Many of my friends are buying laptop and desktop computers for their kids and spouses for the holidays. I am constantly being asked what I recommend, so I thought I would recreate the specs I like here and then just refer them to my site.
Let me start by saying that I recommend Dell over all other computers. The reason is simple; support! They have the best support I have encountered, and that goes for business sales and personal sales as well. They stand behind their product and that means something to me. And by the way, I am not getting any commissions from them.
For a laptop I recommend at least the following specificications:
Processor: A Dual core of at least 1.6 or higher
Memory: 1GB
HardDrive: 160GB
Wireless: 802.11 a/b/g/n
For a desktop, I recommend the following:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (2.20GHz)
Memory: 2GB
HardDrive: 320GB
Graphics Card: Best you can afford
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (2.20GHz)
Memory: 2GB
HardDrive: 320GB
Graphics Card: Best you can afford
These are just what I would look for if I were buying one for myself. Many of the stores are running fantastic deals right now, so certainly shop around and look for the highest specs for the lowest price, but processing speed and memory are key for almost all users, so don't be cheap in those areas.
