# Affordable laptop recommendations: budget £350-£450



## psycherelic (Dec 6, 2009)

I'm sure there's been millions of these threads before and you'll all bored of people asking what laptop they should buy, but I've really tried and looked around a lot but I just seem to be getting more confused 

I've worked a bit out, I want to spend something in the £350-£450 range, I'm not bothered about portability, battery life or hard drive size and I'd mainly use it for watching films/TV, internet browsing and playing civ4 

More technically I'd like to find something with at least 3 preferably 4gb ram, a dual core processor with a speed over 2ghz, a wide screen at last 15.6", a dedicated graphics card that isn't completely shit, at least 3 usb ports and a half decent build quality that won't fall apart six months down the line.

Oh and I'd rather get something that already has windows 7 installed, but I could live with updateing a vista machine if it would save me money.

Help!?

Any advice/recomendations would be REALLY appreciated.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 6, 2009)

psycherelic said:


> I've worked a bit out, I want to spend something in the £350-£450 range, I'm not bothered about portability, battery life or hard drive size and I'd mainly use it for watching films/TV, internet browsing and playing civ4



A desktop? You'll get much more bang for your buck and a bigger screen.


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## Kid_Eternity (Dec 6, 2009)

Was gonna say that, if you're not interested in battery life and portability I can't see why you'd get a laptop tbh...unless you live in a tiny place?


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## psycherelic (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks for the replies, had considered a desktop BUT I don't have a desk, I live in a one bed flat, I might be going to korea for a year and I'd like something I can take round to friend's


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## Bob_the_lost (Dec 7, 2009)

Why  at civ 4, a magnificent game. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002GYVMAK/ref=nosim/?tag=hotukdeals-21

Ticks all the boxes I believe? I'm not sure on the GPU, can't find much on it but it's not Intel so it's probably good enough for Civ 4.


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## treelover (Dec 9, 2009)

*Laptop for around 350-400?*

I have been asked to source a laptop for a friend around 350 -400 max: the one I am looking at is the 15.6" Notebook MEDION AKOYA® E5218, it has a 15.6" LCD screen,  intel T4400 (2.2 GHz) a FSB 800 MHz, 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM1
and a 320 GB S-ATA hard drive. 

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/2827_12298.htm

Any good? she wants one to watch films, word process, store and maybe photoshop digital images,etc.


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## psycherelic (Dec 9, 2009)

I think I've cracked it with the acer 7535G:


AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual Core Mobile Processor ZM-82, 2.2GHz
4 GB RAM
17.3" screen
ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 graphics card
500GB SATA hard drive
Vista home premium
£479 from ebuyer http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173591

Does that sound reasonable?


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## editor (Dec 9, 2009)

I'd probably look at an Acer machine. Summat like this one for £380
Acer Aspire 5732Z Value Laptop, Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 2.1GHz, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 15.6" WXGA, DVD±RW, Webcam, Dark Blue Lid, Windows 7 Home Premium
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172314


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## weltweit (Dec 9, 2009)

I like Dell for good value machines.


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## editor (Dec 9, 2009)

Yep - Dell are worth a look too.


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## RaverDrew (Dec 9, 2009)

That Medion one is awesome value - 3 yr warranty as well


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## jonead (Dec 9, 2009)

find an extra ton and get a basic config Dell Studio 15, rather than some mucky no-name tat.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/p...tudio-1555?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&ref=lthp


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## JE:5 (Dec 9, 2009)

RaverDrew said:


> That Medion one is awesome value - 3 yr warranty as well




And Aldi are really good for changing things or giving you your money back if they should stop working (or it wasn't what you wanted)


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## RaverDrew (Dec 9, 2009)

JE:5 said:


> And Aldi are really good for changing things or giving you your money back if they should stop working (or it wasn't what you wanted)



Yep they've been very good with swapping computer stuff for me in the past, even when it was a matter of days outside the warranty. 

They allso have a really good unofficial user support forum


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## Bob_the_lost (Dec 9, 2009)

Nice as a desktop replacement, which is what you're after. Don't expect the battery to last any longer than it takes to unplug from one socket and plug into another next to it.


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## Kanda (Dec 9, 2009)

I've had a look, can't find any threads like this. Good post


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## editor (Dec 9, 2009)

*threads merged, title changed, tags added and thread made a sticky


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 9, 2009)

It was time for a new one!


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## treelover (Dec 9, 2009)

Ah, just come in, bit confused at the urban Synchronicity!  but thanks for the info, my friend is disabled and a laptop would be best.I think i will recommend the Aldi one, though a bigger screen would have been preferable, and maybe with blu-ray.


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## Doppelgänger (Dec 17, 2009)

*Can anyone recommend a decent laptop*

My mum wants to get a new laptop and I said I'd help.

She wants to sepnd no more than £350 (The less the better) and also wants it equiped with Windows 7.

She only needs to use it with Word (so also needs this) and for internet browsing.

Does anybody have any ideas?


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## boskysquelch (Dec 17, 2009)

Doppelgänger said:


> Does anybody have any ideas?



PM Minnie the Minx... she has ALL the details.


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## London_Calling (Dec 17, 2009)

I'd wait to near the end of Jan.


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## Doppelgänger (Dec 17, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I'd wait to near the end of Jan.



Unfortunately she needs it asap and might not even wait untill after Xmas!


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## kained&able (Dec 17, 2009)

There is a thread knocking about with that price range somewhere. The answer is Acer Inspire though, just can't remember numbers.


dave


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## boskysquelch (Dec 17, 2009)

cheapest Dell I can see with Word. http://ecomm.euro.dell.com/dellstor...=CFG&oid=9de5526f-2986-45b1-a170-7275048e6ce1

jus to piss off dave.


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## dlx1 (Dec 17, 2009)

I was look for dad his money, at an Asus £345 at Comet order on website pick from store.

Win7 64bit
4gb ram 
350 HD 

Think it was good. 

he went for a Sony in end more money same speck


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## editor (Dec 18, 2009)

kained&able said:


> There is a thread knocking about with that price range somewhere.


It's a ruddy sticky too with a near identical title! I'll merge them.

Oh, and this ain't bad for £378:
Acer Aspire 5732Z Value Laptop, Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 2.1GHz, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 15.6" WXGA, DVD±RW, Webcam, Dark Blue Lid, Windows 7 Home Premium

or this for the same price:
Acer Aspire 5536 Laptop, AMD Turion RM-74 2.2GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6" WXGA, DVDRW,HDMI,Webcam Card Reader WIFI, ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics, Vista Home Premium *WINDOWS 7 UPGRADEABLE*

Or this for £350
Compaq 615 Laptop,AMD Dual Core Athlon X2 QL-66 2.2GHz, 320GB HDD, 2GB RAM, 15.6" WXGA, DVD±RW, ATI HD3200, Bluetooth,2MP Webcam,WIFI, Windows 7 Home Premium

http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computers/cat/Laptops


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## ymu (Dec 18, 2009)

psycherelic said:


> I think I've cracked it with the acer 7535G:
> 
> 
> AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual Core Mobile Processor ZM-82, 2.2GHz
> ...


If you want XP get Vista Business and XP downgrade disks. They'll have equivalents to that with Business on it. Acer Aspires have Home Premiums and Travelmates have Business. You'll probably get a good offer on Windows 7 upgrades too.

I got a Travelmate Timeline for the battery life - benchmark >9 hours, actual 4-6 hours.  The other reason I got it was a numeric keypad on a 15.6" machine, which was relatively hard to find at the time. Some other 15.6" Acers also have this, if you'd prefer a smaller one but need the keypad for games. They should be a bit cheaper for the same spec and won't eat leccy. Might be harder to find a 15.6" with a good graphics card. Laptop adviser has a good page on cards and what games run on them - usually comes fairly high if you google the card name.

I'm not recommending a Timeline because the processor and graphics would be inadequate for your gaming needs. But thumbs up for Acer in general. This is my second Acer in a row, and they're pretty good. They've stopped putting all their annoying crap software on too, which is fucking lovely. Clean from first boot!


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## paulE (Dec 27, 2009)

*a worthwhile read*

anyone thinking about a new computer should check out this piece from ZDnet. awhile back.
Culture of cheap: How discount computers cost the consumer
"The American obsession with low-priced products — especially electronics — is actually bad for the individual consumer. According to one expert, the race to the bottom cramps innovation, speeds the decline of successful industries and alters our expectations of product quality.

Are thinning margins and the economics of cheap ruining our attitudes?

This month, I added my contribution to ZDNet’s “Dead-finger Tech” series with Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop, and an interesting discussion arose in the comments about the true value of “premium.”

the full read can be found at.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=6320&tag=nl.e540


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## Bob_the_lost (Dec 27, 2009)

I was less than convinced by that post.

It assumes that Apple or Dell are the innovators required for improvements in computing which is rarely true. It also makes the major and incredible assumption that people want a "computer for life" or that such a monstrosity would be a good thing. It also implies that somehow a cheap desktop is a poor investment compared to a more expensive one, that's a seriously questionable claim.


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## sumimasen (Jan 3, 2010)

BUMP.

Anyone know if any good deals are floating around, or worth waiting a couple more weeks...


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 12, 2010)

boskysquelch said:


> PM Minnie the Minx... she has ALL the details.




Just seen this thread


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 12, 2010)

Have you bought it yet?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 12, 2010)

Global_Stoner said:


> Have you bought it yet?




No.  I was too busy tiling to look for computers


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 12, 2010)

All that research gone to waste. 

Well Jan sales are now on and there are some good deals to be had.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 12, 2010)

Global_Stoner said:


> All that research gone to waste.
> 
> Well Jan sales are now on and there are some good deals to be had.




The tiling was my priority.  My Christmas present can wait.  

Not much longer though.  I'm amazed my modem's held out this long.  Bit difficult doing research when your modem keeps switching off


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## dylans (Jan 12, 2010)

jonead said:


> find an extra ton and get a basic config Dell Studio 15, rather than some mucky no-name tat.
> 
> http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/p...tudio-1555?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&ref=lthp



I have a Dell Studio 15 and I love it, can't recommend it enough.


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## tarannau (Jan 12, 2010)

As a counterbalance we've got some of those Dells at work. I really don't like the keyboards or build quailty. The XPS range are sturdier, but they're not grand either - you should hear the moans from around the building as they replace the Thinkpads with the Dells.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 12, 2010)

tarannau said:


> As a counterbalance we've got some of those Dells at work. I really don't like the keyboards or build quailty. The XPS range are sturdier, but they're not grand either - you should hear the moans from around the building as they replace the Thinkpads with the Dells.




I can't afford a Thinkpad, but an Ideapad is within my budget.


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## tarannau (Jan 12, 2010)

I can't say I've used an Ideapad to be fair. With the Dells it's the flex on the keyboard and fragility of the screen which compare very badly to the more aged Thinkpads in use. Reliability gossip hasn't been grand either.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 12, 2010)

tarannau said:


> I can't say I've used an Ideapad to be fair. With the Dells it's the flex on the keyboard and fragility of the screen which compare very badly to the more aged Thinkpads in use. Reliability gossip hasn't been grand either.




I went into Currys before Christmas to look at laptops.  There was an Acer there and one of the keys had become dislodged.  I figured someone very heavy-handed had been bashing at it or it was a very flimsy keyboard.

Despite all the problems with this Dell, I've never had anything go wrong with the keyboard (although my *a *key isn't working properly).  Must need a clean or something.


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## tarannau (Jan 12, 2010)

To be fair, i think even you're more forgiving than the punters and highly informed staff on a display model in Currys. 

FWIW Dell seems to have done alright on recent reliability surveys, with Lenovo just behind them then Acer. HP came last effectively







Source Electronista/MacNN


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 12, 2010)

tarannau said:


> To be fair, i think even you're more forgiving than the punters and highly informed staff on a display model in Currys.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Not sure what you mean by me being forgiving 

I quite liked the look of a few Toshibas but there were some that had really small keyboards which I didn't like or they had separate numeric keyboards which made main keyboard smaller.  Not too bothered about a numeric keyboard but really didn't like the small keyboards on some of them


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## sumimasen (Jan 12, 2010)

Minnie just to clarify.................

Have you bought one yet or not?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 12, 2010)

sumimasen said:


> Minnie just to clarify.................
> 
> Have you bought one yet or not?




No, I've been too busy 

I have to start looking all over again, but I've veered away from Acer so no more Acer recommendations please.


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## newharper (Jan 31, 2010)

I'm looking for a laptop, never had one before, any body got any absolutes?
Does this look good value?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/086426?int=home-centre-3

All suggestions gratefully recieved.


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## mattie (Jan 31, 2010)

nick h recommended tier1 to me, they sell on refurbished corporate machines.

