[amohit]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

1.If one buys a good netbook, can it behave as a proper laptop if one hooks up an external HDD and accesses data that way?
2. If yes, then which netbook should we look at?
Any advice at all on the above will be of great help.

I bought a MSI netbook for my wife. I hate using it! Keyboard is kind of small and it requires to be kept on a flat table. Since the screen is as heavy as the base, it tends to topple over if I keep it on bed and tilt the screen beyond a certain point.

I remember when I was looking for this netbook 4 years ago, Toshiba had a laptop for 24k. You should be able to get a entry level laptop within 25k price range.

To keep costs low, you can look for something with Linux or no OS and install linux on it. For general usage Linux distros these days are as user friendly as Windows.

Regards,

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by khoj

For a hassle free buying and ownership experience, I would recommend Dell. Specifically their Vostro series from the small office/home office range and buy with 3 year on site accident cover warranty.

The starting model should meet all of your criterion, the add on warranty though will push up the price.

Deal directly with Dell via email or phone. The prices posted by their online partner compuindia (IIRC) seem to be on the higher side.

The home range which is the Inspiron series is definitely feature rich but starts at 30K i.e. 5K more than the Vostro.

Amongst the others, have had a hassle free experience with Toshiba's Satellite Pro series but that one was bought online from Toshiba.com and shipped here via courier. This was about 4 years ago, never needed the warranty except for a battery change which was sourced locally.

Thank you. Should I buy a laptop computer in the US? Or is the price likely to be similar buying it in India?
I want it to come with Windows 8 because my Dad is comfortable with that.
And the other specs are as stated.
I can consider the Dell Vostro certainly - but is this the best I will get?
What about Lenovo, Toshiba and the others like Acer, ASUS etc?

Lastly, would you recommend buying online or is it better to buy from the store?

[khoj]

Glad to be of help. Buying in the US will definitely get you better bang for the buck. Windows 8 is the norm now. As for the Vostro, I recommended that keeping an eye on the figure mentioned. As for buying in India (Dell specifically), the Vostro is not sold by Dell's channel partners (street stores). In any case it is best to buy directly from Dell as in that one gets a very clear picture not just on the specs but more importantly on the warranty terms.

Having said the above I do not want to take anything away from the other brands. For my personal use as well as for my business my bias however is towards apple & Dell respectively coming from Thinkpad & HP/Compaq of yore.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by khoj

As for buying in India (Dell specifically), the Vostro is not sold by Dell's channel partners (street stores). In any case it is best to buy directly from Dell as in that one gets a very clear picture not just on the specs but more importantly on the warranty terms.

Vostro is a business model and not a personal model & hence it will sold by Dell retailers who stock business models. Also Dell themselves do not sell the business models direct - if you call them, they will take the order and route it through a business partner for delivery. All my info is 3 years old - I bought Vostros for my office through a Dell partner in Andheri & then after some months I tried to order a Vostro for personal use directly from Dell.

[khoj]

Yes that it is. We have been buying Vostros off late and the Latitude before that. Do not know about Bombay but at least in Delhi retail channel does not offers Vostro, intact even the sales catalogues that they have are only for the Inspiron. Maybe the retail channel in Bombay is more oriented towards business users.

As for buying from Dell directly, we have never been offloaded on to any secondary channel. All of our transactions for new equipment as well as for memory upgrades and batteries etc have been catered to by Dell directly. They usually send in a quote via email followed by the PO and payment online. Delivery is from one of their warehouses in EPIP Madras or Bangalore and in certain instances directly from their offshore facility in Malaysia.

Originally Posted by carboy

Vostro is a business model and not a personal model & hence it will sold by Dell retailers who stock business models. Also Dell themselves do not sell the business models direct - if you call them, they will take the order and route it through a business partner for delivery. All my info is 3 years old - I bought Vostros for my office through a Dell partner in Andheri & then after some months I tried to order a Vostro for personal use directly from Dell.

