Needto buy a lap-top, but what to look for?

[Helennn]

Title says it all really. I thought I was reasonably IT literate, but when it comes to buying something new it seems to be like learning a new language!

Could somebody point me in the right direction of a help-ful web-site that explains what everything means and what minimum hard-drive I need, which processor is better than which, will it play a DVD et. etc?

If any-body is interested, I want it mainly for web browsing, doing word documents/excel, watching DVD's, min 15" screen, don't play 3D games, and be £300 - £400 range.

Any help would be much appreciated as I want to order it before our business' year end, ie Wednesday!

Many thanks

Without gaming pretty much anything will do, they all come with DVD readers/ burners on em now days.

200gig or so of Hard Drive space is enough for anybody. and both AMD and Intel processors do the job fine.

The only important thing you need to look for is RAM size to processor/motherboard type, there are two types of processor 32 bit and 64 bit (the difference don't matter if your not gaming) but a 32 bit system can only use a maximum of 3gig of ram, 64 bit ones can use more.

Some makers try to make there machines sound better by giving you say 4gig of ram on a 32 bit system, it's a complete waste of a gig.

Brands are important the best is Asus (AKA Asustek), Toshiba a pretty good with clear screens, Samsungs are good.

Ones to avoid like the black death are Acer ( cheap rubbish), Sony (known to over heat) and Apple (over priced).

While I'd generally agree with what Ryoko wrote, I'm not quite so fast to dismiss Acer.

As for your other requirements, you could do worse than try Froogle (Google for shoppers) and search for "laptops" then be more selective - for example, under operating system, it is perhaps best to select Windows 7 (many are happy with XP, various complaints about Win Vista regarding it being sluggish).

If you plan to use it for watching DVDs then it might be worth looking for one with an HDMI output (which can then be plugged into many TVs these days (flat screens often come with HDMI, possibly SCART and sometimes VGA. HDMI is typical for output from home cinema amplifiers and lots of sources such as satellite box, DVD players, Blu-Ray DVD players, games machines).

Thanks to you both, that's a great help. My PC that I'm on at the moment is in its death throes and needs to go to the menders, so sorry not to have been back before. I want to try to get the lap-top before I lose this one!!

I shall have a look today and go shopping

sorry hijacking this thread instead of starting a new one but I'm also looking for a new laptop possible netbook - its size thats important ;)
I'm basically after something that is laptop specifications but but slightly larger larger than netbook sized? Any ideas??

I have a very nice 13.3" Toshiba which is only a little bigger than many netbooks, but it does have a DVD drive.
It's my home laptop & I'm at work so I can't tell you the model but I'll post again if I actually manage to get home tonight (one of the teachers is having a confidential meeting with a parent in the room where my bag is, so an early departure is not looking likely at the moment)

Samsung laptops tend to have HDMI connectors on them.

I don't like Acer because they use the cheapest components they can find, which tends to mean they die after a few years.

I don't play games on PC as I'm a Linux user so I am used to buying new ones after about 6 years or so when they die and you can't buy the components anymore to fix em.

This is my home laptop, but I see it's been discontinued, though there are still a few Toshiba 13.3" ones available.

I have a Toshiba at work too, though that's a bit bigger, a 15.6" widescreen - but it does have an HDMI output - my home one doesn't, but my TV has a VGA port, so I sometimes MN on a 42" screen.....

I don't like Acer much either, having been responsible for looking after 20+ of them over the last few years at school - I had one which had to be returned to Acer's repair shop five times in six weeks - twice because they sent it back with the wrong operating system on. We also have 4 Acer 5135s and a 5120 all of which suffer from sudden unexplained shutdowns, so we have now moved on to HPs and Toshibas, which so far seem a lot better.

(I realise I am tempting fate saying that and will probably arrive at school tomorrow to find a teacher with a crashed laptop awaiting me....)

Ok - will look into that - thanks rusty! I think I'm being convinced on a Toshiba!! Will look out for some bank holiday deals...

Something in favour of Toshiba is that they've been doing laptops for 20+ years.

OK, the original ones I remember were very different - heavy, needed the PSU plugged in to do much number- crunching and the screen was Orange (doubt it was LED, cannot be sure what it was to be honest), and probably came direct from Japan while nowadays parts might be from S Korea, Singapore or China.

Don't be too quick to dismiss Asus (AKA Asustek) Mine has DVI instead of HDMI but they may make them with it now.

When I was looking for a laptop apart from finding out what brands where the most reliable I found it very helpful just to go round places like Curries Digital looking at the screens on all the display models, they are very variable some are very dark and blurry others are bright and crystal clear.

Love my pink Dell Studio (£399), has HDMI socket, 3xUSBs, DVD/CD drive, SD/MMC reader, good battery life, webcam, etc. And I can play graphics-heavy games at the same time as having other windows open and playing music through Winamp. I know Dell gets knocked a lot, but we have had quite a few (PCs too) and never any probs.

