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Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:17 am
by Aegis
So my Daughter has asked for a laptop for Christmas and being the pushover for all things related to computers I've decided to get her one. I'm trying to stay in the 200-250 price range and have found many on craigslist that fit the bill. I know absolutly nothing about them and I was just wondering if you all could give me some ideas on things to watch out for. From some of the ads I've read it seems that batteries and battery life seem to be one thing but is there anything else I should be aware of?

I know I'm not getting a screaming machine and realize you get what you pay for but she's 14 and spending thousands on a computer she'll replace for college dosen't make a lot of sense to me.


Thanks for your help!


~Aegis

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:49 am
by Apoptosis
If you buy something from CL be sure to try it out before you buy it and make sure it's running on the battery... Half the laptops out there that are a few years old and used have dead batteries or the ones that might need to be RMA's due to the recall. A battery usually runs $70+, so make sure it lasts...

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:01 am
by Alathald
Look into the webbook category, perfect for a young girl. It's small, cheap and *ugh* cute (I've got an Aunt around that age and she thinks they are as cute as can be)

A couple good ones are the ASUS eee and the MSI Wind or if you're willing to spend a bit more the HP Mininote is one I was seriously considering for myself at one point.

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:20 am
by geokilla
$100 more and you can get an Acer Aspire One. It's brand new, light, better than the EEE PC (my opinion), and has a 6 cell battery.

Since she's 14, I definitely wouldn't get anything off from CL. I'm 16 and I'd be mad if I got some slow laptop and has a dead/dying battery. If she's taking the laptop to school and use it there, definitely a new, cheap laptop. Sometimes there's no electrical outlets available at school during class, so you need to use the battery.

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:41 am
by Skippman
Not to mention the possible "content" on a PC you'd buy off CL. But I assume you'd format back to the restore disc anyway.

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:05 am
by hnzw_rui
Alathald wrote:Look into the webbook category, perfect for a young girl. It's small, cheap and *ugh* cute (I've got an Aunt around that age and she thinks they are as cute as can be)
You have a 14-year-old Aunt? :?

Anyway, if it's a Christmas gift, then definitely get her a new one. As a starter laptop, netbooks such as this or this are a good choice.

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:31 am
by Alathald
hnzw_rui wrote:You have a 14-year-old Aunt? :?
She's actually only 13 :rolleyes:

But yeah, netbooks are what I meant above, not webbooks...I was posting way to early in the morning (as evidenced by the fact that I forget about the Acer 8-[ )

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 1:56 pm
by geokilla
Anyone wanna explain how these young children can be like aunts and uncles and stuff? One of my friends is supposedly an uncle...

If you do decide to get a netbook, I'd say get the ones that come with a hard drive and not the SSD models. 8GB can easily be filled by a teenager now-a-days, espicially if it's a girl (my personal opinion).

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 2:15 pm
by Sapientun
geokilla wrote:Anyone wanna explain how these young children can be like aunts and uncles and stuff? One of my friends is supposedly an uncle...
Pretty wacky stuff eh, but you just have to be level lower than them, like if your grandparents had a kid after you were born. That kid would be your uncle/aunt.

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:10 pm
by hnzw_rui
Sapientun wrote:
geokilla wrote:Anyone wanna explain how these young children can be like aunts and uncles and stuff? One of my friends is supposedly an uncle...
Pretty wacky stuff eh, but you just have to be level lower than them, like if your grandparents had a kid after you were born. That kid would be your uncle/aunt.
Yeah, that's pretty much it. My previous employer married a girl younger than his son. His son with the new girl is younger than any of his grandkids. It just seems like Alathald's case is extreme. I thought him to be around 30 or so, so a 13-yr-old aunt is a somewhat huge gap. :shock:

Re: Laptop for my Daughter

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:14 pm
by Alathald
hnzw_rui wrote:I thought him to be around 30 or so, so a 13-yr-old aunt is a somewhat huge gap. :shock:
:lol: Thanks I guess, I'm only 20years old and hating ever minute of it...I need a beer 8-[

:hijacked:
Well, after that little jaunt into Wonderland, if you have any other questions Aegis feel free to ask we are here to help (and occasionally get side tracked :mrgreen: )