What are some good things to look for when buying a laptop for the first time?

Make sure you’ll be able to find help with it when something goes wrong. If you have reliable technical friends who use Windows computers, then Windows is a safe choice. If you have an Apple store near you, or reliable technical friends who use Apple computers, then Macs are a safe choice. You may also have technical friends who are into Linux; if you’re prepared to rely entirely on them, because commercial Linux support is rare, Linux is also an option. Basically, in that case, you’ll buy a Windows laptop, possibly at a $100 or so discount because you’re not also buying Windows, and installing Linux yourself—but you’ll want to consult your Linux-using friends to make sure that the laptop you want is well supported.

Also consider the software you want to use. Much of the software you will want to use is either available on all three platforms or has reasonable equivalents on all three platforms, but if you need special software, you may find that one platform or another is a clear winner.

In the Windows case you’ll spend $500 to $800 for a bare-bones laptop. In either the Windows or Mac case you’ll spend $1000 to $1200 for a midrange laptop, and $1500 to $2500 for a high-end one. The bare-bones laptop may suit your needs, but without knowing what you’re planning to use it for, it’s impossible to say.

You can find computers both online and in retail stores, and you pay for computers the same way you pay for any other comparable purchase—cash or credit cards.

Look at Acer. Then go right past it because they’re cheap and fail quickly.

Good god, there are way too many “new laptop” questions.

Just make sure it has an Apple logo on it. :D

Consumer Reports consistently rates them at the bottom of the list for frequency of repair and first on the list for support and customer satisfaction.

Also for the paltry sum of $99.00 you can get a one on one session every week for a year with a trainer to teach you how to do anything you want. The topics covered are up to you.

In other words, a personal tutor for less than $2 per one hour session. Can’t beat that.

…or get a computer that you can use without lessons.

@J0E: there’s no such thing. Sooner or later, every computer has problems, and you either need to figure it out or find someone to figure it out for you. That’s why the availability of support is one of the most important criteria in purchasing a computer.

If you want it to be good for a few years, I would suggest something around $700—$1300. If you buy it new, check online. It’s normally cheaper. You want to make sure your have a good Processor, probably 2.0Ghz or more. That’s the thing in a computer that you can’t really upgrade without huge expenses. The RAM is upgradeable, but if you get 2 gigabytes or more, you should be fine.

If you are planning on storing vast amounts of photos, music, movies etc on the computer, then you’ll need a large hard drive. I would suggest 200gb or more, but you should be fine with 100gb. It’s your preference. That’s also pretty easy to upgrade, so it might be better for you to start off with a smaller hard drive. You want to make sure it reads dvds/cds and preferably can burn dvds. You probably want it made with in the last 2 years also.

@cwilbur Only an idiot would pay that much for lessons when Google can solve all your problems.

@MerMaidBlu, with regards to you school needs, what field of study?

@J0E: and only an utter moron would claim that Google can solve all problems, especially for someone who doesn’t already know what keywords to search for.

@cwilbur another problem Google can solve…