Nexus 7

[martint235]

I've never seen an Ideapad in real life so can't really comment on it. Just did a little big of digging and the only real downside mentioned is the battery life. I think this is one of those things where it's a pretty powerful laptop with an HD screen and yet people expect the battery to just last for ever so I'd take that with a pinch of salt myself.

The one thing I can say without doubt though is that, to those people that use laptops a lot, the personal preferences are as important as bikes are on here to us so I'd definitely see if you can find a shop with an Ideapad just to let her have a go with the keyboard. (I've just nipped to my FiL to sort out his desktop and I hate the keyboard on it compared to the one I'm now using on my desktop!)

 

[MacB]

Darn, I know you're right and all that so I suppose that means I have to physically go to a shop.

I do keep mentioning to my family that I know little about computers, laptops, mobiles etc...other than all the stuff I have to read up on every time they want to move on, upgrade or have trashed what they had.

 

[martint235]

. I wouldn't buy it from a shop though, you're just going to make sure the fit is ok. She may even like a different make that it's cheaper so it might not be all bad. Get her to take you for a pint afterwards!

 

[MacB]

. I wouldn't buy it from a shop though, you're just going to make sure the fit is ok. She may even like a different make that it's cheaper so it might not be all bad. Get her to take you for a pint afterwards!

If I end up in any shoe shops - a perfectly reasonable and feasible possibility when shopping for laptops with Jane - then I'm blaming you

 

[martint235]

No, no, no!!! You have to do this properly! Currys are the place to go and so the worst you could probably end up in is a carpet shop or PetsRUs!!

 

[ian turner]

currys if you want to look at computers but not if you want to buy them as yo need binoculars and a megaphone to find
a sales assistant

 

[martint235]

Just an update on the nexus, I've had it since last Friday and charged it twice (first being Friday) and I've still got 38% left

 

[MacB]

Here. SWMBO is still using the baby brother of this, the X61, for work.

I'm sort of back on this a bit now, as you say I can find a lot of deals on ex corporate refurbed Thinkpads. The main complaint I can find about them is reduced battery life due to age. But that isn't a problem as long as mains operation is an option.
If I buy one of these then we can buy a decent tablet, 7 or 10" as well and still come in under the price of the sort of new laptop I'm looking at. Say up to £350 for the refurbed model and up to £400 for the tablet.

If anything goes wrong with either then the other is still an option.

The laptop would be reserved for work and the tablet for various browsing activity and treated as the portable option.

 

[martint235]

Sounds a good plan to me. A refurbished (rather than just ex) corporate laptop should be almost as good as new. If the battery is iffy a Lenovo longer life battery used to cost about £60

 

[monkeylc]

Got my lad a nexus 7 for his birthday.
absolutely brilliant bit of kit for the money. 1000s of free aps and the games are stunning.

 

[Sca1ey]

I have a Nexus 7 and the missus has an iPad3 - I haven't used the iPad3 or my laptop since the day I got it. Perfect for Tapatalking on here and browsing the Web - no waiting for boot ups, synchs with my HTC Sensation and Google on my desktop; spot on for the money.

Tim

 

[MacB]

Ok, ordered a refurbed T400 with Windows 7 pro and 12 month warranty for £299 delivered from here:-

http://www.tier1online.com/Product/...T400_6474_Core_2_Duo_P8600_24_GHz_141_TFT.htm

Having spoken to Jane about keyboards she was happy to go with this model. She does seem to have the ability to touch type on pretty much anything and, as she said, she learnt on an old manual typewriter so all this new stuff seems easy compared to that.

As for the tablet I think we'll go and actually have a mooch at them in person, my gut is to go for the Nexus but I accept that she may prefer a larger screen. Either way it still brings us in under the budget we'd alloted for the single laptop anyway.

Mucho thanks for your help folks.

 

[Norm]

The screen size is a tough one to test. The iPad does look better and grabs the attention in the store, but the one we got was over £500 and the Nexus is only just over a third of that. If it will never move out of the house, I'd consider it 50:50 but, if it will be used on the road, it would be the 7" tablet every time.

 

[MacB]

The screen size is a tough one to test. The iPad does look better and grabs the attention in the store, but the one we got was over £500 and the Nexus is only just over a third of that. If it will never move out of the house, I'd consider it 50:50 but, if it will be used on the road, it would be the 7" tablet every time.

Agreed, I may well snaffle something like the Nexus for myself, I'm a bit of a luddite with this stuff and fancy a try of something. It may all sound a bit whizz bang at MacB Towers but that's not me. I still have the same mobile I got from T-Mobile when I took out a contract nearly 8 years ago. I think the Nexus would be more than adequate for my needs but I may need a larger 'coffee table' style tablet to keep everyone else happy.

 

[MacB]

Well that was all rather quick, the Touchpad arrived today from Tier1, setup no problem at all. Battery seems ok, registers around the 3.5hr mark when laptop is in use...obviously that varies with consumption. But the machine will be used plugged in a lot of the time anyway. Keyboard is excellent and the screen size plenty big enough.

Coincidentally the Nexus arrived later on today as well, only thing that took setting up was Jane didn't have a google account so we created one of those. Also purchased the Ultimate Rotation app so that landscape worked in all views.

Final thing, do people use covers for their Nexus and what ones are good?