PC for my wife.

[rc135tx]

Might be time for you to get out of the way. She's an adult and should truck off to the store & buy whatever the heck she thinks she wants.

 

[ftaok]

Might be time for you to get out of the way. She's an adult and should truck off to the store & buy whatever the heck she thinks she wants.

I agree with this comment. If she wants a Windows laptop and you really don't know about them, then why is she asking you? She probably has access to Windows experts at work, after all, they use Win laptops. Failing that, she can ask the experts at Best B.... nah, send her to a Microsoft Store if there is one nearby.

Here's the catch ... pretty much all of the decent Win laptops at the box stores will have Win8 loaded onto it. Unless she pays someone to install Win7 (extra money), she's learning a new OS anyway. But let her make that decision.

Stay out of it.

If she insists that you do all of the legwork and purchase it, don't catch any shrapnel if she doesn't like it.

Disclosure - I converted my wife from Windows to Mac, but it was easy. She's not a techie and really only uses email, internet, Word, iTunes ... really light stuff. Certainly not sophisticatedly complex stuff like Excel files with macros and links ... sorry, had to be snarky.


EDIT - oh yeah, forgot to add my real advice. If you do end up getting it for her, I'd probably go with an Ultrabook with a real SSD, not some of these pseudo-ultrabooks with regular HDDs. The Toshiba Kirabook looked pretty solid, but not sure how it was received. Of all of the Windows brand, I'd stay away from Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, and Lenovo ... so who does that leave? Toshiba and maybe Samsung ... but being the Apple die-hard, I'd probably boot the Sammy. It killed me when I went with the Samsung TV, but man, it's a great TV and it cost a lot less than the Panasonic.

EDIT 2 - looks like the Kirabook is out of your price range. The least expensive model lists for $1600.

 

[drsox]

Disclosure - I converted my wife from Windows to Mac, but it was easy. She's not a techie and really only uses email, internet, Word, iTunes ... really light stuff. Certainly not sophisticatedly complex stuff like Excel files with macros and links .

Me too. Now she uses a MacMini instead of a home brew PC. Changing over has been painless and she loves the link possibilities with her iPad and iPhone as well as the better H/W.
I did try getting her to dual-boot Ubuntu with Win7 but that was a complete failure. So dual-booting OSX and Win7 would probably go the same way (but no requests for this so far).

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I usually recommend the same general things; Any professional grade laptop from Lenovo or Dell is good, avoid the lower end companies like Acer and Toshiba. You can usually get a nice 'next business day on site' warranty for cheap with professional grade hardware.

I loved my Dell Vostro, but they discontinued the entire line :-\

Now I would suggest picking a computer from one of those companies based off of its trackpad. Make sure it's a Synaptics trackpad and not any other company.

Dell is releasing new PC's in the beginning of October, and there's always this beauty that puts any mac to shame.

You've come to the wrong place to ask this sort of question. Everyone here uses and likes OS X.

There's plenty of people who like and use Windows on this forum too. It's a perfectly good question, and I'm sure he'll get plenty of great answers.

 

[talmy]

Thanks for all the replies. I tried explaining to her several minutes ago how I could have opted to load Windows 7 or 8 on my Air and let her use that but instead was simply looking for a PC. Of course she is under the misconception that her macro filled work spreadsheets and linked docs with live updating couldn't possibly work on a Mac running Windows. She is so clueless as to the hardware architecture and furthermore doesn't want it explained. She threw a tude and I left the room. That's it.

Take my advice from 38 years of marriage, it's better to keep her happy as long as it doesn't break the bank. If she wants a Windows system, get her a Windows system. Ironically, 9 years ago I was 100% Windows and my wife was ogling an iMac at the Apple store. I bought her one (as a completely unexpected surprise) for Christmas that year. And the rest is history, as they say.

I looked around and found some options today. I saw some HPs online, though I believe they are personal, not business, as well as stopping by Best Buy where I saw some Samsungs that I thought would work well. ...
At this point I am more leaning towards one of the Samsungs, but though I like the $750 price and most of the specs, I am concerned about the RAM limit, screen, and lack of backlit keyboard (though I don't think this is in any way important to her).

I'll just state again to avoid any consumer systems, which probably means anything sold at Best Buy. Go online to Lenovo or perhaps HP or Toshiba which I consider good second bests (I don't rate Dell highly anymore) but make sure you are looking at business models! And a good business system will cost you, but then so would that Macbook Air.

 

[LeandrodaFL]

Bro, simply install Windows 7 on a MAc. Biuying a Windows machine is stupid, specially cause WINDOWS 8 IS WORSE THEN ANY MAC OS.

 

[roland.g]

I've pretty much decided on a Samsung. And while I am not a fan of their ads, all the lawsuit stuff, etc., I own 3 Samsung TVs and a nice Samsung fridge.

It will either be one of these 2 ultrabooks at this point. I'd like to save $250 and get the lower model, but it seems the screen is inferior, the keyboard is not backlit, and most importantly the ram is maxed at 4GB, whereas the higher end model is upgradable (user I hope and not preconfig'd) to 16GB. I would probably get her a 4GB stick right away to give it 8.

