[JDUB]

I spend the majority of my computer time on the net. I use Google Docs for all of my business stuff, Evernote and Dropbox extensively. I don't store hardly anything on my harddrive.

My computer is almost done, and I need to replace it with something, preferrably cheap with about a 3 year lifespan. More if I go the Mac route bc it has to justify the cost, which I can't do but know there are some fanboys on here.

[RubberMallet]

look at fujitsu and their lifebooks. if you are going to spend $$$, thats where i'd spend it.

[Humble_Opinion]

You pay so much money for the Mac name. They truly are a fad in my opinion. My wife talked me in to letting her buy a MacBook Pro recently and it's nowhere near worth the $2100 pricetag. It has an awesome screen but no blu-ray player and the hardware in it is nice - but when compared with laptop's running Windows, they were half the cost for the same specs. I'd avoid Mac's but that's just me.

[NotAJerry]

Consider a Chromebook. If you can find a way to play around with one, take that opportunity. A friend of mine got to do the little beta/trial release with them and I tinkered a bit and liked it. I'm not yet ready to go the cloud route completely or I'd already have one. I'd also avoid Mac unless you really want to spend for the name.

If you can hold out long enough, I'd suggest waiting to see what happens with the Windows 8 OS. There are strong hints that it's going to be an October release. If it works the way they want it to, it's got a real chance to be a game changer. An October release would allow enough time for reviews and updates to happen and still have the Christmas deals out there.

[jbock13]

Once you go Mac, you never go back.

Had one for 4 years. Love it. Have never had a single thing wrong with it. It's worth the extra price.

[Purple Haize]

Once you go Mac, you never go back.

Had one for 4 years. Love it. Have never had a single thing wrong with it. It's worth the extra price.

I use my iPad mostly. When my computer went to the great beyond I purchased a 400 Toshiba that was a whole lot faster etc then the one it replaced. I run my iTunes from there and use it for working on big projects (my work computer stinks). If you mainly use it for surfing the net, I'd buy an inexpensive laptop and drop coin on an iPad.

[RubberMallet]

Once you go Mac, you never go back.

Had one for 4 years. Love it. Have never had a single thing wrong with it. It's worth the extra price.

anyone surprised here?

[RubberMallet]

Consider a Chromebook. If you can find a way to play around with one, take that opportunity. A friend of mine got to do the little beta/trial release with them and I tinkered a bit and liked it. I'm not yet ready to go the cloud route completely or I'd already have one. I'd also avoid Mac unless you really want to spend for the name.

If you can hold out long enough, I'd suggest waiting to see what happens with the Windows 8 OS. There are strong hints that it's going to be an October release. If it works the way they want it to, it's got a real chance to be a game changer. An October release would allow enough time for reviews and updates to happen and still have the Christmas deals out there.

a local school dropped a few off for us to toy around with. don't like a strictly cloud based product yet. especially considering my opinion of google's mediocre software. i'm just not ready to give up local storage yet.

[NotAJerry]

Consider a Chromebook. If you can find a way to play around with one, take that opportunity. A friend of mine got to do the little beta/trial release with them and I tinkered a bit and liked it. I'm not yet ready to go the cloud route completely or I'd already have one. I'd also avoid Mac unless you really want to spend for the name.

If you can hold out long enough, I'd suggest waiting to see what happens with the Windows 8 OS. There are strong hints that it's going to be an October release. If it works the way they want it to, it's got a real chance to be a game changer. An October release would allow enough time for reviews and updates to happen and still have the Christmas deals out there.

a local school dropped a few off for us to toy around with. don't like a strictly cloud based product yet. especially considering my opinion of google's mediocre software. i'm just not ready to give up local storage yet.

I think that sums it up perfectly. Someone is going to handle the idea with better software and is going to allow you to do everything via cloud and still send important files to a local storage device (maybe wireless/remotely). It wouldn't surprise me if it's Amazon that pulls it off first. I already use Amazon Cloud instead of Dropbox (much cheaper and just as functional) and Amazon mp3 over iTunes (much cleaner interface imho). I'm considering dropping my Galaxy Tab 10.1 in favor of a Kindle Fire now that I've gotten to play around with one.

[rueful]

I was able to convert my netbook into a chrome book a few months back, glad I could undo that. What a waste of time that OS is. Its literally just paying for a computer that only runs the chrome internet browser

[JDUB]

Yeah I want an iPad, but my computer no longer prints, the software is freezing, I hate the mouse, and I'll probably break it in frustration pretty soon. So, I need to replace it as well.

[Hold My Own]

Agree on the Mac. Simply brilliant...and this is coming from someone that believes if the masses like it then you have to prove your worth to me even more because I jump to the conclusion that you're just popular because of its the "trendy" thing to do....but it truly is a brilliant machine. Once you get windows running on one of the workspaces allowing you to go back and forth if needed makes it the best of both worlds.