Hello, may I join your thread?
I'm looking for something similar to the OP. I bought What Laptop? the other week and they say you should expect to replace it after 3 years. I want one that lasts me a bit longer than that (my current one is a Dell which I've had since 2002!) so build quality & reliability are really important. (My Dell CD drive failed when it was a week out of guarantee ).

Are Toshiba still good?

What Laptop? seem to love Acer - is that not universal then?

Does not seem universal - I think something else to consider is how much you expect to do with the machine.

Lots of the laptops I've compared over recent months claim only 2 to 2.5 hours battery life and the new laptop I bought in Asda Living (a Compaq running Windows 7) seems to quickly discharge, whereas I feel fairly confident longer battery life was the norm in days gone by.

Perhaps it was true only through rose-tinted specs, but then again a tiny proportion of the recently spotted laptops claim up to 6 hours or so!

Thanks Webdude.
Agree with you about battery life - I had a lightweight Sony Vaio from work which is probably about 5 years old and I can remember the battery lasting for 8 hours when it was new. I was quite surprised that things seem to have gone backwards on this - I suppose because the applications everyone uses now are more power-hungry than they used to be?

Not sure it is the applications, so much as needing "more and faster" to stand still... more ram, and faster CPU just to get Windows to be responsive, with applications on top.

The laptops below 750 (?) quid are likely to be a bit slower with those above being aimed at sales people / business users (with purchase being a company expense, ie not always out of their own pocket, some machines will be lighter weight but high performance, others just higher performance with bigger battery capacity).

Once you add the fact there's sound, perhaps a wider screen, and possibly a webcam too, plus a few USB ports, power for a Wi-Fi card (inside the laptop), you can see the extras all draining the battery and none of them were standard on lower cost machines years ago.

all I want to do is Mumsnet internet and word processing - that won't run slowly on a cheaper laptop will it?

No, should be fine, I'd say. If you put some upper limit on budget, there might be some suggestions for good value machines.

I'll certainly have a hunt for the ones with longer battery life (if that would be useful).

I'd like to keep it below £500 if I can.
Some of the more expensive ones (eg a Samsung @ £599) have isolated keys which is something I really want if I can find it on a cheaper one.
Good battery life is a high priority - I'm not likely to take it out much but it means I can use it around the children without there being trailing wires.
Thanks for all your advice Webdude

I posted a few similiar threads when looking for a laptop a few months ago.

I decided I wanted 4gb of RAM, an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, Windows 7, and wasn't too bothered about the size of the hard drive.

I looked at Dell, Acer and Toshiba then started to look at ASUS. I eventually decided on an ASUS as build quality seemed very good in comparison with Acer and Dell, and price was very god for what I was looking for.

I got it from ebuyer who were very quick to deliver.

I see its now coming with a free carry case too slightly different processor but still Core 2

hth. I took months researching and deciding btw

Isolated keys? (number pad etc, perhaps?)

If children are involved, with chance of drinks getting into laptop, I'm of the opinion a cheap (under 10 quid) USB keyboard would be worth considering, so laptop can be kept away from small fingers etc... and a cheap USB keyboard can be replaced if there's any problem with / damage to it. (Some say they have rough handling and laptop keyboards can be 70 quid or so to replace, not forgetting labour cost and sending away. Fluids in a laptop can kill it completely - hmmmm reminds me to check a recent thread to see if the cat pee in one laptop killed it, or they got laptop going again!)

For a no-wires solution, then a wireless keyboard might be worth considering... That way the laptop (keyboard and screen) can be up on a shelf out of reach of any LO.

Just mentioning, for benefit of anyone else considering laptops, even if not suited for immediate enquirors.

like this - keys through individual holes in the chassis. Meant to be more resistant to stuff under the keyboard/spillages.

Thanks - live and learn, every day... I hadn't seen them described that way before (older options for industrial use had a thin membrane covering whole keyboard, for example)

I had seen (and want) an illuminated kbd, but if you go to froogle.co.uk and look for "flexible keyboard" they are often under 20 quid (Ebuyer has one for a fiver, some others 30+) and while it might become more common on a laptop, it looks like one can easily be added and thus not limit choice of laptop...

went for a Sony Vaio in the end.
OMG the keyboard is so beautiful

I only noticed after buying it that reviews say the battery life is not as good as claimed, but we'll see.

Little tip on batteries for those saying about battery life, don't use em if you don't need to, all rechargeables slowly loose the ability to hold a charge, if you are not out and about take the battery off and run the thing from the mains, if you plug it in and leave the battery on it will still use/charge the battery.

plus constantly charging the battery a little and using it a little will also shorten the life span of it.

So when at home mains plug in battery off.
When out and about best to flatten the battery fully before a recharge to keep the electrolyte healthy. (same applies to handhelds, phones etc).