CJones
Final Approach
My mother-in-law will be spending the summer working for a lodge/resort in extreme northern Minnesota. She is looking for a laptop that more or less meets the following specs:
* Built-in webcam. (This is a MUST-have)
* Built-in wireless NIC (WiFi, not Cellular). (I think that's pretty much standard nowadays?)
* No desire/need for MS Office Suite. (She uses MS Works and is happy with it).
* She won't be lugging it around a lot, so screen size would win over mobility.
* Mission Profile: Emailing/surfing 'net. Downloading/editing/sharing/emailing photos.
* Dependable: She (I) am willing to pay more to have something that isn't going to have weird flaky issues coming from cheap components/manufacturer. If she were closer, I could deal with flakiness, but she will be VERY long distance and any tech support from me will have to be via phone. I would much rather only have to deal with 'common' issues rather than the "Why the heck is it doing THAT?!" kind of stuff.
* PC - NO Mac (sorry guys). I have to be her 'support tech', and I don't know enough about Mac's to step her through stuff. And since she will be long-distance, I REALLY don't want to learn on the phone. Don't try to talk me into a Mac, it ain't gonna happen this time.
* Price Range: Max $8-900 range.
I'm just beginning shopping around, but I know some folks here watch the sales ads more than I do, so I thought I would ask here and see if anyone has seen anything recently that might meet this mission profile. I'm mostly looking for specific models/deals that meet the specs. I know most of the dealers/distributors to search through - just seeing if anyone has already searched them for me.
Anything?
EDIT: Also, if there is something that can be 'picked up' at a store rather than shipped, that would be better for me, but not a deal breaker. I would like to be able to go through everything and remove all the mumbo-jumbo that comes pre-installed before she has a chance to get out of sight with it. She will be leaving for the nort' woods in a couple of weeks.
* Built-in webcam. (This is a MUST-have)
* Built-in wireless NIC (WiFi, not Cellular). (I think that's pretty much standard nowadays?)
* No desire/need for MS Office Suite. (She uses MS Works and is happy with it).
* She won't be lugging it around a lot, so screen size would win over mobility.
* Mission Profile: Emailing/surfing 'net. Downloading/editing/sharing/emailing photos.
* Dependable: She (I) am willing to pay more to have something that isn't going to have weird flaky issues coming from cheap components/manufacturer. If she were closer, I could deal with flakiness, but she will be VERY long distance and any tech support from me will have to be via phone. I would much rather only have to deal with 'common' issues rather than the "Why the heck is it doing THAT?!" kind of stuff.
* PC - NO Mac (sorry guys). I have to be her 'support tech', and I don't know enough about Mac's to step her through stuff. And since she will be long-distance, I REALLY don't want to learn on the phone. Don't try to talk me into a Mac, it ain't gonna happen this time.
* Price Range: Max $8-900 range.
I'm just beginning shopping around, but I know some folks here watch the sales ads more than I do, so I thought I would ask here and see if anyone has seen anything recently that might meet this mission profile. I'm mostly looking for specific models/deals that meet the specs. I know most of the dealers/distributors to search through - just seeing if anyone has already searched them for me.
Anything?
EDIT: Also, if there is something that can be 'picked up' at a store rather than shipped, that would be better for me, but not a deal breaker. I would like to be able to go through everything and remove all the mumbo-jumbo that comes pre-installed before she has a chance to get out of sight with it. She will be leaving for the nort' woods in a couple of weeks.
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