Expert: Karl Zick - 3/30/2011

Question
I am an expert (over three years) in another area.  I want to purchase a laptop that is fast, has few glitches, no screen glare, and that can accommodate several manuscripts, with a friendly keyboard (I will attach an external mouse).  I have been looking at Dell Inspiron 17R (which has reports of screen glare and bad sound card, but sound card is irrelevant for me).  I think I want a dual core processor but really I am relying on expert advice.  Price is an object (of course) but I am willing to pay over $1,000 for the right laptop.  As its portability is not a huge factor, size/weight is not either; larger screen and larger keyboard is ok.  What do you suggest I purchase and should I do in-store or order online?  THank you.

Answer
Hi Jill,

If I were shopping for a new laptop, I would buy either a Sony, a Lenovo (IBM), or a Toshiba - and I would order it from Amazon.  I just checked and they have a good supply of each starting at under $400.

I am partial to the 14 inch models because they are not so clumsy - bot you may like a larger screen and keyboard.  Also, I think an AMD processor is just as good as an Intel - and AMD laptops are at least $100 cheaper for the same performance.  All new laptops come with DVD burners, large hard drives and at least 3GB of RAM so those specs don't mean much any more.

Have fun shopping.  If you narrow your choice down to a couple models and cannot make up your mind, come back.