Want a new laptop but do I want Windows 8?

[Bird]

Thanks for the information and clarification.

 

[sixdogs]

OK, I'm the OP and have read every one of these posts including a fair number I didn't understand. Now I need to do something soon since mine is winding down. I am going to buy either a Dell or HP with windows 8.1 or a Mac.

Remember, all I do is email, surf the Web and take pictures. That's it. Right now I have a 17" laptop HP and like the size of the screen but don't know any different. If I get another of these I'll likely get a 17" screen.

If I get a Mac, the 17" screen is expensive and more than I want to pay for my use. Are their 13" or so models as easy to see? Plus, I have no idea of the best place to buy a Mac. People tell me to not go to an Apple store but where do I go and what shld I pay?

Thanks for all the brilliant advice so far.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I have a Mac with the 13in screen. See photo. For some things, mainly spreadsheets, I use an extension screen as the photo shows. I bought the laptop from the Apple website. The website also offers refurbished used machines at lower cost. Both my daughters bought used Macs from the website and have had no issues ever.

 

[dirt ditch]

11-09-2013: Well... I've been reading this thread all morning and after I finish my cup of coffee I'm shutting down this old HP Vista tower with a 1.8 GHz core 2 duo and my old square flat screen monitor and replacing them with a new Asus Windows 8 tower with a 3.4 GHz core i7-4770 and 27" wide screen.

I have been using Windows 8.1 for a full 2 weeks now and like it a lot. Have it set to go to the desktop on start up and everything I use is there that was in the previous Windows editions, just have to learn where to find it. The apps page makes it easier to find programs and make changes than the old programs window in the start button. We have purchased 3 17" HP laptops with i7 processors in the past three years. My wife and sons like the larger screens for work and college. Best Buy on line had the best bang for the buck at the time.

 

[Bird]

sixdogs, I recently bought a new 17" HP. So far, I've had good luck with HP. I have a nephew in the IT business who prefers Dell, so that's what his dad, my brother, has. And I have a son-in-law in the IT business who says Dell is good, but their focus is on government contracts instead of individuals. In other words, personal choice.:laughing:

Being accustomed to the 19" screen with my desktop, even the 17 on the laptop seems a bit small now. I can understand people wanting smaller and lighter for more convenient portability, but personally, I'm glad I went with the 17.

Windows 8.1 is just loaded with "features"; 90% of which I have no use for, but it's not too bad to use.

 

[pacerron]

OK, I'm the OP and have read every one of these posts including a fair number I didn't understand. Now I need to do something soon since mine is winding down. I am going to buy either a Dell or HP with windows 8.1 or a Mac.

Remember, all I do is email, surf the Web and take pictures. That's it. Right now I have a 17" laptop HP and like the size of the screen but don't know any different. If I get another of these I'll likely get a 17" screen.

If I get a Mac, the 17" screen is expensive and more than I want to pay for my use. Are their 13" or so models as easy to see? Plus, I have no idea of the best place to buy a Mac. People tell me to not go to an Apple store but where do I go and what shld I pay?

Thanks for all the brilliant advice so far.

You realize that a 17" screen means diagonal measurement, not width.
Since you said you "take pictures" sooner or later you will want to learn to edit those pictures. Very common editors such as Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro as well as built in editors take up a significant amount of monitor space with the tools around the perimeter. See attached example of about what a 17" diagonal leaves you to work on the image. Of course you can turn off the various tools or configure them different ways, but the ones you use the most waste a lot of time if you turn them on and off or just see a small part of your image and have to scroll it constantly. Decent photos, if you ever want to print or have one printed require high definition compared to internet viewing. 240- 300 dpi is pretty much the std for good quality. ppi is not the same but very close.
Your monitor will be 96-100 pixels per inch. Therefore when editing an image to be 300 dpi it will appear 3 times bigger than the print size when viewed actual size on the monitor. This is needed to be able to do good editing such as covering blemishes and taking out trees you didn't notice growing out of peoples heads when taking the picture.
Laptop monitors are usually viewed at an angle and in various ambient light settings. Bring up an image on your current laptop and tilt the screen a few degrees forward or backward from the angle you most often use and see what happens to the contrast, color, and brightness of the picture. You need to use a desktop monitor, the bigger the better for photographic work. Of course you can plug your laptop into a desktop monitor and do it that way.
Another thing is hard drive and memory size. Laptops have decent size these days and you can always plug in external memory, but every time you plug in something to a laptop it becomes less mobile.
If you get to the point where you use layers in editing your best photos and save a copy as layers in the format of the editor so you can change part of it later you may have 1 image that is 300-400 MB in size.
Most folks who take digital, myself included, take lots of pictures and have a tendency to save them all to the hard drive so they can go back later and pick a different one.

