Laptop Advice

[girnigoe]

Im planning on buying a new laptop and was wondering if anyone can help me find what im looking for??

Basically I need one that would have a lot of memory (I think). The last one we had filled up as soon as my daughter installed the Sims!! It would be used mainly for the internet, games and uploading music to our IPods.

Oh, I dont want to spend to much on one either :)

[Bobinovich]

It sounds as though a decent sized hard drive is more what you're looking for rather than large amount of memory. Do you have any preference with regards to using Windows XP or the newer Vista as that may limit your options, and will help determine how much memory you require?

You can also get ones with built-in card readers (useful for anyone using digital cameras), webcams (for video chats, etc.), and Bluetooth connection (great for downloading photos from a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone), so if any of these is required then let us know.

Most laptops thesedays come with DVD writer, plus wired and wireless network connections, etc. as standard.

[Mr P Cannop]

go for a sony vio

[girnigoe]

It sounds as though a decent sized hard drive is more what you're looking for rather than large amount of memory. Do you have any preference with regards to using Windows XP or the newer Vista as that may limit your options, and will help determine how much memory you require?

You can also get ones with built-in card readers (useful for anyone using digital cameras), webcams (for video chats, etc.), and Bluetooth connection (great for downloading photos from a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone), so if any of these is required then let us know.

Most laptops thesedays come with DVD writer, plus wired and wireless network connections, etc. as standard.


Thanks for the reply. I think we would probably go with Vista. I like the sound of one with the card readers. We all have mobiles with cameras that take great pictures - so that would be handy.

What would you recommend?

[Bobinovich]

OK there are a few options below - all have DVD writers, wireless and wired network connections, 15.4" widescreen displays, standard connections, etc...

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133383 - a Fujitsu Siemens model with Intel Celeron processor, 1Gb memory, 120Gb hard drive, Vista Home Premium for £299, to which you cold add an inexpensive external USB all-in-one card reader http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132044 (£3.45) making the total just over £300.

or

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135689 - an Asus model with Intel Celeron processor, 1Gb memory, 80Gb hard drive, 4-in-1 card reader and Windows Vista Home Premium for £340

or

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132277 - a Lenovo model with Intel Core Duo T2330 1.6GHz processor, 1GB memory, 120Gb hard drive, 5-in-1 card reader, Bluetooth, Windows XP Professional for ~£400.

(I know this last one is Windows XP, but as I've said before, I'm still not convinced that Vista is the right way to go yet so forgive me!. However you are getting a big hard drive and good deal better processor!)

Hope that's some food for thought. If you're not already got a wireless router then I'd consider it a good option too as it means you can take the laptop anywhere in the house. If not then depending on your broadband supplier you may be able to tap them for a free or inexpensive upgrade!

Let us know what you eventually decide to go for...

[maidencaithness]

Thanks for the reply. I think we would probably go with Vista. I like the sound of one with the card readers. We all have mobiles with camera phones that take great pictures - so that would be handy.

What would you recommend?

Cannot recommend Vista without getting 2gb of Ram Microsoft may state less but they are talking bollocks and needs 2 to run well.

Go for a Core 2 Duo processor avoid any processor with AMD or Celeron in the name (sorry AMD but your current processors are WAY behind).

HDD go for large as you can afford but watch the speed (RPM) most are 5400 but can get faster (better access times) 7200 drives which are same speed as most desktop drives.

Watch with beige box manufacturers like Dell who charge the earth to upgrade ram/hdd etc when you could buy and replace yourself easily for MUCH less. Keep the original part(s) in case of warranty claim!

If your technically minded they are easy to build yourself and you get chassis and kits these days so you can build what you want.

[j4bberw0ck]

I plead no technical expertise here (Bobinovich I suspect is your man for that) but my 2 pence' worth would be:

It's difficult to impossible to upgrade laptops beyond addition of RAM or maybe a larger hard disk. Get the biggest and best of everything you can afford and stick with Win XP for now because it'll make what processing power you do get go further (and it's a bit cheaper than Vista). Fastest processor, most RAM and biggest disk. As time goes by you'll find new applications get bigger and more complicated and so run more sluggishly.... nothing you can do about it, but at least you can delay the end (eventual forced upgrade) a little. Try to factor in the best quality screen image you can as well; it may be my imagination but I'm half-sure that the image brightness and colour intensity on my 15" 1580/1050 resolution widescreen laptop are deteriorating. It's about 4 years old now and working with photos on it is becoming a bit of a trial.

