Anyone know much about computers who can help me?

[Sapphire Stone]

Hi Guys
Is there anyone here who knows about computers who can help me.
Basically I'm in the market for a new laptop, don't want to spend more than £350-400 tops.
Used for general internet/facebook/bbc iplayer/itunes/photos from camera.
I do have a habit of trying to do too many things at once so maybe would need decent RAM or processor or something (sorry I'm not very techie and don't really know what I need)
Would like a 15.6" screen because that's what I have at the moment so I know it will fit in the laptop case I have and I can't be doing with silly small netbooks - my eyesight isn't that good!
Would like to buy from the highstreet rather than order online - I'm impatient!
Any reccomendations? Brands to look for/aviod like the plague?
Thanks

 

[ASC1951]

Hi Guys
...
Would like to buy from the highstreet rather than order online - I'm impatient!

Hmm. Aren't you stuck with having your leg lifted by PC World/Curry's, then?

I've just bought a Lenove Thinkpad Edge 15" Windows 7 machine on a more knowledgeable friend's recommendation, for pretty much the same sort of tasks as you list. £295 at www.laptopsdirect.co.uk
It's built like a little tank and IMO compares well with High Street products at £100 - 150 more.
There again, Laptops Direct are only fifteen miles from me.

 

[calibanzwei]

Technically speaking, there's little to distinguish between similarly spec'd laptops - any 'named' brand will do well, you just need to make sure it has what you want for the price you wish to pay

 

[Red Light]

[QUOTE 1489002"]
There are loads in that price bracket to choose from. I've just spent a couple of weeks doing the same. Get one with an i3 processor. Toshiba, Samsung, Asus and Acer were my high st considerations. I ended up going with the reviews and buying a Dell. I think I made the right choice.
[/quote]

Hope your experience is better than mine. I bought my daughters two Dells for uni. Within a year the batteries were completely dead and within two they were falling apart - and that was with leaving them on their desks, not carrying them around. A bit over two years they both crashed big time within weeks of each other in exactly the same way. I revived one but it failed again within a couple of weeks. They now have Sonys instead

We are now only Sony and Macs of which I have had nothing but very good experiences. We have a Sony which is 10 years old with the battery still going strong, my last Sony survived daily journeys in my Brompton bag for four years and although a bit tatty is still going strong with the original battery. You pay a bit more but its worth it but the cheapest Sonys come in just over £400 so not that bad.

 

[Red Light]

Technically speaking, there's little to distinguish between similarly spec'd laptops - any 'named' brand will do well, you just need to make sure it has what you want for the price you wish to pay

Not in spec but in durability and battery life. The Dells we bought were cheap but needed a new battery after a year at over £70 a pop and fell apart (see post above) whereas the Sonys and Macs we have are durable and the batteries last forever.

 

[Red Light]

[QUOTE 1489006"]
Speak to those in the know and you'll fine that Sony laptops have dropped right off over the last couple of years.

And run any laptop permanently plugged in and you'll kill The battery early.
[/quote]

I've had about four Sony laptops myself over the last ten years. When not in my Brompton bag they spent most of their time in a docking station plugged in. It has not caused any battery problems whatsoever. My oldest one is ten years old and probably has about 80% battery on the original battery. My most recent is about four years old and seems to last as long as when it was new.

The two Sonys I bought my daughters about a year ago are still running fine despite being plugged in most of the time. By this time in their life both Dell batteries were such that you could not run them unplugged.

 

[2Loose]

I tend to suggest that people visit Tesco Direct nowadays if they don't fancy internet suppliers. Acer\Toshiba\Asus seem to be up there with the best value in that kind of price bracket.

 

[ASC1951]

Acer\Toshiba\Asus seem to be up there with the best value in that kind of price bracket.

Here is some alleged data
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/

 

[2Loose]

Very interesting, I'd love to see that graph with a unit price dimension too. I expected Sony to be low on the reutns list as they don't really make a value laptop, neither do Apple...the others do though, so maybe it would show a 'cheaper laptop more likely to fail' or maybe not.