What is a good laptop to buy for the first time user?

A GOOD laptop is one that meets your needs, is reliable, is affordable, and will satisfy your needs for several years.

That said, EXACTLY what you should get is necessarily based on what you will be using it for.

Almost ANY affordable laptop will more than meet the needs of the average user who surfs the internet, uses it for word processing things, watching movies, and most simple games.

However, people who need a laptop to perform CAD functions (computer aided design), are really heavily into serious internet gaming, and so forth need a higher end model with greater processing capabilities.

Here's what I recommend:

Make a list of the things you expect to use your laptop for. If it doesn't include high end uses, then almost anything you buy will meet your needs.

Shop around and LOOK at the various computers that are in your price range. Ask questions about them and have the salesmen SHOW you how the different models will work with respect to the things on your list.

My recommendations for things to look for in the laptop are:

1. Does it have the software you need already? If not, shop around for what you need and see if the laptop you want will handle it (probably will). Personally, I think if you're going to do any word processing, might as well get the full Microsoft package. As a minimum, make sure you get what you KNOW you will need. Like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and such.

2. RAM: Personally, my opinion is this...don't screw around with RAM. The one thing that will cause you more aggrivation than anything else is not having enough. Most computers are sold with the bare minimum needed for the operating system and a few other programs to operate at the same time. Find out what the maximum RAM your laptop will take is, based on the installed operating system, and upgrade it to that.

3. Hard Drive space. In general, bigger is better. HOWEVER, you pay a price for it. You want a Hard Drive that will more than satisfy your storage and operating needs for routine uses. However, upgrading beyond that is simply paying for more storage space for things you won't be using all the time. I'd say don't go beyond 160GB. Why? Because you can load all the software you will ever need on this and have PLENTY of spaces for tons of videos and other things.

Anything more than that and you can easily get by with a small portable external HD that will only cost you about $100 for 500GB. Use the external HD to store all your large files you don't use much.

Let me demonstrate:

A Dell Inspiron 14Z with a 160GB HD costs $649 on their website. Upgrade it to a 500GB HD and you will spend $175 more dollars for the extra 340GB.

4. Operating system: If it works, and it suits your needs, then it's good. Personally, I would rather go for Windows 7 than Vista. And I'd like to wait until the operating system has been out for about a year...that way it's been in use and most of the bugs have been worked out and patched.

The good thing is that a LOT of things are pretty much standard now. CD/DVD burners, Decent sized HD's, good display quality, wireless connection, video cards usually more than adequate for average use, and so forth.

Now, that said, it is EASY to go off on a tangent into things which will start adding additional costs to the laptop. What started out as a reasonably affordable $600 laptop can EASILY soar above $1,000.

If you don't need it, DON'T BUY IT!

A wireless service plan? If you have internet in your house, whether WiFi or not, you DON'T need to spend money on an internet service plan. YOU ALREADY HAVE IT!

Extended warrantees? Might be a good idea. However, LOOK AT THE MANUFACTURER'S warrantee first...and then look at what the extended warrantee does and costs.

Wide screen format? This can cost you several hundred dollars over the cost of a regular laptop screen size.

High Definition screen? Do you really need it? Some models include it standard, and that's OK.

So, LOOK AT THE BASELINE MODELS in the price range you are comfortable with. Upgrade the RAM should be about the only thing you should really do with the hardware.

Oh yeah...I'm talking about PC laptops here. I've no experience with MAC, but if that's what you want, the same things apply in principle. MAC's tend to cost more than their equivalent PC's though.

Except for the trackpad, there isn't any real difference in the way a laptop operates compared to a desktop, and if you get a USB mouse then there is no difference.

So that basically means that you just need a good laptop, period. And what constitutes "good" varies from person to person. My idea of "good" steers me towards some of the Acer models. They are not the absolute best computers in any regard, but they are solid machines at a reasonable price.

Without knowing a little more about what you plan to do with it, we really can't answer your question to specifically though.

i just brougt a MSI A5000 computer with 3gb ram 250 hardrive, n wireless and a built in webcam and windows 7 for 319 at office depot. loaded for a newbie and a not so newbie. intel celerons are good for first time buyers, depending on their age.

Funny you ask, I just my first laptop yesterday. It's a DELL laptop with Windows 7 on it, which is kinda like Vista, except newer.

MacBook
And if you're a die hard PC person, you can get it dual boot with WIndows 7 on it.