Need a new laptop. Advice much appreciated

[Iatemyskinnyperson]

We need a new laptop. Last one was a dell, which was OK.

Im not very techy, but I figure most brands are built in Foxconn so the badge is immaterial. Can anyone reccomend any brand in particular?

Just want a bog standard good value laptop for general web surfing, odd bit of letter writing, printing stuff for kids school stuff. No big gaming or anything complicated.

Thanks!!

Absolutely love my Toshiba. It is fast, reliable and has a nice big keyboard and screen. Cheap too. It was less than £300 at PCWorld.

I was just about to post this very same thing. Our HP has just about ground to a halt. We have an iPad which has spoiled us with its speed and functionality but I need something that can support Office for work. Dithering over laptop vs netbook as it will mostly be used for sofa web surfing.

I can confirm that Toshiba Satellite laptops are built like tanks. Dp's has been dropped many many times and still functions (although usb ports have died ).

My emachines (acer) bits broke about a month after buying it, also had a lenovo, the plastic was cheap and brittle, the hinges connecting the lid to the bottom wore out really quickly, although it die a death by juice .

Macbook air

Might be worth specifying some budget, given some (eg Mac) can cost 3 times a Windows laptop...

Can I also put in a word for using a USB (or wireless) keyboard and mouse, so little fingers don't get jam on the laptop keyboard, then laptop can be further back on a table and have less chance of being knocked off by someone rushing past, oh, and to be able to keep the laptop in less danger of death by coffee wine or fruit juice !!

Have three Toshiba here... plus Dell and HP. Very pleased with Toshiba. NB Not completely anti-Apple (I have several second hand iMacs) but even a refurbished device from Apple is still rather costly, in my view.

Would suggest looking to see if a model has HDMI (so can be plugged into big TV if needed). Many have VGA but HDMI is getting quite popular for display from laptops.

I'm going to look for a new one tomorrow.
I'm signing up on a course with the ou and only have a netbook which apparently isn't good enough. No idea what to go for

I also use mine a lot to watch tv in bed. Check out the speakers and sound quality - you may want to too. First one I bought ( ~ £300 Toshiba) was guff, took it back and got a ~£350 HP - sound much better.

Bit surprised at duff sound - many Toshiba have Harmon/Kardon speakers just like Apple has used for some time... Worth knowing though, and a warning to check the spec online before spending the money on impulse in a shop (oh, and consider John Lewis with 2 year warranty on most computer gear).

Hi all
My budget is as little as possible!! But don't want to fall victim to false economy. Toshiba seems to be mentioned a fair bit. Might have a look.

We have iPhones & an iPad, but it annoys me that printing from apple devices is such a faff. I need to print pics a lot. DS2 has ASD so I'm always printing pics/material for visual schedules & social stories. DH also need MS Office for work stuff.

I had hoped someone would say 'Oh this dodgy little known brand is exactly the same as this other spendy brand. They just change the badge'. Anyone??

Feelthis has a point - the sound on my Toshiba isn't great. I tend to use it for writing and surfing the net but use the Mac for youtube and tv catch up.

another vote for a toshiba satellite here, mine has many bashes and paint spodges, and still going strong (gets dropped once a week!).

Sound isn't great, but I don't notice it when using iplayer etc, you just get used to it, and its not terrible, just not amazing.

Thanks all. Toshiba it is!!

Just to add, I have bought about 20 laptops from eBay over the last year or so for an average of £100 each. Whilst they are a little slow to start up, for Internet browsing, occasional bits of typing etc, they are perfect.

If you have £1000 for a MacBook Air that's great, but for a laptop that will sit at home, gather dust and might get stomped on by the kids, why spend? Plus, you get to reuse reduce recycle too

I'm also a fan of laptops via Ebay, but have spent an average closer to 150 (except for a Dell Inspiron at 100 bought locally, after seeing it on Ebay).

We had a problem with Toshiba screen on our last one - the odd pixel died - usually right where your eye kept going to - happened on the replacement too...

I just bought a lovely Sony one today (I know we are paying an extra £100 for the badge, but it is sooooo nice) it is shiny and new with a stunningly fabulous keyboard that fits my fingers and hand size the best of any laptop ever - and am getting to grips with Windows8 (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ) factor in plenty of bloomin RE-learning time if you want windows 8 !!!

But I forgive it because it is soooooooooooooo fast and ready set up too - mumsnetting within an hour...

Toshiba dont seem to be faring too well atm according to this survey

Fairly mixed comments on that comparison, and let's not forget, it seems to be mostly N Americans posting their views. Found it interesting that they had a few odd categories for marking... Definitely not just on the technical but 'design'...

(I know Apple kit can look beautiful, but if you're in a dark room and just want to know which is well supported, has a wide variety of software, and is value for money, then I'd tend to find design {apart from something like reducing noise} to be something of a tangent).