So if you are buying your new computer for function and price your choice is obvious but don't buy the cheapest on sale unit you can find unless you eliminate the picture editing capability and just use it for email, browsing, and saving cell phone images to be displayed as taken.

 

[patrick_g]

There are lots of right answers. The tool you know how to use will often let you get the job done faster and better than a better tool you don't know how to use. Since we are all mentioning our bona fides I'll not be too shy. Among other degrees both undergraduate and graduate I have a degree in computer science and a masters in software engineering. I have taught software engineering to senior computer science majors in evening classes while employed as a scientist at a large US Gov lab (5000 civilians.) I am not an Apple bigot nor a big fan of Microsoft. I am an optimistic realist. I hope for the best and deal with reality. At one time I had 6 operating systems in one room of my home, 2 per computer plus I used another O/S at work and yet another in grad school evening classes. They all provide pretty much the same services. Most differences are essentially cosmetic differences in the UI (User Interface.)

What to buy... Apple or PC or Apple and software to emulate a PC? I have used Apples, some powerful enough to run a software emulation of a PC faster that the average PC, and others with a PC on a card plugged into the Apple buss. Go with whichever has the most software of interest to you at the best prices. In general the PC world has an edge on software/$ but your needs may not be average. I have standardized on PC's and Windows 7. When that is no longer supported well by MS and the COTS software vendors I will most likely upgrade to whatever is the latest version of Windows. I am not super happy with Windows. I would prefer Linux but... not enough support in areas of interest to me. For example: i use a PC to do DSP in support of software defined radios that let me talk all over the world as a ham radio operator.

Windows 8 has a bit of controversy surrounding it but is essentially OK. There is a bit of a learning curve as it (as another put it but rephrased by me) doesn't have the usual stuff in the usual places. You can do just fine with Win 8 if you take a positive attitude and be proactive. Depending on your level of interest W8 might just require you to spend a little time getting comfortable with the UI or if you are a "Power User" who digs below the surface you will have to spend some time learning its internals as it is not just w7 with a touch interface layered on. Learn what it does, how it does it, and where it keeps things and W8 can be your friend. Getting W8 will keep you in the same O/S for as long as the laptop will probably be of interest (before you deem it obsolete.) I have W7 on 4 of our 5 computers (net book, laptop, 3 towers... all running daily and a couple cold spares.)

My advice is to go with the herd unless you have a strong reason not to do so. W8 awaits...

Patrick

 

[Midniteoyl]

OK, I'm the OP and have read every one of these posts including a fair number I didn't understand. Now I need to do something soon since mine is winding down. I am going to buy either a Dell or HP with windows 8.1 or a Mac.

Remember, all I do is email, surf the Web and take pictures. That's it. Right now I have a 17" laptop HP and like the size of the screen but don't know any different. If I get another of these I'll likely get a 17" screen.

If I get a Mac, the 17" screen is expensive and more than I want to pay for my use. Are their 13" or so models as easy to see? Plus, I have no idea of the best place to buy a Mac. People tell me to not go to an Apple store but where do I go and what shld I pay?

Thanks for all the brilliant advice so far.

Do not buy a DELL as they are in a battle right now to stay open.. They were gonna sell to Microsoft, but Mr. Dell is fighting.. Dell to Sell Itself for $24.4 Billion - WSJ.com

 

[Xfaxman]

Do not buy a DELL as they are in a battle right now to stay open.. They were gonna sell to Microsoft, but Mr. Dell is fighting.. Dell to Sell Itself for $24.4 Billion - WSJ.com

That report is from February, they are still open. What is the latest status?

 

[Midniteoyl]

As far as I know, the deal went through and Dell is again a private company, but not without troubles and is on shaky ground.. Dell Inc. News - The New York Times

Dont get me wrong. I loved Dell in the past and still have several, dating back to Feb 2004, still running strong and hope Micheal can bring it back to what it was. But, at this time, I would hold off. You do NOT wanna get stuck like some who can no longer get a warranty part..