Blah blah blah other threads. I know, but I couldn't find a much-used comprehensive laptop thread, whatever, just read this and give me your all-seeing input.

So my girlfriend is looking to get a new laptop. She has a $1000 budget, and absolutely no need to have it. Here is what she uses her laptop for:

-Schoolwork (of all sorts)
-Word Processing (for Schoolwork)
-Browsing the internet
-Checking E-Mail
-Playing Music
-Buying Music (yea)
-General shopping
-Playing online Flash games
-Reading... I guess
-NOTHING FUCKING ELSE SHE COULD DO THIS ON A PHONE CHRIST


But here's the thing, it has to be pretty. Yea, I know, really deep qualifications for this one. The thing is, I don't know any... pretty laptops. Oh and she doesn't want a Mac before this conversation goes there. Her last computer was a Dell laptop and it was a real flop, but she thinks the only stylish computers out there are Dell Studios with some kind of graphic on the lid.

So I'm trying to brainstorm other brands that, uh, look good. What do you think, Sony VAIO? I personally love Toshibas but... again, I don't know about pretty.

Here's a decent option on Deals.Woot:

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/2b7854df-0cab-46dd-b65c-6ebf373bc9f3/sony-15-5-vaio-laptop-pc-with-amd-athlon-ii-processor-flash-drive-case-print#1

But I'm still open to other suggestions. Her family is pretty wealthy, so money-saving is not necessarily #1 on the list.

7/30/2010 7:57:45 PM

Powerbook. I know many a female PC users who go into Best Buy to buy another PC and come out with a Powerbook. They like the image.

But seriously if she wants a PC, look at the HP Envy
http://bit.ly/bRQ6bf

[Edited on July 30, 2010 at 8:04 PM. Reason : ,]

7/30/2010 8:01:45 PM

get a netbook. they're small (girls tell me my 9'' eee pc is 'cute') and it's all white which apple has made a marketing standard.

7/30/2010 8:09:18 PM

i thought i remembered some of the lenovo idea pads being "pretty" but a google search doesn't come up with much. might be worth looking into though.

7/30/2010 8:11:13 PM

i wouldn't buy anything other than HP, ASUS, or Apple for laptop reliability concerns.

7/30/2010 8:11:49 PM

No netbooks.

And I won't make this about Apple but she doesn't want one and I"m not pushing it (though to be honest this kind of pointless PC use is something I would officially be okay with a Mac performing).

And you might be right about the HP Envy... if I actually look at it. Isn't it kind of hyped or something?

7/30/2010 8:15:43 PM

asus bamboo line
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3832/asus-u33jc-bamboo-for-the-masses

7/30/2010 8:48:48 PM

Still needs to be 14-16" in range I guess.

HP Envy looks good, but it's
1) Expensive
2) Has a lot more stuff than she even needs


Hmmm.

7/30/2010 8:58:41 PM

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=99C4BAF867E7467F9E0FAD4487A0A719

Asus would easily be my second choice. Their thin/light line is awesome.

7/31/2010 1:03:32 AM

I would tell the gf that she's on her own.

8/1/2010 10:58:33 PM

Get her some stickers. Bitches love stickers.

8/2/2010 4:00:21 AM

good laptop + laptop skin (to make it "pretty").

8/2/2010 9:10:26 AM

girl in the op is definition of macbook target market.

8/2/2010 10:13:03 AM

Quote :

"Powerbook. I know many a female PC users who go into Best Buy to buy another PC and come out with a Powerbook. They like the image."

Powerbook?

8/2/2010 10:14:23 AM

MBP or macbook

8/2/2010 10:22:31 AM

Yeah I know. Just haven't heard anyone call it a powerbook in a while.

I just bought a 13" Mac Book Pro. I love it. Still have a PC desktop as my primary computer but the MBP is a great laptop. Not really getting the 10 hour battery life advertised but that was to be expected.

8/2/2010 10:26:09 AM

got my wife this and she loves it:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ONCBX0/ref=oss_product

8/2/2010 2:30:36 PM

If it has to be pretty just have her get a cheaper Asus from Newegg.com and get a skin for it.

I mean, unless she wants to be able to see her fingerprints all the time pretty many laptops that have a design on them will just have a skin anyway.

8/2/2010 5:42:43 PM

I feel stupid because I didn't even know laptop skins were common products. I've never even considered why one would need a skin for their laptop, but I guess that's why I posted this thread.

Also:

Quote :

"girl in the op is definition of macbook target market."

As much as I dislike Macs I pretty much said "Look, you're the exact kind of person I wouldn't care owning a Mac." Despite knowing next to nothing about computers she hates Apple, so the fuck (granted it's not a point I care to argue because I don't like them either so what what).

I will consider selling her on a skin.

I'm looking at laptops and I have a hard time doing some from her viewpoint. I look at one and I'll think "Wow they're charging that much for a processor that..." then I'm like "Oh but she doesn't give a shit."

8/2/2010 9:59:11 PM

sony vaio has some girly looking laptops.

8/3/2010 2:15:08 AM

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=16154&SR=nav:shop:computers:notebooks:ss&ref=http://www.sony.com/index.php#/overviewTab

My GF got the CW style and likes it.

8/3/2010 3:36:11 PM

HP makes some attractive looking laptops IMO, but I'm just a fan of silver and black

8/3/2010 5:57:49 PM

my xps looks like this...but more pink...it's pretty girly

8/4/2010 8:46:43 AM

The "angular but sleek" style for XPS isn't inherently girly. If anything it's extremely manly and awesome (I loved my XPS 1530), but when you make it pink that just kinda tosses things up.

8/4/2010 11:08:18 AM

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilypang?ref=seller_info


These are really pretty. They do wrist skins, too, so it can match!

8/4/2010 1:47:25 PM

^^ oh, i don't mind the physical design of it...i kinda like it, actually

but that red that they show you in the picture is NOT the color of the actual laptop...the plastic is only one shade shy of being magenta, and the leather strip is like areola-colored or something

but it was $50 less when i bought it and i knew what i was getting into

8/4/2010 3:48:52 PM

Yeah, seems the obvious solution to this is to slap a skin on the laptop

8/16/2010 12:23:01 AM

Quote :

"i thought i remembered some of the lenovo idea pads being "pretty" but a google search doesn't come up with much. might be worth looking into though."

did you mean these?

8/16/2010 9:19:32 AM