New laptop advice

[willk]

Hi all, the time has come for a new laptop and I'd appreciate your most excellent advise please.

It would suit me (logistically) to buy from PC World (UK) or Dell. Any other source works too but creates hassle and expense. I get good repair work from the afore mentioned and they're handy/efficient.

I will spend NO MORE than STG£500 inclusive of VAT & Delivery, prefer around £400

Need:
Windows 7
circa 15" screen (all the better to see you with )
Performance for general office apps - no gaming
I tend to work with multiple apps
Quite a lot of digital pic stuff - not video

Most of all I want a Model or Brand that is reliable and nice to use, e.g. I see lots of eMachines and Acer units but I'm wary... possibly needlessly. Still, I'm using a Dell and it's lasted three years, purchased as a recon job.

Thanks for any assistance!

[Mollers]

Roycruse here http://www.1st-technology.co.uk/news.php

[AndrewH]

Whilst I realise that this kind of thread is often open to "mine is bigger/better/shinier than yours" flame wars, I'll chance my neck as follows.

The main reason any electronic kit fails is overheating (as this either burns out components directly, or results in thermal expansion that causes weak circuit boards/tracks or solder joints to break). Open up any desktop system and you'll see its mostly a box of air with lots of fans to circulate said air past the components that need cooling. Clearly a laptop doesn't have this luxury. Therefore manufacturers have 3 options:
1) slap in loads of heatsinks/cooling fans and vanes and get heat out somehow
2) increase build cost by using components that are more heat tolerant
3) say F*ckit, use cheapy components and accept that most units will fall over and die 3 days out of warranty.

Clearly options 1) and 2) add to cost, whereas 3) is a budget option. If you want a workhorse laptop that will last a reasonable length of time you are probably going to have to pay a bit more for it. If you buy cheap as chips then expect it to last as long as a bag of chips.

IMVHO (and all based on personal experience) I wouldn't touch a Toshiba again (3 motherboards in 13 months ) Sony Vaio range seem very well built and seem to last - I'd recommend to anyone. That said I do know of one colleague that has had real issues with his Vaio. Dells seem OK ish (although the cheaper offerings don't really last well). Similarly Compaq

One other point though is to look at what you want from a laptop. If you only really want a very lightweight (both physically and in terms of performance) machine for reading emails on the go and typing a few documents, some of the ultrasmall netbooks use very little electrical power and thus stay very cool. I currently have a Samsung NC10 and this often gives me 8 hrs battery life. Can't complain.

Just my £0.02, Hope this helps

[willk]

Originally Posted by AndrewH

Hope this helps

Sure does! Summarised by don't buy a cheap laptop, Tosh bad, Sony good? I'd go netbook but the screens are too small for my style of working. Thanks!

...and as for me starting a Flame War, well that's simply Preposterous

[250kts]

Your spec was very simular to mine when I looked recently. Looked around and took lots of (conflicting) advice. Finally settled on an Acer.

Bought from acerdirect.com and for £399 bought the Acer Aspire 5536 as follows

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 QL-64 2.1 GHz Dual-Core
RAM - 3 GB (installed) 8 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive - 500 GB
Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
- Windows 7 Upgrade free
Screen - 15.6 in TFT active matrix 1366 x 768 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
Optical Drive - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM
Graphics - ATI Radeon HD 3200 - 256 MB
Bluetooth - No
Notebook Camera - Integrated - 0.3 Megapixel
Warranty - 1 year warranty

Had it 2 weeks and does everything that I want
Hope this helps
Steve

[Nasher]

I recently purchased a Refurbished desktop from the PC world website.

I'm really pleased with it as it was a much higher spec for the money I wanted to spend and still came with a 12 month warranty.

They sell Laptops this way too, might be worth a look.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/edi...e/?int=top_nav

Nasher.

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by AndrewH

Whilst I realise that this kind of thread is often open to "mine is bigger/better/shinier than yours" flame wars, I'll chance my neck as follows.

The main reason any electronic kit fails is overheating (as this either burns out components directly, or results in thermal expansion that causes weak circuit boards/tracks or solder joints to break). Open up any desktop system and you'll see its mostly a box of air with lots of fans to circulate said air past the components that need cooling. Clearly a laptop doesn't have this luxury. Therefore manufacturers have 3 options:
1) slap in loads of heatsinks/cooling fans and vanes and get heat out somehow
2) increase build cost by using components that are more heat tolerant
3) say F*ckit, use cheapy components and accept that most units will fall over and die 3 days out of warranty.

Clearly options 1) and 2) add to cost, whereas 3) is a budget option. If you want a workhorse laptop that will last a reasonable length of time you are probably going to have to pay a bit more for it. If you buy cheap as chips then expect it to last as long as a bag of chips.

IMVHO (and all based on personal experience) I wouldn't touch a Toshiba again (3 motherboards in 13 months ) Sony Vaio range seem very well built and seem to last - I'd recommend to anyone. That said I do know of one colleague that has had real issues with his Vaio. Dells seem OK ish (although the cheaper offerings don't really last well). Similarly Compaq

One other point though is to look at what you want from a laptop. If you only really want a very lightweight (both physically and in terms of performance) machine for reading emails on the go and typing a few documents, some of the ultrasmall netbooks use very little electrical power and thus stay very cool. I currently have a Samsung NC10 and this often gives me 8 hrs battery life. Can't complain.

Just my £0.02, Hope this helps

Buying cheap isn't always a good guide any more - many of the big brands just stick their name on Chinese impots - even Sony!!!

Dell don't make their own laptops any more - all rebranded.

A "cheap" laptop may be better than a faster one because a slow cpu generates less heat.

There isn't really much to choose between makes - HP/Compaq and Toshiba are generally the best although they also do budget and business models. I have seen good and bad Vaios as with all the others. I was unfortunate enough to have had 3 bad ones!!!

My current HP is excellent - that is what I would spend £500 on - don't get too big a screen - they are unweildy.

[willk]

Thanks guys, certainly food for thought there.

I'll have to make a decision in the next few days - the Dell's battery is about shot, there are 15 lines on her 17" inch screen, the DVD reader can do only 30 mins non-stop before freezing and her second charger/power supply is on the fritz...

[AndrewH]

Originally Posted by Nasher

I recently purchased a Refurbished desktop from the PC world website.

Although I'm no great PC World fan, Nasher has a good point. You would also be well advised to look at their business website as well www.pcwb.co.uk as this often has more business oriented options rather than the sparkles but no substance that seems more favoured with the domestic market.

Also check the other regular options of www.insight.com, www.dabs.com and www.misco.co.uk. There's no hard and fast rule has to who is the cheapest as they all have offers that change more rapidly than an Essex girl's boyfriend. Check em all out and see what you like

[codprawn]

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/

They usually have a good selection of refurb laptops - mate has just bought 2 multi coloured ones for his daughters.