Choosing a laptop for my sister

[luks104]

Since I never had a laptop, neither have I ever "explored" the world of laptops since I'm a desktop guy, I'm asking you guys to help me choose a laptop for my sister. She'll be using it for web surfing, photoshop, occasional playing of undemanding video games...so normal usage for a person who is in college. So I thought an i5 (Intel processor is required since she had 2 laptops with AMD chips and she wasn't happy) paired with atleast 4 GB of ram and 1 TB of storage should be sufficient, but I don't know which brand or model I should choose. She had 1 Dell and 1 HP before and the HP was in her opinion better. But that's just another info, not necessary to be a HP. So I'm asking you guys, the experts, if I may express myself that way. The budget is around 800 euros.
Thanks in advance

 

[JQB45]

My sister is very hard on her laptops - she's killed 2 that I know of. In March 2013 I brought her an ASUS brand laptop and she so far hasn't managed to kill it. It has better build quality then my old Toshiba laptop. 4GB is insufficient for a laptop or desktop computer now days I recommend 8GB.

 

[luks104]

Now that you mention it (btw couldn't agree more with you - seems that all sisters are hard on her laptops) both laptops, the Dell and HP started to loose the keys on the keyboard, which bothers her, so I'd like to know which laptop brand is known for their build quality and reliability (apart from ASUS which you listed)

 

[AntonyLovric]

I was faced with a similar issue (my cousin went off to university and needed a new laptop). Personally, I think having next-business-day warranty is pretty important. Models like the HP Probook & Dell Latitude usually include 1 year next business-day, are tougher, and have a higer build quality.

The Latitude's were designed in the USA, whereas the other cheaper models were ones that were purchased from other manufacturers and re-branded. The Latitute's also were supported by business support services in Austin Texas (nice to have, call dell, tell them to transfer you to business support servivces!). When my cousin's hard drive died, dell's support services sent out a tech (NCR guy!) to diagnose and replace the HD. (Windows was restored) she had a back-up on a thumb drive and popped over so I could fix up her wifi and university access for her....

I personally like the ProBook (same warranty, similar construction). I can actually spill coffee on it and it will drain through the keyboard.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/hps-new-probook-windows-7-business-laptops-have-drain-in-keyboard-that-saves-pc-not-pants-from-spills/

Note: you probably don't want to test this too often, and if you spill a latte you might want a gentle warm water rinse

 

[yimmi]

ok girls are girls avoid hp i would suggest the 5000 series from dell I use it as well and it is just fine(i5-5200 u my processor,not bad),also anything "similar speced" to it from asus or lenovo is also fine,avoid hp,acer and even toshiba nowadays.

 

[JQB45]

And for my personal suggestion or at least what I am going for next is the Lenovo X1 Carbon. It seems to review well, has their thinkpad branding, which in the past at least has meant business level quality so that is my next choice if you're willing to really spend. Their warranties aren't the best, but you can upgrade to better warranties as part of your purchase decision.

Otherwise, the refurbished laptop from ASUS I brought my sister in early 2013 was only $400 and up until I replaced my laptop she had the best computer in the house. Now I am using a desktop computer when I don't need to be mobile, which is most of the time.

She still has the best laptop until I buy something close to the end of the year.