Laptop recommendation please Mr Geek
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If you want something small I am seriously impressed by this baby http://www.dell.com/uk/p/alienware-m11x/pd and the lower end one is just outside your price bracket. If you want something larger 15.4" or 17" that's a different matter.
[QUOTE 1454078"]
Thanks both. This is going to be the famliy machine so I'd prefer a decent-sized screen. I'll have a look at Toshiba. Someone else has recommended Acer, but there are that many models that it's hard to sort them out. I used to be the type that would thoroughly research things like this before buying, but these days I just don't have the time.
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Not saying thay are all the same but my son has an Acer with a similar spec to my Toshiba and has had nothing but problems with it.
Thanks both. This is going to be the famliy machine so I'd prefer a decent-sized screen. I'll have a look at Toshiba. Someone else has recommended Acer, but there are that many models that it's hard to sort them out. I used to be the type that would thoroughly research things like this before buying, but these days I just don't have the time.
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Not saying thay are all the same but my son has an Acer with a similar spec to my Toshiba and has had nothing but problems with it.
Furkz
Über Member
using a VAIO bought 4 years ago this xmas. was 650.00 but haggled down to 400.00 in comet its a NS10L model. casing looks like duct tape and its amazing hasnt skipped a beat running win7 now faultlessly. highly recommend a vaio if u can afford one in your budget. wouldnt touch anything other than intel either, unless you want lag and burning legs, AMD run hot.
Canrider
Guru
Well there you go. I've used an Acer 3810 as a temporary measure in the office and liked it so much I bought a 4820 (14" screen and DVD drive added to the 13" 3810/20 spec) to use at home/on the road. Very happy with it so far. They also do a 15ish" screen, the 5820. Mine ran about £450 with Win 7 but no Office. My second Acer and they've all been rock-solid (unlike Toshibas). Having said that, I eked 7 years out of a Toshiba laptop* before this round of Acers, so YMMV, as it always will when dealing with laptops.
*With multiple warranty claims, but no data losses
*With multiple warranty claims, but no data losses
The_Wheelhouse
Active Member
- Location
- Luton
Don't like the shared graphics on that, even if it isn't the end of the world in terms of the spec of the actual card.
Gixxerman
Guru
- Location
- Market Rasen
I have always used Dell and they are very good. I have a Dell 9400.
You can get some very good deals off the Dell outlet where they sell refurbished machines (these still have the same warrenty as new machines). However, the outlet only has pre-configured systems. If you are not that fussed as to what you want, then it should not be an issue. If you are looking for something specific, you would have to keep looking every day and be ready to pounce when (or if) something suitable appears.
Avoid ANYTHING made by Fujitsu-Siemens (or Fushitsu as it is more commonly known).
I work for a Siemens company and we are forced to use them at work.
I have gone through 5 desktops and 7 hard drives in about 10 years. They are just crap.
My company did a "cheap" deal to buy computers through the Siemens. I did not take them up on the offer as I knew how bad their stuff was. However my colleague did and bought a laptop. This has been pile of shoot from day one and overheats and crashes continually, and they refused to refund his money. It is of no use whatsoever as a laptop, but makes a very good room heater / toaster / bar-b-que. Lots of others also had the same issue with Siemens laptops.
You can get some very good deals off the Dell outlet where they sell refurbished machines (these still have the same warrenty as new machines). However, the outlet only has pre-configured systems. If you are not that fussed as to what you want, then it should not be an issue. If you are looking for something specific, you would have to keep looking every day and be ready to pounce when (or if) something suitable appears.
Avoid ANYTHING made by Fujitsu-Siemens (or Fushitsu as it is more commonly known).
I work for a Siemens company and we are forced to use them at work.
I have gone through 5 desktops and 7 hard drives in about 10 years. They are just crap.
My company did a "cheap" deal to buy computers through the Siemens. I did not take them up on the offer as I knew how bad their stuff was. However my colleague did and bought a laptop. This has been pile of shoot from day one and overheats and crashes continually, and they refused to refund his money. It is of no use whatsoever as a laptop, but makes a very good room heater / toaster / bar-b-que. Lots of others also had the same issue with Siemens laptops.
The_Wheelhouse
Active Member
- Location
- Luton
To be fair though you are not going to get anything good regards to graphics in that price range on a laptop.
OP what are you actually going to be using the computer for and do you actually need a laptop, because you can get more powerful desktops in that price range.
At £300. Depends how big you want the monitor to be. Not a gigantic ask for 15", 17" it's very problematic. I was guessing he wanted a 17" so in which case I'd be looking at Toshiba L670s and Dells which leads to the same problem.
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I'm not fussed about graphics, we're not gamers or into video editing. Storage, screen size and speed, probably in that order.
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I appreciate that, but it's not why people generally go on about it when recommending laptops. Quite often when people buy laptops and keep them for two or three years and then start complaining about how slow it is, or this problem or that problem it is invariably the graphics that is the (biggest) problem. You look at the system as a whole for them and usually the chip although dated is all right, the ram can usually be upgraded, but there's very little you can do about the graphics. Often it's some shared system. Sometimes some change comes along and you're in big trouble whatever, but that's less often. It is for this reason that people generally recommend against shared use memory and recommend something that you can shove more ram in. So it's not a problem if you pass the laptop on to sons/daughters/granny/whatever.
I'm not fussed about graphics, we're not gamers or into video editing. Storage, screen size and speed, probably in that order.
[/quote]
I appreciate that, but it's not why people generally go on about it when recommending laptops. Quite often when people buy laptops and keep them for two or three years and then start complaining about how slow it is, or this problem or that problem it is invariably the graphics that is the (biggest) problem. You look at the system as a whole for them and usually the chip although dated is all right, the ram can usually be upgraded, but there's very little you can do about the graphics. Often it's some shared system. Sometimes some change comes along and you're in big trouble whatever, but that's less often. It is for this reason that people generally recommend against shared use memory and recommend something that you can shove more ram in. So it's not a problem if you pass the laptop on to sons/daughters/granny/whatever.
The_Wheelhouse
Active Member
- Location
- Luton
I disagree with the point about graphics as even though the programs may become more graphic intensive it won't seriously affect the performance of the laptop, for tasks that the OP is listing, and so long as the laptop is not used for graphic intensive purposes then there is no real issue. The slowness is can also be taken account by bad maintenance of the computer, often just reinstalling the OS will increase it's speed.
For the laptop the OP suggest as far as I can see it is perfectly good spec wise, although the graphics are the same as the laptop I suggested.
