Treating myself for getting an offer!

[Kimmy]

Ok, so I got an offer from a small press and I am thrilled, but now that the excitement has worn down, I was thinking about treating myself with a new laptop! I have been using a netbook which is small and portable, so I wouldnt want to go too much bigger but I thought about getting a new laptop with cool features. Any ideas or thoughts?

[newday11]

  my brother swears by his MAC.

[AnyaHarker]

I used to be a PC girl. Note the used to be part. I got a mac last year and completely swear by it now. There's some fantastic writing programmes for the Mac and I love how everything syncs across devices (yes, I drank the koolaid and I like it. The only apple thing I'm missing is an iMac which I'm getting before I graduate!). So this is another vote for the Mac!

If you don't like macs and the OS? Look at a dell. I used to use them and had a lot of luck with 'em. Still have one that's 10 years old and chugs away like a champ. Also? I haven't used them in a while but the Sony viao used to be a fantastic machine. That was my first laptop and it too chugged away for about 8 years until the screen finally died.

Stay away from HP. Their machines are crap. Toshibas are decent machines (my bestie has one and likes it well enough)

XD there you have it. Opinions of a closet tech nerd. I love my technology dammit!

[JeanneG]

I'm a PC girl. I've had two laptops--a Vista machine and a Windows 7. Both were made by Gateway, and both are true workhorses. The Vista is about six years old. We thought it had died, but it was just in need of updates. Once hubby downloaded the updates, it worked like a charm.

My Windows7 has a slightly larger screen than the old machine, but is super fast.

JeanneG

[clutzattack]

Stay away from HP. Their machines are crap. Toshibas are decent machines (my bestie has one and likes it well enough)

My brother works for HP and his laptop just stopped working for the 3rd time in 18 months. They sent him a new one (refurbished) and it doesn't even power on. So that's like, 4 in 18 months.

I've had my Toshiba for 2 years now *love it* but it's just starting to give me issues with the track pad. (Some days it clicks on everything it scrolls over.) To be fair, this only started happening after I had it serviced because I've ripped the cord out on accident too many times and the DC port was damaged. I think the technician tightened the screws too much when he was putting it back together since it's one of those problems I can fix by flexing the casing.

[dalgara]

No one who has gone Mac has ever gone back.

True story.

[LateToTheParty]

No one who has gone Mac has ever gone back.

True story.

My Mrs. the RN uses her iPad for home heathcare charting as well as keeping track of her audit schedule, (the day job) and she's just bought Macbook. My opinion, (far from humble, just saying). DO NOT BUY DELL. My XP-era desk top is a tank, so I thought what the hell, I'll get a Dell laptop. Two Dell laptops and a netbook (in four years) later, I kick myself daily, (not easy for a man of my age and size) for not getting a Sony Vaio.

Best of all, if you get a check by the end o' the year, it's tax-deductable, squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Okay, I'm back to 43-year-old vicious crit guy. Have fun, K, you earned.   

[KathrynRose]

DO IT! You deserve the treat, Kimmy!

I can attest to what was said about HP. I have one right now and it's sucking my will to live. I've also gone through three Toshibas in the past ten years. At this point, I know my next laptop will be a Mac. If what you all say is true about Apple, it should be cheaper in the long run (and my brother-in-law and nephew swear by them).

Let us know what you buy so that we can all live vicariously through your shiny new purchase!

[ClaudeDancourt]

PC girl, but never ever go with ACER. I did, and couldn't regret more.

[LateToTheParty]

$64 question about the Macs; is there a work around for Flash? So many of the applications I access for work are based on Flash, which is one of the reasons I've resisted conversion. Sorry,  K.

[AnyaHarker]

Macs run flash just fine.

What doesn't run flash are the iPods/iPhones/iPads. Everything else is fine. Trust me. I just got a popup on my Mac that said my flash player needed to be updated.

And it's funny? But Microsoft word runs better and is more user friendly on my Mac than on my PC.

Is there an irony emoticon?

[bodwen]

I agree about HP.  I bought an uber-expensive laptop and a five year warranty that HP wouldn't honor.  They claimed that the computer wasn't built to last four years.  I told them it's funny that they don't mention that little factoid in their sales literature.

If you just want something for writing and surfing the web, I love my Samsung netbook.  It's light enough and small enough to carry around in my purse, it cost about $300, and I've had it for about 4 years now.

[Kimmy]

I'm on my third Asus netbook and I love it too! I was just thinking about going bigger but not sure if I can part with my netbook. We've been through a lot together! Thanks for all the opinions guys!

[Falen]

I've had really good luck with toshiba and samsung.
I have a toshiba laptop that i bought refurbished over 10 years ago and it's still plugging along pretty good. The only thing it has a problem with are it's built in speakers, which have a loose connection.
Otherwise my newer samsung hasn't had any problems since i got it over a year ago

[LateToTheParty]

Is there an irony emoticon?

A! You're aces. Speaking of irony, my Mrs. has used Mac for >1 year but I couldn't ask her the question, (only tried out her iPad) that would look like I don't know what I'm talking about.  Just saying.

Have a karma kookie while I find another topic to dwell on. You're my friend! 

LTTP.