Thanks for the help guys. I'm going to go Wednesday and take a look at some. Still pretty lost as to what I will get but I guess I will just talk to an associate and figure it out. I'll probably ended up picking one by flipping a coin!! Haha
I agree with you a 100% I also run linux on a few machines of mine.. everything at my job is linux and it is a great system... but for a newbie he definitely has to learn it...
When it comes to laptop i think you should select DELL brand with nice specs and for sure it will help you a lot just like this laptop did to me where i can make my job in mystery shopping at asiakaskokemuksen johtaminen goes well.
I won't bash Windows OS's or other hardware manufactures, a lot anyway. I can say from a significant amount of experience, I've had more bad experiences with Windows than with a Mac. Some people do well with Windows and have good experiences, some don't. I'm one that didn't so I got a Mac. Did I pay more? Yes, absolutely, but I've had it for over 4 years without a single problem and I've never gotten that from a Windows OS so I'm sticking with Mac. I've had Dell, HP, IBM, eMachine and Sony. All failed in some significant way in less than 18 months. If you do by a Windows laptop, and I won't haze you if you do. Please do yourself one bit of sound advice. Buy an external 5ooGB drive you can put your videos, pictures and important documents on. I truly trust my Mac but when it comes to stuff like that, stuff you can't replace, you want a backup. And maybe more than one if you're a conspiracy theorist. I don't know Linux and have never touched one. I have a educated guess it represents less than 5% of the computer users on the planet so unless you have some time to learn, probably not a viable option. Although I did hear good things about the OS from techie friends back in the day.
I too have an HP ProBook. Works good for me (Though I don't care for Windows 8). But it's great for graphic designing/pictures. That's what mine is primarily used for.
I also was looking for a computer for school, and I ended up getting a HP touchsmart 15 and love it. Got it from Best Buy for around 400.
Apple computers may be just fine for all I know. But you can buy two, three, four, PC's for the price of one Apple. My husband has always gotten great service form the Windows PC's he's bought. I'm typing this on a Gateway netbook that he bought to carry with him to court. It was $230 from Best Buy. It's a little over two years old now. Runs just fine. And the battery will last about 6-8 hours. It has Microsoft Office on it and some other software that he uses in his practice.
You are correct, linux has a large following, but very small compared to all computer users out there. But, I will say this. Nothing can compare to its smoothness and usability. The OS are so small with no bloatware that they can speed up even the oldest of machines. There are some, such a ubuntu that are so easy to use. I installed ubuntu on my 72 year old grandmothers desktop that had crapped the bed. Within a day she was up and using her email and doing her word searches
