Need a new laptop any recommendations or what NOT to get?

[dieselboy]

Settled with a Galaxy S2 and I must say I'm converted! Maybe there is something wrong with it? Do you stuggle with laptop track pads?

My personal laptop and work laptop are fine on their track pads. My gf's laptop seems to dance around all over the place when I'm using it, I usually end up jabbing my phone and other peoples IPad's when I'm using them because they end up ####ing me off.

[Surf01]

Biggest mistake we ever made was buying an Apple iPad. To use the Bluetooth you have to have another Apple product. It will not BT to android phones. Very restrictive in apps and most you need to buy. Will not load many web pages if they have flash in them.
On the plus side I suppose it is a reliable and well made piece of crap. If you want a second hand Toshiba M50 in good condition running XP which has a good spec for £100, it is available. Includes BT and wireless. We are only about 14 miles from your location.

[Wolfracer]

This seems too good to be true? Or is that why its sold out?!
Acer aspire 5750
8gb
i5
750gb hard drive

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/acer-as...83797-pdt.html

[Wolfracer]

Biggest mistake we ever made was buying an Apple iPad. To use the Bluetooth you have to have another Apple product. It will not BT to android phones. Very restrictive in apps and most you need to buy. Will not load many web pages if they have flash in them.
On the plus side I suppose it is a reliable and well made piece of crap. If you want a second hand Toshiba M50 in good condition running XP which has a good spec for £100, it is available. Includes BT and wireless. We are only about 14 miles from your location.

Thanks for the offer, but think I'll look at the i5 type first...whatever that means.

[Bender71]

The screen cracked yesterday so am using a monitor to "see". It is a HP Compaq 6720s and has proved to be very reliable, bar the battery going and now the screen cracking.
It's been running XP office.

I need

Word, Powerpoint and Exel.
Tinternet
WiFi connectivity

and maybe enough processing power for digital camera to cope with video editing

What do you recommend is a good one to get? Price IS an issue, but would rather get one that will last me a while and not be out of date tomorrow, if that's possible these days...

I don't want a PC, as I do most of my work in front of the TV at night, and at this moment I am in the spare room with the monitor and really don't want to be here much longer...

With that, I'll be back on tomorrow, so keep the suggestions coming.

TIA

Hi there,

Lots of useful bits of advice given. My hobby is PCs/Laptops so i'll throw in my two pennies as well. You would like to do some video editing/digital imagery?? If that is the case then dont worry too much about the processor (or CPU) - unless you want to do some serious number crunching:-) Its the GPU (Graphical Processing Unit) and RAM (Random Access Memory) you need to worry about. So, going on this, keep away from 'shared' graphics processors, which essentially is the CPU which does both jobs - the main processing and managing the graphics - but it does not do the graphics too well for anything more intensive than normal use. So try to aim for a dedicated graphics card from either ATI or Nvidia that sits within the laptop. As for RAM, the more the better Lastly, SSD is overkill for you and will put a serious dent in ya budget!

As someone else has mentioned - get a Macbook - go second hand but be prepared to pay a premium as people do see them more as form over function:-)

Good luck.

Gsta

[Wolfracer]

Hi there,

Good luck.
Gsta

Says it all really!
I've been looking around on the websites listed above and it seems impossible to compare!
So it big RAM and not too concerned over the i5 then? ie an i3 would be "good" enough? (obviously 10x better than my current one?)

[Bender71]

Haha - it's a minefield out there bud:-) When I say you can never have too much RAM, well the most you gonna get in a laptop anyhow is 8Gig - 4 will do ya for messing around with video if you dont take the p*ss with the resolution:-) I'll have a butchers on t'internet and get back to you with what I would buy if I was you.

[Bender71]

Says it all really!
I've been looking around on the websites listed above and it seems impossible to compare!
So it big RAM and not too concerned over the i5 then? ie an i3 would be "good" enough? (obviously 10x better than my current one?)

OK try this link for a refurbished one at currys and is i5 with dedicated graphics:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavi...uting~08527246

or take a look for yourself from this useful price checker site I found which shows all deals for laptops with dedicated graphics:

http://www.pcchecker.co.uk/Computers...dicated/Page2/

This is just my opinion bud - im just trying to hopefully give a useful bit of advice:-) PM me if you need Excel/Powerpoint/Word software;-)

gsta

[Wolfracer]

Thanks bender, will have a look, and yes, will need office apps. is that hp typical of what spec i can get for that money?

[Bender71]

Thanks bender, will have a look, and yes, will need office apps. is that hp typical of what spec i can get for that money?

That is the cheapest i've seen without doing too much research that has a dedicated graphics card and is from a mainstream supplier = guarantee, you will get cheaper on fleabay but there you are getting into dodgy territory unless you can see before you buy and of course know what you are looking for.

Like Thrifty says above - treat buying a laptop like you are buying a tool for a job......if you want to mess about with video editing then trust me you will need a dedicated GPU, if you just want to write your life story using Microsoft Word then yes - £250 will do the job:-)

[Bender71]

oh and John - that example is a reconditioned one but should come with a guarantee.......

[Surf01]

Thanks for the offer, but think I'll look at the i5 type first...whatever that means.

I think an i5 would be preferable with at least 4Gb RAM and a graphics card rated at 1GB. A 64bit processor that allow graphics etc to be processed quicker also helps. Most have a 32 bit processor. My processor speed is 2.3GHZ which is ample.
BTW if you have kids at school you can buy loads of windows software at hugely discounted prices. This also includes McAfee anti virus.

[Wolfracer]

BTW if you have kids at school you can buy loads of windows software at hugely discounted prices. This also includes McAfee anti virus.

I have kids and they are at school, please tell more!

[Wolfracer]

Thanks for the speedy lessons in laptops folks!
I went for this one in the end.

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavi...27206-pdt.html

£250 off new price.
The spec, if anyones intested.

Processor Intel® Core™ i5-460M Processor
- 2.53GHz
- 2.5GT/s DMI
- 3MB Intel Smart Cache
- Dual-core processor
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
RAM - 6GB RAM
- DDR3
Graphics card ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5470
- 512 MB DDR3 dedicated graphics memory
- Up to 3226 MB total shared memory
Screen type LCD widescreen
Screen resolution - WXGA
- 1366 x 768
Screen size 15.6"
Screen features - HD screen
- LED backlight
Hard drive - 500GB SATA hard drive
- 7200 rpm
Optical disk drive SATA optical drive: LightScribe SuperMulti DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
Memory card reader 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro or xD Picture cards
USB Yes, 4
FireWire No
Modem/Ethernet Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth No
Video interface 1 x VGA port
1 x HDMI port
Audio interface 1 x stereo headphone-out
1 x microphone-in
TV output HDMI
VGA
Expansion card slot No
Sound Altec Lansing speakers
Dolby Advanced Audio
Webcam Yes, 1.2 megapixel
Battery - 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
- Up to 5 hours of battery life
Additional features Argento silver colour with Stream pattern
Fingerprint reader
Size 36 x 378 x 245 mm (H x W x D)
Weight 2.43 kg

[Wolfracer]

@ bender71

Can't PM as you#ve not paid your fees..
Could you contact me?
You know how...