I got an IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad 60 for £300, it was graded '4' which meant it was is good condition but obviously used - the keys were a bit shiny with wear, and there were a few scuffs around the case, but that was about it.  Windows XP installed, no recovery disks, but all IBM software (DVD, Anti-virus etc) was pre-installed.

All seems good, a very well built machine and a very decent spec for the money - only 2Gb of RAM, but a Core 2 Duo processor.

This links to a cheaper grade 5 machine, which will have more sign of wear but is correspondingly cheaper.
http://www.tier1online.com/Product/4335-GRADE4_1951-CTO-WY6/Lenovo_ThinkPad_T60_1951_Core_2_Duo_T7200_2_GHz_Centrino_Duo_RAM_2_GB_HDD_60_GB_CD_RW_DVD_ROM_combo_GMA_950_Gigabit_Ethernet_WLAN_80211a_b_g_Win_XP_Pro_141_TFT_1024_x_768_XGA_IBM_.htm

eta:  correction, I think that machine is a grade 4, which from memory is the same as mine - they're a little cheaper now as well.


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## xes (Feb 20, 2010)

So, I got 500 quid roughly to spend on a laptop, what shall I get? 

I'm a laptop newb, don't need anything too fancy, but I want something pretty fast and reliable. Mainly for internet use, and sometimes running music software. Advise me, what shall I spend my money on?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 20, 2010)

I just got a very nice Samsung for little over £500


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## xes (Feb 20, 2010)

tell me more


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## RubyToogood (Feb 21, 2010)

What do people think of this: http://www.johnlewis.com/230825426/Product.aspx ?

I was in JL yesterday so popped into computers and had a chat with the sales person, who said this one was new in and was easily the best they have in that price range. Alternatively I've been looking at Dells - but not sure if an Inspiron would do me or should go for a Studio, what spec etc.

I'm going to use it for general surfing but need something I can record music with (will be getting an external audio interface so don't need to worry about soundcard too much). I don't really play games or anything - also am not too worried about hard drive space as I can back up elsewhere.

One of the advantages of buying from JL is that they give you an extra year's guarantee free. The Toshiba only has 2 USB ports though, I don't know if I'd find that enough.


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## AKA pseudonym (Feb 21, 2010)

Im quite happy with the Acer aspire 5732z purchased from Argos last month @ £399


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## RubyToogood (Feb 21, 2010)

Interesting as that's the same ram/hard drive size and the same processor as the Toshiba.


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## editor (Feb 21, 2010)

You might want to consider a second hand ThinkPad too: they're awesomely reliable and tough as nails.

If you don't mind a few scuffs you can pick up great specced machines for next to nothing. 

# Lenovo ThinkPad T60 1951
# Core 2 Duo T7200 / 2 GHz
# Centrino Duo
# RAM 2 GB
# HDD 60 GB
# 4 x USB
# CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
# GMA 950
# Gigabit Ethernet
# WLAN : 802.11a/b/g
# Win XP Pro
# 14.1" TFT 1024 x 768 ( XGA )
# IBM T60

http://tier1online.com/Product/4335..._g_Win_XP_Pro_141_TFT_1024_x_768_XGA_IBM_.htm

http://www.tier1online.com/Product/4335-GRADE5_1951-CTO-WY6?CAWELAID=441577051


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## RubyToogood (Feb 21, 2010)

editor said:


> You might want to consider a second hand ThinkPad too: they're awesomely reliable and tough as nails.
> 
> If you don't mind a few scuffs you can pick up great specced machines for next to nothing.
> 
> ...


That's half the ram and a quarter of the hard drive space though.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2010)

xes said:


> tell me more




It's this one, it's gone up £20 though.  This is the lower specced machine, but I think the one with more memory etc. is still under £600

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191571


A couple of reviews here 

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191571


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## xes (Feb 21, 2010)

Taa, I shall look into it  I _could_ go to 600, but I want to get some speakers too, so I was saving that extra bit.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 24, 2010)

xes said:


> Taa, I shall look into it  I _could_ go to 600, but I want to get some speakers too, so I was saving that extra bit.




Gone back down to £525 on ebuyer


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## xes (Feb 24, 2010)

scary internet buying!!   

I like shops


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 24, 2010)

xes said:


> scary internet buying!!
> 
> I like shops



Well I refuse to use ebuyer anyway  

£600 at Argos


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## xes (Feb 24, 2010)

I'll pop down to pc world on friday/saturday or something. See if there's anything on special offer. (I likey special offers)


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## red rose (Feb 24, 2010)

I'm seriously considering this Samsung R519

http://www.dabs.com/products/samsun...7-h-69FN.html?refs=50220000-46140000-49340000

Which is really about £100 over my initial price range but has everything I want plus an excellent spec.  I've found it with double the RAM and a better processor on Play for £400 but I'm resisting that.


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## xes (Feb 26, 2010)

Ok, so i am now posting from my new laptop. I got a HP noteook DV6. It looks kind of sexy (important to me, sad i know) and it's got 4gb or ram, which I gather is quite good for a laptop. paid under 500 for it so I'm happy. 

Still getting used to using my finger instead of a mouse, but over all i'm quite pleased.


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## fen_boy (Mar 1, 2010)

I just ordered this 'un for my mum http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189888 looks a reasonable deal to me.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 2, 2010)

red rose said:


> I'm seriously considering this Samsung R519
> 
> http://www.dabs.com/products/samsun...7-h-69FN.html?refs=50220000-46140000-49340000
> 
> Which is really about £100 over my initial price range but has everything I want plus an excellent spec.  I've found it with double the RAM and a better processor on Play for £400 but I'm resisting that.



I nearly went for that one, and then the R522 I think it was, and dithered so much, I went for neither


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## boskysquelch (Mar 2, 2010)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I nearly went for that one, and then the R522 I think it was, and dithered so much, I went for neither



And someone gave me a laptop after they saw you not giving me your old one. Too.


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## rhod (Mar 2, 2010)

RubyToogood said:


> What do people think of this: http://www.johnlewis.com/230825426/Product.aspx ?



Funnilly enough, I went on an expedition last week to John Lewis to help a friend choose a laptop and this was the model that we decided on.

Had a bit of a tinker around with it today to set it up and it seems quite a decent machine, although McAffee was a bitch to uninstall. Had to run a couple of removal tools to get rid of it before Kaspersky would install itself.

Whatever you do, avoid HP/Compaq - they might look shiny and cool, but they have a rather shoddy policy when it comes to product defects/recalls (eg offering BIOS updates to "solve" overheating problems by keeping the fan on constantly, even though the overheating components are likely to burn out eventually, anyway).


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## fen_boy (Mar 3, 2010)

fen_boy said:


> I just ordered this 'un for my mum http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189888 looks a reasonable deal to me.



Turned up yesterday - it's nice, bit plasticky, but then it was cheap. It runs cool and quiet and quick.
It's also got a clever touchpad that does some of the multi fingered gestures that the Macbooks do. Not as well as my Mac, but still quite good for the money.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 4, 2010)

boskysquelch said:


> And someone gave me a laptop after they saw you not giving me your old one. Too.




Yeah, but I'm still using the old one


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## RubyToogood (Mar 4, 2010)

rhod said:
			
		

> Funnilly enough, I went on an expedition last week to John Lewis to help a friend choose a laptop and this was the model that we decided on.
> 
> Had a bit of a tinker around with it today to set it up and it seems quite a decent machine, although McAffee was a bitch to uninstall. Had to run a couple of removal tools to get rid of it before Kaspersky would install itself.



I decided to stop faffing and ordered this yesterday and it came today. So far so ok, just setting it up now. Have got 28 days to send it back if I decide it was a bad move for any reason.


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## editor (Mar 5, 2010)

This looks good for £400

Acer Aspire 5732Z Value Laptop
Processor
    * Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 2.1GHz
    * 800MHz FSB
    * 1MB L2 Cache

Memory
    * 4GB RAM (max) - DDR3

Hard Drive
    * 500GB

Optical Drive
    * DVD±RW Dual Layer

Display

    * 15.6" HD Acer CineCrystal LCD
Graphics
    * GL40 Chipset

Audio
    * Integrated Speakers

Networking
    * Acer Nplify™ 802.11b/g/n

Input Devices
    * Keyboard and Touchpad

Power Supply
    * 6-cell Li-ion batter
    * Up to 2.5 hours battery life

Dimensions
    * 372.3 (W) mm
    * 246.5 (D) mm
    * 26.8/39.6 (H) mm
    * Weight: 2.7kg

Interfaces
    * 2 x USB 2.0 ports
    * 1x external display (VGA) port
    * 1x Headphone/speaker/line-out jack with S/PDIF support
    * 1x Microphone-in jack
    * 1x Ethernet (RJ-45) port
    * 1x DC-in jack for AC adapter

Expansion
    * Multi-in-1 card reader

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179792


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## red rose (Mar 5, 2010)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I nearly went for that one, and then the R522 I think it was, and dithered so much, I went for neither


It arrived yesterday, and I have to say it seems... alright so far  

I hate Windows 7, its bulky and irritating, and I don't appreciate the fact that although I've paid for the damned operating system I don't get the discs, instead I get a leaflet explaining how to reinstall windows without the discs. I don't for a second believe that it will work and since its windows we all know that at some point it will need reformatting.

That said I can find practically no fault with the actual hardware, the only thing I would say is that all the USB ports are on the left hand side of the base, so if you wanted to plug in a USB mouse it would be on the wrong side.

The only other thing I would mention is the DABs shipping department, last month I ordered an adaptor plug from dabs, it was about an inch by half and inch by half an inch and it arrived in a box that is A4 in size and 4 inches deep  I can't say I wasn't looking forward to seeing how they sent the laptop, when it arrived I had to take a photo   So below for your viewing pleasure, is the laptop, the box the laptop is sold in, and the box that DABs chose to send it all out in (cat for scale)


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 6, 2010)

red rose said:


> It arrived yesterday, and I have to say it seems... alright so far
> 
> I hate Windows 7, its bulky and irritating, and I don't appreciate the fact that although I've paid for the damned operating system I don't get the discs, instead I get a leaflet explaining how to reinstall windows without the discs. I don't for a second believe that it will work and since its windows we all know that at some point it will need reformatting.
> 
> ...




I was going to post the same thing.  the box it came in was *huge *

I still have it as I was also going to post a picture of it


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## nick (Jun 11, 2010)

Do people still rate the Acer mentioned by Ed?
My mother needs a new machine - she barely does more than surfing. Needs a 15" + screen and was looking to pay max £400.


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## slake (Jul 15, 2010)

nick said:


> Do people still rate the Acer mentioned by Ed?
> My mother needs a new machine - she barely does more than surfing. Needs a 15" + screen and was looking to pay max £400.



I recently bought this one from Tesco 
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.207-3008.aspx

Mine is a similar spec; it has a slightly slower processor and a smaller HDD. But I have no regrets over buying mine. It works like a dream (and not one of those dreams where your teeth fall out). I can easily download, burn and watch a film all at the same time.

So yes I would say the one editor posted is definitely worth considering.


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## AKA pseudonym (Jul 15, 2010)

ditto....
I have the one Ed pointed out and no complaints...


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## Mr Smin (Aug 1, 2010)

editor said:


> You might want to consider a second hand ThinkPad too: they're awesomely reliable and tough as nails.
> 
> If you don't mind a few scuffs you can pick up great specced machines for next to nothing.
> 
> ...


 
Anyone had dealings with tier1online? Good customer service? (deals look good)


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## editor (Aug 2, 2010)

Here's a handy feature on the best laptops currently available: http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/laptops/20-best-laptops-in-the-world-today-706673?


----------



## Mr Smin (Aug 3, 2010)

The general roundup on that link was good, but thumbs down to techradar for having a 'full spec' tab that sometimes has nothing under it!


----------



## crustychick (Sep 2, 2010)

my boyfriend is hassling me to get myself a new laptop as I'm forever pinching his.... I don't feel I really need one though. hmmmm... all I'd really use it for is general surfing and email. maybe a bit of iplayer etc if I get rid of the telly (unlikely) and possibly, possibly some gaming for the likes of CivIV which you can't get for PS3....


----------



## strung out (Sep 8, 2010)

my sister's looking to buy a laptop for her PGCE this year. mostly it would just be used for internet and word processing, though she needs it to be powerful enough to run cubase and sibelius as she's specialising to be a music teacher. reconditions would be fine as next year she'll be able to afford something fancier. budget up to about £400. anyone got any suggestions? oh, and screen size at least 13inches but most are these days, not too bulky either as she'll be carting it about to uni/school etc.


----------



## editor (Sep 8, 2010)

This pup should do the job just fine:

HP G61-401SA Laptop -
Intel Celeron Dual Core T3100 1.9GHz
4GB RAM, 320GB HDD
15.6" HD BrightView
Webcam + Bluetooth, DVD Writer
Windows 7 Home Premium

£398 - bosh!
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/195968


----------



## strung out (Sep 8, 2010)

that looks fantastic. i'll pass the link on!


