I Want To Buy A Laptop - Please Advise!

[fry_lover]

http/www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Hewlett_Pac...A/version-1.asp

this is one i am considering, for £299

the only problem i can see is the 56K dial-up modem, but i dont really want it for internet anyway

what do you think?

everyones got their own individual story i know about different companies

 

[WILDER]

If you want me to be honest I would keep away from cheap lap tops.

 

[fry_lover]

If you want me to be honest I would keep away from cheap lap tops.

i appreciate that, but at the end of the day, my circumstances, i dont strickly "need" one, i just feel like treating myself to one and it WOULD be useful, especially for college work and typing when away from home,

so therefore i just want a "cheap" brand new one with a 1-year warranty and i be happy!!!

well, i also want a half-decent processor and a decent amount of RAM (i.e. 512 or above)

I will probably end up using my laptop no more than a few hours each week, so i really cant justify more than £350-400 i feel

 

[WILDER]

Ok you might get a year out of it, but i wouldn't hold out to much expectations about it being great.
Paid alot of money about 4 years ago for that make of lap top and it was a complete let down.

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

Instead of Word, take a look at Open Office. It does pretty much everything word does, but is free. It can even save as a .doc file so you can use it on a M$ machine.

Hi, yes i seen that on e-bay and wondered what it was, my issue would be, i got lots of Word stuff on disc that i need to finish off on my lab-top, if i got Open Office can i transfer work between Open Office and Word (if that even makes sense!)

Dumbo Question of the day: do laptops generally come with a floppy disk drive AND a CD Rom drive?

for laptops you cant go wrong with toshiba and some of the older satellite models are quite cheap now,
yes open office can open and save in the same format as word (.doc) http/www.openoffice.org totally free and the only program they have which isn't as good as microsoft is access

 

[nmonks]

This is a fair enough point of view, but with laptops the "expensive" bits are non-negotiable in price, for example the LCD screen. So when you get a cheap new laptop, the screen probably cost the same as one in an expensive new laptop. That means that corners are cut elsewhere, usually the motherboard and processor. The net result is that low-end machines tend not to last very long, either simply failing after a while or else just getting really tatty with things like the hinges and screws working loose.

If you're strapped for cash, there is far more sense to buying a 2-3 year old mid- to high-end machine that fits your budget. Provided you buy a refurbished machine or one with a 12-month warranty, there's no more risk involved than buying a new machine. When I was a grad student, I always bought refurbished rather than new PowerBooks, and never had problems.

I suppose the motoring equivalent would be this: which is the better car, a 10 year old Mercedes S-class or a brand new Nissan Micra?

Cheers, Neale

i appreciate that, but at the end of the day, my circumstances, i dont strickly "need" one, i just feel like treating myself to one and it WOULD be useful, especially for college work and typing when away from home,

 

[Bloo]

I still think you can't go wrong with cheap and cheerful second hand good make off eBay. We have loads of IBM thinkpads at work that we retire after 3-4 years because they just simply can't run what we require them to do - and upgrading specs just isn't worth it.

However they are absolutely perfectly good still for general every day low requirements - surfing the web, Microsoft office etc.

Guess I'm very lucky that I'm in a position to take all the old second hand ones (free) - so I have several lying around at home

 

[PeterM]

If given a choice between a single or a dual core, then get the dual core. Dual core CPUs are the best on the market (actually, quad core are, but multiple cores = good). Basically, instead of one CPU doing everything, a dual core chip has one CPU piggybacked on top of it, so when its doing severa things it can delegate some tasks to the other CPU. In essence, it doubles efficiency. Speed becomes less of a factor because if I have something running slower but that can handle more then I still have a good balance.

That said, single core machines are much cheaper. If you want to get a faster machine then spend the extra 100 or so and get a dual core instead of a faster single core. The machine will last you much longer and work much better.

I just spent a good 30 minutes trawling my usual hardware suppliers - cant find anything better price wise than that one you want for 299... nice find. I do recommend that you put the make and model number into kelkoo, froogle and pricerunner and just google it to, see if you can find it cheaper anywhere else.

I would recommend that you avoid eBay for laptops. My experince of lappys on eBay is that most new ones are stolen and the others legitimate ones are simply overpriced.

Alternatively, you could just get a desktop. Buy a decent tower and to save money sacrifice the flatscreen. They are lovely pieces of kit but you can get a 17" or even a 21" CRT monitor off of ebay for ubercheap. I paid £40 including delivery on my 21" CRT and its awesome. The pixel definition is fantastic and its huge. If you want a flatscreen, then Aldi have a 17" flatscreen in stock right now for £130.00 and thats hard to beat. Its a Tevion brand, my experience with this brand is that its cheap but fairly high quality.

Open Office is great, but if you want to save money then its likely that this particular search link will save you 100% cash, especially if you use Daemon tools and dont even waste a CD.

Quickie edit

Check your local large Tesco. Mine has got a great deal on the end of a line of Gateway stock, theyre £350 and dual core, I think with 512MB ram. Its not listed on the Tesco direct site though, these offers are store by store only it seems, but its worth a look. Bear in mind that I sell hardware online and recommending the biggest competitiors doesnt come easy to me

 

[Darkstar]

I wouldn't touch Gateway kit, they're awful ime.

Also, a 17" flatscreen monitor for £130 is only an average deal imo....I could get a 19" TFT widescreen for cheaper money than that with a 5ms response time (and a 3 year warranty).

 

[fry_lover]

thanks Peter i totally forgot i could have e-mailed you some of this mate.

I plopped for the £399 Dell in the end, ordered it tonight, the one with the dual core processor. Here's the link, as of tomorrow it goes back up to £450 it said

http/www1.euro.dell.com/content/products...;l=en&s=dhs

its the 3rd on the right, the 6400

It also has 1GB Ram which i wanted.

I need your help in working out how to use the "wireless" internet tool, i think i need to replace my BT voyagor modem on my Dell desktop for a "router" if i am correct?

Will it be easy enough to hook into my BT 2mb Broadband with my lap-top at home? Am fed up of my son, kciking me off the PC so he can watch Avril Lavigne on You Tube.......

 

[dirtydog]

the dell will be fine for what you want and they are pretty reliable IMO. its should run vista ok.
yes you will need a wireless router suitable for broadband (not cable) and yes your 2mb BB will integrate no problem.

 

[fry_lover]

the dell will be fine for what you want and they are pretty reliable IMO. its should run vista ok.
yes you will need a wireless router suitable for broadband (not cable) and yes your 2mb BB will integrate no problem.

cheers, was hoping that was the case, apparently i can pick up a router for about £30 or so? obviously need to check its the right one, still cant get my head around the technology,

do i just set the router up, and when i switch my lap-top on, it "finds" the internet connection?

can you tell I.T isn't my strongpoint?

 

[WILDER]

When I had a lap top I just slotted this wireless plate thing into the computor.

 

[fffclub]

I bought the wife a Dell laptop a few weeks ago ( Inspiron ) and she is very happy with it. Comes with Microsoft Works, although I installed Office instead and some Corel trial software which I uninstalled.

The only problem with Vista is that it loses the wireless internet connection if it is left idle, something to do with the "new" security measures, which I have yet to figure out.

It's worth checking if your favourite software is Vista compatible before you install it, a lot of programs still aren't.

With regards to the router, it found the signal straightaway, and it was just a case of inputting the encryption key. Any router should do, the only real difference with the latest protocols is the signal strength (without getting too techie)

 

[WILDER]

24.99.
http/www.shop.bt.com/invt/cbw176