Searching for a new laptop

[BabyPoppy]

I need/want to buy a new laptop that I can use for grad school and personal use at home like this forum. I'm not a gamer (I never figured out how 🤷‍♀️ plus I prefer to be outside, crafting, cooking, or reading), but I do search a lot of random stuff. I would also like to be able to stream movies and make presentations,  and YouTube stuff eventually (reading books or demonstrating/how to activities for my students when they are absent). I need a device that's pretty easy to use, as I really am not very knowledgeable about technology.  

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Anything more than Best Buy or "buy something cheap at Wal-Mart" would be appreciated.  

Thanks! 

Baby Manda

Edited April 8 by Baby Manda

[Restraints-and-Cuffs]

Hi baby Manda,

I can help figuring it out. 

What do you mean by modelling activities? 

Are there any softwares that you absolutely need to use?

Do you know what operating system you want?

[BabyPoppy]

7 hours ago, Restraints-and-Cuffs said:

Hi baby Manda,

I can help figuring it out. 

What do you mean by modelling activities? 

Are there any softwares that you absolutely need to use?

Do you know what operating system you want?

Thank you!

Modeling activities  - I mean how to videos-I could record for lessons 

I use a lot of Microsoft programs, outlook, word, excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, but also other free teacher programs the college recommends. I use other Google for a lot of stuff too, and Canva, plus translation apps, LessonPix and other online curriculum.  My grad school work is all online.

I'm not sure about an operating system... as a kid I learned Dos b/c my mom was in school for it, but that's not something I've used in years 🙃  Currently I open my computer and it opens with the pretty picture that randomly changes and the I click the little icons for internet Explorer,  Microsoft edge, or the other one. - does that help?

Thank you 

BabyManda 

[Restraints-and-Cuffs]

Yeah, all that helps. 

You are using a windows laptop.

If you current laptop/pc can handle most of the requirements , I could walk you through the steps required to figure out the current specifications. Based of that, you could go for a similarly powered/slightly more powerful device. 

That would probably be the best way to find a right device

But from what I gather, your processing requirements do not seem that high. So you go for any any intel i5/amd 5 series with about 8 gb of ram that fits your budget ( higher i3/amd 3 series would probably work too but then you'd have to see which processor works). However, I'm speculating based on the min requirements of the softwares you mentioned. 

 

[NR_Daddy]

Choosing a new computer can be a daunting process for those who know little about what all the jargon means.

The key thing to do is find out about your current laptop and take it from there. That way you can be assured that anything you look at will be an upgrade, working faster and able to provide you with ample storage space for your needs. You should also have a budget in mind. Think about what the maximum you could spend on a new laptop. Financing might be an option for you and it would help to spread the cost over time, but that does come with the pitfall of paying interest, so the overall cost is more. Pre-owned is a possibility, but you have to make sure it's capable of running Windows 11 Operating System. 

Windows 10 support is coming to an end later this year and essential updates and security updates will no longer be published. Some pre-owned sellers have found a way to load Windows 11 onto older machines, but that doesn't mean it will work properly in the long run. PC's built for Windows 11 have a special chip inside called a TPM 2.0 chip for security reasons, and it will only run on systems with a processor of a certain age, with older processors not supported.

Unfortunately I would advise against what Restraints and Cuffs has said about specifications. 8Gb of RAM is considered extremely outdated for any computer these days, and the programs you specify using would run very slowly. Modern browsers running HD video content on sites like youtube and other sites like netflix etc would also struggle. 16Gb as an absolute minimum is what is recommended to run windows operating system and run smoothly.

The first thing I would suggest is to find out what specs your current laptop are. This is relatively easy.

First hit the Windows key and begin typing "control panel" when that comes up in the pop up, click on it. A new window will open, and in the top right there will be a drop down box which will probably show "view by: Category". Click that and choose "large icons". When the icons appear, you need to click "system". It will then show "device specifications" and "Windows specifications" in 2 boxes. You should be able to post those specifications here.

*****************
EDIT: If you are running windows 10, it will show the specifications slightly differently than I wrote above. It will still show Device Specs and Windows Specs if you follow the above steps.
*********************

The second thing you should do is find out how much storage space there is on your laptop. Again this is relatively easy. On your taskbar ( the bar at the bottom of your screen), there should be a little yellow icon that looks like a folder. Click that and another window will open. on the left, it should say somewhere "This PC". Click that and it will show your storage. It will show the size of your storage drive(s) and how much has been used.

