Hello, immense hivemind and a new thread!

So, I'm getting a laptop as a present from my folks. And the three of us could use directions. I was thinking about Lenovo, but I have no idea about their models. It needs to be as much as maintenance and trouble free and user friendly for the computer-killer-by-mere-presence-person-moi (for I won't have a lot of time to get it fixed and will need it on a daily basis), good for the university freshwoman, and some memory won't hurt for the music junkie who likes to have her music next to her at all times. Also, regarding OS - and I'm hoping I'm not opening any Pandora box - do I want Linux or Windows XP, considering all university farms are with the latter and I'm gonna need to transfer files between those OSs?

Any advices?

At my last job, we used Thinkpads exclusively, but had enough in-house expertise with minor repairs that I may have an exaggerated sense of how reliable they are -- and also, this was before Lenovo took over the line. My sole personal laptop ownership is a Mac iBook that's chugging along nicely after three years+, even though I've worn the letters off a significant part of the keyboard.

(Mac OS runs a version of Unix underneath the fancy interface which makes them more Linux-compatible than you might think.)

It looks like most of the details of today's new MacBooks have been leaked. Apple hasn't been as good at clamping down on rumors lately.

Shir,

I think you want Windows XP.

Some here don't like Dells, but I've been generally happy with my Dell laptops (I've had 2 of them).

Apple hasn't been as good at clamping down on rumors lately.

I think they just stopped caring.

I think they just stopped caring.

Maybe they just got tired of killing people.

eta: That makes me think that an Apple death squad must have some awesome, aesthetically pleasing weaponry....

That makes me think that an Apple death squad must have some awesome, aesthetically pleasing weaponry....

[link] ?

I think Apple is letting these rumors get out because they don't want the rumors of Jobs' illness to get traction.

[link] ?

Heh - forgot about Eve. Who was designed by the guy who designed the iPod....

Linux or Windows XP

Kinda depends on how technical you are and which applications you'll be using. At home I use both Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP. I use some applications that don't run under Windows and I use some applications that don't run under Linux.

If you need any Windows applications, then go with Windows XP. You can run some Windows applications in Linux, but it won't be as good as Windows proper.

Ubuntu is certainly easy to install and generally easy to use, but there are still times I need to drop to the command line to make an adjustment. If you aren't comfortable with that, then you'll probably want XP. It also generally plays well with Windows networks, though hooking up to remote printers can get more complicated. On the plus side, I find it has better performance and I don't have to worry about anti-virus software. I also like the UI better, but that's subjective.