I need help choosing a non-Mac laptop

[cm325i]

I'm a Mac, not a PC... but I need to get a laptop for our teenager for Christmas and I'm not familiar with what's out there. It will be used primarily for homework, streaming movies and music, digital art, photography and general web browsing. Any suggestions or places to start would be helpful. I don't want to walk into Best Buy and ask because they'll try to sell me something expensive that we don't need. Features like touch screens or other "bling" could be cool, but not necessary. Will also be getting her a Wacom tablet to go with it.

 

Thanks Tech Troopers!!

[TK4205]

Don't go to Best Buy. 

[bearings[TK]]

Have you considered an iPad Pro with the pencil? I know you said non Mac, but I've read good things about the new pencil vs Wacom tablets

[bearings[TK]]

Or even just run Windows on a MacBook Air? I don't know much about the current state of PCs, but I know apple hardware is really great

[DarkTrooper[TK]]

Look no further!

 

http://store.hp.com/us/en/ContentView%3FstoreId=10151%26langId=-1%26catalogId=10051%26eSpotName=Pavilion-special-edition

[cm325i]

Don't go to Best Buy. 

Trust me, I'd rather not, but their financing is actually decent.

[cm325i]

Look no further!

 

http://store.hp.com/us/en/ContentView%3FstoreId=10151%26langId=-1%26catalogId=10051%26eSpotName=Pavilion-special-edition

I've heard this is a crappy computer w Star Wars plastered all over it.

[Buttons[TK]]

Chrome books are not too bad. Cheap price and work well. Only downside I heard is their apps are all Google, but I've never heard anything bad there. HP's are ok, but watch the connector cables since the company switches them up a lot. Had that issue with my wife's and couldn't find a replacement. 

[charlesnarles]

ASUS (for example) makes some laptops with the more-or-less unique feature of being able to upgrade the components. Most laptops are essentially (and intentionally) disposable after a few years due to their inability to update the hardware. So if you're going for longevity I'd recommend investing in one with that feature, if just to save yourself from buying another one soon HP is a tried-and-true brand, but I'd personally avoid Lenovo and Acer. Maybe read some reviews on newegg.com, they're usually helpful. Good luck!

Edited December 10, 2015 by charlesnarles

[Daetrin[Admin]]

First figure out a budget and what they'll be used for. You can get a basic Surface3 pretty inexpensively. Just go to the MSFT store nowadays and there are some great deals.

 

I like the Surfaces because I can use them as a tablet or a PC, and thus only have one device. Hook it up to a USB hub and I run multi-monitors, etc. Heck, I used an old Surface Pro (v1) in such a format for home for the past 3 years. And yes, I even used it for work if you can believe it. Nearly anything you get will be more than OK for what you describe.

 

Chromebooks suck because you don't always have a network, and they can't run much mainstream software. Apples are great but super pricey. There are phenomenal Win laptops for any budget.

 

My $.02, and no I don't work for MSFT. I'm just frugal.

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

If you are looking more for a laptop and not a tablet, I have a Lenovo Ideapad in the 500 series with an intel core i5 processor. It was the floor model at Best Buy and I got it for an awesome price.  It is 3 years old and the only problem is I've had to replace the power adapter.  I've dropped it a few times and had no damage done to it.  I would steer clear of Dell, I've blown the harddrive up on more than I can count working for the Army.

[Astyanax]

I'm a big fan of the ASUS Transformer, also easy to separate from the keyboard to operate as a standalone tablet. Got one for my wife and she loves it. They're quite compact, relatively thin, and very low cost. Not super powerful, but it sounds like your teenager would use it for the exact same purposes my wife does. Streams video from everywhere perfectly fine. It comes with Windows. You can run Photoshop on it with no trouble, but I do recommend springing for more than the basic 32GB storage.

 

Not really upgradeable, but if you're not a PC person, would you really upgrade it anyway?

 

I would stay away from Chromebooks or Linux-based laptops, because they don't run much mainstream software. Frankly, if you're looking for non-Mac, Windows is still your best option.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Astyanax

[Locitus[Admin]]

My mantra is that you get what you pay for. If you want great hardware, expect to pay for it too. And generally, the more business oriented offerings are better in the long run, despite the higher cost. That pretty much limits you to HP, Dell, Apple and Lenovo. I'm a thinkpad enthusiast myself.

 

Btw, chromebooks have internal storage to store keep your work when you don't have network (but seriously, who doesn't these days? Just tether your phone and be done with it).

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

A friend of mine was going to get the Star Wars branded laptop but it wasn't powerful enough to play Fallout 4 so that took it off the list.

 

A Surface Pro 3 would be great for a teenager with the dock and extra accessories. That way she can use it for multiple uses. I'm an Apple guy too that works in IT so the last thing I want to do is use a Windows machine when I'm home but the SP3 is really a home run and MS has stepped their game up. I would choose that over a iPad Pro. Newegg.com is a great resource to get actual customer reviews