'Course, it could just be my eyes are getting older :lol:

Good luck

[blueivy]

go for a sony vio

I'd advise anybody to stay well away from Sony Vaio's. I've yet to have a good experience with any of them. Parts are a nightmare to come across and the software / drivers just as bad.

I think the laptops that Bobinovich has given are good ones to start with. If it was me I'd go for the Lenovo. I would say that's the best value for money, although the Lenovo brand isn't a great one (a lot of quality issues that they've almost ironed out) it's a good price.

Don't rule out HP or Dell. HP are doing a lot of cashback offers at the moment which a number of my customers have taken advantage of so that is definitely one to consider.

If you do go for a Dell, watch out for their 'offer deals'. I don't mean so much watch out and get one when they come along - I mean watch out for the sting in the tail. Dell do give some good offers if you watch what you are buying. The problem is, they're offers are usually so low specced that by the time you get in and customise your machine to what you really want, you usually (not always) end up paying more than you would for an equivalent model of another brand. If you know what you're doing, you can usually get a good deal.

For home / small business use, laptop wise I would say thumbs up for (in no order):

HP
Dell
Asus
Toshiba
Fujitsu

Thumbs down for:

Sony

The others (Samsung, MSI etc.) I've actually never come across.

[maidencaithness]

go for a sony vio

Why?, generally overpriced with poor performance. Very portable but not most peoples main concern.

[Bobinovich]

If it was me I'd go for the Lenovo. I would say that's the best value for money, although the Lenovo brand isn't a great one (a lot of quality issues that they've almost ironed out) it's a good price.

I forgot to add that I did get a Lenovo similar to the one specified (with added integral webcam) for my OH last Christmas and so far it's knocking the spots off my own HP/Compaq model! I did start by removing all the unnecessary software which appears to be bundled with every manufacturers system these days tho'.

[blueivy]

I forgot to add that I did get a Lenovo similar to the one specified (with added integral webcam) for my OH last Christmas and so far it's knocking the spots off my own HP/Compaq model! I did start by removing all the unnecessary software which appears to be bundled with every manufacturers system these days tho'.

Don't tell me ... Norton ... sorry Symantec ... was first on this list? :-)

[Bobinovich]

You can now add Mindreader to your list of specialist skills BI!

[blueivy]

You can now add Mindreader to your list of specialist skills BI!

I'd love to say thanks and humbly say that it was just a lucky guess! I think we all know it wasn't though :-)

[matelot79]

I'd advise anybody to stay well away from Sony Vaio's. I've yet to have a good experience with any of them. Parts are a nightmare to come across and the software / drivers just as bad.

I have had a Sony Vaio for just over a year now (with vista) and have had no problems with it. The software and drivers are updated automatically (if you wish) or if you remove all the additional add on software, updated drivers can be found on their website. If you have a problem with it just join the forums and you will get all the help you need.


http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133383 (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133383) - a Fujitsu Siemens model with Intel Celeron processor, 1Gb memory, 120Gb hard drive, Vista Home Premium for £299, to which you cold add an inexpensive external USB all-in-one card reader http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132044 (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132044) (£3.45) making the total just over £300.

Check around before you buy, I got my Vaio £70 cheaper at play.com than it was at ebuyer.com

[Bobinovich]

I've never touted Ebuyer as being the cheapest - they just carry a good range and usually at good prices. As a matter of fact my OH's own Lenovo came from Dabs as Ebuyer didn't have one with the full spec. I wanted.

When I'm buying I tend to look around and see where I can get as much of my required items as possible (so long as they're reasonable prices) from one place, rather than paying multiple P&P's.

Ebuyer are just the latest in a long chain of preferred suppliers who meet my requirements.