----------



## yield (Sep 8, 2010)

editor said:


> This pup should do the job just fine:
> 
> HP G61-401SA Laptop -
> Intel Celeron Dual Core T3100 1.9GHz
> ...



That's good! This Asus looks great too for £397.



> Asus X5EAE Laptop
> AMD Athlon II M320 2.1GHz
> 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD
> 15.6" WXGA
> ...


http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190374?


----------



## crustychick (Sep 21, 2010)

I quite fancy the look of this one... a bit more expensive but has an HDMI port and a slightly better processor. 

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189035

Compaq
Compaq Presario CQ61 Laptop - Sleek and stylish

Intel Pentium T4400 2.2GHz
4GB RAM
320GB HDD
15.6" HD TFT
Webcam
Windows 7 Home Premium


----------



## gorski (Sep 30, 2010)

Shit, this ain't bad:

http://www.dabs.com/products/hp-pav...-dvdrw-15-6--windows-7-home-premium-736C.html



> HP Pavilion dv6-3065ea Entertainment Notebook Phenom II 4GB 500GB DVDRW 15.6" Windows 7 Home Premium
> 
> * Share this product
> * Add to wishlist
> ...



But, as requested in the Top Post:

http://www.dabs.com/products/toshib...15-6--windows-7-home-premium-64-bit-75MK.html



> Toshiba Satellite C650-110 Celeron T3300 2 GHz 4GB 250GB 15.6" Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
> 
> * Share this product
> * Add to wishlist
> ...



It is dual core: http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Celer...e T3300 AW80577GG0411ML - AW80577NG0411M.html



> Type    CPU / Microprocessor
> Market segment    Mobile
> Family    Intel Mobile Celeron Dual-Core
> Model number  ?     T3300
> ...


----------



## malcan (Oct 18, 2010)

I trawled through the internet for a decent computer after my Acer died on me and found this Dell.

Product Highlights 

Dell Inspirion
2.53ghz CPU 
i5
4 GIG DDR 
500 GB Hard Drive 
Windows 7 Premium  
Built in Wireless 
DVDRW  
UK Spec 
4-Watt (2 x 2W) High Definition Audio 2.0 Stereo Speakers with SRS Premium SoundTM 
3 year Dell onsite warranty

£569.99

I know a bit expensive but they have loads cheaper with less spec I bought this as it has the Dell warranty.

I got this from ebay.co.uk from ecomputers sorry cannot post link as newbie but youo can see below without the http://

Regards

stores.ebay.co.uk/eComputers-LTD


----------



## wemakeyousoundb (Oct 18, 2010)

^


----------



## editor (Oct 18, 2010)

I've given the fella the benefit of the doubt.


----------



## GarfieldLeChat (Oct 18, 2010)

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=448094&CatId=

x100 thinkpad £404.99 bargin...

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e - Notebook - AMD Turion Neo X2 - 1.6GHz - 3 GB RAM - 320GB - 11.6 inch WXGA TFT - LAN WLAN - Bluetooth - Windows 7 Professional 32-bit


----------



## editor (Oct 18, 2010)

GarfieldLeChat said:


> http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=448094&CatId=
> 
> x100 thinkpad £404.99 bargin...
> 
> Lenovo ThinkPad X100e - Notebook - AMD Turion Neo X2 - 1.6GHz - 3 GB RAM - 320GB - 11.6 inch WXGA TFT - LAN WLAN - Bluetooth - Windows 7 Professional 32-bit


'Tis a grand machine. Thinkpads are fabulous machines.


----------



## GarfieldLeChat (Oct 18, 2010)

robust long lives hard waring I've just got me mum one of these they had a levono money back offer on at the time which meant it was £350 I nearly bought two...


----------



## editor (Oct 18, 2010)

You want to make sure you get one with a start up tune like this.


----------



## ska invita (Nov 9, 2010)

^   miserable bunch of students - id be cracking up

im with you on the thinkpads editor - ive scavenged a few old, broken, handme down etc laptops over the years, and the thinkpad i have may only have a 4GB harddrive and other shit specs, but its robust and still manages a range of things (i use it as a radio and to record mixes). the construction feels built to last. i heard that NASA use them in space!

Anyhow, im wondering if anyone can recommend a good time to buy a laptop - when are prices cheapest? are there january sales on laptops? and where to go for the best prices. thanks


----------



## editor (Nov 22, 2010)

here's a handy listing of the current best cheapo laptops about:



> 1. Acer Aspire 1410-742G25N – £299
> 
> Performance isn't this laptop's strong point, but it isn't meant to be – instead it offers superb portability. At only 1.4kg, it's a pleasure to carry around and the small form factor makes it very easy to fit into almost any bag, which makes it great for lectures, although not so great for movies and entertainment.
> The 11.6-inch screen is bright, crisp and clear, and the screen is LED-backlit, which is resource-light on the battery. The Acer Aspire 1410-74G25n sets a very high bar, and the excellent battery life will be a clincher for many buyers.
> ...


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 22, 2010)

I had an email from Lenovo UK this  morning about a sale they have on

I didn'tknow they had a clearance corner

Linky


----------



## fractionMan (Nov 22, 2010)

editor said:


> here's a handy listing of the current best cheapo laptops about:


 
re the 1410 acer - there are about 4 versions of that and some are twice as fast as others.  The only way to tell is too look at the processor.

It's a great machine though (I've got the 4810tgz)


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 24, 2010)

editor said:


> You want to make sure you get one with a start up tune like this.


----------



## TAE (Nov 28, 2010)

I'm considering buying the following laptop, ASUS-X52F-EX486V, thoughts?

http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Laptops/buy-ASUS-X52F-EX486V-Laptop/676934

http://www.laskys.com/computing/lap...1084878106|mt:Exact|nw:search|crid:6042564157


----------



## TAE (Nov 29, 2010)

Anyone?


----------



## Jackobi (Nov 29, 2010)

It has Intel 4500M integrated graphics, so no good for running any games. Also, it doesn't have an Ethernet port, internet connectivity is wireless/usb only.

If neither of those are a concern, it is an average spec for that price, and Asus have a good reputation for manufacturing decent laptops.


----------



## TAE (Nov 29, 2010)

Jackobi said:


> Also, it doesn't have an Ethernet port, internet connectivity is wireless/usb only.


 
Oh that is an issue.


----------



## TAE (Nov 30, 2010)

On second thought I can use one of these: http://www.google.com/#q=usb+ethernet+adapter


----------



## TAE (Dec 1, 2010)

Thank you for your help guys, we've ordered it now.


----------



## Diamond (Jan 4, 2011)

Thoughts on this please?

http://www.johnlewis.com/231070859/Product.aspx?source=34937


----------



## Diamond (Jan 5, 2011)

*bump*


----------



## yield (Jan 5, 2011)

Seems like a decent enough netbook. Looks like a rebadged n210, n220 or n230? 

There are some reviews of the n210 on Amazon. John Lewis are average on price but have the free 2 year guarantee.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Jan 8, 2011)

Netbooks are much of a muchness. Samsung are one of the better brands, 12 hours is the top end of the battery range and that's not a horrific price for it.


----------



## 8ball (Jan 17, 2011)

I don't know if this is hijacking the 'budget' spirit of the thread a bit, but if I wanted to go a little over this price mark for a decent laptop - let' say £500-ish but perhaps prepared to scrape a little more together for something really good - would anyone have any recommendations?


----------



## yield (Jan 21, 2011)

8ball said:


> I don't know if this is hijacking the 'budget' spirit of the thread a bit, but if I wanted to go a little over this price mark for a decent laptop - let' say £500-ish but perhaps prepared to scrape a little more together for something really good - would anyone have any recommendations?


 
Size screen 15.6"? Playing games? Battery life an issue?

To be honest I'm confused if you need a dedicated graphics card with the i3/i5 processors?

Lenovo IdeaPad Z560 / Intel Core i5 2.4GHz / 4GB / 640GB / DVD-SM / NVIDIA GeForce 310M graphics card with 512MB / 15.6 inch / Windows 7 Home Premium / Laptop / Notebook for £570 @ play.com. 

I'd be tempted by that if I had any money.


----------



## 8ball (Jan 22, 2011)

That's a nice machine and thx for the advice but have already bought one this week - went for a hp dv6 3140sa.

Is lovely but I overspent quite significantly


----------



## editor (Feb 15, 2011)

Wham bam! This is a great deal:






Asus X52F-EX469V Laptop

Intel Pentium P6100 2GHz
4GB DDR3 RAM
320GB HDD
15.6" HD Colour Shine 1366x768
DVD Writer
Webcam, HDMI
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
£329

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/237739

*More specs:*

Processor
Intel Pentium P6100 2.00GHz
3MB Cache
Memory
4GB DDR3 RAM
2 x soDIMM slot
Hard Drive
320GB 5400rpm SATA
Optical Drive
DVD Super Multi Dual Layer
Software
Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit
ASUSDVD 6-in-1
ASUS FastBoot
ControlDeck
Display
15.6” HD TFT Color-Shine
Resolution: 1366x768
LED Status Indicator
Numeric KB Lock
Power-on/Suspend
Battery Charging/full/low
Storage device access
Capital Lock
Wireless on status indicator
Graphics
UMA – integrated
Audio
Built-in speaker and microphone
Altec Lansing® speakers
SRS Premium Sound
Input Devices
Keyboard with Numeric Keyboard
Touchpad
Networking
Wireless LAN: 802.11 BGN
LAN / Modem: 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN built-in
Power Supply
Battery: 4400 mAh, 6 cells
Dimensions
Width 38 cm
Depth 25.5 cm
Height 3.45~3.57 cm
Weight 2.62 kg
Interfaces
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack
1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin
3 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x HDMI
Expansion
3 in 1 card reader, SD,MMC,MS


----------



## crustychick (Feb 15, 2011)

editor said:


> Wham bam! This is a great deal:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



wow - that is a good deal.... thinking about buying it but the screen resolution is putting me off a bit....


----------



## editor (Feb 15, 2011)

crustychick said:


> wow - that is a good deal.... thinking about buying it but the screen resolution is putting me off a bit....


What's wrong with 1366x768?!


----------



## crustychick (Feb 15, 2011)

editor said:


> What's wrong with 1366x768?!


 
well, it *is* the same as my current res, but, well, I like things small


----------



## crustychick (Feb 16, 2011)

d'ya think it'll play civ5? or is the integrated graphics too puny?


----------



## Mr Smin (Mar 19, 2011)

That Asus looks fine but can someone tell me what to expect from Pentiums? I've been using an Athlon 64 X2 for a few years and wondering where Pentiums stand now that intel is trumpeting Core i-3-5-7.


----------



## editor (Mar 25, 2011)

Now here's an even better deal: Lenovo IdeaPad G550 Laptop £269.45








> Processor
> Intel Celeron Dual Core T3500 2.1GHz
> Chipset North Bridge GL40
> Chipset South Bridge ICH9M
> ...


http://www.ebuyer.com/product/237715


----------



## editor (Mar 31, 2011)

Blimey. This is cheap. £219.23!!!






Archos 13 Laptop

Intel Atom D510 1.6GHz
1GB RAM
160GB HDD
13.3" WXGA TFT
No Optical Drive
Webcam + Bluetooth
Windows 7 Home Premium

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/215084
Specs: http://www.archos.com/products/nb/archos_13/specs.html?country=us&lang=en


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Mar 31, 2011)

Mr Smin said:


> That Asus looks fine but can someone tell me what to expect from Pentiums? I've been using an Athlon 64 X2 for a few years and wondering where Pentiums stand now that intel is trumpeting Core i-3-5-7.


 
Good enough is where they stand. Pentiums are (to cut a long story short) the same as Core 2 Duo (or Solo). Good enough for nearly everyone.


----------



## Mr Smin (Apr 1, 2011)

Thanks Bob.

A word about Lenovo: I ordered a ThinkPad Edge direct from Lenovo (or rather, through their partner Digital River). When it arrived, the screen was chipped and the top row of keys were badly out of alignment - issues that must have arisen at the factory yet it still passed QC (assuming they have that).
Digital River were fine about me returning it and gave me the number for their courier. It reached their warehouse on 7th March. I am still waiting for a refund to my card which was promised within 10 working days of them getting it back. After several emails back and fourth I've left it with the credit card company to organise a charge back.

Initially I would have been happy with a replacement but now I know how slack Digital River are, I don't want to be stuck with them if I have any warranty issues so I'll be looking for something else.


----------



## reubeniz (Apr 17, 2011)

Was going to go for the Asus mentioned by Editor http://www.ebuyer.com/product/237739  but its out of stock.

Anyone know how quickly they restock or the likely hood of them doing so?