[Diesel_convert]

Originally Posted by carboy

All my info is 3 years old - I bought Vostros for my office through a Dell partner in Andheri & then after some months I tried to order a Vostro for personal use directly from Dell.

Vostros are available in SP road blr!

Please don't worry too much about price difference at the 30-40k range, where it really makes a difference is at the 1lakh plus range.

Please read reviews of the model on notebookcheck.net I have found them to be quite thorough.

Warranty can also be an issue when buying in the US. You might have to pay extra to get international warranty.

I second dell as the least hassle brand though their service levels have fallen of late.

If possible buy a computer with an ssd.


Cheers:thumbup:

[ifightforuser31]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

My company chose to give me a Dell E7240. pretty decent actually.
.
.
.
Will give my feedback when I get the computer and use it a bit.

From what you have given, I will quite simply suggest that you look at the Acer Asprire R7. Its got a full hd screen which has a good panel. Touchscreen is epic + its like the yoga pad, you can turn it around quite a bit and this one actually works.

If you need something for the every long run, get either a MB Air or anything from Asus. Statistically they will run for almost 5 years without just going kaput.

[extreme_torque]

Just moved to MacBook Air 13 inch recently from my rather gargantuan Sony Vaio FW and the difference is unbelievable. For general computing, as an OS the Mac is light years ahead of Windows. The tracked pad and the gestures combo is so good that using a mouse feels ancient and quite frankly disturbs the workflow. The keyboard is just right, the overall quality is incredibly good like it is with every Apple product. Lastly, its best bit, the battery life. The thing just goes on and on. A true all day laptop if you will.

Although expensive at 64k's (got a deal at Snapdeal for it), it is actually cheaper than the competing ultrabooks with the same dimensions and weight from Dell/Acer or ASUS. "Apple is expensive" myth busted. Also do not forget Apple's legendary customer service that you get with the product. A long story but they replaced my laptop with a brand new unit for an incredibly minuscule cosmetic issue. An issue which 99% of the people would not even be able to notice. After all this I do not think I am moving back to Windows ever again.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by khoj

Glad to be of help. Buying in the US will definitely get you better bang for the buck. Windows 8 is the norm now. As for the Vostro, I recommended that keeping an eyeor my business my bias however is towards apple & Dell respectively coming from Thinkpad & HP/Compaq of yore.

I prefer Apple MacBook Air any day. Cant stand Windows. I am a hard convert of 2 years plus now. No way Im going back to Windows and those fat, ugly laptops.

But my Dad needs and wants a basic comp. Hence the thought of Lenovo or Asus or Acer or Dell or indeed any other in the 25K range.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

No way Im going back to Windows and those fat, ugly laptops.

Big, fat? Have you looked at Windows Ultrabooks?

[khoj]

Completely understand your position. The hard fact is that we cannot dismiss the fat ugly laptops. Truth be told I too have Windows 7 professional version loaded on to my MBP c/w the MS Office suite. This arrangement let's me work seamlessly in office and yet allows me to stay away from the windows based hardware platform at least.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I prefer Apple MacBook Air any day. Cant stand Windows. I am a hard convert of 2 years plus now. No way Im going back to Windows and those fat, ugly laptops.

But my Dad needs and wants a basic comp. Hence the thought of Lenovo or Asus or Acer or Dell or indeed any other in the 25K range.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by carboy

Big, fat? Have you looked at Windows Ultrabooks?

Can you share some brand names?
Also, Im sure they are as expensive as the MacBook Air's... and I vastly prefer the Apple systems.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Can you share some brand names?

http://bit.ly/1l7pJOx

Most brands sell Ultrabooks.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by carboy

http://bit.ly/1l7pJOx

Most brands sell Ultrabooks.

They are not even in the same ballpark as the MacBook Air.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

They are not even in the same ballpark as the MacBook Air.

Read back through the thread. I sent a link for thin Windows Laptops - I haven't compared their thinness to MacBookAir, forget other features. I cannot because I don't use MacBookAirs.