Need laptop advice...

[bajiay]

My 16 year old dd is now working and wants to spend her first paycheck on a new laptop. She will have roughly $600 to spend. She uses the laptop for her schoolwork (watches dvd's, writes papers, watches classes online), also for email and pinterest, and her new addiction is Netflix. She is not allowed on social media at all, other than pinterest.

I know virtually nothing about laptops. What do we need to look for? Where should I buy from?

We just want it to be a decent model that will last her awhile and be sufficient for her needs.
Thanks!

[Gary in ohio]

For $600 that will get you a pretty nice laptop...Since I see no "games" in your use list pretty much any laptop would work... I would say stay away from netbooks with the smaller screen. I am an HP fan but Dell or any other name brand will all have similar laptop at similar price points. If she need to transport the laptop a lot then a 15" screen would be best. ALSO spend good money on a laptop case/backpack....

Looking at the HP line the Pravilion series ranges in price from $350 and up.. i purchased in the last couple of weeks a g7-1355dx, 17.3 screen quad core AMD, 4gb ram 500gb disk for $406.. They had 15 inch version of this model for $350.. Dual core intel versions of this laptop were about $20 more.

I did a lot of looking around but "RIGHT NOW" Best Buy online seem to have the best selection and price points. They are offering free shipping or free pickup at the local store.

[Belfrybat]

Ditto what Gary said. I purchased a Toshiba with the similar configuration as his HP for $399.00 from Staples several months ago. Nice machine. I am personally not a Dell fan any longer. They used to be very good, but not so much any longer. HP, Toshiba, and Acer would be my choice. 4 GB Ram, either dual or quad core, and 500 GB hard drive. That should do her for many years. Do buy external speakers since she watches Netflix -- I've never found a laptop with internal speakers worth a heck.

[bajiay]

Thanks!