Advice for mom: buying a new notebook computer

Laptop, Tablet PC, and Notebook are a few of the titles we have given to portable computers. The name “Notebook” computer seems to be more in vogue than “Laptop” and Tablets are a special breed of notebooks.

Mom: “Glenn, what kind of notebook should I buy?”

My answer: buy which ever one you want. Helpful right? The truth is, that it is a pretty personal decision. Silly that buying an electronic device should be a personal endeavor but alas it is. Our family makes this decision slightly more complicated because of a couple of … umm, *cough* Apple *cough* fans. We are also split down the center Republicans and Democrats so you can get a clear picture of just how much fun we can have together 🙂

Now before I go any further, I should clarify a couple of things. I can no longer refer to Intel vs Mac because Apple has chosen current Intel chips for their CPUs. I will refer to any non-Apple notebook as Windows because this operating system is the most common. Alternatively, I will refer to Macintosh notebooks as simply Apple notebooks.

My general use of computers tends to be in the Windows world. Whereas my wife and sister think their shiny Apple computers are the bomb.

Apple notebooks are easy to tell someone how to purchase.

Step 1: Go to the Apple web site or find a local Apple store (not that common unless you live in a big city)

Step 2: Decide which computer you like out of the 3 that are available.

Step 3: Decide how much memory, hard drive space you need or want.

Step 4: Decide on whether you should get an extended warranty.

Step 5: Buy it.

That’s it. Pretty unfullfilling. The truth is that Apple notebooks are simple in their options. Apple is the only company that manufactures Apple notebooks. Because of this you get a “take it or leave it” buying experience.

Window notebooks are frankly hard to tell someone how to purchase.

Step 1: Decide all of the things that you might like (without knowing all of your options)

Step 2: Find a manufacturer that makes a computer that you are physically attracted to, has all of the features that you defined in Step 1, and is within your price range. 😯

Step 3: Buy it.

So as you can see, buying a Window’s notebook is much easier than buying an Apple notebook. There it is in black and white. 3 steps vs 5 steps. What could be easier?

OK. OK. To elaborate a little.