Samsung Ativ 9 Lite

Samsung Ativ 7

I know there is a lot of cheap stuff out there and if SSD, weight, brand, etc. were not considerations, I could get her something for $300-550. However, if she does insist on Windows, I want the hardware to be decent, the system to last a bit, and the problems to hopefully be somewhat minimized. Added to which I currently have:

2012 13" MacBook Air
2011 27" iMac
32 GB white iPad Mini Cellular

And have had an iPad 1 and 2
As well as
2008 MacBook (aluminum unibody)
2007 24" iMac (first gen aluminum)
2006 Mac Mini (stop-gap G4 to iMac)
2000 G4 Tower (first gen "Sawtooth")

As well as lots of iPhones and iPods.

So it really isn't fair to skimp in any way on her machine when I never do.

Something I forgot to mention. In another life when I worked for Apple, I got her a 1st gen 12" PowerBook. And we tried running Windows and Office on that in whatever emulator was available back then. And because it was prior to the Intel days and Parallels/VMWare, it had to translate 386 or 486 (whatever - my memory fails me) architecture to Power PC. And it was riduculously slow. We are talking 867mhz G4 Power PC and RAM measured in MB not GB. So that is her experience with running Windows on a Mac.

However, I do hear everyone who says once they switch it is like a eureka moment. But we've had Macs in the house for years. She won't go in the office and I use the iMac or get on my Air because she doesn't want to take the time to learn the gestures and particulars that differentiate the OSes and in all our opinions, make the Mac better.

Funny thing, I looked on Amazon at the best selling/most popular laptops. The first 9 or 11 models were ALL Macs. Just in Laptops!!

 

[talmy]

I've pretty much decided on a Samsung. And while I am not a fan of their ads, all the lawsuit stuff, etc., I own 3 Samsung TVs and a nice Samsung fridge.
Samsung Ativ 9 Lite

Samsung Ativ 7

These are Windows 8, consumer systems. IMHO, you are making a mistake.

Samsung appears to have one business model (which comes with Windows 7 and a 3 year warranty) http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/pcs/NP600B4C-A01US

 

[Flynnstone]

I feel foe you!

We bought my wife a iPad a little while ago. She likes it. It just works.
She needs a new PC too. I broached the subject of a MacBook Pro. Resistance!
I know it could work, but every time there would be a problem , I'd be the it guy and it would be my fault!
Now , she likes the iPad , but it not a PC.
We went to best buy and sales guy reiterated that the best PC is a MacBook ! We looked at Sony duo with windows 8. She liked it. Cost about $1300. There are some cheaper options

 

[roland.g]

These are Windows 8, consumer systems. IMHO, you are making a mistake.

Samsung appears to have one business model (which comes with Windows 7 and a 3 year warranty) http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/pcs/NP600B4C-A01US

I would load the app that makes it boot straight to the Win 7 desktop tile. I was also told that within the Win 7 desktop, you can bring back the start button as well. That way she has the touch screen and Win 8 for later but can always use it in essentially Win 7. I understand it is a consumer system and would require some bloatware stripping. I would also buy a copy of Office 2010 and load that. That is what she was using. Her new Dell for work came with 2013. She is having them load 2010 instead.

The machine you linked in HDD not SSD, and while it is a 14" screen, is also heavier and has an optical drive I don't think she needs.

 

[J&JPolangin]

I'd consider this Toshiba, if I were to get another win laptop today this would be it...

The specs are respectable and the weight is good plus it comes with both win 7 & 8 although no touch screen.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BUS4GR4/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_10?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2NG4HB43UEDVL

For the full specs go to the tiger direct web site and good luck with your decision!

...and I'd put a 128 or 250 Gb SSD into it right from the start...

 

[G51989]

I would load the app that makes it boot straight to the Win 7 desktop tile. I was also told that within the Win 7 desktop, you can bring back the start button as well. That way she has the touch screen and Win 8 for later but can always use it in essentially Win 7. I understand it is a consumer system and would require some bloatware stripping. I would also buy a copy of Office 2010 and load that. That is what she was using. Her new Dell for work came with 2013. She is having them load 2010 instead.

The machine you linked in HDD not SSD, and while it is a 14" screen, is also heavier and has an optical drive I don't think she needs.

You might want to wait a few weeks for Windows 8.1 to hit, it will still have the tile interface is you want it, but they're bringing back the classic start menu.

 

[roland.g]

You might want to wait a few weeks for Windows 8.1 to hit, it will still have the tile interface is you want it, but they're bringing back the classic start menu.

Wouldn't that just be an available update. I don't need to wait for it to be preloaded do I?

 

[G51989]

Wouldn't that just be an available update. I don't need to wait for it to be preloaded do I?

I think it might be an actual update that costs money, or it could be that if you buy now you can upgrade once the update hits, most Windows 8 users will have to pay for it from what I understand,

 

[SimonUK5]

Dell XPS 12 would be my vote, best piece of windows hardware that i've ever used.