Home Computing: If you were starting from scratch...

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Jetboy

Jetboy

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What would you buy?

I'm in a situation where I'm well overdue for a new home computer or set of computer items. We have two 7yr old laptops that were bargains then and are on their last legs.

I have a very fast desktop for my work that I can use if I need to do real heavy duty computing.

My wife and I will both share the items. If you had to start from scratch what items would you own?

At this point I'm thinking of something along the lines of a 14" ish laptop with a mid level processor and around 6g ram - hopefully under $700. Then a 10" tablet of some type with a type cover and a smaller 7" tablet. I'm thinking this combo would cover about everything we would need and be available within a budget of around $12-1400 instead of buying two new laptops.

I'm thinking something like a nexus 10 or a Surface pro (but they're so $$$) when it comes out and maybe a Nexus 7 or an ipad mini for the smaller one.

Anyway, what would you consider as a good set of tech items to cover the bases and set me for another couple years.
 
FJ60Seth said:
For web browsing, on-line shopping and email, I vote for a MacBook Air or a Chromebook.
Click to expand...

I'll use the laptop for a bit of everything, including remote work and some video/photo editing. I don't have any allegiance to MSFT, but I'm not sure a chromebook or other netbook has the hardware to edit video and I don't think I can justify spending twice as much for a MacBook. And I do like windows 7.
 
actually what really kills the " computing " deal are the licencing .. Chrome book it's just for browsing .. but if you like to edit photos and vids you will need an real SO .. so Ubuntu could be an alternative ..
 
Android tablets are some of the cheaper devices out there for light duty.

An example (hopefully the direction of things to come) is the way way off-brand Ainol Novo 10 Captain with a 1080p (1920x1200) screen, flash card slot, quad core cpu, Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), etc. $259, for sale Dec 1 (http://www.ainol-novo.com/)

I would probably go with some kind of Apple notebook for the other device.
 
From your 2 different descriptions of what you want, you're looking at a laptop. Any lower line unit from any manufacturer should suffice and give you a few years of decent use for a moderate price. Or you can spend 35% more and get a mac laptop.
No, I don't like Apple products, but this thread is not about me. Use what you're comfortable using.
 
jonheld said:
From your 2 different descriptions of what you want, you're looking at a laptop. Any lower line unit from any manufacturer should suffice and give you a few years of decent use for a moderate price. Or you can spend 35% more and get a mac laptop.
No, I don't like Apple products, but this thread is not about me. Use what you're comfortable using.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I wasn't clear. I'm looking at somewhere between 2 and 4 new devices that together would provide a combination of all the computing I need.

I don't like apple's ecosystem at all. I have an iphone 4 and while it's easy to use and has been reliable, it pisses me off that Apple simply excludes me from many updates that should function normally on the iphone. I had a toshiba excite tablet and it was a nice tool, but the batter charging failed and I returned it. It was amazing how much better it was to have widgets rather than icons for things like email etc. That's why ipad is not on my list of options for the larger tablet that I would use most. OTOH for a small tablet that my wife would use most, the apple mini seems like an OK option. Simple, easy, etc. Unforunately now that it's out, it's a bargain basement spec list. Most importantly no GPS and no NFC which are kinda deal breakers for a travel use which is another thing I'd like the small tablet to do well.

I'm not entirely opposed to an apple laptop, but I don't see them as being competitive on price or features with an Asus Zenbook for example. I can put OSX 10.8 on a Zenbook for $20 and have a considerably cheaper version of the same thing. I wouldn't because IMO windows 7 is just fine, but either way the apple hardware is pretty pricy for what you get.

Just my thoughts.
 
I still don't see the logic in getting a tablet for anything, when for about the same dollars you can have a real computer that does everything. But that's me. I never had a desire for a "computer light" piece of gear. My wife has 2 laptops and an ipad that she got from work. The ipad is just a toy IMO. I have no use for it, but many other's love it.

I have a Galaxy Nexus android phone that I really love. It's fast and powerful and has some really great free apps available. More customizable and flexible than an Apple product. When I'm onsite at a client, I tend to go for it faster than my HP laptop. Android is awesome.

My kids both have Iphones and the one in college has a macbook pro. Again, it's not about me. It's what they wanted. Years ago they all wanted Blackberrys. I still miss the physical keyboard, but I'm used to the touch screen stuff now. There are some really great keyboard apps available.

Bottom line here, get what makes you happy and productive. I can do everything I need to do on my laptop and my phone. The addition of a 3rd device wouldn't add functionality to my life.
 
My wife has an i3 Acer laptop that rocks. About half the price of a macbook Air (which it replaced) and only marginally thicker and heavier. Built a desktop for the heavy-duty photo/video tasks, as well as typing long e-mails and content creation. Wife uses her laptop for school (Chem Eng). I have a work laptop. Android phones for causual browsing and e-mail reading. Haven't seen the need for a tablet yet, aside from the kid's Kindle...
 
jonheld said:
I still don't see the logic in getting a tablet for anything, when for about the same dollars you can have a real computer that does everything.
Click to expand...
Having a couple 10" tablets, a couple laptops, and a desk top, I use the tablets all the time now for portable work. They are much more convenient for quick note taking, pulling up farm records, watching a movie, etc.. While my desktop gets used allot, I find I'll grab a tablet to watch a movie or TV show. Also in the cab of the pickup or tractor the tablet works much better for taking notes than a laptop does.
 
Where in the hell are y'all watching movies on a 10" screen? 'cuz I prefer to be in my recliner looking at a 52" screen if I'm going to be there for 90+ minutes...
 
I watch them when I'm out checking on the cattle and when the big screen is in use... My Eames chair in the library is also another favorit spot for movie watching.
 
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