Alright guys need a new laptop and need suggestions. I don't want a Mac so please don't even mention it. I can't afford £849 for a bottom of the range Macbook Air and won't entertain the idea. Had my Toshiba for 6 years now and it's been pretty bad for the last two but it's sheer longevity as impressed me. I use it for the usual, web browsing, streaming films/music, downloading music, word processing and also do quite a bit on photoshop and a few other bits of adobe software. Any advice on brands/models is welcomed and really appreciated!!!
I bought an acer about 3 months ago. No problems with it whatsoever Try ad get Windows 7 if possible. (Loads of independent places bought up windows 7 laptops before the change to 8) Mines got 6gb ram, 750g HDD, Hi Def screen, Dobly sound and 3 hours battery. BUt my main advice is try and get windows 7. 8 Is apparently a load of dogshite
only get windows 8 if you get a touchscreen. but for what you want to do with it, £800 is just overkill, if you were playing the latest games, or rendering 3D objects in Maya for a living then yeah you need a top of the range but, for what you are doing you dont. as for makes, Alienware/Sony viao are the best but you pay for it. Dell are fine for laptops, I wouldnt touch them for a desktop though, and Acer is probably bottom of the line (KB is ****e most of the time), Lenevo are an up and coming make. 4 gig ram, Intel I3, hdd doesnt really matter, 15" or 17" screen onboard gfx. http://www.ebuyer.com/407066-lenovo-ideapad-g580-laptop-maap2uk that will do you, but even if it has got windows 8 on, just install 7 anyway tbf i would uninstall 7 and 8 and put ubuntu on but each to their own.
I'll also add. Dont buy Advent or other brands that are only available in PC World/Currys etc. Its impossible to get parts for them
Cheers for the input lads, much appreciated. As a side note... I'm going to New York in a few months. Would I get one cheaper over there? Would there be compatibility problems?
Try Acer from a company called EBuyer (not ebay) get all my gear from there, usually the cheapest and never a problem returning anything (only had to do it once cos i ordered the wrong item) Samsung are pretty good as well but steer clear of HP and Sony.
just the plug and you may need one of those volt converters but the laptop itself should be fine. and yes you will get one cheaper, usually take our price, change it to dollars, then do a conversion. £800 = $800 = £497 (thats just a rough idea though) Sony are the best, but very expensive but they last years. Acer are ****, sorry wife has had 2 and both have been bollocks wont buy acer again. Ebuyer i agree with great site and my link in the 3rd post is to there.
Advertising's had its way with me and I really want one of these... http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsu...n-convertible-laptop-silver-17056550-pdt.html I want it about £200 cheaper mind. I'm starting to think I might buy a notebook and pen from a pound shop. Nightmare.
I've got an Acer and it's been brill! Mind you, I changed the drive to a solid state drive a few months ago and it has been even better. Whatever brand you get, I'd recommend taking out the hard disk drive and spending £20 on a housing for it to use as an external HDD memory back-up and sticking an SSD in instead (120 Gb is about £90). The only problem you may have is that you won't get an operating system disk with a new machine so you would have to get your hands on a copy of Windows 7 some other way (it's about £100 in the shops). My tuppence ha'penny on the matter....
Recommended this for a mate, he loves it he is even playing some games on it just because he can. More than enough grunt for what you want with separate graphics card and 6Gb memory. Plus an i5 processor with 7 64bit. Should get it for under £500 online, Not many laptops get such good reviews from PC Advisor. http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3373744/asus-k55vd-review/?tab=verdictTab#top You can buy it from Amazon for £4000. hahahahahaha http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00871NL...8&creativeASIN=B00871NLJG&smid=A11V6WRCCP617O Windows 8 is horrible.
I have a Samsung, and it's spot on for everything. Had 3 Vaio's, and all were top end, all 3 failed almost bang on the 2 year mark, and Sony couldn't give 2 ****s. Motherboard failures on all 3, scandalous. Windows 8 is VILE. Windows 7 is the easiest, most user friendly thing ever.
Got the sons girlfriends Vaio with me now. (Nice looking and feeling machine. Cost a bloody fortune.) 2 1/2 years old and a doorstop. Stripped it and replaced anything removable still dead. Not going to risk getting a replacement board as there would still be no guarantee it wouldn't go tits up. Repair charges in a shop make it better value to buy another laptop. Told her for what she is using it for, she could have bought 4 ordinary laptops for the price she paid for the Vaio.
M.R. For my twopenneth Ya mate pott's here. I bought a samsung more than enough memory for the above average user. Only cost me just under 300 quid. No problems at all with it. End of, there a loads of great laptop deals out there. Might be worth waiting until Jan sales etc and as above. Me mate has windows 8 and it's crap when used on a laptop. Stay clear, it's new and needs loads of modifications to get it working how it should, and good luck MR
To be off topic on an off topic thread, does anyone know a good movie editing suite. All I want to do is some photo's that you can fade in and out of and put your own music to it?
Aye mate for normal every day use any of the cheap laptops will do, it's just a case of checking reviews of their physical longevity. One of my neighbours, I had removed a trojan from her 4 year old Dell laptop asked me to source her a new one for under £400. I asked her why and was there a problem with hers. Turns out one of her relatives had said it was old so thought she needed a new one. I told her as long as it does what you want without problem just keep it. She's only browsing, email and FB.
If you're willing to pay I would go Premiers Elements. You want a freebie try AVS. I haven't used them personally but heard good things from friends. http://www.avs4you.com/
Mackems Rule and whoever said can i buy in the USA jusus wept fella stay well clear. I bought the missus a kindle fire HD to re-place her old Kindle. Used it for basic reading. The new addition? cost me 159 quid and that is what I used to keep in touch with the lads on the Stoke board whilst on holiday recently. Absolute bargain (if all you need is the internet, watching movies etc. Even has skype and email use. BUT the US addition as with most PCs and laptops was rubbish. Buy it here. PS I tried to use this laptop I'm on now in Madeira and the kindle fire was twice as quick picking up the internet. Horse's for course's as they say.
not sure why he wouldnt buy in the USA, a Kindle fire HD is the same in the USA or the UK, $199 = £123 over here its £159 My dad and sister bought their ipads over there. Ipad with retina display 16 gig USA $499 = £310 over here its £399. honestly if he is going over there anyway he would be bloody silly buying it here. and lets be honest they are all made in china or korea so its not like he is supporting the UK local business by buying over here he is just getting ripped off. as for sony vaios i have had 1 and it lasted me 10 years, it was still working when my wife threw it out even though it was that old we couldnt do a lot with it, but it did last a good while.
There's a round up of some laptops for under £400 here http://www.reghardware.com/2012/09/01/product_round_up_ten_15in_notebooks_for_under_400_quid/ and if you don't mind small screen size, have a look at this one http://www.reghardware.com/2012/11/22/review_asus_vivobook_s200/ Personally, I'd buy one in the States, but it depends on how much you value being able to get support from the place you buy.
