premium and love it.

I dont know that any of them come installed with microsoft products like word - I have only got a trial version on this ....

but it has amazing speed and a great easy keyboard to use. It felt the most comfortable when I was out and about shopping.

[Bob Roberts]

You will not be able to afford a Mac if you're looking for the lower end of prices.

I would not get anything other than a Dell or a Toshiba (just from having alot of Computer Tech friends)

I wouldn't get anything but a Intel Pentium Processor. You can easily find affordable computers with them. Look for Core 2 Duo or Dual-Core.

With Windows Vista, you need at least 2 gigs of RAM, if not 3 gigs.

Don't pay a bunch for Microsoft Office or virus protection when buying the computer. (that is where they make alot of money)

Go to Frys.com and they usually run Norton virus software for free after rebates. If it's not on sale this week, it probably will be next week.

Ask around for friends that might have Microsoft Office if you really want it. Usually someone will lend you the CD to load it on your machine.

I just took Dad out last Sunday looking for a laptop. We went to Best Buy and got him a Dell with Vista Home Premium, 3 gigs of DDR Ram, 160 G Harddrive, and all the bells and whistles he'll need for $529.00. That would be my recommendation.

[Bob Roberts]

Here's the one my Dad got last week, but it was $529 at the store....

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 8006772494