We need a new laptop (I think we have decided to get a laptop over a tablet.) (We do not want to spend a lot.) We are very basic users...browsing the internet; Youtube, email, Facebook, making online photo books, paying bills, shopping, very little with Word...We do not store anything on the computer. All pictures and videos are transfered from camera directly to jump drives. What do I look for and need? In terms of processor brand, GB Memory, GB Hard Drive. I have tried looking online- I am so confused! :( Any help is appreciated.
I got a ThinkPad from Woot! a little under a year ago. Sticker says Win7, Intel i5 core. Works fine for what I need and I never bought Office b/c it came with some Starter version that works well enough.
I'd avoid DELL. My SS and niece have had nothing but trouble with them. SD has an HP that's built like a tank (she needs it) and SS got a ThinkPad from his job over the summer.
We've had very good luck with toshiba laptops. my kids are still using the one we bought 10 yrs ago and it works just fine, it's a bit slow . . but it works for them.
look at reviews , go to best buy and talk to the expert there. They don't sell on commission at BB so there's not really a danger of them trying to sell you on the most expensive one.
Put hands on. see how big you want .
Most laptops these days have at least 2GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. these days that's the low end.
If you need to do a lot of input in terms of typing I would definitely get a computer with keyboard. If you just watch YouTube and Netflix on it and order some stuff from websites then a tablet is fine. I find ti easier to transfer info to handheld devices from a computer than a tablet. I would get at least 2 MB of RAM ( a lot of cheaper computers come with 1MB and that makes them slower when you are trying to look at large amounts of data or have multiple windows open). Some cheaper computers do not have a disk drive anymore since all moving parts fail more easily and therefor need to be made of good quality in order to last years and therefor cost a lot, so if you want to rip CD's and such you may still need a disk drive. I remember my first computer that had a 40MB (yes MegaBytes) hard drive and I now carry a 16GB (GigaByte) thumb drive so memory has gotten cheaper and cheaper, and laptops now come with anywhere from 16GB to 750GB of hard drive memory. Like you said, you probably do not need a lot of hard drive memory if you store everything on back-up drives or the cloud. You can google things like "best laptops", or "laptop vs tablet" to get some magazine reviewers opinion. I like reading the owners opinions on Amazon.com and do almost all my shopping there. I am typing on a Toshiba 10" netbook that is fabulous and only cost $300 but has no disk drive, but does have a full sized keyboard so switching between my work and home computer does not mess up my touch typing. Best buy could also be a good place to ask for advice in the middle of a weekday afternoon when they are not busy.
Personally I think you are so much better off with an iPad. My laptop sits in a corner. iPad so much easier. You can do everything on an iPad that you can do on a computer. Just my opinion.
I got a Dell recently and I had to go to Bestbuy.com to buy it, it was the only place I could find what I wanted (Dell inspiron was what I had and I liked it a lot) with Windows 7. I didn't want Windows 8 AT ALL, and was having a terrible time finding one in store without it. I wanted a laptop because I love having a keyboard. Although you can get a keyboard for a tablet, I'm still not sold on them (tablets, not keyboards.)
