The Stovebolt Site Forums The Back Office IT Short Bus Laptop Suggestions

I'm in the market for a reasonable laptop that I can use while camping etc. Something I can connect to the net for surfing, email etc. thru my Apple IPhone Personal Hotspot. Any recommendations or warnings on models to shy away from? Also, best place from where to purchase Office Max, Walmart, Amazon etc.

Thanks

John

Unless you really need a keyboard I would suggest an iPad since you are using Apple anyway.

good advice

Stay away from HP...keyboards were meant for small hands. I'm not a fan of Apple and iPads are too small and limiting for me. If you have large hands/fingers, Toshiba is very good if you want a no-nonsense laptop. I think some of the early models were made with the idea men would be using them. If you're using one for camping, etc, a used Toshiba Satellite might be a good choice. I have one of those which dates back to around 2006 and running one of the Linux operating systems I can do everything I need and I expect the thing to outlast me. The only problem is batteries. None of the older laptops get a long life out of a charge. Please don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But if you're camping, you probably just need occasional use, yes?

I’ve abused an I pad for years and still going strong cant get believe how reliable it has been

Ditto on the iPad.

Looks like we'll be getting both, a laptop for Theresa and an iPad for myself. She can really use one for work and an iPad really makes the most sense for me.

Thank you all for the feedback.

John

Love my iPad!

I prefer a laptop while away from home. Yes, you can check email, pay bills, check bank balance and other things with an tablet or phone.

One thing I find that I need a laptop for is TV. Sometimes you get to your accommodation and find that they have only basic cable or no cable TV at all. They have internet - I won't book it unless they do. The last place we stayed at in HI was like that. Laptop to the rescue. I downloaded the shows we wanted to watch onto the laptop and then onto a USB drive. Newer TVs will read a USB drive and now you can watch your program. Older TVs without a USB port probably have a HDMI port, so you can attach the TV as a secondary monitor to the laptop to watch your program.

As for Macs. I bought Fran a MacBook Pro. Elegant machine. A couple of months ago, Apple kept bugging her to update to Big Sur. After the update, the machine told her that the version of MS Office installed was incompatible with Big Sur. I deleted MS Office and installed Libre Office; she hasn't really noticed the difference.

It’s been over 2 years since I posted this question. My IPad 9 is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. The IPad gets used everyday (by both of us) while the lap top is used occasionally. I probably should get her one.🤔

Thanks to you all for submitting that great advice way back in 2022.

John

Update, Santa is bringing Theresa her own tablet for Christmas. She is getting a Samsung as she prefers the android operating system.

John