Buying my Dad a laptop

[Mondos]

Hey guys I need some help as I have never purchased a laptop before and need to buy one for my dad. He has already said that he wants the rotatable screen (the kind where you can turn the screen to a person sitting across from you), and a maximum budget of ~$1000.

He only uses it for business and casual use. And he usually keeps a lot of programs open at once (internet, outlook, word, excel, etc.)

Any suggestions?

[Skrying]

The one where you can turn the screen is called a convertible tablet. They're typically more expensive than a equivalent laptop without that feature. HP has the TouchSmart tm2 that starts under $1000 but it's not the greatest made laptop in the world. HP's business unit with this starts at over $1500 and that's going to be the typical price point for other high quality laptops with such a feature.

You need to also give us some help with other must haves. Such as a desired battery life and weight.

I'll be honest, if your dad wants a quality built unit then he should expect to expand his budget or do without a swiveling screen.

[wibeasley]

he wants the rotatable screen (the kind where you can turn the screen to a person sitting across from you).

I think this mean he wants something that's typically called a tablet. He wants a screen like this?

[gerbilspy]

backlit keyboard is a must

[Mondos]

he wants the rotatable screen (the kind where you can turn the screen to a person sitting across from you).

I think this mean he wants something that's typically called a tablet. He wants a screen like this?

Yes.

[Mondos]

Battery life only has to be around 5-8 hours. He mostly has it on his desktop plugged in.

Weight is really not a big issue. As I said, he mostly uses it on his desktop and if he travels, he puts it in a suitcaseish thing.

Also, his current laptop is a Lenovo. He seems to like it and it has lasted him a while.

[thecoldanddarkone]

Battery life only has to be around 5-8 hours. He mostly has it on his desktop plugged in.

Weight is really not a big issue. As I said, he mostly uses it on his desktop and if he travels, he puts it in a suitcaseish thing.

Also, his current laptop is a Lenovo. He seems to like it and it has lasted him a while.

Well what's his current laptop? It's important to look at what he does like before we can make any decent suggestions.

[Mondos]

Pretty sure it is this one.

[thecoldanddarkone]

Well, the only 2 laptops that are really worth replacing that tablet pc are both 1500-1800 dollars. Both of which are business convertables, just like that one is. The lenovo x201t or the hp 2740p.

[mortifiedPenguin]

Care to try a Fujitsu? I had one of their earlier generation tablets (T4210) and the build quality was top notch. I hear their customer service isn't that great, but most of the other Fujitsu users I've met seem to agree that they've never had to call in either. I haven't had first hand experience with this model (Lifebook TH700) but it's priced at $999 and I doubt their build quality has changed, so it might be worth taking a look at.