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Author Topic: Choosing a laptop  (Read 904 times)

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shyboy

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Choosing a laptop
« on: 11 July 2008, 08:22:49 »

Rightly or wrongly, wisely or not, I'm about to buy SWMBO a laptop for her 69th. birthday. It must be well known on this forum that I'm a bit of a fully fledged dumbo when it comes to understanding the mystical world of computers, but I do try.... and try and try and try.
It's only needed for e-mailing and casual Internet access, no gaming or porn channels, although the way my wife can talk it had better have reasonable capacity.
Can anyone suggest some decent models, or give me some good lines of enquiry, please?
Bill.
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SteveD

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Re: Choosing a laptop
« Reply #1 on: 11 July 2008, 08:31:18 »

Don't buy Acer! I bought 10 for our staff and they lasted less than 12 months. Warranty support is a waste of time - laptops came back in a worse state of repair than when they went. Got over 150 HPs in use and they don't give me any aggro. A few Dells as well which are ok but not as tough as HP.

HP have some cheap deals at the moment - some cashback offers too. HP have recently had some problems with the power management on their mainboards but they swapped them all out no problem.

Dell are also ok but you have to make sure that the case screws stay tight - they have a habit of undoing after a year or so.

You really do get what you pay for with laptops <£700 so spend as much as you can afford. Over > £800 a bit of paying for the name comes into it too.

www.misco.co.uk are ok to get an idea of pricing/models but if you're buying HP it doesn't matter where you get it from because of the Global warranty supplied by them.

www.hotukdeals.com is an awesome site for bargains/vouchers/codes etc and they quiet often have Dell deals listed.

...and if you deal with Dell direct make sure you haggle on the phone for free delivery, bag, mouse, web cam etc. they will ALWAYS give you something. If they won't hang up & ring back to get a different rep. If you want to knwo if I price on Dell/HP is any good PM me the spec and I'll let you know. We have a Platinum agreement with Dell & internal HP account manager so I'll be able to let you know how much more haggling to do!
« Last Edit: 11 July 2008, 08:34:53 by SteveD »
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Mr Skrunts

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Re: Choosing a laptop
« Reply #2 on: 11 July 2008, 08:35:02 »

Have a wander down to the likes of PC world.

Look at the different screen sizes and see what the different options are for your money.

Regardless of what is on offer even as low as £259 these day it isnt allways worth going entry level (basic model)  Once she starts getting the hang of her laptop she may start getting creative and want to start making birthday cards etc,

Consider Screen size and hard drive size, and haggle for free extra memory, but check all deals in the daily papers before you comit,

Certain makes are worth staying away from, forum members will add to this thread as the weekend goes on.

Hope you get what you are after.   :y
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TheBoy

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Re: Choosing a laptop
« Reply #3 on: 11 July 2008, 08:41:12 »

I use an HP Compaq Business Notebook 6720s for home use.  Bought it purely on price (nothing else came close with the mid range spec I wanted) as HP are on my normal 'not to buy' list.  Sadly, I'm struggling to find any real fault with it, apart from the gay blue LEDs.

Cost me £450 back in Novemeber, though I think they have gone up a bit.

Mrs TB needs a new one, so I'm on lookout for her for something similar (unless I can fix her Dell that she dropped, looks like system board is toast)
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shyboy

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Re: Choosing a laptop
« Reply #4 on: 11 July 2008, 08:59:18 »

Thanks for the info, fellas.
I'll start investigating over the weekend.
Bill.
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psychnurse

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Re: Choosing a laptop
« Reply #5 on: 11 July 2008, 09:01:44 »

Quote
Don't buy Acer! I bought 10 for our staff and they lasted less than 12 months. Warranty support is a waste of time - laptops came back in a worse state of repair than when they went. Got over 150 HPs in use and they don't give me any aggro. A few Dells as well which are ok but not as tough as HP.

HP have some cheap deals at the moment - some cashback offers too. HP have recently had some problems with the power management on their mainboards but they swapped them all out no problem.

Dell are also ok but you have to make sure that the case screws stay tight - they have a habit of undoing after a year or so.

You really do get what you pay for with laptops <£700 so spend as much as you can afford. Over > £800 a bit of paying for the name comes into it too.

www.misco.co.uk are ok to get an idea of pricing/models but if you're buying HP it doesn't matter where you get it from because of the Global warranty supplied by them.

www.hotukdeals.com is an awesome site for bargains/vouchers/codes etc and they quiet often have Dell deals listed.

...and if you deal with Dell direct make sure you haggle on the phone for free delivery, bag, mouse, web cam etc. they will ALWAYS give you something. If they won't hang up & ring back to get a different rep. If you want to knwo if I price on Dell/HP is any good PM me the spec and I'll let you know. We have a Platinum agreement with Dell & internal HP account manager so I'll be able to let you know how much more haggling to do!




Agreed!! I bought 80 of them... saving a few quid for the NHS as you do. Waste of time. Had to buy 80 Compaq about a month after.
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Mr Skrunts

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Re: Choosing a laptop
« Reply #6 on: 11 July 2008, 13:37:05 »

Check online as well.

I have a Toshiba Satelite Pro kicking about some where SP2100 was the only laptop I had a the time that I could play Need For Speed Underground on as it had a dedicated 16 MB Geforce craphics chip in it.

Am happy Dell, IBM and Sony laptops as well, all though they are more expensive.  

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/newsletter?productId=31907&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Toshiba+Satellite+Pro+L40-18M+Intel+Dual+Core+T2330+1.6GHz+Laptop&utm_campaign=newsletter110708
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