I am looking for a laptop for my 12 year old - simple email, IM, internet and some homework. Staples has HP Compaq Presario C712US Intel Pentium Dual Core T 2310 - for $349.98 or Dell Vostro 1000 - AMD Athlon TM 64 x 2 Dual Core TK -53 for $399. Is Vostro good for personal use? If Dell is better choice - should I go with Windows XP or Vista? Remember I'm looking for a 12 year old!
2007-11-19 16:12:22 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Laptops & Notebooks
Either is ok. If Dell is the only one giving a choice for operating system i would say go with the Dell and choose Windows XP. Vista is buggy and problematic and will be replaced in 09 anyway. XP has been around for 5 years and is more stable with drivers for anything. Can always upgrade later if you chose but if you start on Vista getting back to XP is a pain (it is doable) and may void your warrantee. Either of those processors are ok, 1GB (1024mb) of ram minimum and 40GB minimum for hard drive storage space (also 7200 rpm is better than 5400 rpm but not necessary for a 12 year old). As for what brand is better... neither company makes their own notebooks anyway they are mostly made in Taiwan by an ODM you probably never heard of (such as Compal or Clevo). So let the specs the OS and the customer support (if that is important to you) be your guide. All things being equal go for the one that has XP on it. Wish my parents had bought me a laptop at 12 haha
2007-11-19 16:38:22 · answer #1 · answered by Christopher Robin 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Being a big fan for AMD, I would suggest the Dell. However, that's just going off the processor information you told me. What you should also look at is the amount of RAM and the Hard Drive space. Of course, if one has an 80 GB, the other has 160 GB, it would be better to choose the 160 because that's twice the size. As far as RAM goes, don't be fooled by the big numbers the show you. You want to look towards 2 GB worth of RAM. 1 GB at the least. Here's a trick:
1024=1 GB
2048=2 GB
I would also recommend using Windows XP. Vista has too many bugs with it right now. Also, if you choose Vista and don't like it, you can't regress back to XP. New laptops that are "Vista Compatible" really mean "Vista Only." Some companies will void your warranty if you try to go back to XP, not to mention your Windows XP will have a lot harder of a time running because of how the laptop is configured. If you get Windows XP, you could always upgrade to Vista later on when they fix the bugs easily, with less-headache.
2007-11-20 00:21:20 · answer #2 · answered by Nate H 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think the HP Compaq Presario C712US is better:
1\the hp laptop is Pentium Processor,its fever heat and power is lower than dell vostro 1000's AMD Processor.
2\Pentium Processor have the best stability and compatibility
3\HP Compaq Presario C712US can running windows vista,if your upgrade ram to 2GB,can get better display effect and speed up.
ZXP
Brothersoft Support
2007-11-20 00:23:35 · answer #3 · answered by Brothersoft Support 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
After owning both a dell and a hp I would go with dell simply because it's easier to fix the computer if something goes wrong with eh OS then with hp's setup( trust me you will have to fix the OD at some point). As for the OS for a kid I would go with xp its a tad more stable then vista... heck if I tried I could break vista in like 20 seconds without deleting a single file.
2007-11-20 00:18:47 · answer #4 · answered by zspace101 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would suggest against purchasing a laptop for a 12 year old in the first place. In the second place, if you are really adamant about it and believe that they can take on the kind of responsibility it requires of maintaining and respecting an expensive piece of technology such as a laptop, DO NOT spend a lot of money, and DO NOT buy a Dell. Dells are plagued with problems, for whatever reason, and none of my friends who own one have gone without problems.
Go for a Compaq, and be sure to have whatever retailer you choose assist you with security and privacy knowledge for your child, if you are not already saavy with that kind of thing. PCs are notorious for easily receptable viruses, and when the laptop is not taken care of, it can easily crash, perform sluggishly, and cause you lots of inconveniences.
Good luck and happy shopping!
2007-11-20 00:32:23 · answer #5 · answered by aimsterrr 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
go with the amd and get the windows xp.
2007-11-20 00:19:07 · answer #6 · answered by agello24 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Walmart has some too!
2007-11-20 00:22:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