Any Recommendations for a New Laptop?

[Ocala Mike]

My ancient Dell Desktop running Windows XP is on life support, and it's time for me to buy a new laptop. I'm considering a Dell Inspiron running Windows 8.1. I mainly need it for e-mail and browsing the internet (no music, media, or games). Any suggestions?

[acorn54]

My ancient Dell Desktop running Windows XP is on life support, and it's time for me to buy a new laptop. I'm considering a Dell Inspiron running Windows 8.1. I mainly need it for e-mail and browsing the internet (no music, media, or games). Any suggestions?


i have a dell inspiron 570 which i started using in 2009 i believe. has served me well with all my uses, including running software,listening to music and watching video of races. it runs on windows 7 though, don't know about windows 8.1, which i just started using on my lenovo laptop. still getting use to it.

[Ocala Mike]

Thanks, acorn. The ones they're pushing now come with 8.1, so I think I'll take the plunge.

Not actually sure what's wrong with my current computer. It works fine for e-mail and certain sites like this one, but I can't access social media sites like FB, Twitter, and Google groups. Getting messages such as "cookies not enabled" (they ARE) and security certificate errors.

[DJofSD]

Which browser? Have you tried reinstalling it?

[lamboguy]

i have been buying refurbished Lenova lately. they come with a full year warranty.

if you decide to buy one, pm me and i will give you my friends employee discount that he gets from IBM so you will save some money.

[Ocala Mike]

Thanks for the offer, lamboguy. Had some computer nerd "clean out" the desktop and, yes, reload Google Chrome. It's running better now, but its days are numbered; I will be shopping around some.

[reckless]

My ancient Dell Desktop running Windows XP is on life support, and it's time for me to buy a new laptop. I'm considering a Dell Inspiron running Windows 8.1. I mainly need it for e-mail and browsing the internet (no music, media, or games). Any suggestions?

If all you want/need to do is lite 'net stuff, Mike, then save yourself the money and d-load a Linux operating system distribution.

If your Dell desktop is very old... 2300 or 2350 Dell Dimension models from early to mid 2000, that may limit the newer distros since you probably have <2 mg RAM, and even that might be shared memory. You will also need to find a 32-bit op system.

I saved my old Dell 2300 desktop last year from the thrash bin. I loved Dell w/Win XP! I didn't want to toss it and I saved it when I bought a Learn Linux book. The book included a live CD of Ubuntu 10.04. It installed easily and I have all I need with applications. I think the Ubuntu op sys used up less than 5 GB of my 40 GB hard drive. Setting up a printer, wireless network was a cinch too.

Good luck, Mike.

[Kash$]

Some nice back to school sales for laptop,desktops,etc..

[Tom]

Have you looked at Chrome Books?
Very good prices and sounds like it will do you want to.

[_______]

I think you will be paying for capabilities you have no intention of using with a laptop.

Tablets work fine for email and surfing. I'd look into a less expensive one if that was all I intended.

[Ocala Mike]

All good suggestions, and thanks. Incredibly, my Dell Dimension 2400 has made some sort of miraculous recovery, so I'm going to postpone the inevitable a little while longer. Procrastination my strong suit!