Laptop or Notebook?

[Carwash]

Will an abacus allow me to email you with an appropriately offensive expletive?

I think that's what he's counting on.

 

[numbnuts]

i see - Novatech's a shop.

i want to be told what item to buy, the shop being incidental.

http://www.novatech.co.uk
novatech make their onw computers I'm using a laptop now, never had any trouble in the last 7 years with it

 

[redcogs]

i've just checked the samsung nc10 and it has windows xp. i've got a copy of xp, so would i be able to acquire one (a samsung) somewhere and load my own thus saving some dosh?

 

[redcogs]

http://www.novatech.co.uk
novatech make their onw computers I'm using a laptop now, never had any trouble in the last 7 years with it

Thanks numb'er

It has a good site - and i like the idea of being able to use ones own software thus saving some cash..

Not that i'm tight.

 

[Carwash]

i've just checked the samsung nc10 and it has windows xp. i've got a copy of xp, so would i be able to acquire one (a samsung) somewhere and load my own thus saving some dosh?

For that you might actually be better off finding a machine that comes pre-installed with *Linux*, and then wiping it to install your copy of XP. Not many places sell pre-built machines with no OS installed.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Will an abacus allow me to email you with an appropriately offensive expletive?

An email-capable abacus requires 15 million wires, each with 1024 beads.

I don't know, you try to help a man avoid becoming a tool of the capitalist machinery which is oppressing the masses, and what thanks do you get ...

 

[woohoo]

The Samsung NC10 has a 1024 x 600 screen rather than 1024 x 768 mentioned earlier which means that you need to scroll up and down more than normal. It is shipped with XP and afaik you can't buy it without Windows. DABS & Amazon are selling it for about £290. Argos and Comet are selling it for £280 ish BUT their version has a half capacity battery so they aren't really the bargains they seem.

An updated version of the NC10 called the N110 is being sold by PC World at for £330 but the differences are minor (I use both) and personally, I would save the dosh and go for the NC10. Both these Netbooks weigh about 1.3 ish Kg

Word 2003, Excel 2003 and Word 2007, Excel 2007 work fine on both.

There is a new Samsung, the NC20, which has a bigger (1280 x 800) screen but that is upwards of £360 and you're probably better off getting a more conventional laptop at that price if you don't need the light weight / portability.

 

[Mr Pig]

If it's a desktop replacement and you're not going to be carting it around too much I'd recommend one with a 17'' screen. You never regret buying a bigger screen, makes life much nicer.

As does using an external keyboard and mouse, lets you sit further back. Lots of wireless ones available too. My mother uses one with a tracker ball built into the corner, does away with the mouse. She's seventy and she got used to it! ;0)

I might be able to get you a high-spec 17'' HP laptop within your budget if you're interested? Brand new, not used or anything. Better than you'd get in the shops for the money.

 

[redcogs]

If it's a desktop replacement and you're not going to be carting it around too much I'd recommend one with a 17'' screen. You never regret buying a bigger screen, makes life much nicer.

As does using an external keyboard and mouse, lets you sit further back. Lots of wireless ones available too. My mother uses one with a tracker ball built into the corner, does away with the mouse. She's seventy and she got used to it! ;0)

I might be able to get you a high-spec 17'' HP laptop within your budget if you're interested? Brand new, not used or anything. Better than you'd get in the shops for the money.

That would be good Mr Pig. i've been looking at those on the Novatech website that numbnuts recommended. Do you think the HP laptops are as good?

i have to say that i've an HP printer (which is good), but the software with it is attrocious and takes up excessive memory!

 

[jeltz]

I've 2 in the Acer Aspire range one 3 or 4 years old and the other about 18 months, they have both done well and work fine, unless you want to go for a games machine choose a model that's a bit above entry level and 2gb+ of ram is ideal for Vista (IMHO)

 

[CopperBrompton]

Cheap 17" laptops tend not to have a resolution to match the screen size so are fairly pointless IMV. 17" laptops with decent resolution (minimum 1440x900, better 1920x1200) are almost certainly out of Redcog's budget range.

 

[dellzeqq]

What are you going to run? I assume that you're not going to be using CAD, but if you're big in to graphics then screen resolution is about the be all and end all. And if you are using CAD, and you are limited to £500, forget anything but a desktop. Sorry.

 

[CopperBrompton]

CAD? He said email, web and a wordprocessor.

 

[Dan B]

I looked into the whole netbook thing a month or so back, when my notebook (Compaq HP NC2400 "ultraportable", 1280x800,12.1" screeen, Intel U2500 1.2GHz Core Duo) came to an untimely end (it was accidentally dunked in a puddle of GT85)

After careful analysis of the options I realised that my two-year old notebook was still competitive with (if not faster than) most of the current netbook crop, and had the trackpoint nipple (which I prefer over a touchpad). So I bought another one on ebay for ~£170

 

[redcogs]

i dont play computer games, so i imagine pixals etc have little relevance.

Ben has it right, surfing/emails/occasional letters. The £500 figure is an absolute max.