Noticed its on here also but with a slightly better processor ( unless its a typo ) http://www.simplyasus.com/ASUS_X52F-EX794V_1072932.html  anyone had any experience with these guys.?  I started the transaction but when i got to card details it didnt lead me to a secure page. ( yellow address bar padlock thing )  Also it says p6200 dual core in the discript but p6100 in the right sidebar add.  eBuyer describs the machine with a p6100.

Ive used eByer before and totally recommend them but just not used this other outfit.  This is unless anyone can suggest a better source.


----------



## reubeniz (Apr 18, 2011)

Or should i not wait and get this  Acer's Aspire 5552 for £340 (staff discount) http://www.johnlewis.com/231132794/Product.aspx

Graphics card Generate the images you see on your computer screen 		

Guarantee 		FREE 2 year guarantee, 
640GB		
Manufacturer's Guarantee 		2 years	
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
AMD Athlon II P340		 			
Processor Type 		AMD Athlon	2.2GHz	
RAM 		4GB
quality 		1366 x 768		
Screen size 		15.6"		
Stereo speakers 		Built-in
3x USB 2.0
Visible screen size (measured diagonally)Diagonal measurement across screen 		39cm
Built-in Webcam 		Yes


----------



## teecee (May 3, 2011)

As laptops are not my area of expertise - is there any good reason not to go for this for deal - for a soon to be 13yr old girls first computer?

These are refurbed laptops

From this link
http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=7&c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh

Inspiron N5030 (Range: £180.00 - £205.91)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Intel Celeron 925 (2.3Ghz, 800MHzs, 1MB)
320 GB Hard Drive
3072MB (1x1024 + 1x2048) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
8 X DVD +/- RW
15.6in High Definition (1366X768) WLED
Black

VS 

 Inspiron N5030 (Range: £201.94 - £214.52)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Processor :  Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T4500 (2.3Ghz, 800Mhz, 1MB)
250GB (5400rpm)
Memory 2GB (2x1GB) 1333MHz DDR3 ECC-UDIMM
8 X DVD +/- RW
15.6in High Definition (1366X768) WLED
Black

Is that worth the extra 20 for the processor upgrade

thanks

tc


----------



## Mr Smin (May 3, 2011)

Either of them will be fine for homework and surfing. If the extra 20 quid is no big deal then you might as well have the slightly higher processor - keep in mind those are ex-VAT and delivery prices though.


----------



## London_Calling (May 4, 2011)

No expert but, regarding the theme of the thread, this looked decent to me - from 'this weeks offers' at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004R9PZ4G/ref=pe_15021_24781771_as_txt_2/


Brand: Dell 
RAM Size: 4 GB 
Processor Brand: Intel 
Processor Speed: 1.3 GHz 
Processor Type: Intel Pentium Dual-Core 
Hard Drive Size: 500 GB 
Hard Disk Rotational Speed: 7200 rpm 
Computer Memory Type: DDR3 SDRAM 
Operating System: Windows 7 Edition Home Premium 
Graphics Card Description: Integrated 
Screen Size: 16 inches 
Display Technology: LED 
Light Source Type: LED 
Speaker Output Channel Quantity: 2 
Spearkers Maximum Output Power: 1 watts


 - £329.


----------



## nick h. (May 6, 2011)

Here's a fairly decent Tosh for £280 in the Argos sale. 2.3 gHz, 250 gig disk, only 1 gb RAM, but perhaps that could be upgraded cheaply. It ought to be built well, certainly better than Dell.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...OWS+7+COMPUTERS.htm#pdpFullProductInformation

Argos customers seem v. happy with a similar model it http://reviews.argos.co.uk/1493-en_gb/5072057/reviews.htm


----------



## reubeniz (May 7, 2011)

Funny ive noticed that this 

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/247950

Asus K52F Laptop
Intel Pentium P6200 2.13GHz
2GB RAM
320GB HDD
15.6" HD
DVD±RW
Webcam
Windows 7 Home Premium

Seems to be a down graded 2G ram LESS than Editors pick.  Or have i missed something.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/237739

Asus X52F-EX469V 

Intel Pentium P6100 2GHz
4GB DDR3 RAM
320GB HDD
15.6" HD Colour Shine
DVD Writer
Webcam, HDMI, 4hrs Battery life
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Why do they never seem to list the exact features across all models.  The price is the same but isnt this a downgrade or is it the same in value just that the scales a weighed a little differently?  Or is it more or less the same machine?


----------



## stupid kid (May 17, 2011)

Can anyone give a verdict on this?

£349.99 from PC World

Processor	Intel® Core™ i3-380M Processor
- 2.53 GHz
- 2.5 GT/s DMI
- 3MB Smart Cache
- Dual Core

RAM	3 GB DDR3
Graphics card	Intel HD Graphics with shared video memory
Screen type	Widescreen LCD
Screen resolution	- WXGA 
- 1366 x 768
Screen size	15.6"
Screen features	Slim LED Glare
Hard drive	320 GB SATA
Optical disk drive	DVD rewriter
Memory card reader	2-in-1 memory card reader (SD/MMC)


Also, it's red, which is a nice selling point, better than the typical silver/black IMO. Can't seem to see anything with the 380m processor for the same price, but it's PC World so I'm assuming it is actually cheaper somewhere else, I just can't see it.


----------



## fractionMan (Jun 2, 2011)

Bargain!

Acer Aspire 5742Z Laptop, Pentium P6100 2GHz, 250GB HDD, 3gb ram

*229 quid, delivered - ebuyer outlet*

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290572280125&clk_rvr_id=237017440733


----------



## jamessedgewick (Jun 29, 2011)

I just bought (and am waiting for) the Acer Aspire 5742 Laptop, Core i3 380M 2.53GHz, 320GB HDD, 4GB RAM, for about £350. Seemed like an ok deal to me, any thoughts?


----------



## stuff_it (Jun 30, 2011)

jamessedgewick said:


> I just bought (and am waiting for) the Acer Aspire 5742 Laptop, Core i3 380M 2.53GHz, 320GB HDD, 4GB RAM, for about £350. Seemed like an ok deal to me, any thoughts?


 
I am extremely pleased with my Lenovo Edge with very similar specs....though the price has gone up £20 since I got it....they seem to change their deals constantly. It has bluetooth and that anti-fraggle shit if you drop it, and the Webroot AV it came with picked up some stuff that the top rated/priced version of McAffe didn't. (stuff I transferred from my old computer)

https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_Edge_15_1037796.html


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 30, 2011)

stupid kid said:


> Can anyone give a verdict on this?
> 
> £349.99 from PC World
> 
> ...



did you get this?

i heard that it's not the most efficent laptop - build quality is suspect.
Gets real hot quick and bad battery


----------



## Corax (Jul 2, 2011)

Is there a similar thread to this for desktops?

I need to buy a new computer, and I reckon I can save up about £400 for it if I'm careful.  It doesn't need to be mobile though, so am I right in assuming I'll get more bang for my buck with a desktop rather than a lappie?


----------



## madzone (Jul 31, 2011)

http://www.ebuyer.com/257450-acer-aspire-5742z-laptop-lx-r4p02-180

Is that one any good? It's mainly for home use.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jul 31, 2011)

madzone said:


> http://www.ebuyer.com/257450-acer-aspire-5742z-laptop-lx-r4p02-180
> 
> Is that one any good? It's mainly for home use.


 
It's cheap enough certainly. What do you want to use it for? If its much more ambitious then browsing urban and a bit of word processing, I'd be after something with more powerful CPU, but for most folk it would be fine.


----------



## madzone (Jul 31, 2011)

What do you mean by ambitious? I do some photoshop stuff, use my graphics tablet and download music but apart from that not a lot.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jul 31, 2011)

madzone said:


> What do you mean by ambitious? I do some photoshop stuff, use my graphics tablet and download music but apart from that not a lot.


 
Photoshop can use a lot of CPU power...but depends what you're doing with it. If it's much more then basic stuff, the more power could be nice, especially if you're planning on keeping it for a few years.

Do you know what you have at the moment, so people can give you an idea of how much of an improvement it would be?


----------



## madzone (Jul 31, 2011)

I can't remember what it was  It was an HP of some kind.


----------



## editor (Jul 31, 2011)

That laptop would be absolutely fine for general Photoshop stuff.


----------



## madzone (Aug 1, 2011)

It's got very good reviews so I might go for it


----------



## zaphod22 (Aug 10, 2011)

This looks like a pretty good deal. Any views?

http://www.ebuyer.com/261451-zoostorm-laptop-7873-9028


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 2, 2011)

Can anyone help me choose a new laptop? I feel completely overwhelmed by the choices & am pretty clueless about technology.

Ideally i'd like to spend £200 or less and don't mind if it's not new. I'll need it mostly for coursework (so Office 2010 - which i already have), general basic surfing, watching tv, a bit of movie/music downloading, skype, photos.... Would like wireless. I don't really play games or anything.


----------



## editor (Sep 2, 2011)

Here's a useful list of 8 cheapo laptops:
http://www.techradar.com/news/mobil...8-reviewed-and-rated-1008716?src=rss&attr=all


----------



## editor (Sep 2, 2011)

Hellsbells said:


> Ideally i'd like to spend £200 or less and don't mind if it's not new. I'll need it mostly for coursework (so Office 2010 - which i already have), general basic surfing, watching tv, a bit of movie/music downloading, skype, photos.... Would like wireless. I don't really play games or anything.


£200 is well cheap so you're probably looking at the second hand/refurb end of the market. I'd take a look at some of the ThinkPads from reputable dealers on eBay.


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 3, 2011)

2nd hand is fine. What actually is a think pad? How is it different to a laptop? Notebooks are too small for me. Are thinkpads small?

Been looking around a bit today & wondered if someone could give me an opinion on these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-NC6220...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item3cbb2307cc

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DELL-D630...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item3cbb9bb02a

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-C...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item519a00d6ff

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAMSUNG-R...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4cf9d4c927 -


----------



## editor (Sep 3, 2011)

ThinkPads are well regarded for the quality of their build and their durability. Something like this should serve you very well indeed:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBM-Lenov..._Laptops_EH&hash=item27bbf75fe4#ht_2419wt_905


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 4, 2011)

Thanks, but i think i'll find a 12 inch screen too small. I currently have a 14 inch screen and wouldn't want to go any smaller than that. Are ThinkPads generally small then?

I've been looking at this laptop which has a good size screen and good reviews. - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAMSUNG-R...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4cf9d4c927


----------



## editor (Sep 4, 2011)

I'd get this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBM-LENOV...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4cf96b3b00


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 4, 2011)

ooh that looks good. And cheaper! Thanks 
Except it says there's none currently available


----------



## editor (Sep 4, 2011)

Hellsbells said:


> ooh that looks good. And cheaper! Thanks
> Except it says there's none currently available


Ah. There was when I posted up the link!

Loads more here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Laptops-Netbooks-/177/i.html?_nkw=IBM LENOVO T61&_catref=1&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282

Make sure you get one from a top ranked seller and you should be fine. Oh - but make sure it's not running vista.


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 5, 2011)

Ok, I have found 2 Think Pads from that link.

This one which is £162.99 has 1GB of memory - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAST-IBM-...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item27bdef8390

And this one which is £109, has 2GB of memory but badly marked screen - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAST-IBM-...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item2eb78cf596

£109 seems a bit of a bargain and am wondering whether or not to put up with a marked screen. Is it worth it for an extra GB of memory? My current laptop has a marked screen and I put up with it ok...


----------



## editor (Sep 5, 2011)

Extra memory is pretty cheap these days and £162 is as cheap as fuck.


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 6, 2011)

Does this sound odd to you - this guy on ebay wants me to purchase the laptop on ebay and then call him with my debit/credit card details aswell


----------



## editor (Sep 6, 2011)

I have a simple rule about eBay purchases: if anything feels even slightly odd, I'm out.


----------



## fractionMan (Sep 6, 2011)

If I can't use paypal or cash on collection I don't buy it.


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## Hellsbells (Sep 6, 2011)

Could someone take a look & tell me what they think. Here's the link - all the info about payment is down there & it's all very comprehensive.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAST-IBM-...omputing_Laptops_EH&hash=item27bdef8390#payId
This guy has excellent ratings and a seemingly good business. I just can't quite understand why he needs to have my credit card details on the phone when I'll already have paid via ebay.

It's annoying if it is dodgy because all the laptops I'm interested in come from him!


----------



## fractionMan (Sep 6, 2011)

Hellsbells said:


> Could someone take a look & tell me what they think. Here's the link - all the info about payment is down there & it's all very comprehensive. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAST-IBM-...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item27bdef8390
> This guy has excellent ratings and a seemingly good business. I just can't quite understand why he needs to have my credit card details on the phone when I'll already have paid via ebay.
> 
> It's annoying if it is dodgy because all the laptops I'm interested in come from him!


