Good basic Laptop.

[Blue]

Mrs Blue is in the market for a laptop that she can use abroad for her OU work. Nothing fancy required as she just needs 'Word' for assignments and the internet for contact. Something light for easy travel, but with a decent keyboard and not too expensive. Neither of us has much of a clue about such things so we were wondering if anyone has any experience/suggestions.

Thanks for reading this.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I've been an IT professional for most of my adult life and I can honestly say buy whatever colour tickles your fancy for around the £300. The last time I looked they all seemed to have the same spec.

 

[Scoosh]

You could also try popping over here

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Might be worth looking at tablets.

 

[ColinJ]

Might be worth looking at tablets.

If she also buys a Bluetooth keyboard. Doing a lot of typing on a touchscreen isn't much fun!

 

[Blue]

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.

 

[ScotiaLass]

I have a Samsung netbook.
It's really good, small and light, internet connection and a keyboard. Screen is a bit smaller than a full size laptop obviously but I find it more than adequate.
I take it on holiday with me as I don't like typing on the iPad if it's more than a couple of lines.

 

[HorTs]

I agree with Andrew with regards to spec. Though if you spend a bit more you'll generally feel a difference in build quality. It depends if that matters to MrsB.

 

[Blue]

I have a Samsung netbook.
It's really good, small and light, internet connection and a keyboard. Screen is a bit smaller than a full size laptop obviously but I find it more than adequate.
I take it on holiday with me as I don't like typing on the iPad if it's more than a couple of lines.

Thanks for the reply.

Can you put 'Word' on that?

 

[Blue]

I agree with Andrew with regards to spec. Though if you spend a bit more you'll generally feel a difference in build quality. It depends if that matters to MrsB.

Thanks for the reply. Our time abroad may, eventually, be quite long so quality is something we wouldn't mind. Do you have a particular model in mind?

 

[ColinJ]

PS This is the type Bluetooth keyboard that I use. It is small and light but has a nice action.

 

[ScotiaLass]

Thanks for the reply.

Can you put 'Word' on that?

I have Word on mine, so that'd be a yes

 

[albion]

Really hard to say. You obviously want light so that narrows choice and also brings in some of the ultra slow stuff.

An old top quality business ultra portable laptop might be the way to go as might a slower netbook.
I bet you could find a quality HP DM1 netbook for maybe £100 on ebay.

 

[ColinJ]

An old top quality business ultra portable laptop might be the way to go as might a slower netbook.

Ah, well, for that option - take a look at the old Dell D430.

I have one and it has about the best keyboard of any laptop that I have used, and a good trackpad. It has a 12" screen and only weighs about 3.5 lbs (excl. weight of the charger). I also have a separate CD/DVD drive, but don't use that much so it lives in a drawer most of the time. You can pick them up for under £100 on eBay now.

Negatives: Mine has windows XP, which Microsoft will soon withdraw support for, but you can get them with Win 7 installed. By modern standards, battery life is poor - only a couple of hours or so even with a new battery. Used models will probably have useless batteries, so treat as mains only or buy a new battery.

 

[Yellow Fang]

One without Windows 8 on it.