Hi,
I'm hoping to purchase a laptop in the sales but thought I'd ask for your views on what makes I should avoid & which makes you recommend?
Have you come across any particular models that you'd recommend or definately not recommend!?
I'm looking for a standard laptop for under £450 (under £400 would be better!). I know you can get good deals ordering laptops online but I'd feel happier to buy one in person which I know restricts me somewhat.
Hi sonnet
I know you said you would prefer to buy in person, but of you DID decide to buy online then in my opinion you cant do better than a Dell computer. You can choose one to suit your own speciications and budget, and I have found that their customer service is absolutely brilliant. When my computer stopped working out of warranty, they still tried to fix it and then replaced it completely free of charge. I was very impressed!
When you are looking for a laptop you need to make sure it suits your needs - for example if you want to use it to store photos / large files on then you need a fairly large memory, if you want to run several applications at once then you need at least 500MB RAM, if you want to play games a lot then you need a good graphics card. Also, if you plan to go wireless then check it is wireless enabled, although most laptops are these days, it is best to check.
If you are shopping in person, places like woolworths and tesco often have better deals than the high street electrical stores.
I hope this helps a bit.
You could also try http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com where in the techie forum or the grabbit forum there are often discussions about which laptop deals are the best.
Good luck!
Claire x
I personally would never buy a Dell computer again.........!! I have had both a deskptop and a laptop, and have had problems with both, they seem to have a lifespan of about a year - just enough to get the out of warranty!
I have recently bought a Sony vaio laptop for both myself and my son - excellent value at £479 from pc world (online price) has 160gb hard drive, 2gb ram, vista, wireless etc etc. I have never had any problems from Sony, and we have nearly every electrical device they make (TV, HiFi, Camera, Camcorder etc etc)
kpuk
Hi,
I'm hoping to purchase a laptop in the sales but thought I'd ask for your views on what makes I should avoid & which makes you recommend?
Have you come across any particular models that you'd recommend or definately not recommend!?
I'm looking for a standard laptop for under £450 (under £400 would be better!). I know you can get good deals ordering laptops online but I'd feel happier to buy one in person which I know restricts me somewhat.
Hi Sonnet,
I think kpuk has been a bit harsh on Dell.
Which? has found Dell computers to be a very good buy for several years.
That said I agree with kpuk that Sony is stylish and reliable. Expensive, though:
£480 from PC World [DLMURL="http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0134853731.1199380792@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdcaddmlmlgjelcflgceggdhhmdgmh.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=441556&category_oid="]here [/DLMURL](251 Mb Graphics memory)
Alternatives
Toshiba £399 from PC World [DLMURL="http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/339848"]here [/DLMURL]358Mb Graphics memory (better)
Dell at £449 from [url]Dell here with core 2 Duo processor[/url]
Hope this helps.
Prashna
Hi Sonnet,
My OH has just renewed his laptop with a Sony VAIO. One of the things he liked was the fact it has 4 usb ports as he always uses a mouse so one is taken up straight away. He has had a Dell one before and tho' it worked fine, he found it a bit flimsy. He had to carry it around a lot and it didn't stand up to the knocks the same as his last one which was a Packard bell. The PBell was good but he has so much stuff on his laptop that it ran out of memory!
The best advice is to get down the shops and have a look at them, bearing in mind what you want to use it for.
Ask youself
*what size screen you want. Larger equals less portable, smaller equals less on the screen.
*what are you going to store on it. Just office type documents doesn't require so much disc space so 80-120Gb is sufficient. If you're storing loads of photos or downloading videos etc. then you'll want more.
*how many devices are you going to want to connect. Mostly these will require USB ports. Always allow one for a mouse and one for a memory stick. 4 should be enough for most people.
*Don't go for Intel Celeron chips, but look for Intel Core2 Duo (if it says Intel Core Duo without the 2 leave it). There are some good AMD chips too, but I'm not well read-up on those at the minute.
*As most come with windows Vista you'll want at least 1Gb RAM (memory), more is a bonus. Ensure it comes with at least Vista Premium and NOT Vista Home (which is a load of rubbish)
*Look at the colour and sharpness of the images on the screens. Do this by looking at the icons and text on the windows desktop rather than moving images as these detract from the picture quality.
