WIN-10 Laptop Advice

June 01, 2019, 04:31 PM

Friend of mine has a Toshiba running WIN 7 that has pretty much outlived itself. Plus her Son-in-Law has loaded it with so much crap (Full Norton suite for starters - I HATE Norton) that it's bogged down to the point of uselessness.

Seeing as WIN 7 support is going away, she's made the decision to upgrade to WIN 10 and wisely does NOT want to try to run it on the old Toshiba.

She's in her late 70's and reasonably computer literate, but doesn't really need anything beyond email (preferably keeping/migrating her MS Outlook as she has a shit-ton of medical history saved), surfing the 'net (She's used to IE and would keep that as well) and some sort of automated backup software (currently using Carbon Copy IIRC)

I don't want to confuse her with a lot of new technology so don't need/want touch screen and such. Also would prefer something not loaded with a lot of bloatware. A simple barebones WIN10 Home install would be ideal.

So, looking for specs needed to run WIN 10 at a reasonable pace given the above tasks. Not too locked into brands, altho it would take a LOT of convincing to get me to go HP. I personally like Lenovo or Asus.

Price is a consideration but not a critical one. No refurbs, but no need for a whiz-bang gaming speed demon either.

June 01, 2019, 04:39 PM

Warhorse

I've been using a cheap ($299) Acer for a couple of years with no issues.

June 01, 2019, 04:47 PM

ZSMICHAEL

IE is going away as of January 2020. That is something to keep in mind as well.

June 01, 2019, 04:52 PM

fpuhan

quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
IE is going away as of January 2020. That is something to keep in mind as well.

Can't happen soon enough to suit me. Internet Exploder is what's it's referred to in IT.

June 01, 2019, 05:21 PM

Bytes

quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
I don't want to confuse her with a lot of new technology so don't need/want touch screen and such. Also would prefer something not loaded with a lot of bloatware. A simple barebones WIN10 Home install would be ideal.

A touch screen works very well with W-10. My wife has an HP for her work that is a few years old. It does have a touch screen and it is NICE. The mouse pad is almost never used. If you don't want to use the touch feature then don't use it. Warning about HP, you will have to help her uninstall some bloat ware unless you buy a business class machine. I have a surface pro and use the touch screen a lot when I'm in "desktop" mode. The touch screen doesn't add a lot to the price and if you don't use it then no big loss.

Not sure of your price range but take a look.

June 01, 2019, 06:04 PM

xantom

quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
...
Price is a consideration but not a critical one. No refurbs, but no need for a whiz-bang gaming speed demon either.

Good if you add an SSD.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079...ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

SSD:
https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk...ctronics&sr=1-6&th=1

Better:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075...ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

June 01, 2019, 06:55 PM

bigdeal

If she's 70 years old, reasonably computer literate, and really only needs a laptop for email, how about a Chromebook. Should offer her the basics of what she needs and be about half the cost of a new laptop.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Ch...o%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-5

June 01, 2019, 09:18 PM

erj_pilot

Look at refurbished Dell at Newegg.com.

"If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24