Xmas Laptop Buying Advice Please

[bwframe]

I have been tasked by my elderly neighbor to find and purchase a laptop for his son, also a close neighbor. These folks are good friends of mine and I'm the neighborhood go to "computer guy," so I need to get this right. TIA for your assistance!

Looking for a $500ish I5 Win10 unit with the most bang for the buck, staying power and reliability. Amazon Prime purchase would be best as to not sweat delivery timing.

Initial search turns up this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Touchsc...8&qid=1480999546&sr=1-13&keywords=dell+laptop

This one seems to have all the bells and whistles? Touchscreen seems really cool, but I'm not familiar with a Windows touch screen?

I have never purchased a Dell, but have worked on a couple and have an acquired older laptop that seems solid enough.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/break-room/426833-dell-computers-trash-now-just-one.html

 

[Brandon]

Didn't look at the specs of the one you gave a link for but I can tell you this. Stay away from anything AMD.

 

[EvilElmo]

That's a pretty weak resolution for a 15" screen. Most are full 1080p in that size. Also, the I5-5200U was released in January 2015, making it 2 generations old now. You're better off if you stick with at least a Skylake if you can't get a Kaby Lake.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_i5_microprocessors

I just bought one of these laptops from Newegg when they were on the black friday sale. They're back to $700 now but so far it's pretty awesome. Already have it dual-booting linux. It doesn't have a built-in DVD drive but that's easy to solve.

Amazon has some less expensive variants:
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Laptop-E5-575G-52RJ-GeForce-Windows/dp/B01IHAHGI8/
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-6200U-GeForce-Bluetooth/dp/B01LYIDNVH/
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-E5-575G-53VG-Laptop-Windows/dp/B01DT4A2R4/

Personally I'm not a fan of touchscreens on laptops. They make perfect sense on phones/tablets/etc but why would you want to put fingerprints all over your display when there's already a trackpad literally inches away from the keyboard? If you're using a full-blown desktop/laptop you're better off with the traditional pointing device options that have been around for decades IMHO. Add a bluetooth mouse for $10 and you're all set.

 

[bwframe]

Thanks for the info folks. I'm still shopping...

 

[russc2542]

Windows 10 was designed around having a touchscreen. You can get everywhere without it but you have to navigate not-always-intuitive (coming from older versions) menus rather than using touch-swipe shortcuts. That's somewhat a person-by-person preference. If the neighbor's son isn't a techie it might just be too many options.

screen resolution is far from impressive (like the CPU) but depends on the recipient's use and preferences. Given that he's depending on an older parent who's depending on a neighbor to pick out a computer, I'm guessing it won't be a big issue.

amazons other suggested products include this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CGGOZOM/ref=psdc_13896615011_t3_B01MXLQ5TM
same price, similar specs but HP, I5-6200u CPU and full 1080 non-touch screen

 

[bwframe]

You've pegged the recipient close to right. Middle aged guy, not computer savy, wanting a laptop to surf the web and such around the house. Not terribly likely to pick up on technical nuances.

Now the questions start to build.

HP vs Dell vs another brand? (Seems as if it's 50/50/50 on complaints and compliments?)

SSD looks as if it takes us beyond our target pricing? A simple add in later if the recipient chooses.

Should I consider the touch screen for a more phone oriented user? Icing on the cake is that I'll get to make him my guinea pig and discuss usage for my own future purchases. (Yes, I do reach up and touch my non-touch screen occasionally.)

 

[OakRiver]

On the brand question I would avoid Dell and HP both. A million years ago when I serviced PCs I hated Dells.

The laptop I am typing on is a HP, in fact my third HP under this warranty.
HP#1 - wireless network card died one day. Was shipped off for repair, came back with cables hanging loose from the screen and all scratched up. Wireless card was still not working.
HP#2 - replacement under warranty to #1. It took a month for HP to send the replacement after they received #1 back. Out of the box the wireless card would not work. Customer service was abysmal to work with
HP#3 - after jumping through many hoops and lodging many complaints (all ignored) #3 arrived and has thus far been behaving itself, but the sour taste remains.