I'm switching to the Macbook Air once the new version comes out....you see more and more people in IT and that are always on the go switching over to the MBA because it has the portability of an iPad but is the real deal.

I am intrigued to see the new MBP though, since its going to be quite a bit like the MBA I'm keeping my mind open to that as well.

[Hold My Own]

I was able to convert my netbook into a chrome book a few months back, glad I could undo that. What a waste of time that OS is. Its literally just paying for a computer that only runs the chrome internet browser

If you have an old computer that is on its last leg I suggest Jolicloud...I continue to be amazed by the progress that OS is making....and it's linux based which never hurts

[Purple Haize]

Yeah I want an iPad, but my computer no longer prints, the software is freezing, I hate the mouse, and I'll probably break it in frustration pretty soon. So, I need to replace it as well.

You can get a good lap top for everything you wanna do for <500. That way you can do what you need to on the computer and enjoy the iPad. Then drop the 10-20 on Pages and Numbers so you can work on your Word and Excel docs.
The laptop and iPad will give you what you need for less then the Mac Book alone.

[phoenix]

I just got a Lenovo laptop for $499. 750 gig hard drive, DVD burner, quad-core AMD processor, 15.6" screen. Does everything I want it to do right now, and has enough power that it should last me a few years.

Check laptop prices at Newegg and Tiger Direct -- I got mine from Tiger Direct. Decent prices at both places.

[alabama24]

My wife talked me in to letting her buy a MacBook Pro

Ouch. Does she read the forums?

[bradyfan]

If you can afford a Mac, there really is no reason why you should buy anything else. Even if you want/need to go back to pc briefly, you can do it with your Mac. It has the best OS and nothing even compares if you're into graphic/web design. I've never met anyone who owned a Mac and didn't love it.

[JDUB]

Macs are a little out of my price range, but I've toyed with the idea still as long as I could run windows on it. I'm really not wanting to drop the dough on anything, but am leaning towards the $400 route to get me by a few more years. That's what I did with this one, but made the mistake of getting a Dell and have had nothing but problems from day 1. My original Dell from 2005 was a beast of a machine that still runs and I love it, but evidently their new stuff is crap.

[JDUB]

I was able to convert my netbook into a chrome book a few months back, glad I could undo that. What a waste of time that OS is. Its literally just paying for a computer that only runs the chrome internet browser

So do you like your netbook? What can you tell me about it? I like having something ultraportable with long battery life, but don't know much about them because I haven't had time to research.

[RubberMallet]

My original Dell from 2005 was a beast of a machine that still runs and I love it, but evidently their new stuff is crap.

i've had a studio and new vostro and they have been champs so far *crosses fingers* actually our entire illinois office is on vostros and our florida office is still using the studios without a ton of problems.

[rueful]

I was able to convert my netbook into a chrome book a few months back, glad I could undo that. What a waste of time that OS is. Its literally just paying for a computer that only runs the chrome internet browser

So do you like your netbook? What can you tell me about it? I like having something ultraportable with long battery life, but don't know much about them because I haven't had time to research.

I have the Asus Eee PC http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Eee+ ... Id=3274616

I do too much photoshopping for my netbook to do everything i need it to do.

Aside from that, the battery life is amazing on it, I easily get 10 hours out of it like advertised. For doing the basics of internet browsing, word processing, etc., its fantastic.

Actually thinking about it, I might start using it more. I love my iPad, but its not the easiest to write on. I honestly sometimes forget that I have the netbook. I picked it up for under $300, and I suppose I would recommend it for that price range.

[NotAJerry]

I just got a Lenovo laptop for $499. 750 gig hard drive, DVD burner, quad-core AMD processor, 15.6" screen. Does everything I want it to do right now, and has enough power that it should last me a few years.

Check laptop prices at Newegg and Tiger Direct -- I got mine from Tiger Direct. Decent prices at both places.

Also check shopper.com (run by CNET) and slickdeals.net.

I got a new laptop with a 1.5 TB HD, i7 2670QM (51st fastest chip according to PassMark.com), Radeon HD 6770 2GB graphics card (52nd fastest graphic card), 12 GB ram, Blu-Ray read/write, fingerprint and facial recognition for $1200. Just look for the deals and you'll find them.

[JDUB]

Rue,

Sounds like that would work for what I need. I play with photoshop a little but not much. I use it about 4 times a year so I could borrow my sister's Macpro for it probably. I'm almost completely web-based now with quickbooks online, dropbox, evernote, gmail, gdocs, etc. I have to be since I do 80% of my work from my DROID and I like to have access to everything.

I guess I'll start searching for a great deal because I don't want to spend much on one of those because I think we'll see huge changes in the next 2 years in the netbook/tablets arena.

[Hold My Own]

There are several different models of that so try to find th eone that will let you get something like 20 hours battery life....seriously its sick

[JDUB]

HMO, you talking about the EEE? Got an extra one sitting around for sale?