*Check how well the lid closes and, if it has a catch to keep the lid shut, how strong and durable the catch(es) look. (My own laptop has a stiff sprung lid so requires no catches and therefore there's less moving parts to break)
*Check how durable the screen is by flexing it in your hands firmly (but without breaking them ;)) and see if the plastic cases feels loose or firm. At the same time check to see how the image on the screen is effective by the movement, a good quality screen will cope with a little flexing, poor ones will show colour streaking.
*Check for battery life. You should be looking for at least 3-4 hours.
These are the key points to look for, and don't be fooled into thinking you're getting a good deal because it has software included. Most included software on computers is a load of rubbish, a demo version, or requires that you purchase after a few months.
Sony Vaio are good solid laptops and good technology but can be overpriced when you compare performance and components to others.
Dell are also very good (sorry to hear Karen had problems with hers, I've always found them good), all our computers at work are Dell and they have very good support and customer care.
Acer are a good brand but the cases tend to be a bit flimsy (my old acer laptop had the screen fail because the casing cracked)
Packard Bell are ok, but I would tend to avoid from experience.
If you spot the one that fits the bill in the shop, go home and check on the internet as you will probably be able to get the exact same model (remember to take pen and paper with you to the shop and write down all the model details) for a cheaper price.
Love and Reiki Hugs
Hi Sonnet,
Good set of advice from energylz, all of which I agree with, except one.
Core2Duo is indeed the best processor today, especially for laptops. However it will take you well beyond your price range, if you also want reliability, style, screen quality, durability and connectivity; none of which I would want to sacrifice myself.
Just to give some examples
[DLMURL="http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1217053553.1199390017@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfaddmlledlelcflgceggdhhmdfol.0&category_oid=&sku=289910&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null"]Sony with T5250 processor £600 here[/DLMURL]
[DLMURL="http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1842097537.1199390120@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfaddmlledlelcflgceggdhhmdfol.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=108238&category_oid="]Sony with T7100 cpu (faster) £700 here [/DLMURL]This has the nVidia GeForce 8400M Graphics card as well. Far better graphics useful for games or watching films.
As I see it, you pays your money and takes your choice.
Good Luck.
Prashna
P.S.
[url]Info about Intel core2Duo cpu's here[/url], if you are interested.
Ultimately I would make your own decision on what laptop to get - I used to have a Dell PC which packed up after 14 months - just out of warranty!
I spoke to a friend who works in I.T and he recommended a Sony Vaio which we bought this time last year for over £600 - within 2 months the motherboard went and my g/f lost her ENTIRE university dissertation - (5 months hard work) admittedly it should have been backed up elsewhere but sony were not prepared to even tryu and retrieve any data so she had to start everything again - 6 months later something lese went in the Vaio and it wouldn't charge the battery so we had to send it off yet again to get repaired - I admit I was impressed with the spped at which they repaired and returned it, however when you spend over £600 on something you don't expect it to pack up twice in 9 months - personally I wouldn't recommend a Vaio to anyone, however others here do say these are good.
Going back to my first sentence I would suggest you make your own mind up about what you get as there will always be stories both good and bad from almost any product on the market - Just make sure that whatever you buy does what you want it to! for that I would either speak to someone in a store and explain what you want it to do -they can then work out what you need in a laptop - you can always leave and go online and look for one as by then you'll know what you need it to have!
i would recommended at least 2GB of ram with vista...
it struggles a little with even 1GB
Hiya
Helped a friend choose a laptop over Christmas, so have a fair idea of what's about. We intended to buy online, but found come excellent Acer dual core brightscreen laptops in Currys for £399. The only downside was 1 gig ram, would have preferred 2, but the extra bits made it worth it. They actually came in a bit cheaper than Dell. Wouldn't buy HP or or PB laptops though.
Dell are good quality too. They didn't have any in stock when we went to order, so called their hotline. Had to talk to three different people with varying accents, the first two didn't understand the technical side enough to get a satisfactory response. The last one was very pushy - said to get the laptop we could pay another £50 and buy the next battery up and it would be delivered by Christmas. I needed to get back to my friend and discuss this (he was buying two laptops and that's expensive). The chap on the phone said buy now, don't buy online, the service isn't the same, Dell don't care for you, I will tend your order and you'll have good service. Needless to say his pushiness put us all off.