Once you have these bits of information, post them here and then I can make some suggestions for you.

I hope this helps.

Edited May 20 by NR_Daddy

[BabyPoppy]

So i did buy a laptop of sorts - I think it's called a notebook... and it came with Windows loaded... it seems to be working ok... but I can't figure out the video... I'm also taking a course in grad school on technology and I'm in way over my head! I have no idea what most of these terms even mean! I have to Google a lot of things to even start the projects! I'm an intelligent person, a classroom teacher, but I'm definitely not trained for this... it's more difficult than the semester of undergrad I had calculus, organic chemistry,  and human anatomy all at once! I usually do what I can, then curl up with my stuffies,  my paci, and my blanky and say it's only 8 weeks... it's only 8 weeks....it's only 8 weeks! 

 

[MissAnna]

On 4/6/2025 at 3:34 PM, BabyPoppy said:

I need/want to buy a new laptop that I can use for grad school and personal use at home like this forum. I'm not a gamer (I never figured out how 🤷‍♀️ plus I prefer to be outside, crafting, cooking, or reading), but I do search a lot of random stuff. I would also like to be able to stream movies and make presentations,  and YouTube stuff eventually (reading books or demonstrating/how to activities for my students when they are absent). I need a device that's pretty easy to use, as I really am not very knowledgeable about technology.  

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Anything more than Best Buy or "buy something cheap at Wal-Mart" would be appreciated.  

Thanks! 

Baby Manda

Oh my goodness Poppy I don't even know anything about laptops. I just walked into the store and said I need a computer that cost this much lol 

I'm not tech smart, you should see me at work IT hates me, I'm the girl that calls everyday for them to help me 😁

I'm so proud of you for stepping out of your comfort zone 💗 

I do have to buy a new phone soon I'm thinking of going with the same technique 🤭

[BabyPoppy]

I did drop my summer courses so I have some time to just recover.  It was a really difficult school year teaching. Hopefully I can learn some things over the summer and be better prepared this fall. I love grad school and it is a good thing, but I didn't know how much I didn't know! 

[BabyPoppy]

I did not know how much I did not know about technology today!!!  WOW!!!! Just WOW!!! If I were to put an age level on my knowledge of technology, it would be 4-year-old... I can plug it in, and use it for basic things like Microsoft processing, and online curriculums, basic web searches, sharing information, but much more than that and I am toast!

AI isn't robots! It's in the computer!!! YIKES! Like it thinks for us now!

It's not about making presentations anymore, it's about telling the computer to make the presentation for you!

Oh! and webpages have pages too! Definitely missed all the points on that assignment!

I'm like so super lost it's not even funny! But I do personally believe less is more for my students (4-year-olds don't need screens yet)

Can I just not get my master's degree because I am afraid of taking the technology class? 

 

I love my new computer.... It's a notebook thing, but in my head it's a laptop/computer since it does everything my giant desktop did in the 80s and 90s! Plus, I don't have to type command codes in when it starts to find the correct programs anymore and it comes in color!!  No more green or orange flashing curser at the top of the screen waiting to be told what to do! Is it sad that I both long for DOS and am glad it is not necessary anymore?  I still use the command codes when I type things... which someone told me were new the other day! 😆 It also has a ton of memory (whatever the right word is for that) and it's super light, like under 5 pounds! 

Life changes so much and so fast. Change is necessary for growth. My cell phone has more memory than the first computers did with a whole room full of giant boxes to contain their memory. We have come a long way in 50 years, but do I really need that information to be successful in my life? Is it ok to just keep being me and keep going forward? 

Deep thoughts, I know, but maybe those who love technology can give me some wisdom? If this is something necessary to me as a person and teacher, I will start learning about it and dive deep before re-enrolling in the course. I will get an A and continue my program of study. 4.0 student in grad school, half-way through... full time work, full time single parent, full time student... If it is important to know. If it is busywork, then nope, I will drop it and continue what I do every day. 

Education changes so fast and what we learn today is often what was important 2 years ago. The research is so far behind what is necessary for our students. But if it will help me, I will do it. I will do it with a smile on my face, and a perfect score, coz that's what good girls do! 🥰