Windows 7?

[lola_granola]

Okay, so I need a new laptop, like, bad, and thanks to leftover money from my NSF grant, I get one for free. Yea. (Well, free minus the amount of my tax dollars that go to support the NSF. Thanks for the laptop, hardworking Americans.) After all the troubles I've had in the past year, I swore I'd never get another Dell, but then somebody who knows

Comments

[the_mad_laugher]

My husband has a Lenovo. He loves it, and it's really good if you're wanting something sturdy. However, if weight is a concern, you may not want to go with it, since its sturdiness is a direct result of it being heavier than many other models out there. It's also not for those who want something pretty--it's much more functional than aesthetically pleasing.

I'd probably wait for Windows 7, if you think you're going to want to upgrade to it anyway.

[lola_granola]

Thanks. Well, I don't know if I would upgrade to Windows 7. If I buy a Windows XP machine now, I'll probably just stick with that.

[anonymous]

Honestly, I haven't had any problems with Vista - maybe that means I'm not as sophisticated a user, or that the problems are way overblown. Whichever. But my suggestion is to move forward. XP won't be around forever, so why put off learning a new OS? Get used to the newer stuff since you'll have to deal with it sometime. Just my thoughts.

Emily

[lola_granola]

Thanks. That's what I'm leaning towards.

[ext_193723]

I had heard that some retailers would offer free upgrades to windows 7 if one purchased a laptop with vista. I would assume that offer would stand currently, though I haven't heard any information to this effect.

I've been using Windows 7 since the early public beta in January, and despite some of my own complaints of differences between XP and Vista, (Windows 7 = Windows Vista + polish) I've loved Win7. I would recommend either getting a laptop now with a free win7 upgrade then upgrading to windows 7 when it comes out, or waiting until 10/22/2009 for the release of win7.

Regarding which model laptop: Lenovo is a good solid brand but not overly "pretty" (i.e. designed for business men to "get the job done"), and I do agree with the support tech that the model within the Dell brand matters. Their "Studio XPS" line is the high end, "Studio" is the mid-range and "pretty" models (with customziable patterns and colors), the "Inspiron" is their lower end - "I just need a laptop to check my e-mail" computer.

[lola_granola]

Thanks. I had heard that some people got an early deal that would allow them to upgrade to Windows 7 for only $50, but I hadn't heard of anybody having free offers.
Yup, I know that Lenovo isn't pretty, but if I can be confident that it will go longer than four years without falling apart, that's probably good enough for me. I wish they made computers to last as long as cars do.

Free Windows 7 upgrade

[ext_193723]

I'm not sure if you've already purchased your new laptop or not yet, but Dell now has the deal that I mentioned, free upgrade to Windows 7 with the purchase of a new laptop:

http://www.dell.com/windows7?dgc=EM&cid=48452&lid=1268982&acd=PMOURB-2AN88-WGEYE-30UDUO-BNM2I-v1

Re: Free Windows 7 upgrade

[lola_granola]

Thank you! I was going to wait until the Windows 7 release date, but since you sent me that link, I went ahead and tried to purchase a Dell Studio XPS 13. (I say "tried to" because I haven't gotten the confirmation yet. Their website is being a pain.)