First thing that jumps out to me is that if your buying a laptop don't expect to get 7-8 years out of it. Laptops just don't have the cooling and will usually die out within 3-5 years depending on how much you use it.

I have bought both a desktop and a laptop from Best Buy in the past year. Just check the website weekly and you can usually grab a great deal. The laptop that I bought like 3 months ago is now actually $100 MORE than what I paid for it.

If your not a gamer and can afford it, Mac is probably the way to go. If you decide you don't want to learn a new O/S or can't afford the price here are some recommendations.

Good brands - ASUS, Dell, AlienWare

Brands I avoid - Gateway, HP, Compaq

Make sure you get something that has Windows 7, not Vista.

my recommendations:

above all else: DO NOT GO TO BEST BUY. (They are friggin idiots and will tell you whatever you want to hear.)


1) get a mac. your son can always provide IT support. not that you'll need it.
2) monitors are cheap. If you can stand the 13" size, get a mac book (not the pro) and a 24-28" monitor. Best of both worlds.
3) get it from amazon or delaware. No tax makes a huge difference. (And if you use amazon, use my link of course. )
4) you can buy applecare extended warranty up to a year after your buy the mac so don't have to buy it right away. (99%sure) But most credit cards offer an extra year warranty anyway (visa for sure) so just use your visa.
5) if you have questions about a specific model mac, lemme know. macs are NEVER on sale. If they are on sale, it's because it's last year's model. The most you'll get is "free" memory upgrade but upgrading memory is cheap and easy and probably not needed. If you have 2GB of RAM you should be good. I run 4 myself and hardly notice any slowdown.

If you must buy a PC, post or pm your budget and I'm sure someone could help you find a good one. The problem with pcs is that they don't have a single source for components. So each maker can source vendors for various parts and some of em are crap. So while a lot of people are lured by the price: I can get a Dell laptop for $500 and a mac for $1000! WTF? It's because the components in it are cheap as shit. Yeah the specs are the same but you'll pay for that in the end. It's like choosing a hyundai over a Lexus because both have a 250 hp engine and 4 tires.

btw, i second leif's statement about avoiding Vista at all costs. I don't think any new pcs come with vista anymore but if one does, avoid it. Also, Alienware I think is mostly a gaming pc so you can cross that off your list.

btw - my sister's old mac powerbook from 2001 is still going strong. it just can't keep up with today's processor intensive programs but works fine for email and web surfing.

http://www.laptopmag.com/default.aspx

http://www.notebookreview.com/

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/e...ters/index.htm

I've used both Apple and HP all my life with an odd IBM from work thrown (and I mean that literally) in and quickly out.

Never really had any problems at all with either brands over many models and years...

Concur on Windows7 if you are going that direction...and Delaware to avoid the taxes

Gotta agree with Vin ==>> GET A MAC. You might pay more, but the experience of getting away from Microsoft software and working with OS X is worth it. Macs are also solidly built.

You can get great deals by buying a refurbished Mac directly from Apple here =>> http://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...co=MTM3NTA4NTU

Good luck!

From the sounds of it NoDak you should get a MAC. Unless price is a sticky point. I don't use Macs so I have no advice for you on that front.

I'm a gamer so I build all of our PC's. If I was closer or if you know someone who is very PC savvy they can build you one for a VERY GOOD price. I hate buying pre-built because most of the parts are junk and if something goes wrong it's harder to fix.

Thanks all for the info. Price isn't a turning point as long as I am not getting cigar clubbed. I previously had a PC that was built for me but the guy has moved on and is in Fla so I'm not looking at that too much. My gaming world extends about as far as Spider Solitaire so that really isn't an issue either. About my only thought to not go Mac is old school mindset of what they were 20-25 years ago and having difficulty communicating with other computers. That really isn't an issue these days so I guess I will start looking at the Macs. Thanks again.

By the way, you can run Windows on a mac now so if you decide you absolutely hate OSX (which you won't), you can always just buy a copy of windows.