I know this is off topic but i need as much feedback as i can get for a rather important decision. My current laptop is almost out of commission and i need to either have it repaired or i need to buy a new one. The problem with it is that when it loads it freezes frequently and doesnt let me load programs. When i do get one running the screen goes blue and it dumps physical memory and restarts. I have run virus scans in safe mode and it says its clear, but in normal mode it shuts down half way through. Getting it repaired would be a nice choice but it might cost about £100-£200 and is likely to go wrong again as it has this time. Unless i can find out the cause of the problem and solve it myself- which is unlikely. The other option is to buy a new laptop. It does not have to be fancy with all the bells and whistles but it will have to be very sturdy and be able to cope with everyday use and knocks as i use it at uni and home. It has to be able to cope with having 3-4 tasks running at once and at most times. It does not have to be to fancy, but should have a webcam. Ideally it would be under £250. What do you guys recommend? Are there any brands you trust more than others? Where should i look?? TIA.
Where is one of those?? I am very wary of who to trust when i only see a user name and its something as important.
I would have thought that there must be wizz kids at uni Dan. If you seek help you need to be precise as to the problem. Not always easy when you feel your way around the thing.
Would try to fix old one first Dan at least till you know the repair costs! The little lenovo work gave me is as sturdy as hell but costs a bit more than £250 I think you will do well to get what you want for £250! Only thing I can suggest is get another one of what you have so you can mix and match spare parts! or get a reconditioned second hand one! Millens or Toby or Max might be able to help you along those lines! If you were round the corner mate I would give you my old dell! which by now is antique but still works well !
I am tempted to get it fixed as it could be a lot cheaper, i just want to explore all avenues. I have looked around and there are a few i might look into more. I just wanted to get advice from others first.
You can sometimes get sub £300 laptops from the Dell website if you check their outlet section .. essentially they are factory returns .. brand new for all intent purposes .. but good deals to be had ..
I bought a reconditioned Toshiba T43 four years ago for £220 and it's still going strong. It's got all the bells and whistles I need and has never given me any trouble. I paid £450 for a new Acer for my wife two years ago and it's been back for repairs three times, so I know which I'd recommend. Of course, if my wife treats the laptop as heavy handedly as she treats me..................
See, I would say that you are much better off getting a new one than having that one repaired. Besides reliability, you would also have much better performance and software installed. As someone said above, look at the computer forums. The key is to have a hunt around for a make that you like the look, and then google that make/model. Lots of tech journals and blogs will come up. Just read the official reviews and then all of the reader comments. You will get a very good idea then. If you do go to Dell, save money by not having things like Office installed, and get it from www.software4students.com (I think its that) you can get Office 2010 for 37 quid whereas Dell add it to the package for for 60 odd.
As an aside to what Bradleysdad mentioned you can forget microsoft office altogether and use open office which is free to download!
Don't buy a Dell they are ****e, use some of your student loan and get a MacBook Pro...Apple is the future
Must disagree with you there W-y ,Have had Dells toshibas and apple mac and the worst ones at work are the the apples ! plus you aint going to get one within Dans budget! , again the best ones at work are proving to be the little Lenovos! Again though these will be out of BHD `s budget I think any manufacturer has good ones and bad one (quality control issues?) As an aside My second eldest Had a toshiba changed it in favour of a apple mac pro , had nothing but trouble ,and is now happy with his Sony!
I had an dell inspiron 510m many moons ago cant be far off 10 years now and its still going strong! have upgraded to another inspriron 2 years ago 1525 (I think) Which although is quite big and heavy these days for a mobile laptop makes a good home base set up! When on my trips to Bergen or elsewhere I take my little Lenovo very small and light fits easily in my knapsack Handles the abuse of the hangar enviroment well , and does what I want when stuck in airport lounges or hotel rooms! only critiscism is lack of cd dvd player internally (but can stream in stuff anyway) ! Quite excited about some of the new Android Tablets like the Galaxy tab 7.7(prefer the free trade ideas of Android ,rather than the attempted monopolisation of Ipads and i phones)! Jesus W-y look what you gone and started me off on There are many options out there and everyone is going to have differing thoughts , preferences and ideas, the trick is to find what works best for you! Which is why Dan is wise to ask for opinions but will receive a vast array of different commentsand will have to decide what works best for him!
Norway - It's just my experience not the word of the lord! Mrs W_Y had problems with her Dell, but what was worse was their customer support, just awful. We have had 5 Dell's before that with little problems - just the usual rubbish with Windows as an OS. We are rolling out over 2,000 Dell Lap-Tops at work and they have loads of HD problems. Guy I used to work with is a marketing manager at Dell and I am friends with him on FB, he was all over me when I was moaning about Dell - but guess what he uses at home? Yes, a MacBook - he has just upgraded to Lion and is creaming himself. The W_Y's are becoming a bit of an Apple family and they are so easy to use and with no virus problems... I was having a bit of a joke with BHD about using his student loan to buy an Apple!