I always wanted Dells but that was very unprofessional, slating your employer on the phone, it's put me off them now. Acer for me in future. (I use an Acer myself and it's been fine).
Go with what Giles says. If you go to the shops they will blind you with numbers. They tend to sell based on memory rather than the processor, which whilst useful for the general running of the machine isn't the be all and end all.
Noted some quad processors out there, they'd be fun. I'd advise dual core as the single core is becoming less popular and the components, whilst cheaper, will probably be harder to replace than the newer technology, should you need to replace it.
There is a 'free laptop' offer from a London Telecoms business - operating UK-wide.
The laptop is one of the latest Fujitsu Siemens laptops.
One has to take the Company broadband service - and even though there will be some additional monthly rental - it *may* be worth considering - that way you can get to test the laptop - and I assume after one year you could either keep it or change it.
[just checked - there is a minimum of a 2-year agreement, and there are various options]
You can also check if your BT exchange has been 'unbundled' - giving a lower monthly charge.
I can give more detail if you wish.
--
Hi,
I'm hoping to purchase a laptop in the sales but thought I'd ask for your views on what makes I should avoid & which makes you recommend?
Have you come across any particular models that you'd recommend or definately not recommend!?
I'm looking for a standard laptop for under £450 (under £400 would be better!). I know you can get good deals ordering laptops online but I'd feel happier to buy one in person which I know restricts me somewhat.
To my knowledge unless you live near tottenham court road and can do the haggle,the dance and the walk best to stick to these online retailers, Misco.co.uk part of expansys, avoid dabs.com at all costs - after sales service is non-existant, the acer range available from laptopsdirect.co.uk is ok as is the viao range now available through tesco and tesco.com
it is important to note laptop and portable does not mean indestructible, make sure you also purchase a good quality backpack with protective foam pocket for the laptop to be stored in as well as enough inner pockets to store the mouse, additional usb port replicators etc and also make sure this is only accessible when you have to take the backpack off and unzip from behind the straps.
You can save money by loading uBuntu, how does this help? well with Vista being typically M$ you will need at least 1.5gig ram and at least 120 storage at the fast graphics card you can afford, with uBuntu you can easily have a fast machine with only 512 ram and 60gig storage and core duo.
If you are only going to be using it for gaiming then you need maximum power and speed but if like most people you only need it for open office word docs and internet browsing and email - all you need to do is buy a cheap asus or fijuitsu amilo 3515 or the cheapest sony at estco for +-400 quid.
Toshiba aslo make a very good machine and so do samsung. The most important thing to most people is th elooks and in this cas eth sony will wind hands down and the plus is the uBuntu does intsall quite well. To get a rought tough machine you will have to get an IBM/Lenovo x series. Tough as old nails and pretty strong with and excellent business track record.
I personally have a sony viao GRT series strong as hell but this has a penalty in weight, that said I still treat it with tender care as I fix these things to I know exactly how fragile they all really can be, especially the screens. I actually wnet in to get a toshiba but when I saw the magnificent resolution of the xblack sony screen I was in lust and spend more than double what I had intended but because I was in tottenham court road, I paid 800 less than the then sticker price......
I am in the market for a new one (purely as my beautiful sony is gettin on in years ) and I think I will go for an IBM/Lenovo
x60 as it has some neat tricks. Then I see the business machine with the huge graphics processor models and I am torn yet again!! I need reliability but as someone who also does graphic design to go with my job as SEO Specialist/programmer I will probably plump for the [url]fastest sony VIAO [/url]I can afford.
So ultimately it what you need it for that should count.
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/factfinder/search.asp?querytext=eepc&image1.x=0&i
Hi,
I'm hoping to purchase a laptop in the sales but thought I'd ask for your views on what makes I should avoid & which makes you recommend?
Have you come across any particular models that you'd recommend or definately not recommend!?
I'm looking for a standard laptop for under £450 (under £400 would be better!). I know you can get good deals ordering laptops online but I'd feel happier to buy one in person which I know restricts me somewhat.
You could of course save abundle and buy this tough little number
Thank you so much everybody for your views & recommendations x