[Scouse D]

I'm planning on buying a new laptop mainly for the missus to browse the internet etc, watch videos and microsoft office stuff.
Budget is up to £450.
Andy suggestions/ what to avoid/ where to buy from?

[Andy B]

Andy suggestions?

I'm sorry, I haven't a clue.

[tomtom]

I'm planning on buying a new laptop mainly for the missus to browse the internet etc, watch videos and microsoft office stuff.
Budget is up to £450.
Andy suggestions/ what to avoid/ where to buy from?

most will do all of the above. Choice depends probably mainly on limiting factors.. e.g. if it stays in the house mostly, then battery lifes not an issue, nor is the size/weight of the thing (£400 will buy you a 17" lapwarmer) but if you plan to use it on the move much you may want something svelter. If you're planning to watch DVD's then you'll obviuously need something with an optical drive. In my experience the main brands (tosh, dell, lenovo, samsung, acer) are all good & may be better than smaller never heard of brands. Keep an eye out on the special offers and tescodirect often have good deals..

In the last 5 years I've owned 3 dells and two samsungs. All have been fine & never broken (two were pinched hence the turnover..).

Read the online reviews, and may be worth a trip to PC world or somewhere to have a play/look then buy elsewhere,.,..
T

[SA Chris]

I would avoid Acer, we have an Aspire 7720G, and the keyboard does my nut in.

[Houdini]

Samsung R505

You should be able to find some offers around 450, though this may include vista - which I'm using now; and will probably appeal to the lady as it looks very nice, and they love that kinda shit.  Browsing, viewing is no problem for me.

You can turn off all of the fancy visual shit too if you want extra performance, though I keep most of mine, because XP is just too stark for my eyes.

[slackline]

  tomtom, most of the big brands are all pretty good and reliable.  Think about how portable you want it to be, whether its just around the house (size/battery less important), or commuting/travelling (where these are more of an issue).

As noted if you can get your hands on one then you'll avoid Chris's situation.

Ebuyer are my preference for computer components and some of their laptop deals are pretty good too.

[dave]

Andy suggestions?

I'm sorry, I haven't a clue.

I don't remember hearing a "recommend me a laptop" round on that particular radio 4 comedy panel game.

[Jim]

What screen size to start with?

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Not an easy decision, as suggested answering these questions will help:

-DVD/CD drive needed? ('yes' easily writes off netbooks)
-How often will you use it unplugged? ie. How important is battery life
-Is it for general use (web/office etc) or heavy use (photos/videos/games etc)? Sounds mainly general from what you say.
-Where will you use it? Train/Sofa/office etc. ie. Is size/weight an issue?

if you can get away without a DVD drive, I would recommend one of the 10/11 inch screen netbooks with decent battery life (6hrs+) (Asus/Samsung). Some of these truly blur the boundaries of netbook/laptop. You are already getting some coming through with Windows7 like this one http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176512

In the next couple of months prices are likely to drop a lot pre-christmas.

[Jim]

I would definatley recomend getting one with windows 7 on it.
For general use get one with 12"+ screen, netbooks are great but if I had it as a main computer it'd do my head in

[dave]

I don't know if anything has changed recently but when I last bought a laptop you couldn't (i.e. it wasn't recommended to) actually use it on your lap for any length of time cos it blocks the air vents so they would overheat. so you actually had to use it on a table (coffee or otherwise) or on a tray on your knee. i.e. inconvenient. a point worth considering if they are still like that.

having seen the size of the screens on netbooks you don't actually get much real estate for doing anything, particularly web surfing.

In general, for doing anything keyboard intensive like typing (are you doing school work on it?) for for any length of time on a laptop its extremely uncomfortable. The fact is that a monitor really needs to be a arms length to view comfortably, and on a laptop this means any having the keyboard at arms length, which is too far away. Plus a screen should be at eye level, and a keyboard at elbow level. You get the picture. if you plan on doing a lot of typing get a desktop PC or at least a seperate USB keyboard. if you just want to punch the clown to pictures of nekkid bitchiz then any laptop is fine.

