Travel Technology - Laptop Computer Selection Assistance

My brother in law is a decorated marine who suffered a spinal injury this week. He will be treated (as per the military requirements) in a VA hospital several hours from his family and home. Although the family has a PC, during this long term recovery/rehab they will need a laptop for use on the road, at the hotel, and even, as permitted in the hospital.

In thinking through their requirements, this is what I come up with -

1) price is a concern. the military will continue to pay my brother, but my sister will be taking a huge hit paywise. however, none of us are computer literate - so a purchase that includes softwear (and even the loading thereof) would be great. and obviously, we need to get this purchased ASAP.

2) weight - it should be light enough to be easily carried, held on the lap, etc - but not necessary light enough that they are paying a premium for the {lack of} weight.

3) it appears that he will be paralyzed from the waist down - so when he uses the laptop, it will be balanced on his lap in either the bed or the wheelchair. An easy to open laptop, with a larger keyboard would be best, I would think.

4) memory - it will primarily be used for email, i'net, etc at this time. however, my sister is a landscape designer, so I am hoping in the next few months she could do some design work (if not the actual site work); which would require the download of some graphic type programs. I do not think they require excessive memory, but.....

5) they do not want a MAC. they both feel that they are somewhat literate on windows, and the idea of learning a new system with all they are already going through is just too much to comtemplate.

As FT does not allow double posts, I am going to ask for recommendations here, and then take those and ask for further input from the travelers with disabilities forum.

I do not have the experience/knowledge to research this for them, and with all that must be done so quickly, I need to rely on my FT "experts" for help. Please know it is appreciated - and truly needed.

TIA -

Sorry to hear about his injury. Based on your description, almost any current machine will fit the bill. I'd simply look at the deals at the local computer store and pick a decent brand of computer (Sony, Gateway, Toshiba, Lenovo, Dell). It's hard to pick a wrong machine noawadays as most of them have similar specifications.

As for software; if it is going to be used for design work, I'd look for something with 2Gb of memory.

Basic requirements you'd be looking for are:

Core2Duo processor (or equivelant AMD offering), CD/DVD burner, 2Gb memory, 160Gb hard drive, WiFi.

I'm pretty sure that the aafes.com (military store) will have the better deals, especially on Dell laptops. I've regularly heard of Dell's being sold for $400 under the average retail through that channel.

As for software; I wouldn't invest too heavilly in it. Most machines will come with at least Windows Vista and a trial of an office package, and purchasing in store could easily add an additional $400.

You don't have to be computer literate to install most software packages. What kind of software do you need? Microsoft Office?

Sophiegirl, I'm sorry to hear about the injuries to your brother in law.

As the previous post said, just select a pre-packaged system from a good name brand. You can also configure your own very easily with the following things in mind.

- Get the longest lasting battery possible for times away from a power outlet
- A 14 inch screen fits the bill for light weight but ease of viewing
- 2 or 3 gigabytes (GB's) of RAM memory
- don't pay extra for an upsized hard drive
- you might purchase nice headphones so he can watch dvd's and not disturb others

Be sure and check out the ratings for customer assistance and repaires after the purchase. Dell and HP in particular have some terrible Customer Service ratings. And indeed it is possible to pick a wrong machine, some brands seem to have major reliability problems. Check with sites such as PC World http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123678-page,1/article.html this is a link for their Top 10 All Purpose Notebooks, there are places to check as well such as CNET http://reviews.cnet.com/best-mainstream-laptops/?tag=lnav
And by comparing you will get a good idea of what is your best alternative.

Sam

If it doesn't have to be new, consider the off lease ones that dell sells. Dell has two sites for refruib computers, one off dell.com where they do units returned by customers for repairs, whatever that they refruib and resell.

But the other site that many people don't know about is their offlease section, dfsdirectsales.com.

They take comuters that come off lease, check they are fully operational, reload the disk image, repackage them with all the necessary accessories, and sell them for very little money. I'm currently using a Latitude 410 from them, cost something like just over $400. It's a 12 inch, they include the operating system (another advantage, usually XP Professional).

If they have something in the size weight range you are looking for, you could save a considerable amount of money.

Thanks to each of you.

The info/recommendations you made are perfect...plus I just opened a recent copy of Consumer Report and they have a great analysis of various laptops...when I combine what they say with the suggestions each of you have made, I think I will end up making a decent selection for them.

thank you again..................

As someone with disabilities, and who uses a wheelchair, I noticed two things in a quick reading of your post. 1. If he gets one of those tray tables for use in bed it will make things easier when he is needing to use it in bed, and to void hot laptop on legs.

2nd, Wheelchairs sometimes have accessories like a folding table that attaches to the chair which he could get. I just use a regular table. Due to the seat height of most chairs he would probably need to raise the desk on 2x4 or other pieces of wood so he doesn't strike the desk with his knees. At a hotel, sometimes removing the drawer is all that is needed to get under the desk.

One other thing, set up a wireless home network so he won't need to run a wire to the bed. On the road, try to stay at a place with wireless, or bring a long cable that can reach the ethernet jack. (that's the one I always forget.)

Most low-ball laptops are cheap not because of basic components, but because of minimal add-ons. So...

Find one with minimum of 2GB of memory, or be prepared to buy more (it's cheap these days).

Most come with low capacity battery. Plan on another hundred bucks (ouch) for a decent battery.

Pay a bit more for Centrino. My experience has been that battery life is much better with the Centrino chipset.

Think about a machine with built-in webcam and mic, which also will bring up the cost from a minimal system.

Look for the sweet spot on screen size: generally LARGER is CHEAPER (up to a point). Since this is not going to be a super light weight traveling computer, bigger is a lot easier on the eyes.

As another poster noted, you don't really need more than the default disk size.

All the above posts are good, i'd add the following items

Dell refurbs are great, been buying litereally 1000's of units there for years, and the deals can be great. KNOW what you want going in and just find it.

companies like MSFT have military pricing on software titles, I thnk their latest on office was 60$ for office ultimate - just like for the kiddies in school. These prices are usually not advertised, you have to search around for it. Someone has a website that covers these things, google should yield it.

Get a nice wireless mouse. I would just get a regular RF mouse with a little plug in dongle for the laptop (bluetooh mice are great, but pairing and lag are issues for some) most of the ones with dongles today have very small dongles and cost 25-30$ after rebate.

Get at least a 14" screen, but not UXGA or higher resolution than SXGA. IMHO anything higher can cause eye strain after long house of usage.

Many, many thanks to all of you, your help was truly appreciated by both myself and the family.

Unfortunately, my brother in law died this evening.

Positive thoughts for all of those who serve would be greatly appreciated.

Mods, please close this thread.

Man, I am REALLY sorry to hear that.

I'm thinking about your family and all our friends outside of reach.