<p>I have very limited computer knowledge (I do Power Point, Excel, Word and internet).
I don't think I really need anything too fancy.
Nursing major.</p>
<p>What type of laptop should I get/what things should I look for in a laptop?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>How long do you want the computer to last for and will you be taking good care of it? If you want it to last a few years until you are out of college and be able to run games until then, I hope you don’t have a limit. If you will just need it for word processing, email, and internet, most things would work. You could either go to the local computer store or even Costco and find something that was decently priced. By decently priced, I mean anywhere around 1000-1500 or so. Any lower and it is generally not too good quality.</p>
<p>As for what to look for, make sure the processor is 1.8 GHz or above. At the very least. You should probably look for something closer to 2 GHz or 2.2 GHz. Make sure it has 1 GB DDR2 ram at least, or more. 1 gig is not much anymore so if you want it to run smoothly continuously for a few years, look for more. Don’t even think about getting less. Check the graphics card in it. Make sure it is either 256 or 512 MB. 128 would work if you would not be doing much, but for how much you would save, don’t even bother. When looking at the harddrive, the higher the RPM number is, the faster it will go. If you see that it has 7200 rpm, it is the fastest available for a laptop.</p>
<p>Those specs will get you a decent computer that will last for 3-4 years probably. 3-4 years if you don’t plan on gaming on it that is.</p>
<p>Now one of the hardest parts is where to buy it from. I personally hate Dell. Can’t stand them. They use horrible parts. HP is decent and you can get a pretty good laptop from them for pretty cheap, but what would be good is to go to a local computer store or go online onto some computer websites and look at what they have.</p>
<p>If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. PM’s are better than posting here. I will forget to check.</p>
<p>I dont think a dedicated graphics card is necessary just for word processing and internet surfing at all.</p>
<p>Also if the computer has Vista I would recomend at least 2 gigabytes of RAM.</p>
<p>For using Office and the internet, you could probably buy any laptop available and it’d work fine.</p>
<p>Personally, I think bokken’s advice is a little extreme. There is no reason why you’d need a 512MB or 256MB graphics card. I guess it’d help run vista but I’d suggest sticking with XP anyways. My laptop has a 64MB graphics card and I’ve had no problems running any software, that includes running games like the ones that come in the Orange Box (HL2, Team Fortress 2, Portal, etc.,) the games aren’t too graphics intensive but it doesn’t sound like you’re going to be playing any games on your laptop anyways. The standard for a discrete graphics card nowadays is probably 128MB, that will be perfectly fine for your use. Chipmoney is right, a dedicated graphics card is not even necessary for word processing and internet surfing but having (even a 64MB one) really helps with system performance.</p>
<p>As for the hard drive, bokken is right in that the faster the RPM the faster the harddrive will be. I believe they even make 100RPM laptop hard drives now but they come at quite the premium. Most laptops probably come with a 5400RPM hard drive as the default. Again, for what you say you’re going to be doing 5400RPM is perfectly fine for your use. My laptop has a 5400 RPM hard drive and I’ve had no problems. If you decide to get a faster hard drive you should keep in mind that the RPM speed of the hard drive will directly affect your battery life on your laptop. The faster the hard drive, the less battery life you can expect.</p>
<p>If you’re going to be using XP, 1GB of RAM is perfectly acceptable. Vista would definitely benefit from as much RAM as possible because it is so resource intensive.</p>
<p>For the screen resolution, I suggest getting the highest possible within your price range. Screen resolution is probably one of the most noticeable factors in any computer and if your screen is crappy then no matter how fast everything else is, your experience with your computer will suffer.</p>
<p>Dell actually produces some really nice laptops if you know where to find them. If you go to their online store click on Small&Medium Business on the laptops and you’ll be looking at some pretty quality computers. The problem with Dell’s are that the ones marketed for home use aren’t very desirable yet the business laptops are real classy. I suggest the Dell Latitude D630. I customized one to come with XP Professional, 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo, WXGA+ LCD Screen (for better resolution), 2GB of RAM (I checked off the 1DIMM because it allows for easy upgrading if you ever wanted to install more RAM. a DIMM is the RAM card so in this case you’ll be getting one 2GB memory card leaving 1 slot open if you ever wanted to install more memory), 120GB hard drive at 7200 RPM, and a 128MB video card (I really suggest against getting integrated graphics). Everything else, I left at the defaults. The subtotal was 1,179. </p>
<p>[Dell</a> Latitude D630 Laptop Product Details](<a href=“Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell USA”>Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell USA)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone</p>
<p>I really am just concerned with it lasting through college. After that I don’t really know where I’ll be living or what I’ll do about a computer.</p>
<p>Also I’ve heard bad things about Vista… is it possible to get a laptop without it and have just XP instead because that’s what I’m used to ?</p>
<p>Yes, check the link I posted above for an example. Also, Windows XP is included in the downgrade rights of Vista meaning if you have a license to Vista you are free to downgrade it to XP.</p>