<p>I spent some time at a Best Buy yesterday talking to a knowledgeable salesguy who in his “other life” builds Windows systems. (One virtue of BB is that–if you can get a person who really knows something–they are not on commission and so are not wedded to pushing anything in particular.) We discussed what I wanted and why, and the alternatives–not just the alternatives at BB–at some length. (Intel vs AMD, Nvidia vs other graphics cards, architecture issues, Processor needs, screen resolution tradeoffs, software tradeoffs, whether it is “necessary” to have a blu-ray drive and whether you can add one externally, how to move software that you already own around from one system to another by means other than disk, portability vs screen size and display quality, etc, etc) I confessed my desire to have a gaming computer and entertainment powerhouse without the $$ to pay for it. And my initial frustrations with the early Macs, that didn’t let you into anything in the system, which turned me off since I had come to PCs via the mainframe world.</p>
<p>Eventually, he said he wanted to show me something and to keep an open mind. We went over to the Apple table, and he showed me what the Macbook with the 2nd gen Intel 1.5 processor and a smaller screen than I was thinking of could do, including integrating seamlessly with larger screens. He opened a gazillion windows at once, and we watched some Glee on Hulu. We moved back and forth between big and little screens and did various things to put it through its paces. </p>
<p>I am totally sold. After spending time with the elegance and power of the Mac–and even the Macbook Air–I can’t bring myself to buy one of those clunkers. Sure, it costs at least $500 more than I was hoping to spend. I don’t care. I’m in love. (I never thought I would say it )</p>
<p>For the past 3 years I used a MacBook Pro which was provided to me as a loaner from my college; I had to return it to the college last Friday. I really liked using the Mac machine a lot. The replacement PC laptop I bought Sunday cost 1/3 of what a new MacBook Pro would have cost me. I’m learning to like the less expensive Windows laptop; the extra $800 for a MacBook Pro wasn’t in my budget.</p>
<p>This just in: my son, who has had a Macbook Pro for four years, thinks it is a mistake to buy a Mac and I should get a Windows system. Oy vey. I told him he could help me pick something out over Christmas vacation. A mother-son bonding experience. :)</p>
<p>Last summer I reluctantly bought a lenovo G470, for less than $400. I love it. I get it, missypie, you want simple. </p>
<p>I really wanted a macbook. I have one at work. I love it.
My kids have macbooks, purchased by parents who are contributing heavily for kids to attend private LAC’s. I could not justify the cost of a macbook for myself. (I know: I am another parent with confused priorities.)
I considered Toshiba, Acer, Asus, Lenovo.</p>
<p>I researched user ratings for tech support and talked with my kids’ friends who are in computer engineering programs. I asked my sister who is a project manager for a large law firm. Every time, lenovo came out on top. I was kind of disappointed because I wanted a blue toshiba. The lenovo is boring black. I really liked the blue color. But I read about unreliable honoring of toshiba warranties.</p>
<p>One time I had to call lenovo tech support. The guy was great and called back the next day to be certain that my problem was solved.</p>
<p>Lenovo is probably the current king of reliability and quality for Windows laptops. Yes, they make a somewhat boring corporate-looking product but boring in the sense of it not breaking isn’t a bad thing.</p>
<p>After weeks of obsessively reading reviews of laptops, processors, graphics cards, and so forth, and visiting Best Buy to check out screens, keyboards, touchpads, and everything else IRL–they don’t have any models I want, but it is helpful to experience the manufacturer’s other models–I finally decided that it was between a Samsung series 7 that turned out to be out of stock everywhere and an ASUS that is one pound heavier, but has an even better graphics card, a 1080 screen, a faster processor, and supposedly better sound, all for about $100 less. So yesterday I ordered the ASUS from J&R online, and today here it is: great looking, and fast as lightning.</p>
<p>And my S gave me two games for Christmas. :D</p>
<p>I use an ASUS netbook for everything! 10 hour battery. Light. Runs reasonably fast. Indestructible. Have used in Africa and India and all points beyond. </p>
And my initial frustrations with the early Macs, that didn’t let you into anything in the system, which turned me off since I had come to PCs via the mainframe world.</p>
)</p>