I need a new laptop...........
Don't use it for work so don't need any of the really fancy functions but would like it to come with Excel and Word.
Need a CD/DVD thingy in the side of it
Mainly Internet browsing e-mail etc Don't often download Music and never films... well at least not up til now.
I have an external Hard drive for my music and photo gallery but would be nice if it was big enough to store this on there as well....
Firstly have I made any glaring exceptions on what I might need?
Recommendations about £500 please....
Comments
I'm looking too Plum in a similar price range and found this. It's mid range in terms of processor from what I gather and has a decent amount of memory and storage to perform well enough for a good few years. The owner reviews look pretty good.
I've been searching around to see if I can find it cheaper elsewhere and I can't. Don't be talked into buying Norton with it though. Most people, apart from those who work for PC World, consider it a bag'o'shite.
I would advise checking dell outlet, the place sells what is defined as a refurbished pc, what they are in effect are computers which have been returned to dell before the 28 day return policy expires as such they can not then be sold as new machines. You can get some reason all spec machines with warrentee for reasonable prices, spend the change on loading the system up with as much RAM as possible for a nice powerful and useful machine.
http://www.dell.co.uk/outlet
That's interesting Squeakz. I've seen lots of entries for refurbs and not wanted to take the risk.
I currently have a Dell which has lasted 5 years and still going strong. It's just seriously under powered to run W7 (currently on XP) and I've run out of storage as the HDD is only 80g. I'd consider Dell again if I could get the same spec as the Acer for the money. The thing that does concern me about the Dell is the need to replace the battery 3 times and the charger twice during the time I've owned it. Adds to the ownership costs but I'm guessing that can happen with any manufacturer.
500 quid will easily get you something.
Don't worry about virus checkers, there are 2-3 free ones that are fine , one a Microsoft one even.
You may not get word & excel in that price, maybe get a young relative to get the student one cheap price. Sometimes get word, or word & works suite.
John Lewis have decent range under 400 quid even...500 will get you better processor, slightly better spec but not huge difference.
2 year guarantee and with Microsoft officer starter 2010 (most word & excel features).. Options to upgrade to student & other office versions for 69-75 quid.
379 for toshiba
http://www.johnlewis.com/231395873/Product.aspx
399 for Samsung
http://www.johnlewis.com/231395827/Product.aspx
15 inch screen okay Plum?
MAKE
LINK
PROCESSOR
Clock Speed
MEMORY
HDD
SCREEN SIZE
PRICE
Sony
Click
Intel Core i5
2.4GHz
4GB
320GB
15.5 LED
491.15
Cheaper at Dabs.com
Lenovo
Click
Intel Core i5
2.4GHz
4GB
500GB
15.6 LED
482.11
Fujitsu
Click
Intel P6200 Dual Core
2.13GHz
4GB
320GB
15.6 TFT
299.98
Cheapest
HP
Click
AMD Fusion A6-3400M / 1.4 GHz ( Quad-Core )
1.4GHz
6GB
750GB
15.6 LED
448
Trade in your old laptop and get £150
Dell
Click
Intel Core i3
2.2GHz
Variable
Variable
17.3 LED
528
Trade in for £100 off
Sony (Just to show you that you’re paying for the name)
Compared to the Lenovo same spec (ex bigger Hard Drive)
Fujitsu shows you how cheap it could be if you went for the lowest of the low….
HP – Nice Laptop for the Price, QUAD CORE (That means it has 4 processors in it, all the others have 2, and hence the clock speed is slower) Massive memory... Good Price
Dell, if you want a laptop that never leaves the house, would consider looking at Dell, they will customise it to exactly your needs and they have a trade in offer that exists till 31st Jan 2012. And for the cherry on top… Changeable Covers to suit your personality (like you see on the advert)….Cost £12 – 15 extra (normally about £25)
You get the drift anyway
Both those JL laptops below 400 quid are core i3 which is fine for most people.
Above 400 up to 500 you'll get a core i5, both are dual core, but the i5 is hyper threaded so sort of 4 processors.
Meldys AMD Hp laptop ...quad true yes but generally doesn't have a good rep compared to intel chips in laptops, especially in battery life.
The nice sale offer at JL for 499 is the intel version core i5 of the same one. Really nice keyboard.
http://www.johnlewis.com/231395771/Product.aspx
There is a similar spec HP for 50 quid less, but build isn't quite as nice, keyboard, graphics etc. but still very nice. And all have that 2 year warranty... Worth roughly 100 quid.
The pc man who fixed my laptop ( a Sony Vaio - i stood on it) gave some advice on makes as he sees a lot of laptop faults. He said avoid Sony Vaios as the battery fails to keep a charge after a while - I can confirm this as now ours doesn't hold a charge AT ALL. He recommended Toshibas and Samsungs as they are most reliable in his experience.
Google laptop reliability surveys and Dell and HP don't come out that well either.
Not a computer expert, but on my second Dell laptop and perfectly happy with them. (And there's a few more in the household that are performing perfectly well.)
After a couple of weeks of owning this one, the touchpad button was sticking in the down position. I contacted support, expecting that I'd have to bundle the unit up or bring it to a depot... much to my surprise (and pleasure), they sent a guy to fix it in my kitchen.
The OP doesn't need one of the latest and greatest i3 or i5 let alone i7 processors for what he's proposing to use the machine for. An i3 tops, maybe. 4gb RAM. And you'd be hard pressed to fill any hard drive these days unless you're producing hours of video.
Anything in PC World or John Lewis or Currys for £400 will do what he needs it to.
Arguing over specs etc is all very well but what matters most is the input devices. Make sure you like the keyboard, tracking device and screen first - that extra second you gain loading up Word counts for nowt if you hate typing on the keyboard and the screen gives you a headache.
I am quite fussy about the keyboard, and chose a sony vaio because I liked the keys.
If (as Johnny says) I end up having to use it plugged in all the time, I don't really mind that, I rarely use it in places where there is no mains
but I do recommend trying the keyboard on a machine before you choose it
don't just go on processor specs and the like
+1 on trying out the keyboard as no end of buggerations if the keys don't 'fit' your hands. Current one is an Acer with a 17" screen which is kind of shiney and great for watching iplayer or DVDs.
It's been reliable, great to use and 3 years on I don't feel it's getting dated and slow. Battery used to last 4 hours but it's down to about 3 now.
Previous one was HP which although it's now 8 still does a turn as a 'spare' if there is the need.
Lenovo .. The council laptop .. Ugly and aimed at business users
Consider Dell, Toshiba or Hp
i3 or I5 processors you don't need an i7
You should get a decent hard disk for that price 500gig +
Think of getting 4gig + ram
Think on what screen size you want ... 15 is the norm but I prefer bigg but this is not exactly portable
go windows 7
Thanks folks.....
I now have several people to blame apart from myself if it goes tits up
You already have an external hard drive but may need a bigger one.
I got a good case for my laptop and (having upgraded the RAM, cpu & hard drive and bought it a new battery last year) it is still going fine.
... must now set up backups myself.
MSE is OK for free AV.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavilion-g6-1241sa-15-6-laptop-red-11361456-pdt.html
and have been very happy with it so far
They appear to have put the price up by 30 quid since I bought it earlier in the week so this also makes me