"This listing () has been removed, or this item is not available."

(and do they all come from him because they're suspiciously good value?)


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 6, 2011)

fractionMan said:


> "This listing () has been removed, or this item is not available."
> 
> (and do they all come from him because they're suspiciously good value?)



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAST-IBM-...omputing_Laptops_EH&hash=item27bdef8390#payId


----------



## fractionMan (Sep 6, 2011)

Ask him why he wants them then tell him you've already paid and you're not giving out your card details over the phone.

He does look like a reputable seller though.


----------



## editor (Sep 6, 2011)

The guy's ratings sure look very good indeed.


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 6, 2011)

I'd rather find this out before I pay anything!
Don't quite get how it can be dodgy if he has such a high rating and has made so many sales. He also has his own ebay shop - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CSIMHC-Ex-Lease-Computer-Sales?_trksid=p4340.l2563
Actually I'm a bit confused. It does seem to say you can pay by paypal, but that you must provide your paypal number over the phone. I've never bought anything from ebay before. What actually is a paypal number? Would it be a reference number rather than credit card details?


----------



## fractionMan (Sep 6, 2011)

I have never, ever had to do what he's asking you to do and I've bought stuff worth similar amounts from ebay.


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 6, 2011)

well i've emailed him to ask why he needs my card details so will wait & see what his response is....


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 6, 2011)

Do you think I'm better off just going to a store like PC world & getting something like this, which isn't much more expensive - http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/toshi...-6-refurbished-laptop-black-08616491-pdt.html


----------



## editor (Sep 6, 2011)

Hellsbells said:


> Do you think I'm better off just going to a store like PC world & getting something like this, which isn't much more expensive - http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/toshi...-6-refurbished-laptop-black-08616491-pdt.html


That's a well weedy machine.


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 6, 2011)

So i should stick with Think Pads? Sorry for all the endless questions - I really just have no experience with this atall. I'd just rather not spend more than £200.


----------



## editor (Sep 6, 2011)

Hellsbells said:


> So i should stick with Think Pads? Sorry for all the endless questions - I really just have no experience with this atall. I'd just rather not spend more than £200.


The thing with ThinkPads is that they're really well built and they're one of the most repairable laptops you can buy. I'm not saying that you couldn't get an equally good laptop by another manufacturer, but just that in my experience their reputation as solid, workhorse machines is well earned - especially the older ones.


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 6, 2011)

Are there any sites (or shops) that you could recomend where I can take a look at some Think Pads. I'm quite wary of Ebay now.


----------



## editor (Sep 6, 2011)

Hellsbells said:


> Are there any sites (or shops) that you could recomend where I can take a look at some Think Pads. I'm quite wary of Ebay now.


I bought a fabulous X200 ThinkPad off eBay. Went up north London to collect it and got an absolute bargain - it was brand new and half price.


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 6, 2011)

Feel like I'm going mad. Have spent all day looking at laptops.

How does this one look? No dodgy stuff with payment this time - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBM-T43-T...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4aaddaf624


----------



## Hellsbells (Sep 7, 2011)

Hello. Me again I'm afraid  
So that guy from Ebay who i thought was dodgy emailed me back. He said if I pay by paypal he doesn't need any details by phone. It's only if I want to pay by credit card. Which still seems a bit odd, but if I pay by paypal I can avoid all that, it seems.

So I'm thinking of going ahead with that original purchase now....ie. this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAST-IBM-...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item27bdef8390


----------



## Badgers (Oct 28, 2011)

What do people think of this Sony Vaio VPC-EB3F4E for £309.59?

It is refurbished but not that concerned as I have got other refurbished PCs from this firm without issue. This one only has a 1 year RTB warranty.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 5, 2011)

Badgers said:


> What do people think of this Sony Vaio VPC-EB3F4E for £309.59?
> 
> It is refurbished but not that concerned as I have got other refurbished PCs from this firm without issue. This one only has a 1 year RTB warranty.



Got this (thanks for the advice ) laptop and so far it is lovely but not used much.

RegClean Pro is running on it and telling me I have 412 registry errors it wants to fix. Feedback on this seems mixed and I feel like I should take it off?

*
*


----------



## Badgers (Dec 8, 2011)

This is outside of the thread budget range but WANT!!!

Dell XPS 17 Laptop


----------



## editor (Dec 8, 2011)

Badgers said:


> RegClean Pro is running on it and telling me I have 412 registry errors it wants to fix. Feedback on this seems mixed and I feel like I should take it off?


Remove and install CCleaner.


----------



## Badgers (Dec 8, 2011)

editor said:


> Remove and install CCleaner.



Did a while back, cheers though.


----------



## editor (Dec 8, 2011)

Badgers said:


> Did a while back, cheers though.


Well you could have said, like.


----------



## mao (Dec 13, 2011)

I'm thinking of buying this. Any views?

*http://www.ebuyer.com/282302-lenovo-ideapad-g770-laptop-m533quk*


----------



## kazza007 (Dec 29, 2011)

off-centre mouse pad


----------



## editor (Dec 29, 2011)

kazza007 said:


> off-centre mouse pad


That'll be because it's got a mahoosive 17" screen.


----------



## editor (Dec 29, 2011)

mao said:


> I'm thinking of buying this. Any views?
> 
> *http://www.ebuyer.com/282302-lenovo-ideapad-g770-laptop-m533quk*


Reviews seem pretty good if you're after a big mo'fo' laptop: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...ptops-and-netbooks/lenovo-g770-1023640/review


----------



## Chz (Jan 9, 2012)

Lenovo have a sale on the Thinkpad Edge series right now. It's quite rare to get a small non-netbook laptop for under £400 so I've already ordered an Edge E320:

Product SKU: 1298CTO
Product Name: ThinkPad Edge Edge E320 - 1 Year Depot Warranty

 - Intel Pentium Dual Core B950M Processor (2.1GHz, 2MB L3, 1333MHz)
 - Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
 - Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 English
 - 13.3" W HD (1366 x 768) LED, Anti-Glare, Low-light sensitive HD Webcam, Heatwave Red (w/o WWAN)
 - Intel HD Graphics
 - 2 GB DDR3 - 1333MHz (1 DIMM)
 - Keyboard UK English
 - 320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
 - Country Pack United Kingdom with Line cord & 65W AC adapter
 - Bluetooth 3.0
 - Language Pack WE(FR/GE/IT/IT/DU/EN)


Qty Ordered: 1
Amount: £258.32 (before taxes, shipping, etc.)

The Pentium B950 is a Sandy Bridge based processor. You lose 1MB of cache and hyperthreading versus the i3, but it's still dual core and plenty fast. The i3 upgrade was £60 and not, IMO, worth it. There's also an AMD based E325 but it's not much cheaper.

Store: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...ory&issCategory=/Notebooks/ThinkPad notebooks


----------



## Chz (Jan 13, 2012)

The touchpad is a bit crummy and the screen is what you'd expect for the price. In all other ways, it's absolutely a great machine. Added 4GB of RAM from Ebuyer at half the price they wanted - all of about £16 to bring it up to 6GB. At some point I'll look into adding an SSD.

If you're going to order base and add your own stuff, be aware that it's pretty slim so you need a 7mm HDD size. Not many are that thin.

I see the Intel deal is not quite what it was last week. It's still a good deal at under £450, but the AMD option is now competitive being around £80 cheaper.


----------



## TremulousTetra (Jan 26, 2012)

i5 processor 363.17
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/len...-15-6-windows-7-pro-64-487-17-pcworld-1127819


----------



## Roadkill (Mar 4, 2012)

I probably should have read this thread before going out and buying a new laptop yesterday! However, I'm well pleased with the HP Pavilion G6 I've bought. £350 or thereabouts, from PC World. I could have spent less if I'd bought an Asus or a Lenovo but I've heard horror stories about both of them, although I might have looked more seriously at the Lenovo in the light of some of the comments on here. Either way, I'm happy with the HP, which feels like a quality product, is sufficiently well specced for my work needs (which are hardly demanding tbh) and has quite good graphics and sound for watching films.

But then, any laptop would look good after my heavy, creaky old Advent. It's so nice to have one that doesn't overheat and cut out all the time, and whose battery actually holds charge!


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 4, 2012)

Starts watching thread intently. Starting a new job soon and can't take my desktop with me. Anything is going to seem like a downgrade, so no point spending loads, but need something with more beef then my Netbook!


----------



## paulE (Mar 4, 2012)

do yourself a favor and consider an iPad or other tablet especially if you have a decent desktop.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 4, 2012)

paulE said:


> do yourself a favor and consider an iPad or other tablet especially if you have a decent desktop.


 
To limited. I've got a phone which has broadly the same functionality and it would drive me mad.

I'm going to be away from my desktop for months, rather then a few days at a time.


----------



## editor (Mar 4, 2012)

paulE said:


> do yourself a favor and consider an iPad or other tablet especially if you have a decent desktop.


But then you're fucked for  most of the tasks a laptop does well - e.g. run Photoshop and other full-fat, industry standard apps, offer a wide collection of USB ports, ethernet, SD card slots etc etc, and, of course, include a proper keyboard instead of a fiddly onscreen one.


----------



## paulE (Mar 4, 2012)

Global Stoner said:


> To limited. I've got a phone which has broadly the same functionality and it would drive me mad.
> 
> I'm going to be away from my desktop for months, rather then a few days at a time.


then i guess yer stuck. the screens on phones however seem way to small to use Apps like Word, Powerpoint, Pages or even as a eReader plus they can't run very long when in use. when i made the switch to a tablet i was  happy not to have to lug that puppy(MacBook) around anymore. i hadn't used the optical drive in ages and maybe used Photoshop once or twice in the years i owned it. my iPad runs for 10 hours something the laptop or a phone could never do and it never gets Hot!  only you know best what your needs are. cheers


----------



## editor (Mar 4, 2012)

paulE said:


> then i guess yer stuck. the screens on phones however seem way to small to use Apps like Word, Powerpoint, Pages or even as a eReader plus they can't run very long when in use. when i made the switch to a tablet i was happy not to have to lug that puppy(MacBook) around anymore. i hadn't used the optical drive in ages and maybe used Photoshop once or twice in the years i owned it. my iPad runs for 10 hours something the laptop or a phone could never do and it never gets Hot! only you know best what your needs are. cheers


For a lot of users, programs like Word, Excel, Photoshop etc are everyday items, and a proper keyboard is essential.


----------



## Roadkill (Mar 4, 2012)

editor said:


> For a lot of users, programs like Word, Excel, Photoshop etc are everyday items, and a proper keyboard is essential.


 
Definitely.

I can't see the point of tablets, frankly.  They're basically just toys atm.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 4, 2012)

TBH if I was going to replace my netbook I'd seriously consider one. They have they're place that's for sure, but everyone's needs are different.


----------



## paulE (Mar 5, 2012)

Roadkill said:


> Definitely.
> 
> I can't see the point of tablets, frankly. They're basically just toys atm.


what ever works for folks. i am sure some thought why switch to an iPod when you have portable a cd player. have fun lugging your laptops around.


----------



## Roadkill (Mar 5, 2012)

paulE said:


> what ever works for folks. i am sure some thought why switch to an iPod when you have portable a cd player. have fun lugging your laptops around.


 
I do a lot of note-taking and transcription work.  What use is a tablet for that?


----------



## Chz (Mar 5, 2012)

I'd agree they're a decent alternative to netbooks. I never got the point of netbooks either, given that they're too slow for many applications, the screen is far too puny and low-res, and the resulting teensy keyboards are abominable. So I can see a tablet of sorts to replace a 10-11" netbook.

To replace a proper 13+" (13 is where you start getting proper keyboards) laptop though? Not a chance.

As for recommendations, Lenovo's got the 15" AMD-powered Thinkpad Edge going for a base price of £285 at the moment. Less CPU horsepower than the Intel, but far better graphics oomph. If it's like the 13" ones, it's the only "chiclet" keyboard I've ever used and not hated (and that includes the Macbook). They want £44 to bring it to 6GB of RAM, but you can do it yourself for under £20.

Lots of vendors have sales in preparation for the Ivy Bridge processors coming out in a couple of months. But IB isn't so much of an advance that it's worth waiting and passing up a good sale price.


----------



## TopCat (Mar 27, 2012)

Hiya all you geeky types. 

I am after a lap top, I want portable and slim rather than huge screen and movies. I have £400 to spend. 

What looks good?


----------



## TopCat (Mar 27, 2012)

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/toshiba-satellite-c660d-1gr-15-6-laptop-11884787-pdt.html

is this ok?


----------



## editor (Mar 27, 2012)

It's not the slimmest thing in town, but it's great value at £369.








> Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-255 Laptop
> Intel Core i3 Sandybridge 2310M 2.10GHz
> 6GB RAM
> 500GB HDD
> ...


http://www.ebuyer.com/276388-toshiba-satellite-pro-c660-255-laptop-psc1me-00q00ken

*edit: synchronicity!


----------



## editor (Mar 27, 2012)

This is pretty good too:





http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/laptops/369211/lenovo-ideapad-g570


----------



## TopCat (Mar 27, 2012)

I would love slimmer, lighter and so on for that money. I can go to £400 so what's the alternative?


----------



## TopCat (Mar 27, 2012)

Will the two above run Rome, Total War?


----------



## editor (Mar 27, 2012)

I'm sure there may be a new laptop from MoonOnAStick Inc that may be able to provide a powerful, ultra-slim gaming machine for under £400.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 27, 2012)

TopCat said:


> Will the two above run Rome, Total War?


 
It's an 8 year old game, so you may stand a fair chance.


----------



## TopCat (Mar 27, 2012)

editor said:


> I'm sure there may be a new laptop from MoonOnAStick Inc that may be able to provide a powerful, ultra-slim gaming machine for under £400.


Is that the fold up put in a back pocket model?


----------



## TopCat (Mar 27, 2012)

http://www.tesco.com/direct/toshiba...-black/215-0641.prd?skuId=215-0641&pageLevel=

Any good?


----------



## TopCat (Mar 27, 2012)

This looks more like it? 
http://www.tesco.com/direct/toshiba...-black/215-1534.prd?skuId=215-1534&pageLevel=

I am a terribly impulsive buyer so if this is shit tell me quick!!


----------



## TopCat (Mar 27, 2012)

Not sure now. I am gonna sleep on it.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 27, 2012)

I'd be more tempted by the ones the editor suggested, as they have a newer CPU in.


----------



## TopCat (Mar 27, 2012)

Global Stoner said:


> I'd be more tempted by the ones the editor suggested, as they have a newer CPU in.


Yeah that makes sense.


----------



## RaverDrew (Mar 27, 2012)

editor said:


> It's not the slimmest thing in town, but it's great value at £369.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
I have one of these, good spec for the price, build quality is not the best though, plasticky, but still feels quite tough and solid, and not creaky.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 27, 2012)

Also just been reading up myself (may need a new one myself next month) and the lenovo looks like a much better buy, even if it is slightly more expensive.


----------



## Chz (Mar 28, 2012)

The Pentium B960 *is* a current Sandy Bridge processor. The only difference between it and an i3 is hyperthreading. I've got one myself and it's plenty fast for anything you'd rationally want to do on a 13" laptop. Sandy Bridge graphics are good enough for anything over 3 years old, barring Crysis.

That Toshiba Tesco one looks to be a good deal for a 13". Your options for small size are pretty limited on a budget.


----------



## TopCat (Mar 31, 2012)

I want net book sized with lap top power.


----------



## Firky (Mar 31, 2012)

I have a Toshiba laptop, I paid an extra £100 or so to get one with HDMI output and Harman Kardon speakers. It has the best speakers I have heard of any laptop, sounds even better than my Powerbook. I highly recommend them. Only thing is it is quite a lurid green. It was supposed to be brown but they sent the wrong colour 

Toshiba NB520. The speakers are brilliant.The build quality is very good but it is one of the higher end models. So there is no movement when you type etc. 

I very rarely use it!


----------



## TopCat (Apr 1, 2012)

http://www.tesco.com/direct/toshiba...-black/215-1534.prd?skuId=215-1534&pageLevel=

any good?


----------



## grit (Apr 1, 2012)

TopCat said:


> http://www.tesco.com/direct/toshiba...-black/215-1534.prd?skuId=215-1534&pageLevel=
> 
> any good?


 
Its ok, however I think you can probably do better on ebuyer.com, from a quick browse this looks interesting

http://www.ebuyer.com/352060-exdisp...andybridge-2310m-2-10ghz-ebr1-psc1me-00q00ken

Its a 15" screen instead of 13", is the size important?


----------



## Firky (Apr 1, 2012)

It would be worth your while looking at this customer satisfaction survey from 2011 from all the laptop manufacturers. 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384243,00.asp

Apple and Samsung come out tops. Oddly Alienware do as well but I think that is because people don't like to admit they've just paid several thousand pounds for a Dell with a different badge.

If I were you Topcat, I'd go into a shop and look at laptops. You can't really judge online, some of the latest brands of laptops feel so badly made. They're all plasticy and flimsy, you think they were made by Canon.


----------



## grit (Apr 1, 2012)

firky said:


> It would be worth your while looking at this customer satisfaction survey from 2011 from all the laptop manufacturers.
> 
> http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384243,00.asp
> 
> ...


 
True, the best build at the moment is Lenovo ThinkPad/Ideapad


----------



## TopCat (Apr 1, 2012)

I do want small and robust and the key board has to be excellent.


----------



## grit (Apr 1, 2012)

TopCat said:


> I do want small and robust and the key board has to be excellent.


 
50 over budget, but its the exact machine I'd choose if those three factors are the most important.

http://www.ebuyer.com/337047-lenovo-thinkpad-edge-e325-laptop-nwx3luk


----------



## TopCat (Apr 1, 2012)

That looks lush.


----------



## TopCat (Apr 1, 2012)

So I bought it. Nice one you good peeps.


----------



## Firky (Apr 1, 2012)

No optical drive mind you - not that they're used these days


----------



## grit (Apr 1, 2012)

firky said:


> No optical drive mind you - not that they're used these days


 
Yeah, I cant remember the last time I used one. I bought one of those Lenovo's for my mother and when I was setting it up I sort of wanted to keep it


----------



## peterkro (Apr 1, 2012)

firky said:


> No optical drive mind you - not that they're used these days


It's says no optical drive at the top yet lists one in the specs (unless it comes with a usb external).I agree optical drives are going the way of the floppy.


----------



## TopCat (Apr 1, 2012)

Optical drive being a disk drive dvd thing yeah?
I have an external one to load stuff on. This is going to be used a lot on the move for word processing and endless spreadsheets.


----------



## TopCat (Apr 1, 2012)

Anyone got office 2010 they can give me?


----------



## grit (Apr 1, 2012)

TopCat said:


> Anyone got office 2010 they can give me?


 
This should do it http://www.mnova.eu/download/torren...2010_Corporate_Final_(full_activated).torrent


----------



## grit (Apr 1, 2012)

TopCat said:


> Optical drive being a disk drive dvd thing yeah?
> I have an external one to load stuff on. This is going to be used a lot on the move for word processing and endless spreadsheets.


 
Yes optical drive is a DVD/CV drive.


----------



## TopCat (Apr 1, 2012)

I don't use them much and can't see me often wanting an optical drive on the move. It's all sticks and networks and huge external discs now.


----------



## TopCat (Apr 1, 2012)

My last laptop got killed in a flood and the two before stolen in burgalries. I will try to look after this better.  Whats that mad tracking program?


----------



## grit (Apr 1, 2012)

TopCat said:


> My last laptop got killed in a flood and the two before stolen in burgalries. I will try to look after this better.  Whats that mad tracking program?


http://preyproject.com/


----------



## Chz (Apr 1, 2012)

Only thing I have against the E325 is that the AMD E-450 is a pretty damned weak processor compared to the Pentium in the other one. But it really depends on what you're doing with it, it can be perfectly adequate for most tasks. The regular laptop AMD chips are a nice tradeoff between graphics and CPU power, but those things are AMD's _netbook_ processors.


----------



## TopCat (Apr 2, 2012)

Chz said:


> Only thing I have against the E325 is that the AMD E-450 is a pretty damned weak processor compared to the Pentium in the other one. But it really depends on what you're doing with it, it can be perfectly adequate for most tasks. The regular laptop AMD chips are a nice tradeoff between graphics and CPU power, but those things are AMD's _netbook_ processors.


Now I am fretting.


----------



## Chz (Apr 2, 2012)

TopCat said:


> Now I am fretting.


Don't *fret*. It's quite a lot faster than an Atom. Plenty fast for standard Office and web stuff. It's just that AMD's full-size laptop chips are a bit power thirsty and they're not appropriate for a 13" portable. You should get better battery life than the Pentium equipped one, and my Mrs. (who has the E320) gets 6 hours easily.


----------



## TopCat (Apr 3, 2012)

Just got it out of the box. Looks robust. Should fit in my man bag.


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Apr 5, 2012)

I need a new laptop for DJ'ing with so I need it to be light, well built, have a decent size screen and not use AMD processors as they are glitchy with the software I use (serato scratch live).
So I was thinking of this as I like Sony's: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/sony-vpceh3b1e-w-cek-15-5-laptop-white-11884720-pdt.html

Any views for or against?


----------



## Chz (Apr 6, 2012)

Depends on how you define "light". That's the same weight as any other 15-incher, but it does at least have a high-resolution screen which is where the extra £100 goes I'm sure.

That being said, 1920x1200 is a bit squinty on a 15" screen. I'm personally more comfortable with 1680x1050 at most (this is what the 15" MBPs are, for reference). I guess it would depend on how far you'll sit from it.


----------



## CyberRose (Apr 9, 2012)

Anyone got any views on this?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/toshiba-satellite-l750-201-15-6-laptop-red-11884715-pdt.html

6GB RAM, i3 (2.53GHz) processor, 750GB hard drive

£429.99


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Apr 9, 2012)

Chz said:


> but it does at least have a high-resolution screen which is where the extra £100 goes I'm sure..


 
What do you mean by extra?


----------



## Chz (Apr 10, 2012)

porno thieving gypsy said:


> What do you mean by extra?


It's about £100 more than any other 15" with similar specs, ignoring the screen resolution. That seems reasonable, given how hard it is to find a screen better than 1366x768 these days.


----------



## Chz (Apr 10, 2012)

CyberRose said:


> Anyone got any views on this?
> 
> http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/toshiba-satellite-l750-201-15-6-laptop-red-11884715-pdt.html
> 
> ...


Not very good at all. That's a previous generation i3 - soon to be 2 generations old - which is a huge step down on the integrated graphics. I struggle to see how it justifies its cost, being more expensive than many laptops with current generation CPUs. You could point out the 6GB of RAM, but RAM is dirt cheap - I picked up an extra 4GB to add to the 2GB already in my wife's laptop for £17. Screen is nothing special, ports are nothing special. HDD is on the larger side, but do you need 750GB? It doesn't even come with Win7 Pro, just Home Premium.

It looks like something that was once a top of the line, cutting edge device. But it's not discounted anywhere near enough to account for its age. You can get something with similar specs (last gen CPU, only 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD) for £338. While the Toshi is more stylish, I don't think it's £100 moreso. £350 and you get a current generation CPU.

http://www.ebuyer.com/322115-asus-x54h-laptop-x54h-sx168v
(only 2 USB ports, but makes up for it with one being USB3.0)

£370 gets you a Toshiba (if brand names mean something to you) with a current gen CPU, 6GB RAM and 500GB.
http://www.ebuyer.com/276388-toshiba-satellite-pro-c660-255-laptop-psc1me-00q00ken


----------



## CyberRose (Apr 10, 2012)

Chz said:


> Not very good at all. That's a previous generation i3 - soon to be 2 generations old - which is a huge step down on the integrated graphics. I struggle to see how it justifies its cost, being more expensive than many laptops with current generation CPUs. You could point out the 6GB of RAM, but RAM is dirt cheap - I picked up an extra 4GB to add to the 2GB already in my wife's laptop for £17. Screen is nothing special, ports are nothing special. HDD is on the larger side, but do you need 750GB? It doesn't even come with Win7 Pro, just Home Premium.
> 
> It looks like something that was once a top of the line, cutting edge device. But it's not discounted anywhere near enough to account for its age. You can get something with similar specs (last gen CPU, only 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD) for £338. While the Toshi is more stylish, I don't think it's £100 moreso. £350 and you get a current generation CPU.
> 
> ...


Cheers for the advice! Would never have considered (or known about) chip generations, only look at GHz. So I should be looking for the Sandy Bridge generation chips? You say this is due to be replaced soon too though? Yea 750gb hard drive is more than I'd ever need


----------



## Chz (Apr 10, 2012)

Unless you're a _serious_ user, the raw GHz don't matter so much these days. In the current generation, even a lowly Pentium (it's below the i3) has enough CPU oomph for most people. It's the other features of a CPU generation and its chipset that you need to be aware of. For instance, the current Sandy Bridge chips represent the first time *ever* that Intel's integrated graphics aren't total pants. (AMD's are better, in fact, but their CPU prowess lags significantly. Which would be okay if they sipped power, but they don't do that either) If you're using the integrated GPU, this is vastly more important than an extra 500MHz. Ivy Bridge, due out in another 2 months, is another large leap in graphics and a large jump in battery life. But cpu speed not so much.

