'No Stupid Questions' (NSQ) Internet & Technology Edition

I'm rather tech illiterate myself but need to help my parent find a decent laptop that is suitable for working from home, playing movies, drop proof and won't catch a virus from some shitty bing popup. She's set on a surface pro but i don't think it'll survive her. And my suggestion on her getting a desktop is moot. Any suggestions on a portable laptop that runs well and can take some damage? Or even a diy build.

Whatever she gets, i plan to block out certain search engines and phrases to prevent her from destroying another laptop. And i have enough 3d and casting experience to make her a laptop case that will survive a drop and fit her "aesthetics".

I feel like a parent trying to buy a teen their first phone, and the kid wants a shitty rose gold iphone that they'll break in a week.

Edit: budget is under $600. Also open to sites i can look into that sell refurbished ect
 
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Like if youre serious and has some cash to spend, we use these in the field all day
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Computers

Your work is extraordinary, and your devices need to match you step for step. That’s why we build rugged laptops and 2-in-1's that are trusted by hardworking people in the toughest environments anywhere.
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if youre not THAT serious about it, whats your budget?
 
Dell Conagher said:
Like if youre serious and has some cash to spend, we use these in the field all day
na.panasonic.com

Computers

Your work is extraordinary, and your devices need to match you step for step. That’s why we build rugged laptops and 2-in-1's that are trusted by hardworking people in the toughest environments anywhere.
na.panasonic.com na.panasonic.com

if youre not THAT serious about it, whats your budget?
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I forgot to mention that, sorry
Budget is under $600. Im also looking into refurbished as she needs a new phone as well.
 
So the budget is 600, that's not a lot to work with for a laptop. Then again its not like she will use it for anything heavy duty (at least I hope not).

I also don't really now what you mean by "durable". What exactly does your mother do to laptops that wrecks them? Does she drop them, water damage or is it an overuse work thing? As for viruses, there is not much a laptop can do to prevent a software issue beyond just having common sense. As for playing movies, just get a portable USB DVD or blue-ray player (if she is into that). Its way cheaper than getting one built in and assuming your not a mongoloid it will survive multiple laptops.

based on what your budget and what she will likely use it for here is what I would suggest a Lenovo business laptop with a portable DVD player
laptop
DVD player
You can find versions of the laptop with more memory that fit into your budget, but I can't imagine a boomer using more than 128 Gigs of SSD space.
 
Installing Fedora Linux, etc would probably fix the virus problem, if you don't give the end user an admin account. If you are the only one who has the password to an admin account, she would have to re-install the entire OS to be able to break anything. I suppose you could use your own Secure Boot keys to make that very hard, but that would be difficult to set up.
 
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Chilson said:
So the budget is 600, that's not a lot to work with for a laptop. Then again its not like she will use it for anything heavy duty (at least I hope not).

I also don't really now what you mean by "durable". What exactly does your mother do to laptops that wrecks them? Does she drop them, water damage or is it an overuse work thing? As for viruses, there is not much a laptop can do to prevent a software issue beyond just having common sense. As for playing movies, just get a portable USB DVD or blue-ray player (if she is into that). Its way cheaper than getting one built in and assuming your not a mongoloid it will survive multiple laptops.

based on what your budget and what she will likely use it for here is what I would suggest a Lenovo business laptop with a portable DVD player
laptop
DVD player
You can find versions of the laptop with more memory that fit into your budget, but I can't imagine a boomer using more than 128 Gigs of SSD space.
Click to expand...

I never know what she does with her stuff tbh.

By durable i mean drop proof. She'll fall asleep with her phone and drop it over and over. I bought her an otterbox as it had some shitty rubber case. Id wouldn't be suprised if it fell into a toilet or a bathtub, but i worry about a drink being spilled on it or it being sprayed heavily with cleaner.

Overuse will likely be, never turning it off. But ill probably pull its plug or turn it off as im stuck at home due to covid.

I forgot about external dvd players. I'll give her mine or download movies onto a flash drive to remedy that.

She's been getting into 5g tower and essential oil bs so ill definitely be blocking facebook and herbal remedy sites. That should prevent some scams, hopefully. And for memory, she saves near everything, bible verses on fb, old photos on fb, conspiracy theories ect.

If this will be a work pc and personal pc then it'll need enough space at least. I'll try to make her main download storage a sd card.
 
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Vecr said:
Installing Fedora Linux, etc would probably fix the virus problem, if you don't give the end user an admin account. If you are the only one who has the password to an admin account, she would have to re-install the entire OS to be able to break anything. I suppose you could use your own Secure Boot keys to make that very hard, but that would be difficult to set up.
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Ill look into that, thank ya.
As im buying this i want it to last as long as possible.
Otherwise id just get her some shitty refurbished high school chromebook
 
used thinkpads are pretty good, durable and can be had for cheap with lots of difference spec options.

if you want a new in box laptop, acer makes a bunch of budget stuff with good options and features.

I'd avoid dell because their screens and build quality is piss poor.

avoid celerons, pentium n and A series processors.
need about 8gb b/c win10 hogs on 4.

get an ssd and you don't have to worry about drops that much.


you could buy a used toughbook for about 600 but it'll be 2nd/3rd gen i5 processors and be heavy/bulky.
 
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Dell Conagher said:
Look up the lenovo laptops, ive always had a high opinion of their build quality in their T - series. if possible go amd
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Are AMD laptops less prone to overheating these days? Had one in 2010 that overheated constantly. Couldn't even play Morrowind without fearing a sudden shutdown. Even with a cooling pad.

Due to her being clumsy, you might want to look into tablets and get a keyboard attachment. Get a decent case and screen protector. Get a few SD cards with 128GB so she can save all the things. If she does work that requires Windows software, disregard this advice.
 
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Aberforth said:
Are AMD laptops less prone to overheating these days? Had one in 2010 that overheated constantly. Couldn't even play Morrowind without fearing a sudden shutdown. Even with a cooling pad.

Due to her being clumsy, you might want to look into tablets and get a keyboard attachment. Get a decent case and screen protector. Get a few SD cards with 128GB so she can save all the things. If she does work that requires Windows software, disregard this advice.
Click to expand...
The new ryzen chips go as low as 15W, so no trouble with heating.
 
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Hard drive is your main point of failure if you drop it or treat it rough. Make sure you get an SSD and you'll instantly make that laptop a lot more resilient to rough treatment. That being said a $600 is never going to be the toughest thing in the world.
 
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Panasonic Toughbook. There appear to be plenty of older i5-powered Toughbooks on eBay for around $300 each. Put the money saved towards an SSD and a new battery (a 5-7 year old laptop battery is likely to be dead or nearly dead).

They're not the prettiest laptops in the world, but they make old-timey Lenovo T-series laptops (which are very solid) look like $99 Walmart specials by comparision.
 
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