Laptop for my 15 yo DS- Are Dell the best?

[DIddled]

We are looking for a laptop for my 15 yo DS- he is not interested in gaming on it, it's just for homework, internet surfing and connecting to printer. Our old one is too slow and on its way out.

I have been looking at Dell based on recommendation- I hear Acer are good too. Don't want to spend a bomb but also don't want to be replacing it next year. Needs Office on it. We aren't very techy at all, so any recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Most of our work laptops are Dell. They are pretty solid, but they are the probably the more expensive Dells, not the cheaper Dells.

Toshiba and HP laptops are usually pretty solid. I've heard good things about Samsung laptops, but I have no direct experience.

I've posted links to a Samsung and an HP laptop that look like good value in other threads.

To be honest the major manufacturers are virtually all identical in terms of which one is 'best'. There's not much in it at all.

Don't worry too much about Office. As I often recommend, download Kingsoft Office which is so similar to Office that most of the time I don't notice I'm not using it. And it's free.

Don't get a toshiba. Our techs at work hate them - our organisation has hundreds and hundreds of them and they've got some particular faults that they spend their days sorting out, over and over. They preferred the dell ones we had previously.

have look at what John Lewis offers - in the price you will get 2 years guarantee included which I guess is worth quite a lot.

what is your budget?

I went for the cheapest one here
www.johnlewis.com/laptops/toshiba=brand/14.1%22+to+16%22=screensizeslaptops-laptops-1738/c80000398

4gb RAM is minimum nowadays for Windows & Office to run on one machine

www.johnlewis.com/laptops/toshiba=brand/14.1%22+to+16%22=screensizeslaptops-laptops-1738/c80000398

It's impossible just to suggest a maker. Dell and Sony have both made machines with design faults and been a pain about fixing them.

Sony were spectacularly shit about fixing DD2's (fan and screen were faulty and in the end DH fixed it as a spare). I wouldn't ever buy another. They were taken to the courts in the US, they were so awkward at admitting they had design faults.

That said DD1's newer, dearer Sony (bought before DD2's went wrong) is no bother. I don't think the high end Dells DH has from work are bad and DD2's HP works fine (touch wood).

All you can do is google and google again the exact model your interested in and avoid the very newest unless the offer is spectacular. With luck the worst screen and over heating problems someone will have moaned about.

I am so flummoxed by it! To be honest- I have got so much on I might just wait till between Xmas and Ny and see if anything comes up in the sales when I have more time to look. Keep the recommendations coming , thanks

Im really dissappointed with Dell. I had a compaq that I loved, but when it finally died, after 6 years, I bought a Dell. It last 2.5 years, before the motherboard went.

DDs Dell, 2 years old, broke within a year - touchpad no longer works, and screen is loose. Battery doesnt last more that 5 mins off charger.

We got DD2 a HP laptop from PC world 2 years ago - around the £300 mark pretty much uses it as you describe. Very user friendly and no trouble apart from spoiling tea on the keyboard - twice which I replaced. It had a basic version of office included without the bells and whistles.

DD1 has had an Acer for about 4 years- cost about £500 but she was very into computer animation at the time do bought with a large memory.

I personally have a Samsung which I would not particularly recommend. Of the 3 laptops the HP is the best and our desktop is also HP.

Some employers offer a home version of office at a very cheap rate.

We have Dell at work (being phased out) and I would never buy one...

Can you go into PC world and try some out?

Dell's after-sales service is fab.

I been reading about Google Chromebook, which seems inexpensive, and comes from different manufacturers - including HP, which had a larger screen than some.

However, I think it's part of Google's campaign to take over the World, so check it out carefully!

kids at school need to have Office compatible software
I am not sure if all of those freebies we can get for Android Chromebook would be compatible.
However there's more details here:
blog.laptopmag.com/chromebook-buying-advice

Yes, I agree it could be problem. Yet Google claim they are being used in schools. Also, could stuff not be Saved as plain text, then formatted into Word as necessary?

I ended up with a Dell outlet laptop , hoping it's ok. Just waiting for delivery now.