[blueivy]

I have had a Sony Vaio for just over a year now (with vista) and have had no problems with it. The software and drivers are updated automatically (if you wish) or if you remove all the additional add on software, updated drivers can be found on their website. If you have a problem with it just join the forums and you will get all the help you need.

I've worked on umpteen Vaio's over the years. Like every other machine, they are great when they work. Vaio's are the worst I've ever experienced when they go wrong.

Sony's tech support whenever I have queried it has been dreadful. Their parts are more often than not proprietary, difficult to obtain and expensive.

Hopefully I'm wrong now and things have improved recently. I try hard to advise my customers to stay away from Vaio's and so far they done that so I don't see too many of them any more.

[matelot79]

I've never touted Ebuyer as being the cheapest - they just carry a good range and usually at good prices. As a matter of fact my OH's own Lenovo came from Dabs as Ebuyer didn't have one with the full spec. I wanted.

Never said that you were, I just said look around. Maybe it is just my turn to have problems with ebuyer (these items have free delivery, come to check out, sorry not available to your postcode) and that was the start of last week and they are still not here. Don’t get me wrong I have bought quite a few bits and pieces from there and not had a problem but the last twice, baaaa humbug.
Shopped at Dabs once but there was a 10% surcharge for using a credit card (if I remember correctly, many years ago) so never used them again.

[blueivy]

Never said that you were, I just said look around. Maybe it is just my turn to have problems with ebuyer (these items have free delivery, come to check out, sorry not available to your postcode) and that was the start of last week and they are still not here. Don’t get me wrong I have bought quite a few bits and pieces from there and not had a problem but the last twice, baaaa humbug.
Shopped at Dabs once but there was a 10% surcharge for using a credit card (if I remember correctly, many years ago) so never used them again.

I've bought a few bits from Ebuyer over the years - mainly small parts like PSU's. If you choose the cheapest postage option it can take a while to come, but 7-10 days is way too long (usually 3-4 days).

If you log into your account you can find out the status of your items and track where they are in the postal / courier system (it comes via AJG up here).

The one thing I do dislike about Ebuyer is returning items ... no refunds if it's over 14 days old even if this is your second one and it's still faulty. Their customer service is dreadful if you actually get a reply. They claim it's now a lot better than it was but I just don't bother now, it's not worth the grey hairs.

[matelot79]

I got a email saying it had been dispatched and have tried tracking it, but just says no tracking information is available. It will get here sometime, hopefully.

[Yoda the flump]

Not the cheapest but have you thought of getting a Mac?

Possibly not everyones first choice but excellent built quality and an OS that knocks the stuffing out of anything that comes out of Redmond.

Very compatible with iTunes, you get more out of your iPod (oh yes you do, look at the iPod spec) and great for editing photos.

You also are not always in the position of having to upgrade to get the latest Microsoft OS to run on your laptop. Can you see a five year old PC running Vista without major upgrades?

[Bobinovich]

Yeah, but what price does a low end Mac laptop start at? I genuinely don't have a clue - wouldn't even know where to start...

[matelot79]

Yeah, but what price does a low end Mac laptop start at? I genuinely don't have a clue - wouldn't even know where to start...

About £800, the one I was looking at came in around £1500 but can go a bit higher (the thought hasn't gone out of my head yet). You could build a kick ass PC for that.

[Bobinovich]

Yeah, I did think upwards of £700, and one of the original requests of this thread was "Oh, I dont want to spend to much on one either" which I reckon effectively rules out a Mac.

[blueivy]

Not the cheapest but have you thought of getting a Mac?

Possibly not everyones first choice but excellent built quality and an OS that knocks the stuffing out of anything that comes out of Redmond.

Very compatible with iTunes, you get more out of your iPod (oh yes you do, look at the iPod spec) and great for editing photos.

You also are not always in the position of having to upgrade to get the latest Microsoft OS to run on your laptop. Can you see a five year old PC running Vista without major upgrades?

A 5 year old computer won't run OSX either ... the race to increase the hardware specs each time a new OS is released happens on both sides. It's just been going on a lot longer on the Microsoft side because of the popularity of PC's over Mac's. That's just technology evolution for you.

