I need a laptop for my 80 year old father

TwistedFury

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• Mar 17, 2015

• #2

http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SGS7ZII/ref=s9_hps_ft_g147_ir23?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=07521Q5KDSPJ48KBWHS4&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=1988430042&pf_rd_i=1000877191

Should be pretty good for him.

 

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jaguarskx

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• Mar 17, 2015

• #3

TwistedFury :

http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SGS7ZII/ref=s9_hps_ft_g147_ir23?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=07521Q5KDSPJ48KBWHS4&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=1988430042&pf_rd_i=1000877191

Should be pretty good for him.

A 11.6" laptop for an 80 year person who likely does not have good vision anymore is probably not a good mix.

 

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jaguarskx

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• #4

Get the 17.3" Toshiba - Satellite C75D-B7100 from Bestbuy for $400 + tax. It has a 1600x900 resolution, but that can be dropped down two 1366x768 resolution if your father has less than stellar vision.

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-17-3-laptop-amd-a8-series-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-jet-black/2376022.p?id=1219539709929&skuId=2376022

 

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boosted1g

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For your dad's needs a $400-500 Intel i3 will be plenty sufficient, Pentium would even be fine but the i3 will be able to breeze through his daily tasks without being overkill.

Here is something pretty decent: http/www.amazon.com/HP-350-G1-Business-Professional/dp/B00LGO9DAM/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1426620410&sr=1-1

Avoid consumer grade HP, Lenovo, gateway, and Toshiba.
Lenovo is good quality but they deliberately had their computers "infected" with a virus that allows them to break web encryption to sell to advertises (but could easily be exploited by other people wanting to rip you off, not just sell you something).

 

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warpedone

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• #6

jaguarskx :

Get the 17.3" Toshiba - Satellite C75D-B7100 from Bestbuy for $400 + tax. It has a 1600x900 resolution, but that can be dropped down two 1366x768 resolution if your father has less than stellar vision.

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-17-3-laptop-amd-a8-series-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-jet-black/2376022.p?id=1219539709929&skuId=2376022

Yep. Something like that would probably be sufficient. Which is the better deal between that and this one: http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i3-6gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/1707057.p?id=1219509172462&skuId=1707057

 

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jaguarskx

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• #7

boosted1g :

Lenovo is good quality but they deliberately had their computers "infected" with a virus that allows them to break web encryption to sell to advertises (but could easily be exploited by other people wanting to rip you off, not just sell you something).

It is know as SuperFish which acts like a "Man in the Middle". Data transmitted from a PC / laptop with SuperFish is sent to the developer's servers to determine what advertisement is best suited for the user based on surfing habits. The data is then to it's intended destination. When the data is sent back it goes through SuperFish's servers and then gets back to the user. This is a critical violation of internet security because passwords and other personal information (like credit card numbers) can end up on SuperFish's servers.

Lenovo has released software available for download to remove Superfish. But it is best to avoid Lenovo's consumer laptops for the moment.

 

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warpedone

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• #8

boosted1g :

For your dad's needs a $400-500 Intel i3 will be plenty sufficient, Pentium would even be fine but the i3 will be able to breeze through his daily tasks without being overkill.

Here is something pretty decent: http/www.amazon.com/HP-350-G1-Business-Professional/dp/B00LGO9DAM/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1426620410&sr=1-1

Avoid consumer grade HP, Lenovo, gateway, and Toshiba.
Lenovo is good quality but they deliberately had their computers "infected" with a virus that allows them to break web encryption to sell to advertises (but could easily be exploited by other people wanting to rip you off, not just sell you something).

This might very well be the way to go. Do you like it better than the Toshiba that Jaguar suggested or the Asus that I countered with?

 

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boosted1g

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• #9

The best buy computer is a pretty good deal, and asus is a good brand.

You can load classicshell and not have much of any learning curve required for your father for widows 8.1 as that makes it start in desktop and makes it very similar to win 7.

 

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boosted1g

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The best buy computer is better specs, you will just have windows 8.1 with the best buy one over the HP

 

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boosted1g

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Toshiba while not at the bottom has declined over the last few years in quality.
While your dad does not need a powerhouse PC, even for day to day tasks he will notice a difference in that low end a8 over the i3 cpu.
The A8 in the Toshiba is made for gamers who cant afford a gaming computer, and for extremely low budget machines (black Friday $200 special). The graphics are better but the cpu is noticeably weaker.

 

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warpedone

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boosted1g :

Toshiba while not at the bottom has declined over the last few years in quality.
While your dad does not need a powerhouse PC, even for day to day tasks he will notice a difference in that low end a8 over the i3 cpu.
The A8 in the Toshiba is made for gamers who cant afford a gaming computer, and for extremely low budget machines (black Friday $200 special). The graphics are better but the cpu is noticeably weaker.

Thanks for the help!!

 

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jaguarskx

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• #13

warpedone :

Yep. Something like that would probably be sufficient. Which is the better deal between that and this one: http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i3-6gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/1707057.p?id=1219509172462&skuId=1707057

Overall the processing performance will similar between the two laptops. The Intel HD 4400 that is integrated into the Core i3 in the Asus laptop is slightly more powerful than the Radeon R5 (Beema) that is integrated into the A8-6410 APU. But the difference will only be noticeable when playing games.

The 17.3" laptop is bigger and heavier than the 15.6" laptop and it also has less battery life. However, I suspect you father does not plan on using the laptop outside of his home so weight and battery life should not be an issue.

The 17.3" Toshiba sports a larger screen with higher resolution than the 15.6" laptop. The higher resolution means that more information can be displayed on the screen at any time. The physically larger screen means that the text size at a higher resolution screen should look similar to the text size of physically smaller screen at a lower resolution.

Personally I prefer laptops with resolution greater than 1366x768 so that I can see more information on the screen without the need to scroll.

 

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jaguarskx

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• #14

boosted1g :

Toshiba while not at the bottom has declined over the last few years in quality.
While your dad does not need a powerhouse PC, even for day to day tasks he will notice a difference in that low end a8 over the i3 cpu.
The A8 in the Toshiba is made for gamers who cant afford a gaming computer, and for extremely low budget machines (black Friday $200 special). The graphics are better but the cpu is noticeably weaker.

I can't say much for the quality of Toshiba laptops. So I don't know if quality is stable, on the rise or on the decline.

However, the A8-6410 APU is definitely not a "poor gamer's" laptop since overall the processing power of the A8-6410 and the Core i3-4030u are more or less similar. The Intel HD 4400 is a bit more powerful than the Radeon R5 (Beema) which is only about equal to the Intel HD 4200. For everyday tasks the A8 and Core i3 should provide very similar results.

 

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Texan_100

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• Mar 18, 2015

• #15

I am not far from the age of your father and I second the recommendation of the 17.3" Toshiba - Satellite C75D-B7100 from Bestbuy. The larger screen and higher resolution are good choices. If you can, take him to the store and have him try the keyboard. However, you can probably connect his old keyboard (if it is USB) or get him a new USB keyboard if he needs it. You may find that he needs to turn off the trackpad.

Windows 8.1 is a huge learning curve, but if it can be "locked in" to the desktop that he is more used to it should be fine.

I would want to get more rather than less processing power, such as this computer, rather than a slower one. If he gets the faster computer he may do more with it.

 

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