Laptop Recommendations
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What's your budget? What screen size do you prefer? If you get an apple you can run chrome or firefox or safari. I do all my reports on apple and am able to get them in. I like apple because they are less impacted by viruses and are reliable.
I would like to keep it between 500 and 1000. Preferably closer to 500, but if I can get something that will last for years and years I'll pay up to 1000.
Macbook air 13" starts at $999. But if you are a student I think Apple gives discounts on certain products. I have a macbook air but have not done shop reporting on it yet. I have done all my shop reporting on the iMac. Some places like Best Buy and Walmart sell Macbook air's at a discount during the year. From my personal experience I have many apple products and they are reliable and built solidly. If you have an apple store near you, you may want to play with it.
You really don't need a laptop. I can do most Shop stuff on an iPad Pro. You can get a good basic PC with a touch screen for under $300.
I have a Toshiba and love it....use Chrome, have a 16 inch screen and love skyping my daughter in another state. The large screen works for me...bought it at Best Buy 4 years ago, not a problem except sticky keys
because I eat while working...
because I eat while working...
Live consciously....
Micro Center usually has a good laptop on sale for $400 or less at any given time.
[www.microcenter.com] If you are close to a brick and mortar store, it's worth the time to go in and talk to a salesperson-they're knowledgeable. I've used Toshiba, Dell, and HP laptops and all lasted 5+ years with heavy usage.
From shopping this store, here's what I've learned: A "home & student lifestyle" computer is sufficient for my small business and home needs, i.e., I'm not running a website or using specialized software. Look for an Intel-i5 processor (i3 is probably fine, i7 is probably overkill; don't get a Celeron processor), look for solid state parts, always add more memory, get an extended warranty for portable devices.
[www.microcenter.com] If you are close to a brick and mortar store, it's worth the time to go in and talk to a salesperson-they're knowledgeable. I've used Toshiba, Dell, and HP laptops and all lasted 5+ years with heavy usage.
From shopping this store, here's what I've learned: A "home & student lifestyle" computer is sufficient for my small business and home needs, i.e., I'm not running a website or using specialized software. Look for an Intel-i5 processor (i3 is probably fine, i7 is probably overkill; don't get a Celeron processor), look for solid state parts, always add more memory, get an extended warranty for portable devices.
An tablet is something to consider but for me I find typing shop report narratives tough on a tablet screen. There are keyboard attachments you can add to the tablet but that is another accessory. I use a tablet sometimes to type messages on the forum here and it's kinda awkward and i hit alot of incorrect keys, but that's me.
Chris is right though, make sure you don't get a computer with a celeron processor, performance is slightly slower versus an regular Intel processor. And I would make sure you have enough memory, minimum 8GB.
Chris is right though, make sure you don't get a computer with a celeron processor, performance is slightly slower versus an regular Intel processor. And I would make sure you have enough memory, minimum 8GB.
I love Apple products. I have a 2008 MacBook Pro. It still works fine, but I will be upgrading very soon to a newer version.
Did you see that you can upgrade old macbook pros from as far back as 2009 with SSD drives and more RAM that bring the performance up ? I don't know if you can with 2008.
I have an old macbook pro but I use my HP chromebook for all mystery shopping. It is lightweight and has an amazing battery life. I can take it with me on the road if I want to do shops between times at a Starbucks or the library. It does not have nearly all the goodies of my mac but I only paid $300 and have not had any problems in the last 2 years and it syncs well with my android phone.
In my not professional opinion, if you are not going to use it for gaming you don't need to spend nearly that much. You can get a good middle of the line PC for under $500 that will do everything you want it to do. Just be sure to get a good brand and warranty. If I were going to spend more than that I would get a Microsoft Surface Pro 4. It checks in at $700 and is the best of both worlds, tablet and laptop. Add unlimited data to your phone and share it with the laptop and you are ready for any situation, at home or away.
Thanks so much for all of the replies. I'm wondering about the Chromebook... can it store photos so you can upload them onto the shop reports? And I was under the impression that you can not use Excel with a Chromebook. I like to use spreadsheets to organize the finances.
Yes you can load photos and receipts easily from the chromebook to your shop reports. Not sure about Excel since I do not use it.
All about Excel and Chromebooks here. [www.techbout.com].
I bought my Toshiba laptop (PC) from Staples in 2014. It's still going strong. It was $200. 500GB memory. I don't know the hard drive space because I use clouds for storage.
It was Windows 8 when I bought it, then Windows 10 was pushed.
It doesn't have a DVD player, but I don't miss it. There are three USB ports.
It was Windows 8 when I bought it, then Windows 10 was pushed.
It doesn't have a DVD player, but I don't miss it. There are three USB ports.
"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
I could be wrong but I thought the concept of chromebook was cloud storage and after the initial 2 years of the pc you have to subscribe. It's a matter of preference whether you want local hard drive storage or cloud storage. You should be able to do almost all pc applications on the chromebook.
@Snuffycuts99 wrote:
Thanks so much for all of the replies. I'm wondering about the Chromebook... can it store photos so you can upload them onto the shop reports? And I was under the impression that you can not use Excel with a Chromebook. I like to use spreadsheets to organize the finances.
If you're trying to not 'break the bank,' you should rule out Apple off the bat. What is your budget? How large of a screen?
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
I would recommend first deciding what size and type of hard drive, memory and processor would suite your needs. Then begin looking for a computer in the price range that meets your needs.
I prefer an i5 or AMD processor equivalent because I have many tabs and programs open at the same time. I can be entering up to five different reports at the same sitting.
My experience with discounted good computers have been with: Frys, Micro Center and Staples. I did buy 10 Black Friday computers back in 2010 when a glitch allowed me to purchase online for pick up at the store at the Black Friday prices. Since then I've had no luck.
I run my computers into the ground. Usually the hard drive fails and I get a new one. I have an Acer that I picked up from Micro Center for $341 and got two years of Office 360 for $50. I have a second Acer but it does not have the speed. Just picked up A new Surface Pro 3 with Windows 10 for $250 so I'm getting used to it. I want the cover for $50. Had to settle for a keyboard for $22. All new.
I prefer an i5 or AMD processor equivalent because I have many tabs and programs open at the same time. I can be entering up to five different reports at the same sitting.
My experience with discounted good computers have been with: Frys, Micro Center and Staples. I did buy 10 Black Friday computers back in 2010 when a glitch allowed me to purchase online for pick up at the store at the Black Friday prices. Since then I've had no luck.
I run my computers into the ground. Usually the hard drive fails and I get a new one. I have an Acer that I picked up from Micro Center for $341 and got two years of Office 360 for $50. I have a second Acer but it does not have the speed. Just picked up A new Surface Pro 3 with Windows 10 for $250 so I'm getting used to it. I want the cover for $50. Had to settle for a keyboard for $22. All new.
Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
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