 

[Expat]

Didn't Lenovo have some chinese malware on them, or something along those lines? Not too many recommended makers it appears.

 

[PistolBob]

Is there any way you can determine what the laptop will be used for, primarily?

 

[pinshooter45]

As someone who has an IT degree I will give you the best advice I learned in college, and knew already. With modern Laptops you need to buy as much computing power as one can afford! Because they are Impossible to upgrade. The only thing you can change out is the HDD and add memory. My laptop is a 2012 model it stayed fairly up to date until direct X 12 came out. Now that really only matters if you play games, however who know how long that will be true. I personally like HP products, and I have a dislike for DELLS because in the early days Dell like to make things proprietary if your Dell desk top went down ONLY Dell parts would work. I did have an impressive Dell Laptop in my short career at Exact Target. Had a Solid State drive and was Lightning fast! So shop around and compare and buy the most computer that can be afforded. My original cost for mine was $1000.00

 

[Jeepster48439]

As one that had to recently purchase a new laptop, it was recommended to me to get either an Acer or an Asus. I got an Asus X555D, 8GB memory, 1TB HDD for right at $500 at Fry's. My wife has had an X555 series laptop for 2 years and it ha run flawlessly. The associate at Fry's told me that he hardly ever gets a return on a X555.

 

[bwframe]

On the brand question I would avoid Dell and HP both. A million years ago when I serviced PCs I hated Dells.

The laptop I am typing on is a HP, in fact my third HP under this warranty.
HP#1 - wireless network card died one day. Was shipped off for repair, came back with cables hanging loose from the screen and all scratched up. Wireless card was still not working.
HP#2 - replacement under warranty to #1. It took a month for HP to send the replacement after they received #1 back. Out of the box the wireless card would not work. Customer service was abysmal to work with
HP#3 - after jumping through many hoops and lodging many complaints (all ignored) #3 arrived and has thus far been behaving itself, but the sour taste remains.

HP leaves a bad taste in my mouth from years ago when I paid closer attention to such. Seemed to have a lot of issues with HP and Toshiba back then. That said, my daughter has had an HP for the past couple years that has been great.

I wonder how much these companies sway and adjust to trends of their reputations?

Along that same thought process, I wonder if there is not financial oportunity to had on a company's bad reputation? As Expat mentioned Lenovo had a thing with malware a year or so ago. My 3ish year old Thinkpad has been great.

 

[bwframe]

Looking at this Acer now.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PBPS5QYCDDK425C09FDJ

Any thoughts?

 

[EvilElmo]

Very similar to the one I bought - it should serve you well.

Looking at this Acer now.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PBPS5QYCDDK425C09FDJ

Any thoughts?

 

[tatic05]

Personally I would stay away form Acer. If it were up to me I would look at Asus or HP.

We use business class HP's and they are fairly well built, besides the thin screen. I typically have to get the screens replaced due to people closing their laptops while something like a pen is on the keyboard. As you can imagine the screen cracks which make it pretty much useless. Thankfully we use HP's next business day on site repair when something like this happens.

I would look for a Quad Core i5 with an SSD and 8GB of memory. Touchscreen is nice sometimes but are you really going to be touching the screen to surf the web or answer emails? It may just be an added cost that you don't really use, so make sure to think ahead on that. Nothing wrong with AMD, they have just been behind the curve for sometime now.

 

[indiucky]

What's "Xmas"?

 

[Fargo]

What's "Xmas"?

It is what lazy typers celebrate at Christmastime....

 

[snorko]

What's "Xmas"?

X representing the initial chi of Greek Khristos (Christ). Use dates back over 400 years.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

What's "Xmas"?

It's when we celebrate the birth of Jesus X. Son of G.