Laptop Recommendations

[morfa]

Lots of opinions on here. Not much checking to see what the OP needs the computer for.

Nowt against Macs, but most folk don't want to spend 1k on a laptop. But I largely agree with Eric, Apple isn't what it was.

So, Mark, what do you want to do with your PC?

If it's like 90% of the population and you just want to watch iplayer, browse the web, go on facebook, then a tablet, maybe with a decent quality wireless keyboard will be perfectly adequate. I'd suggest a Google Nexus 10. But any 10" Android tablet will do the job. If you've got cash to splash, a ipad is well worth it, especially now they've got the good screens.

http://www.google.co.uk/nexus/10/

If you already have an android phone and a gmail / google account, then you might find a chromebook to be quite good value for money, as long as you don't mind a small screen and keyboard (if you've got gigantic paws, you might struggle with that).

http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/chrome/devices/

If you want a 'normal' laptop, as you want to do a bit of word processing or just want a more fully featured PC to do the odd bit of photo manipulation etc, then I'd plump for a Lenovo laptop and do not spend more than £400 on it. As for Windows 8? I think the problem most folk have with it, is that it's very different to what they're used to. However a laptop with Windows 7 on it will be cheaper at the moment. And if the alternate releases rule holds true, 8 will be naff. But then I used ME back in the day and it wasn't that bad.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-G580-15- ... rds=lenovo

That looks nice. You don't need a core i5 or i7. Unless you know you are playing games or similar. It's a bit like buying a SDS drill when you're just going to be drilling small holes in wood. It'll work, but it's overkill.

I think you (and your wallet) would be happy with any of those PCs listed above.

 

[Mark A]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice.

As nice as a tablet would be to have, I do need something for word processing etc, as well as for general computer stuff. I don't use AutoCAD or play games so an ultra-powerful laptop would be unnecessary, though I would still like to buy the best I can for the money.

My budget is up to £500 at a push, however I would prefer to spend a bit less than that (and put the difference towards a tool perhaps!)


Regards,
Mark

 

[morfa]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice.

As nice as a tablet would be to have, I do need something for word processing etc, as well as for general computer stuff. I don't use AutoCAD or play games so an ultra-powerful laptop would be unnecessary, though I would still like to buy the best I can for the money.

My budget is up to £500 at a push, however I would prefer to spend a bit less than that (and put the difference towards a tool perhaps!)


Regards,
Mark

Mark, in that case the Lenovo I suggested will do that job and you'll have a decent wodge left over. You could buy a tablet with the change for sure.

 

[Lons]

There is a lot of choice in the £350 - 450 range , all of which would do the job very well. Just a matter of personal choice as we all have our favourite brands and opinions to match. Any of the laptops available will do what you want so go and play with some and then buy from John Lewis (check on-line store) to get their extended warranty is my advice.

My son has just bought a rather nice i3 HP laptop for less than £400. Personally I find my i5 machine is very fast though I was limited for choice as I wanted a 17" screen. I don't play games but still want performance at a decent price which is what the OP wants as well I imagine.

Windows 8 isn't just a case of getting used to it. Without touchscreen it's hopeless and I found it to be very unstable and difficult to work with. I'm an experienced user and gave it a fair trial though I did use classic shell rather than alter the registry. IE was a joke and crashed continually whereas the win 7 I've installed is solid as a rock.

My brother had exactly the same problems and my son after 2 weeks has followed suit. I know absolutely no-one with a good word to say about win 8!

Bob

 

[Spindle]

Hi

As I said before - I'm very happy with my choice of a Lenovo.

I have exactly the same issues with Windows 8 as related by Lons - I've been 'working' with Win 8 for about three months now, (I would consider that to be a fair trial), and it hasn't grown on me in the slightest, everything is less easy to access and more prone to crashing. Turbocad is particularly prone to seizing solid for no reason.

Regards Mick

 

[RogerS]

.....
Windows 8 isn't just a case of getting used to it. Without touchscreen it's hopeless and I found it to be very unstable and difficult to work with. I'm an experienced user and gave it a fair trial though I did use classic shell rather than alter the registry. IE was a joke and crashed continually whereas the win 7 I've installed is solid as a rock.
.......

And therein proves my point about Total Cost of Ownership. Factor in all the time that you spent rebooting/faffing about before you decided to install Windows 7. Then the time to add Windows 7.

The Mac might be more expensive at the outset but factor in the cost of buying another two/three laptops in the coming years to keep up with the requirements of Microsoft...well, the Mac suddenly looks like good value.

I just bought a secondhand MacBook Pro for £315 and it zips along very nicely using the latest operating system.

 

[Lons]

And therein proves my point about Total Cost of Ownership. Factor in all the time that you spent rebooting/faffing about before you decided to install Windows 7. Then the time to add Windows 7.

The Mac might be more expensive at the outset but factor in the cost of buying another two/three laptops in the coming years to keep up with the requirements of Microsoft...well, the Mac suddenly looks like good value.

I just bought a secondhand MacBook Pro for £315 and it zips along very nicely using the latest operating system

It's not just about money though Roger. i don't put a price on the time I spend on my computers (just as I don't on my wooodwork), and it keeps me up to date anyway as I get older I find that if you're not doing something regularly you forget how to do it.
I format and re-install anyway once a year which gets rid of any bloating and conflicts and have it down to a fine art. Quicker than trying to clean things up and a better result.

Neither is it about keeping up to date with MS. Both the other 2 laptops are fast enough and working perfectly albeit not for me. I also have an old desktop running XP which is running well and does what I ask of it - I wanted a newer gadget to play with that's all :wink:

Bob

 

[RogerS]

.... I wanted a newer gadget to play with that's all :wink:

Bob

I can't fault your logic there ! I'm off on me hols in a weeks time...now can I avoid the money off deals at Dixon's Duty Free ?