Worth waiting? It depends on your budget. Right now, there are a lot of very good deals as they try and clear stock in anticipation of Ivy Bridge. While the new ones will be better, they're not the quantum leap the current ones were.

Waiting for the Next Best Thing in computers is a mug's game. You can hold out forever.

As a tip, previous gen chips are i3-xxxM or i3-xxx. Sandy Bridge is i3-xxxx.


----------



## CyberRose (Apr 10, 2012)

Nice one cheers mate


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 13, 2012)

This Samsung is a similar spec to the Tosh. Less ram and smaller hard disks, but has hdmi and the reviews seem more favourable.


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## Chz (Apr 13, 2012)

Looks quite good for the price, unless you need a high-res screen. You can cheap out by £20 or so, but the cheaper ones look quite a bit nastier. And I'd be willing to pay £20 more for something that's not hideous.


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## Big Gunz (Apr 24, 2012)

Does anyone have an opinion on this?  http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/asus-a54c-sx159s-15-6-laptop-11955942-pdt.html 

Just for light home usage no special applications or games.  One of the reviews on Revoo says it has no Microsoft word though?


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## rhod (May 8, 2012)

Global Stoner said:


> This Samsung is a similar spec to the Tosh. Less ram and smaller hard disks, but has hdmi and the reviews seem more favourable.


 
I've just had a Samsung 300V5A delivered and first impressions are very good.

Looks and feels good quality. Very nippy response in use. Not too much crapware installed. Sound is clear, if not earth-shatteringly loud (but better than most cheaper laptops I've
 come across). I particularly like a few little touches, like the headphone socket at the side (rather than getting in the way at the front) and the matte screen finish, rather the glossy screens that I hate with a passion!

HD streaming on netflix looks great. Can't wait to get it home and hook it up via the HDMI to the telly.


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## fredfelt (May 8, 2012)

Hello.  I was hoping that there was a thread like this on Urban.  If this thread was not here I'd be posting on the First World problems thread  -I want a new laptop but I don't know which one to buy?  Anyway.

I'll be doing my work from my laptop.  I'll need office tools, nothing really demanding.  It needs to be happy to come along with me and fit in a bicycle pannier - so it needs to be sturdy.  My budget is bigger than the title of the thread.  It needs to run Windows, but as I'm looking for something well built would it be better to get a Mac - perhaps a MacBook Air? 

My current laptop is a bit of a brick.  It takes ages to start up.  I'd want my laptop to be ready when I open the top.  I would not want to put up with any nonsense where it fucks around with it's hard drive before being ready to do stuff.  I'll probably use the Mac bit when at home to play iPlayer through my TV and that kind of stuff. 

Finally, if you have a cat does it usually come to sit on your lap and generally get in the way when you open your laptop?


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## audiotech (Jul 30, 2012)

Big Gunz said:


> Does anyone have an opinion on this? http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/asus-a54c-sx159s-15-6-laptop-11955942-pdt.html
> 
> Just for light home usage no special applications or games. One of the reviews on Revoo says it has no Microsoft word though?


 
Any laptop/PC with an Intel *Celeron* CPU I tend to avoid.


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## Mr.Bishie (Aug 5, 2012)

I've got £350 to spend on a new lap top (must have 15" + screen) - what d'ya reckon? The ole COMPAQ  Pressario's about 5/6 years old & is getting long in the tooth, but still performing, so i'm leaning towards another. Open to other suggestions though


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## yield (Aug 5, 2012)

I'd be tempted by Lenovo IdeaPad G580 i5-3210M 4GB 500GB DVDRW 15.6" W7HP Bronze

£50 over budget after cashback though.


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## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Aug 13, 2012)

http://www.ebuyer.com/320877-acer-aspire-5749-laptop-lx-rr702-075

Can anyone tell me if this is/isn't a decent buy? Just for general use really.


----------



## editor (Aug 13, 2012)

Not a bad by at all for the price. Good review here: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...-and-netbooks/acer-aspire-5749-1044359/review


----------



## fractionMan (Aug 13, 2012)

I'm on my second acer and they've been nothing but great value for me so far.  I've always had smaller ones that that though, with either 12 or 14 inch screens.


----------



## audiotech (Aug 28, 2012)

My present laptop is showing its age, so I've decided on an Acer Aspire 5750G.

Intel Core i5-2450M 2.5GHz
6GB DDR3 RAM
500GB Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 610M - 1 GB VRAM

Battery life not brilliant, but not an issue for my use.
At £419.99 pretty good value.


----------



## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Aug 28, 2012)

audiotech said:


> My present laptop is showing its age, so I've decided on an Acer Aspire 5750G.
> 
> Intel Core i5-2450M 2.5GHz
> 6GB DDR3 RAM
> ...


 
Looks like the model up from the one I bought last week (just up the page) - no complaints so far.


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## Firky (Aug 29, 2012)

I have one of these, (a netbook) and I love it:

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...ops-and-netbooks/toshiba-nb550d-939235/review


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## audiotech (Aug 29, 2012)

Monkeygrinder's Organ said:


> Looks like the model up from the one I bought last week (just up the page) - no complaints so far.


 
I looked at that and thought what the hell, sod the banks and went one higher on my credit card.


----------



## TremulousTetra (Sep 5, 2012)

yield said:


> I'd be tempted by Lenovo IdeaPad G580 i5-3210M 4GB 500GB DVDRW 15.6" W7HP Bronze
> 
> £50 over budget after cashback though.


have to say that I am on my third Lenovo, and they are brilliant work horse, with great after sales help.  They even provide videos showing you how to replace the keyboard, RAM, screen and other things.


----------



## spanglechick (Sep 9, 2012)

Okay chaps.  I too, need a laptop.  I'll be loading it with ms office, but apart from that, the thing will overwhelmingly be used for streaming iplayer and playing back other films and tv.
That said, i'm not too bothered by having a massive screen, smaller would be better up to a point: i used to have a 10" netbook and that was too small for typing (plus the screen resolution was crap and the speakers lasted about five minutes).  

Grinder has just bought a new acer, which has number keys to the right of the 'return' button, like a traditional keyboard - something i've never come across before on a laptop and find incredibly annoying.


----------



## editor (Sep 9, 2012)

spanglechick said:


> Okay chaps. I too, need a laptop. I'll be loading it with ms office, but apart from that, the thing will overwhelmingly be used for streaming iplayer and playing back other films and tv.
> That said, i'm not too bothered by having a massive screen, smaller would be better up to a point: i used to have a 10" netbook and that was too small for typing (plus the screen resolution was crap and the speakers lasted about five minutes).
> 
> Grinder has just bought a new acer, which has number keys to the right of the 'return' button, like a traditional keyboard - something i've never come across before on a laptop and find incredibly annoying.


If I may just throw in a wild card because I'm in a similar situation and think I'll be buying one of the Asus Android Transformer tablet/laptop thingies rather than another laptop.

I need it for much the same things as you (with a bit of web coding and image editing plus writing stuff) and after trying out the Transformer I was sold. The thing has a massive (14+hr) battery life, is super fast, has a great screen and once you get used to a touch screen on a laptop it's hard to go back. They start at £399 and there's a new high def one coming out very shortly (so the current top of the range one will drop in price). iPlayer works fine on it and TVCatchUp effectively lets you use the thing as a TV set. It's ace!

Here's a review: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/asus-transformer-prime-1045764/review
Anyway, it may not be for you, but I thought I'd throw it in the mix.


----------



## yield (Sep 9, 2012)

spanglechick said:


> Okay chaps. I too, need a laptop. I'll be loading it with ms office, but apart from that, the thing will overwhelmingly be used for streaming iplayer and playing back other films and tv.
> That said, i'm not too bothered by having a massive screen, smaller would be better up to a point: i used to have a 10" netbook and that was too small for typing (plus the screen resolution was crap and the speakers lasted about five minutes).


What's your budget?


spanglechick said:


> Grinder has just bought a new acer, which has number keys to the right of the 'return' button, like a traditional keyboard - something i've never come across before on a laptop and find incredibly annoying.


Lenovo keyboards don't have a numberpad.


----------



## spanglechick (Sep 9, 2012)

editor said:


> If I may just throw in a wild card because I'm in a similar situation and think I'll be buying one of the Asus Android Transformer tablet/laptop thingies rather than another laptop.
> 
> I need it for much the same things as you (with a bit of web coding and image editing plus writing stuff) and after trying out the Transformer I was sold. The thing has a massive (14+hr) battery life, is super fast, has a great screen and once you get used to a touch screen on a laptop it's hard to go back. They start at £399 and there's a new high def one coming out very shortly (so the current top of the range one will drop in price). iPlayer works fine on it and TVCatchUp effectively lets you use the thing as a TV set. It's ace!
> 
> ...


i was tempted - but i was under the impression it can't run ms office, which is a deal-breaker, because i need completely seamless transfer between work and home machines.


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## spanglechick (Sep 9, 2012)

yield said:


> What's your budget?
> 
> Lenovo keyboards don't have a numberpad.


budget is around £400 but flexible if it brings me something special.  obviously, ideally i'd like something top of the range for twenty quid, but...


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## editor (Sep 9, 2012)

spanglechick said:


> i was tempted - but i was under the impression it can't run ms office, which is a deal-breaker, because i need completely seamless transfer between work and home machines.


It doesn't run a full copy of Office but apparently you can view and edit Office docs seamlessly with apps like the one below, although I've not tried them myself.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...sMSwyLDEsImNvbS5xby5hbmRyb2lkLnRhYmxldC5hbSJd


----------



## spanglechick (Sep 9, 2012)

oh god - so tempted by the transformer - was just saying to grinder yesterday that i was hoping to avoid buying a laptop until tablets had advanced enough to basically just be the transformer with MS office...  gah...


----------



## editor (Sep 9, 2012)

spanglechick said:


> oh god - so tempted by the transformer - was just saying to grinder yesterday that i was hoping to avoid buying a laptop until tablets had advanced enough to basically just be the transformer with MS office... gah...


I am seriously looking at buying one to replace my Lenovo laptop for everyday uses.

The cheapo Nexus tablet has convinced me that Android is good enough for just about everything I need to do on a laptop, and after using the thing for a couple of days there is no way I'm going back to a non-touchscreen laptop (or buying a large tablet without a integrated keyboard).


----------



## spanglechick (Sep 9, 2012)

would it be the prime you'd go for?  also when you say there's a new one out soon, and hence a price drop - what kind of timescale?


----------



## editor (Sep 9, 2012)

spanglechick said:


> would it be the prime you'd go for? also when you say there's a new one out soon, and hence a price drop - what kind of timescale?


There's a new HD one that is due any time now - like in the next week or two - but it looks like it's going to be pricey (poss as high as £590). There's currently two models available - the older but higher quality Transformer Prime for around £475 and the more recent, hugely affordable T300 which is very similar but not quite as shiny. It's a great buy at £390.

I think the Prime may fall in price after the HD is released, so I may go for that - or if I get a bit of cash in, I may go for the HD.

The HD one does look tempting though:





> As a 10-inch device, it's not exactly massive -- it's roughly the same size as an average netbook. That means it's well sized for sliding into a tiny bag and will fit easily onto a small train table or into your carry-on luggage if you want to use it on a long flight. The tablet itself is only around 8mm thick, which is slimmer than the iPad. With the keyboard attached, it's around 18mm -- still very slender.
> 
> The keyboard layout on the dock hasn't been changed, which is great, as I found the Prime surprisingly comfortable to type on. You'll normally find keyboards this size on netbooks and they're often extremely awkward, requiring you to squash your fingers in to hit the right keys. The Prime was a big improvement over a netbook and the Infinity offers a similarly comfortable experience.....
> 
> ...


----------



## TremulousTetra (Sep 10, 2012)

yield said:


> What's your budget?
> 
> Lenovo keyboards don't have a numberpad.


my Lenovo ThinkPad edge does have a number pad to the right of the enter like a traditional keyboard.


----------



## yield (Sep 11, 2012)

ResistanceMP3 said:


> my Lenovo ThinkPad edge does have a number pad to the right of the enter like a traditional keyboard.


There right there looks like a lot of them have. Could've sworn Apple and Lenovo didn't have numberpads?


----------



## TremulousTetra (Sep 11, 2012)

yield said:


> There right there looks like a lot of them have. Could've sworn Apple and Lenovo didn't have numberpads?


if you are not interested in flash, I would recommend a Lenovo to anyone.  Fantastic machine.


----------



## Rebelda (Oct 3, 2012)

Hello thread! I'm starting uni next week and as the law of sod would have it, my MacBook was pronounced dead yesterday (fair enough, it's six years old). So I need a replacement asap and can't decide - not helped by the fact that i'm tech spec illiterate!