[j4bberw0ck]

I have to admit to a serious case of lust for the new Mac Air notebook. I mean, at £1500 it's outrageously priced for what it is but oh, it's nice looking.

I think in practice I'd be thinking of £500-worth of common or garden notebook running XP, and £1000 to put towards a loooong trip round Europe :lol:

[blueivy]

I have to admit to a serious case of lust for the new Mac Air notebook. I mean, at £1500 it's outrageously priced for what it is but oh, it's nice looking.

I think in practice I'd be thinking of £500-worth of common or garden notebook running XP, and £1000 to put towards a loooong trip round Europe :lol:

The new MacBook Air confuses me slightly as to who it's actually aimed at. Ultra-portable notebooks are priced considerably more than a normal day-to-day laptop because obviously they are lighter, thinner and more portable. However this is usually the (enterprise) business market that goes for these for their travelling staff.

It's common knowledge that Apple have no interest in the enterprise market in the same way Microsoft does. Few enterprises have therefore taken an interest in Mac in the workplace (although that seems to be changing), Few small businesses will buy into it and I'd imagine even less home customers (with the exception of those Apple fans and those with money to burn).

So who is this laptop actually aimed at?

Apple are not stupid, so is this just to increase their brand or are they trying to make serious money in this?!?! I'm missing something.

[Yoda the flump]

A 5 year old computer won't run OSX either ... the race to increase the hardware specs each time a new OS is released happens on both sides. It's just been going on a lot longer on the Microsoft side because of the popularity of PC's over Mac's. That's just technology evolution for you.

Certainly will run OSX, as it has been released since March 2001, but would struggle to run Leopard, but the requirements to run Leopard are nowhere near as those for Vista.

As to the Mac Book Air, it certainly looks nice, has some groundbreaking features (such as a solid state HHD, transfer of DVDs, etc), but I do struggle to see where Apple are going with it. I certainly would not buy one at the moment.

[blueivy]

Certainly will run OSX, as it has been released since March 2001, but would struggle to run Leopard, but the requirements to run Leopard are nowhere near as those for Vista.

But that's what I thought we were comparing - the latest Mac OS with the latest Windows OS. Leopard is OSX Leopard just as Vista is Windows Vista.

The fact that Leopard doesn't need as much oomph to run is because of the underlying (Linux) architecture rather than Apple not wanting to push the envelope. Apple has a bigger interest in getting you to upgrade to new hardware than Microsoft does as it provides the OS and the hardware - Microsoft only provides the OS. Even though OSX will run on a PC now, I'll bet the majority of people running it do so on Mac's.

I have a PC here that is 5 years old (I think) that will run Vista Business just fine. Like your comparison with Leopard, it struggles, but it does it and I did use it for a while when Vista was initially released (then went back to XP again with a month or so).

[j4bberw0ck]

Apple are not stupid, so is this just to increase their brand or are they trying to make serious money in this?!?! I'm missing something.

There surely can't be a differential in the production price which matches the differential in the purchase price between the Air and a serious-but-sexy notebook pc. The screens on Apple pcs are wonderful for clarity and sharpness, but not that much better, and now Apple have gone for Intel architecture I'd guess, if I had to, that they've benefited from component price reductions.

I suspect they see sales coming from the marketing / PR / advertising / creative areas when incomes are high and the need to have the coolest gizmo is the strongest. And anyway, at £1500 a pop (cheapest price I've seen is £1150) there must be plenty of room for margin even on a smallish production run.

[matelot79]

I have to admit to a serious case of lust for the new Mac Air notebook. I mean, at £1500 it's outrageously priced for what it is but oh, it's nice looking.

I think in practice I'd be thinking of £500-worth of common or garden notebook running XP, and £1000 to put towards a loooong trip round Europe


Looks very good, put another £2000 and travel the world instead.

[blueivy]

Looks very good, put another £2000 and travel the world instead.

... and pick up a MacBook Air in a small out of the way country for next to nothing :-)

[s.mack]

i have a samsung 1 nd she cost 500 from tescos