[Jim]

if you just want to punch the clown to pictures of nekkid bitchiz then any laptop is fine.

you got such a good way with words Dave

[Scouse D]

Cheers for help guys. toby, that one looks good but about £100 too expensive. I'm prob gonna buy one off ebuyer- just check which ones get bon reviews like
 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169936/show_product_reviews
which looks like it fits the bill for the missus' needs

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Get busy on Alatest
http://alatest.co.uk/reviews/laptop-computer-reviews/compaq-presario-cq60/po3-62561129,30/
Play with the price sliders under 'filters' and you can get a short list of ones to consider
http://alatest.co.uk/reviews/laptop-computer-reviews/c3-30/?v1=alascore~86~A&v2=price~305_400~B

[slackline]

I would avoid Acer, we have an Aspire 7720G, and the keyboard does my nut in.

You may knock Acer's design, but they're more reliable than Macs 

Full report

[Jim]

I need a recomendation for a small laptop, around a 12" screen for my parents. They really like my asus 1000he but want something slightly bigger.
It seems tho that this size laptops are ££££$$$$, has anyone got a recomendation for a half decent laptop of this size thats around the few hundred quid mark, preferably with windows 7, although thats not really important. It doesn't have to be mega fast, just good enough for surfing the web mainly.
cheers

[Jim]

it seems that the asus eee 1101ha might fit the bill nicely.
Anyone got any views or heard anything about this little beauty?

[underground]

I need a recomendation for a small laptop, around a 12" screen for my parents. They really like my asus 1000he but want something slightly bigger.
It seems tho that this size laptops are ££££$$$$, has anyone got a recomendation for a half decent laptop of this size thats around the few hundred quid mark, preferably with windows 7, although thats not really important. It doesn't have to be mega fast, just good enough for surfing the web mainly.
cheers

Do they need it for on the go use - i.e why do you want a 12, rather than 15 inch screen? You could just buy a cheap laptop rather than an expensive netbook. Slackers will help you fuck it up with linux if they really want you to 

[slackline]

ready, willing and able :D

[Johnny Brown]

I'm after something similar Jim. Basically I want something between a netbook and a normal 15" laptop, ie still small, but with a slightly bigger screen/ keyboard and a bit more powerful. For as close to fuck all as possible, of course. Is that too much to ask?

[Jim]

yes, there are quite a lot of them about around the £500 mark.
you ain't going to get anything cheap and powerfull

[tomtom]

I'm after something similar Jim. Basically I want something between a netbook and a normal 15" laptop, ie still small, but with a slightly bigger screen/ keyboard and a bit more powerful. For as close to fuck all as possible, of course. Is that too much to ask?

I have an NC20 (had it 5-6 weeks). Not impressed. Its going to fleabay in a week or so...

[Jim]

what don't you like about it?

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

it seems that the asus eee 1101ha might fit the bill nicely.
Anyone got any views or heard anything about this little beauty?

Watch where you buy it, looks like that product code covers a range of models and prices, some around £260 with XP, 1gb and 160gig
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166572
Others at £325 with Win7, 2gb and 250gig
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-11-6-inch-Netbook-Processor-Battery/dp/B002NPB1H6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
For an extra £65 Probably worth waiting til Amazon have some in stock.

[tomtom]

what don't you like about it? (samsung NC20)

Screen great, Keyboard great, build quality great, Weight OK.

Processor = shit. Its one of those nvia ones (I think - I'm crap at remembering) and it gets bogged down real easy. Any heavy flash in web pages it slows right down and - I discovered this trip that none of the embedded movies in powerpoint would work properly - the thing just slowed right down and had a fit. 

It runs single programs (the model/program I use) slightly faster, but for some reason just bogs down on other stuff.
My NC10 was better (but a little too small).

Battery life is OK (4 hours) but when you get 6-8 from the NC10 its a step down.
My plan is to flog it, cut my losses for hopefully c £200 and get a proper laptop/netbook with a 12" screen (I really like that size) and a dual core processor.

Its running W7 and upgraded to 2gb ram btw.

If anyone wants it after that sales pitch drop me a pm!!!!