Laptop to replace PC

[MrsHowardRoark]

Our PC is on its last legs and so my DP and I have decided to replace it with a laptop. He has asked me to do some research and I don't really know where to start, so when in doubt, start with Mumsnet.

We don't want an Apple of any description, we already have a little Samsung netbook so are looking for something more comprehensive. Our maximum budget is £1000 and I would love it to be able to cope with The Sims 3 and it's various add-ons.

Any ideas will be gratefully received.

[MTSgroupie]

Check our Alienware laptops although their basic model might be over your budget. They are owned by Dell and they are the leaders in the laptop for serious gamers market.

[NetworkGuy]

NO idea what Sims 3 might require, but I'd expect you to be able to get two or more laptops (of medium to good performance) for that generous "budget"" - I bought 5 iMacs last year on Ebay for about the same, or a bit less!

Now admittedly my requirements were very different and they aren't comparable with laptops but at least in my case I have the peace of mind to know that whilst a burglar would easily offload a laptop, an iMac (6+ years old, so near on an inch thick, not the sleek lines of more recent Apple kit) is going to be hard to sell unless they know some jack of all trades who won't be flummoxed on seeing such a device.

I'd suggest looking on HotUKdeals.com to see if there are any hot tips in the Laptop department. When I was in Asda (and searched for Asda) up popped a 15.6" laptop costing 299 with an Intel i3 CPU. A fairly recent thread listed 4 laptops in the 300 to 350 pound range and they were hardly cheap and nasty models, so you could probably have one each and money to spare (for a standalone hard drive each, for backups of your documents, music, etc.

(1 TB {1000 GB} backup units are under 75 pounds these days, and while you could share, you're perhaps more likely to cause one another minor problems than if you had one each.)