Which laptop - help?!

[Jake]

No this is a topic I KNOW something about - you should also seriously look at Samsung (the quality is v good) - yes I know but you will be surprised.

Seconded (typing this on an M40), but they aren't cheap.

 

[MixedHerbs]

I would also suggest you consider buying an external backup device like an Iomega (sold by Amazon) sometime when finances allow. This device will help calm your demeanour if your PC should ever suffer from a "Blue screen of death" or make an unusual clicking noise. It is a good way of buying cheap extra disk capacity.

Regards, Peter.

 

[Chris Knight]

Alf,
For my recent trip to Oz I went through the same decison making process, nearly going barmy. In the end picking an Acer Aspire 3023. It has worked very well although battery life is a bit shorter than I would like (ca 2 hours).

As Adam suggests, it is nice to use a proper mouse with it and I took one of the little wireless mice that communicates with a small thingy plugged into one of the 4 USB ports.

I recommend you look for a machine that has several of these USB ports BTW. I find four comfortable, three just enough and two, too few.

 

[ike]

Tony wrote:

Only low-end budget models with low spec. graphics cards will share RAM with video cards

Yes, I mean't to qualify that, but also don't forget Alf's budget of circa £600.

It's sort of on the cusp between the cost of a lower end model 'premium' brand machine and a higher spec model brand such as Advent or Acer. Acer seem to get reasonable reviews and good spec for the price. Don't know what their customer support is like though.

cheers,

Ike

 

[Alf]

My eyes are starting to get that glazed look...

Okay, you may assume I'm fully Firefoxed, Open Officed etc. I'm getting conflicting thoughts on Toshiba though...? Just w'ndrin', what about this? <winces in anticipation of being told exactly why I'm a blithering ***** to even consider it> Found a offer code to get another £40 off it, which would be nice and go towards all the other things you're telling me I need to consider... #-o :lol:

Peter, the back up thing is something I've been thinking about myself for a while... "Iomega" into Amazon brings up, ooo, too many things for a bear of little technical brain. Any one in particular? (And yes, I'm taking my own thread off topic - I can if I wanna )

Thanks very much, chaps. It's really appreciated - confusing, but appreciated.

Cheers, Alf

 

[ike]

S'good - I ogled it in Dixons last Saturday. It's got a glasslike front screen which looks super, although some say can be a drawback in daylight cos of reflection. However this gets you a bit more bang for your buck and has better graphics with dedicated memory (Windows can then use the full 512Mb RAM if it wants too).

Oh, and it has a multi-card reader for camera cards etc.

Re backup: These Tosh's mentioned have DVD-RAM drives so you can backup data onto a DVD disk (I think :? :?

PS. Just noticed the Dixons machine has the extra RAM, so it's kind of swings and roundabouts on spec but I'say overall pretty much identical value for money. Sorry if I've just confused things even more.

cheers,

Ike

 

[Vormulac]

Hi Alf,

It seems to me that for the requirements you've listed, that Tosh would be a perfectly suitable one to go for. As mentioned earlier in this thread, virtually any laptop bought new today will do what you want. I have used Tosh laptops in the past and been suitably impressed. I actually have an HP at the moment, but that's a totally different and irrelevant story!

This Tosh has wifi in case you want to set up a wireless lan, it comes with 1Gb of ram, so that's fine. It doesn't have built in bluetooth or irda apparently, but that's not desperately important. Just my opinion but that looks like a good deal.

This is one of those areas where it's possible to totally overthink and just get lost in the minutiae - as I'm sure you're well aware! (that's not me being rude, I horrendously over-research every purchase, it drives SWMBO up the wall!)

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Vormy.

 

[ike]

Thinking on slightly, what I found very confusing to start with was the virtual plethora of outwardly identical models e.g for Toshiba several L20 models similarly priced, or in my case the M40 models (or the A100).

I think what is being offered are different 'flavours' around a price point. For example machine (a) has 1Gb RAM but only XP Home edition. Machine (b) maybe has 512Mb RAM but has XP Pro (like mine).

I'd be getting out of my depth though to start saying what features are more important ie. the 'weighting' you would ascribed to each.

Vormulac wrote:

This is one of those areas where it's possible to totally overthink and just get lost in the minutiae

Well said! :? :roll:


Ike

 

[Mike B]

Hi Alf

Take a look at www.pcpro.co.uk

Their reviews are pretty unbiased and they have loads of "Labs" (make sure you scroll down) where they have tested laptops etc in various price brackets and they even have an "A List" for the best products...
(e.g. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/78822/ac ... 3wxci.html)

Finally, take a look in PC World / JLP etc but just be aware that in my experience you can get far better deals online - just remember to use your credit card (NOT a debit or switch) just in case.

Mike

 

[ikd]

Alf - based on your requirements =
Internet
email
photos
a little music.

Then this looks like a good bet
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Qu ... 1105,50540

and within budget. You dont say what you want to do with photos? i.e. store them or manipulate them. Like music, storing them will consume a fair amount of disk space. Manipulating them will require processor and RAM.

For another £60 you can get a further 512Mb RAM if necessary, or you can add it later if you not sure.

It has a double layer DVDRW so you can back your photos/music up to DVD (single layer disks store 5+ Gb of data each), its wireless (great for moving around the house) and the screen is a resonable size (15.4")

 

[matt]

Hmm, John Lewis... Now there's a thought; the AP has a bizarre faith in JLP so a laptop from them must be her dream machine, huh? :roll: :lol:

I work for JL (in fact, worked for the buyer of this stuff for several years), get discount, but have never purchased a PC from them.

However... that's only because I know enough about PC's and software etc to be confident and self-sufficient. If a component breaks, I take the thing to bits and replace it. If the software screws up I can fix it. If the thing busts beyond repair, I can have a sensible conversataion with the supplier to make them realise I know what I am talking about so they just get on and sort it out. To summarise, I will take advantage of the prices available elsewhere.

If, however, I was not so self-sufficient etc, then I would buy from JL. After sales service is second to none and worth paying a little extra for!

Note that I made reference to "PC". If I were buying a laptop (read: not so easy to take apart and fix), then I would definately raise the priority of warranty and after-sales backup.

 

[Alf]

Oh deary me. After all that no laptop will be winging its way to Alf Towers after all! So sorry, folks, but it was very helpful and I hope it might have been of use to someone else.

Cheers, Alf

 

[ike]

Was the advice that bad? I feel awful now!

Ike

 

[Alf]

No, it was very good! Just in the end, after weighing up the pros and cons, sticking desktop bound made the most sense - if there was the available lettuce to have one of each, that would have been ideal... :roll: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[ike]

Was the advice that bad? I feel awful now!

Just teasing! :lol: , but when you eventually have to update :roll: , www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk is a handy source of computery info for any IT illiterates among us (I for one :? ).

cheers,

Ike