I need a new computer.. some help please

[ktg8trgrl]

My daughter is going to be going off to college in may of next year.. for christmas I would like to get her a new computer specifically a laptop or tablet.. .. She is NOT a gamer at all.. however she does upload some videos from her band preformances etc.. basic internet/facebook social networking but will need it for class as well.. I can't afford the 1000$ machines and this isnt really my forte in gadgetry.. so input from you puter people would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!

 

[IPostedWhat]

KansasSoonerGeekSquadAssistance


You're Welcome!

 

[romeo212000]

How much do you wanna spend?

 

[HammerDown]

Don't believe those bullshit Apple commercials when they pretend like there are things you can only do with their devices.

 

[KansasSooner]

Any HP or Dell laptop that is sold at the big box store would fit the bill KT, most are $600-$800. Specs will be about the same for all them too. All will have built in WiFi, 6-8 Gig of RAM, 300-500 Gig hard drives, which is plenty of space but a USB external drive can more than double that space for $100. If possible stick with the Intel processors though, AMD processors I'm just not fond of in laptops.

All will come with crap ware which I recommend removing, maybe a free trial of Office 2013, opt for the student edition as its cheaper (or better yet wait until she gets to school and see if they don't have a discount for it there).

A halfway decent printer can be had for under $100 (maybe cheaper at Christmas) but the ink will still eat up money.

 

[romeo212000]

Hey KS, what's your take on the Windows Surface?

 

[KansasSooner]

Hey KS, what's your take on the Windows Surface?

The RT or the Pro? The RT uses an ARM processor and can't do Office, though I think that changes in Windows 8.1 (need to go read that article again I guess). The Pro is overpriced, a decent Lenovo or Sony laptop would be better in my opinion. There are two new articles out I have read yet about the changes coming to Surface so I may change my opinion on them later but for the money an iPad is still a better buy if you want a tablet.

 

[romeo212000]

My understanding is office would be an option on the new R/T.

 

[ktg8trgrl]

@ Romeo I figured between 400-700
@ HD Im not really an Apple fan at all tbh
@KS I am just not up on what is what really now with all the new software and what would be appropriate for her and school.. the laptop she has now the hard drive was physically damaged by the bad kitty when he knocked it off her desk somehow so she doesnt even have one right now.. she is using mine when she needs to type up school work or she just uses her phone for the net..

I have a cheap compaq 200$ laptop that is just fine for me and the lil bit of nothing that i do with it.. but I know she will probably need something a lil more involved for her college classes.. i have a couple of decent printers because of my previous self employment where I had to have those.. i have a cannon color printer that when bought a couple of years ago was like 400$ we just took it out of the box the other day for the first time and it works great for the lil bit of stuff we print now.. she is going to use that one.. its also a copier and photo printer..

also.. not sure why the multi quote is not working for me?..

 

[KansasSooner]

What we need to see in a Surface 2 tablet | PCWorld

Some of the new stuff that is wanted in the next Surfaces...

 

[romeo212000]

@ Romeo I figured between 400-700
@ HD Im not really an Apple fan at all tbh
@KS I am just not up on what is what really now with all the new software and what would be appropriate for her and school.. the laptop she has now the hard drive was physically damaged by the bad kitty when he knocked it off her desk somehow so she doesnt even have one right now.. she is using mine when she needs to type up school work or she just uses her phone for the net..

I have a cheap compaq 200$ laptop that is just fine for me and the lil bit of nothing that i do with it.. but I know she will probably need something a lil more involved for her college classes.. i have a couple of decent printers because of my previous self employment where I had to have those.. i have a cannon color printer that when bought a couple of years ago was like 400$ we just took it out of the box the other day for the first time and it works great for the lil bit of stuff we print now.. she is going to use that one.. its also a copier and photo printer..

also.. not sure why the multi quote is not working for me?..

A standard Dell laptop with a dual core processor should do the trick. Probably around $500 with all the software you'd need.

 

[KansasSooner]

KT, don't worry about the software side of it so much. The school will probably tell her what software they require, and some even furnish it at deeply discounted prices. What software that does come with the laptop is usually excessive games and media players with adware crap thrown in. That's stuff to remove. Most, if not all, laptops also come with software and hardware update programs for that specific machine, keep that.

 

[occupant]

Here you go:

Lenovo G500 15.6" Laptop Computer - Black Textured 59373039 - Micro Center

...but it's in store only.

 

[ktg8trgrl]

KT, don't worry about the software side of it so much. The school will probably tell her what software they require, and some even furnish it at deeply discounted prices. What software that does come with the laptop is usually excessive games and media players with adware crap thrown in. That's stuff to remove. Most, if not all, laptops also come with software and hardware update programs for that specific machine, keep that.

Thanks ks Im going to start looking at them pretty seriously in the next few days.... and i have some kind of P.up malware on this computer.. i have ran the damn malwarebytes like 3 times.. wtf? how do i get this crap off of here??

 

[romeo212000]

Thanks ks Im going to start looking at them pretty seriously in the next few days.... and i have some kind of P.up malware on this computer.. i have ran the damn malwarebytes like 3 times.. wtf? how do i get this crap off of here??

Is it not detecting it?

 

[KansasSooner]

Check out Occupant's link above, good buy on that Lenovo. As to the malware problem I need a little more info, can you copy and paste the line from Malwarebyte's log file that describes it into a reply?

 

[occupant]

Download AVAST free.

Once you download it, set it to scan at boot.

I used it today on a computer at a client's office. The computer in question had a CUTWAIL bot virus on it and was sending out spam emails.

 

[ladyrockess]

My sister swears by her Lenovo, but she's a graphic artist and a programmer, so maybe that's more than your daughter needs. I'm perfectly happy with my Toshiba, cost me $350 plus software, but I did buy it on sale.

 

[ktg8trgrl]

Is it not detecting it?

no its not detecting it..but i randomly run my malwarebytes every few days just because.. and im picking it up when i run a full scan..

KS I ran the malwarebytes and restarted the puter after I "removed" it.. so im running the malwarebytes again to see if there is anything left of it.. so if there is i will definetly post it

 

[KansasSooner]

no its not detecting it..but i randomly run my malwarebytes every few days just because.. and im picking it up when i run a full scan..

KS I ran the malwarebytes and restarted the puter after I "removed" it.. so im running the malwarebytes again to see if there is anything left of it.. so if there is i will definetly post it

You don't need to do that, just go to the logs tab and pull up the last log. It'll be in there.