 

[Lons]

I can't fault your logic there ! I'm off on me hols in a weeks time...now can I avoid the money off deals at Dixon's Duty Free ?

:lol: :lol:

Me too. We're off to Canada a week on Monday and with hours to spend in the airports, I'm always tempted. There will be plenty of distracting shops in Toronto and Vancouver as well so the missus will have her work cut out to keep me in check.

Toolshops, camera shops and techie stuff ................. salivating already Last time in Singapore could have ended in divorce

Bob

 

[Phil Pascoe]

#-o #-o #-o The duty frees in Changi? Oh God!

 

[RogerS]

.....camera shops ...

When I flew from BHX to Edinburgh recently, Dixons had some very nice cameras ...a 50x optical zoom Sony :shock:

Quite like one that I can focus in really closely. You know, so i can post up pictures of all those nice tight joint lines :-"

 

[Eric The Viking]

The first time I went to Singapore, in a duty-free shop they had one of these on show...

... with no price ticket.

There also used to be a 'factory outlet' for Creative Labs in one of the shopping centres. Around 1997, they were showing off a translator between English and Simplified Chinese, which did speech and handwriting recognition. It had a hardware accelerator card, and it seemed to work pretty well. It was the forerunner of some of the clever stuff now in iOS and Android devices I imagine. Dead impressive.

Anyone for Dubai duty free? Similar range of products to the Pentax above...



E.

 

[Jacob]

Having gone on about the reliability of macs my 7 month old mini has just packed up! Boogger.

 

[RogerS]

........

It's not just about money though Roger. i don't put a price on the time I spend on my computers (just as I don't on my wooodwork), and it keeps me up to date anyway as I get older I find that if you're not doing something regularly you forget how to do it. .....

Bob

Just revisiting this, Bob. I agree that for you the reasons for staying within the PC sphere makes sense...because (a) you are knowledgable in the field of PCs (b) you probably enjoy tweaking them. But my argument is still valid....everything that we do is a combination of time, money and emotion...each of us puts our own value set on how we divide them up for anything that we do.

But the OP by his own admission is not well up on computers and so I would argue that going down the mac route in the long run is going to save him time, money and emotion. There are some excellent refurbished Macbook Air's for £719 which is nothing like the £1000+ figure for the Macbook Pro's.

I know of many many people who have made the transition from PC to Mac and have never regretted it. I know of no-one who has gone in the opposite direction !

 

[Eric The Viking]

Having gone on about the reliability of macs my 7 month old mini has just packed up! Boogger.

They overheat easily. I assume it's under warranty. When you get it back, make sure there's plenty of cool airflow round it, as they have no fan (well, the early ones didn't, anyway)..

 

[Jacob]

Having gone on about the reliability of macs my 7 month old mini has just packed up! Boogger.

They overheat easily. I assume it's under warranty. When you get it back, make sure there's plenty of cool airflow round it, as they have no fan (well, the early ones didn't, anyway)..

Has a fan and it was in a cool room. PC world collect and return so should be OK as long as I don't lose too much from the hard drive. Needless to say I have not been backing up as much as I should have!
But this old Macbook Pro is still going OK though has had to have one new motherboard and the disc player packed up. External disc players are dirt cheap though.

 

[Lons]

........

It's not just about money though Roger. i don't put a price on the time I spend on my computers (just as I don't on my wooodwork), and it keeps me up to date anyway as I get older I find that if you're not doing something regularly you forget how to do it. .....

Bob

Just revisiting this, Bob. I agree that for you the reasons for staying within the PC sphere makes sense...because (a) you are knowledgable in the field of PCs (b) you probably enjoy tweaking them. But my argument is still valid....everything that we do is a combination of time, money and emotion...each of us puts our own value set on how we divide them up for anything that we do.

But the OP by his own admission is not well up on computers and so I would argue that going down the mac route in the long run is going to save him time, money and emotion. There are some excellent refurbished Macbook Air's for £719 which is nothing like the £1000+ figure for the Macbook Pro's.

I know of many many people who have made the transition from PC to Mac and have never regretted it. I know of no-one who has gone in the opposite direction !

Can't argue with that Roger.

As you said, for me it works and at £430 for a decent i5 x 17" screen says a lot as well. you can buy a few goodies at nearly £300 less (and a 2 year warranty). i also like the way I can easily twiddle with the innards and make it run the way I want (well most of the time :wink: )

Most consumers are of course more interested in a start up every time, no hiccups machine and whilst Never having owned a Mac, I have used them and have to agree that they are less of a problem.

Bob

 

[Mark A]

Hi guys,

I'm typing this on my new laptop! It arrived yesterday - a Lenovo ThinkPad E530C

Windows 8 Pro, Intel i5 Processor, 4GB Ram (I could upgrade in the future if I find I have to), 500GB Hard Drive.

The keyboard is very nice and chunky, much like a desktop keyboard, which I find much easier to use.

Windows 8 is completely different to what I'm used to but I've got the hang of it. I agree that it would work much better with a tablet though.

Thanks for all you help!

Mark

 

[Lons]

Hi guys,

I'm typing this on my new laptop! It arrived yesterday - a Lenovo ThinkPad E530C

Windows 8 Pro, Intel i5 Processor, 4GB Ram (I could upgrade in the future if I find I have to), 500GB Hard Drive.

The keyboard is very nice and chunky, much like a desktop keyboard, which I find much easier to use.

Windows 8 is completely different to what I'm used to but I've got the hang of it. I agree that it would work much better with a tablet though.

Thanks for all you help!

Mark

=D> =D> enjoy it Mark