NLC - for the IT geeks...buying a laptop?

r055 · Post by **r055** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:46 pm

Im looking to buy a laptop around the £400/500 mark.

I want to use it for basic office programmes - nothing too strenuous. When not using it for that, i was going to sit it next to the sky box, DVD xbox etc so i can surf the web through the LCD in the livingroom (iplayer etc...)

anyone seen any good spec laptops for around that price or cheaper?
looking to buy in next few days hopefully!

TIA

Ross

BiggestNizzy · Post by **BiggestNizzy** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:06 pm

Saw an ASUS EEE or something £200 if it's just for basics it might be ok

Dominic · Post by **Dominic** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:07 pm

I know very little about I.T. so take my advice with a pinch of salt!

Louise & I have had several Dell Laptops, which have been in-expensive and performed well

philthy · Post by **philthy** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:09 pm

BiggestNizzy wrote:Saw an ASUS EEE or something £200 if it's just for basics it might be ok

is that the one with the 7" screen? had a play about with it yesterday and thought it was kinda turd, felt like a nintendo DS

Id go for one of these> http://www.microwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/SONB0244

great spec for the monies

whaleys · Post by **whaleys** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:29 pm

Another to consider...

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140414

Lazydonkey · Post by **Lazydonkey** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:43 pm

Ross i'd also have a look at Tesco - they were doing a mega cheap HP when i was in the other night.

Golden rules are;
- Get at least 1GB of ram, but more if you can

- Decide if you want portability or not ........if you dont you can get a cheaper machine with desktop spec internals for much cheapness but it will weigh a tonne and have average battery life

- If you can find an XP one then i'd go for that over Vista

Ebuyer is a good shout - they are normally much cheapness.

BiggestNizzy · Post by **BiggestNizzy** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:48 pm

if your going to use it in the living room on the TV what about a mdeia center PC ?

davejc · Post by **davejc** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:52 pm

I picked up a Sony Vaio NR21J for 499 from PC world not so long ago, not sure if they are still doing it, but i'm pretty sure not long after i bought this one, they reduced the higher spec one to 499 too, might be worth a look

not had any probs with this one so far (200GB, 2GB Ram, 1.66GHz, Vista Premium)

r055 · Post by **r055** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:14 pm

thanks guys,
not bought a pc for years as had a company laptop for so long - some good ideas there.

BiggestNizzy wrote:if your going to use it in the living room on the TV what about a mdeia center PC ?

Is a media centre PC not just a desktop???

I want to be able to take it places like the conservatory, uni etc and connect to wireless.

BiggestNizzy · Post by **BiggestNizzy** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:22 pm

media center is a desktop but it has a nice case and heatsinks instead of fans so it's quiet. it has no portability though.

r055 · Post by **r055** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:23 pm

what do you think of this one...?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-592 ... merReviews

my mate has it, but he bought it 100 quid dearer.
looking at the reviews, ACER doesnt get a good name

davejc · Post by **davejc** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:30 pm

r055 wrote:what do you think of this one...?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-592 ... merReviews

my mate has it, but he bought it 100 quid dearer.
looking at the reviews, ACER doesnt get a good name

stay away from them, my dad has one, and it's turned into an expensive paperweight!!

graeme · Post by **graeme** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:00 pm

If you can stretch your budget a bit I have Macbook I don't use any more (since work gave me one) that would work rather splendidly as a media machine too with 2Gig RAM, DVD multidrive, 120 Gig HD, remote, Frontrow software (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_Row).

PM me if you are interested.

Cheers,
Graeme

Corranga · Post by **Corranga** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:11 pm

Go to Dell and buy the cheapest laptop you can find with a 1GB of RAM and Windows XP.

I use an ancient P4 1.8Ghz laptop with 768mb of RAM and XP Home, and do more than you'll probably ever want to do on it (photoshopping, a bit of programming, mp3, browsing, word processing...) and it's perfect for it!

I'd avoid the Asus EEE PC mentioned above as it's designed to be ultra portable, runs Linux by default, and is quite involved to get XP installed on (and has no CD/DVD drive so would be useless for playing DVDs etc...) They are

though

Victor Meldrew · Post by **Victor Meldrew** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:48 pm

BiggestNizzy wrote:Saw an ASUS EEE or something £200 if it's just for basics it might be ok

Great little toy for carting about... but not much use for normal day to day stuff other than basic surfing and checking mail. not that bad to type on once you get used to it but defo not for your main PC.

Scottish Elises

NLC - for the IT geeks...buying a laptop?

NLC - for the IT geeks...buying a laptop?

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