Laptop recommendations?

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Hi! I'm hoping to start the nursing program in January, and need to get a new computer. I'm going to buy a laptop soon. Do you have any suggestions as to which ones are good or which ones to stay away from? What have your experiences been?

I would like to get something that will last a while. (Barring any unforeseen problems, of course!) I don't really play games or anything like that. What I want it for is to connect to the internet, do assignments, research, minor editing of digital photos... I've been searching the forums but haven't quite pulled up what I was looking for. I would really appreciate any information you can give me.

Thank you! :D

Tiffany

Specializes in NICU Someday, I Hope.

I've had a number of laptops including a Toshiba Satellite, a Dell Inspiron, a Dell Precision (high-end workstation), and my current Compaq (HP).

My Toshiba died 1 week after the warranty went. My buddy has a Toshiba and has sent it in twice. I'd never buy a Toshiba product.

I like the Dell products, partly because you can get the Windows media and a Driver disk and do a reinstall to get rid of all the junk software that they put on machines these days. I find the Dells to be a bit on the pricey side, though.

My Compaq is serving me well and it was only $400 (15" TFT, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB HD, CD/RW).

If portability is a primary concern, look at the Sony Vaios. That's probably what I'm going to get when I start nursing school in January.

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Specializes in Accepted...Master's Entry Program, 2008!.

If money is not an object, you might consider this site:

http://www.discountlaptops.com

Dell doesn't actually make their own PC's. They are available at the above site without the DELL logo. They are cheaper than equivalent Dell PC's and are the exact same thing.

For me, they are still too pricey and more powerful than my needs.

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I bought a great little Compaq for ~$500 last december just before I started NS. It has a dvd burner and a pretty large harddrive and everything. I have also had zero problems with it. I would highly recommend them. If I remember right, I also got some sort of student discount or something.

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

I come from an IT environment and I recently picked my friend's brain about laptops as my daughter was in the market for one. She highly recommended Toshiba and possibly HP or Sony.

We purchased my son's Dell last year for college and it's mostly been okay for his use, but they are pricey and I'm rather sick of Dell's customer service. The language barrier is a huge issue when you are in a hurry and trying to rectify a simple problem. The follow-through is often just not there. I doubt I'll ever buy Dell again.

My daughter ended up buying a Mac. I don't know a lot about them, but my friend had heard great things about them. The salesman at Best Buy (where they didn't have them in the store yet) just GUSHED about the Mac for some of the reasons that have already been pointed out above. The main issue would be ensuring it is compatible with school's software such as any online Blackboard systems, etc.

Best wishes!!

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I'm 100% a Mac person but a majority of text cds weren't made for Macs and I ended up using my parents computer. I love my iBook but it's not the best for school for me.

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hp here and it can do no wrong!!! love it love it love it!!! they are all ill ever buy!!!

windows vista is the devil by the way!

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