Happy to spend a bit more than the thread title. I don't have any strong feelings either way re Mac/PC but did like that my MacBook didn't need any anti virus software and lasted six years. Then again I don't know that other PCs don't last as long - but from what I've seen of other people's purchases, going cheap seems to be a false economy. 

Truth is I know nothing because I've had the same machine for six years! Help and recommendations much appreciated


----------



## editor (Oct 3, 2012)

Spanglechick: I bought the Asus Transformer for just £399 and it is ruddy brilliant. I doubt very much if I'll be taking my laptop out again for some time, if ever.


----------



## editor (Oct 3, 2012)

Rebelda said:


> Hello thread! I'm starting uni next week and as the law of sod would have it, my MacBook was pronounced dead yesterday (fair enough, it's six years old). So I need a replacement asap and can't decide - not helped by the fact that i'm tech spec illiterate!
> 
> Happy to spend a bit more than the thread title. I don't have any strong feelings either way re Mac/PC but did like that my MacBook didn't need any anti virus software and lasted six years. Then again I don't know that other PCs don't last as long - but from what I've seen of other people's purchases, going cheap seems to be a false economy.
> 
> Truth is I know nothing because I've had the same machine for six years! Help and recommendations much appreciated


Any preference re: size of screen? What programs do you need to run?

If you were happy with your MacBook then you may as well get another one, but there are loads of rather fab alternatives.


----------



## Rebelda (Oct 3, 2012)

No preference re size, other than nothing notebook tiny. No gaming, just word processing, browsing, music, photos and a fair bit of iplayer. 

If i'm honest I didn't love the Mac software. But will I have to buy loads of expensive anti virus kit on top of the price of a PC? Also The Man in PC world was telling me anything other than a Mac would only last 3 years. I took everything he said  with a box of Maldon's finest however. Is he right? 

Please excuse slow, poor quality typing. Am on my diddy Samsung. Love Swype but this is infuriating!


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 3, 2012)

Rebelda said:


> No preference re size, other than nothing notebook tiny. No gaming, just word processing, browsing, music, photos and a fair bit of iplayer.
> 
> If i'm honest I didn't love the Mac software. But will I have to buy loads of expensive anti virus kit on top of the price of a PC? Also The Man in PC world was telling me anything other than a Mac would only last 3 years. I took everything he said with a box of Maldon's finest however. Is he right?
> 
> Please excuse slow, poor quality typing. Am on my diddy Samsung. Love Swype but this is infuriating!


 
No you don't have to buy expensive antivirus...there are plenty of decent free versions, I use avast, but others will work just as well.

How long a computer lasts is like asking how long a bit of string is...they dont magically stop working after 3 years.


----------



## Rebelda (Oct 3, 2012)

Global Stoner said:


> No you don't have to buy expensive antivirus...there are plenty of decent free versions, I use avast, but others will work just as well.
> 
> How long a computer lasts is like asking how long a bit of string is...they dont magically stop working after 3 years.


Thanks 

And yes, I appreciate that it's not an exact science and that my Mac lasted so long because it had relatively gentle use. But figures aside, is the gist of what he was saying true, our was he just trying to


----------



## Rebelda (Oct 3, 2012)

Bah! Or was he just trying to sell me an expensive Mac? ^


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 3, 2012)

Hmmm...well Macs are better built then very cheap computers, but just because you buy a PC doesn't mean you have to go bargain basement and even if you do, it depends how you look after it.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 3, 2012)

As an example Lenovo make very solid computers, not as pricey as a Mac, but not cheap either.


----------



## Rebelda (Oct 3, 2012)

I did like the Sony I had a look at, but here's where I come unstuck: I'm sure I was being lured by the pretty shiny aspect  it's a valid desire for sure, but I'm guessing other brands do the same or better for less money. 

I'm so indecisive, I think I need someone to tell me what to buy  I will have a look at  Lenovo..


----------



## editor (Oct 3, 2012)

Rebelda said:


> No preference re size, other than nothing notebook tiny. No gaming, just word processing, browsing, music, photos and a fair bit of iplayer.


If you're not keen on the Mac software, the I would suggest you look at some alternatives to see how you like them.

By the sound of things, you don't really need a particularly powerful laptop, but is portability an issue?

Viruses are pretty much a non issue these days, and you can decent free software anyway (banks usually offer full packages for free too).

How much would you like to pay?


----------



## Rebelda (Oct 3, 2012)

editor said:


> If you're not keen on the Mac software, the I would suggest you look at some alternatives to see how you like them.
> 
> By the sound of things, you don't really need a particularly powerful laptop, but is portability an issue?
> 
> ...


I think it will mostly be at home, but I would like to be able to take it to uni with me if I ever get the childcare to spend some time in the library (Birkbeck library is brilliant!). To add to that, I would be travelling by bike. I'd like to spend not more than £500.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 3, 2012)

Rebelda said:


> I did like the Sony I had a look at, but here's where I come unstuck: I'm sure I was being lured by the pretty shiny aspect  it's a valid desire for sure, but I'm guessing other brands do the same or better for less money.
> 
> I'm so indecisive, I think I need someone to tell me what to buy  I will have a look at Lenovo..


 
I'd never buy Sony for their record of treating customers like shit (and being a bit overpriced for that shininess)


----------



## spanglechick (Oct 3, 2012)

editor said:


> Spanglechick: I bought the Asus Transformer for just £399 and it is ruddy brilliant. I doubt very much if I'll be taking my laptop out again for some time, if ever.


ooh - this is the previous top of the range model that's now been superseded and become cheaper is it? where did you buy from?


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## editor (Oct 3, 2012)

spanglechick said:


> ooh - this is the previous top of the range model that's now been superseded and become cheaper is it? where did you buy from?


Yep - it's the Asus Transformer Prime. I got it on Amazon for £399 with free P&P.

It's dropped down a few more quid in a some other places now too -cheapest I can see is £387 - a bargain!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-EeePad...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1349303572&sr=1-1


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## editor (Oct 3, 2012)

Rebelda said:


> I think it will mostly be at home, but I would like to be able to take it to uni with me if I ever get the childcare to spend some time in the library (Birkbeck library is brilliant!). To add to that, I would be travelling by bike. I'd like to spend not more than £500.


I'd suggest a trip down to PC World (or similar) and have a play with some of the machines there. The Acer Aspire 5750G and Lenovo G570 might be worth considering.

You may also want try out a wildcard and give the Asus Transformer a go too as it's small, light, fast and does all the basics in some style - and has a massive battery life too. Only downside is that the iPlayer app is only average at the moment - there's an upgrade coming soon apparently.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 3, 2012)

editor said:


> I'd suggest a trip down to PC World (or similar) and have a play with some of the machines there. The Acer Aspire 5750G and Lenovo G570 might be worth considering.
> 
> You may also want try out a wildcard and give the Asus Transformer a go too as it's small, light, fast and does all the basics in some style - and has a massive battery life too. Only downside is that the iPlayer app is only average at the moment - there's an upgrade coming soon apparently.


 
That and it's not a computer...great as a second device, but not sure I'd want one as a main machine.


----------



## spanglechick (Oct 3, 2012)

editor said:


> Yep - it's the Asus Transformer Prime. I got it on Amazon for £399 with free P&P.
> 
> It's dropped down a few more quid in a some other places now too -cheapest I can see is £387 - a bargain!
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-EeePad...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1349303572&sr=1-1


Awesome - have ordered one, and even paid extra to have it delivered to work before lunch on friday, so I can take it away and play with it at the weekend when i'm at my sister's.  Thanks, Ed. Really appreciated your input (as before, with camera stuff, actually).


----------



## editor (Oct 4, 2012)

spanglechick said:


> Awesome - have ordered one, and even paid extra to have it delivered to work before lunch on friday, so I can take it away and play with it at the weekend when i'm at my sister's. Thanks, Ed. Really appreciated your input (as before, with camera stuff, actually).


I hope it does the job for you! Once you get used to having a laptop with a touchscreen I think it will be very hard to go back to one without one.

Some things to look out for when you get it: the device comes in two parts (kybd/screen). To fit the screen on to the keyboard, you need to remove two small rubber seals on the tablet (you can the bloke doing it at 04:40 in this video). Mine took some effort to get out!

The manual advises charging the unit for 8 hours before use - something I found very frustrating!

Give me a call if you get stuck!


----------



## editor (Oct 4, 2012)

I've added a bit more about setting up the Asus here: http://www.urban75.net/forums/threa...rime-down-to-£399-im-in.299865/#post-11572267


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## Rebelda (Oct 4, 2012)

In layman's terms what is the difference between a Lenovo thinkpad and an ideapad?


----------



## editor (Oct 4, 2012)

Rebelda said:


> In layman's terms what is the difference between a Lenovo thinkpad and an ideapad?


Thinkpads are aimed more at the business community, and as such are more robust, with business features and are - generally - easier to repair.


----------



## Rebelda (Oct 4, 2012)

Ta


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## editor (Oct 4, 2012)

Rebelda said:


> In layman's terms what is the difference between a Lenovo thinkpad and an ideapad?


I'm currently reviewing a ThinkPad Edge S430 which is a pretty splendid machine.


----------



## Chz (Oct 5, 2012)

editor said:


> I'm currently reviewing a ThinkPad Edge S430 which is a pretty splendid machine.


My main issues with my wife's E320 were an exceptionally crummy trackpad (I use the nipple, I don't care) and a fairly dim, fuzzy screen. It's otherwise an excellent machine. Have they fixed those issues?


----------



## editor (Oct 5, 2012)

All seems pretty good to me. Screen's pretty good and I haven't had any problems with the trackpad (although I'm more of a ooo-err nipple man myself).


----------



## spanglechick (Oct 5, 2012)

My transformer came! It is currently charging.  

It really is an awfully pretty shade of grey.  They call it amethyst grey, but the pics I saw online made me expect it would be dull old metallic grey. No. Tis def a tiny smidgen purple. But not in a girly way.  Anyway.  Hmm. Hoping it won't be quite the whole 8 hrs til the light goes green, or I'll be stuck at work til 6.30.


----------



## spanglechick (Oct 5, 2012)

Light is green!  No signal yet, of course (what, you think the school trusts is with the wifi key?) But soon, my pretty.  Soon.


----------



## editor (Oct 5, 2012)

The green light will go off before eight hours but it is recommended you give it a full charge. You could just take it home and continue charging there before using it.

It is a really lovely looking thing and with its slick., all-metal finish it looks like it should cost something more like a grand.


----------



## spanglechick (Oct 5, 2012)

Oh. It says "fully charge the battery for up to eight hours" and then elsewhere it says:

"Battery Charge Indicator (dual color)

Green ON: the battery level is up to 100%
Orange ON: the mobile docking is in battery charging status"

I'd say the use of "up to" 8hrs and the description of the green light as 100% charged were pretty directly saying it was fully charged.  See, this is where we technophobes find it so stressful. How are we sposed to know you should do the full eight hours when it doesn't say so?  

I can plug it in when I get home no prob, but still.  Annoying.  How are people supposed to know?


----------



## editor (Oct 5, 2012)

There is some general debate whether you should charge a device (_any_ device) for a full 8 hours or so on the very first charge. Some think it makes a difference others don't. I just did it anyway (and managed to display admirable restraint because I was desperate to play with the machine!).

I think the Asus suggests you charge it for the 8 hours on the first charge, and then goes on to explain how the indicators work after that.


----------



## spanglechick (Oct 5, 2012)

editor said:


> There is some general debate whether you should charge a device (_any_ device) for a full 8 hours or so on the very first charge. Some think it makes a difference others don't. I just did it anyway (and managed to display admirable restraint because I was desperate to play with the machine!).
> 
> I think the Asus suggests you charge it for the 8 hours on the first charge, and then goes on to explain how the indicators work after that.


Not that it matters, because I'll do the extra hour when I get home, but in the two little manuals that come in the box, it does say "To prolong battery life, fully  charge the battery for up to 8 hours when using the Eee pad for the first time". "Up to". If Asus have different instructions to that, they should put them in the bloody manuals.


----------



## editor (Oct 5, 2012)

The manuals were a little bit on the minimalist side, to say the least!


----------



## spanglechick (Oct 5, 2012)

That's def true!


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 5, 2012)

Any tips on a laptop for my young un for Xmas? He's 12, needs something to do his homework on, watch films, usual online use, youtube, facebook etc.

I'm used to using a macbook and don't have much experience with Windows but I know I don't need to spend macbook money, budget more like £250 if possible.


----------



## Chz (Nov 6, 2012)

There's always the Chromebook, I guess. That's the only new laptop you'll get for £250.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 6, 2012)

I've seen the Transformer TF101 for £239.99 but they sold out yesterday, something like that would be good I suppose or a 10" screen netbook type thing.


----------



## editor (Nov 6, 2012)

You can get this for £270:


> Asus X53U Laptop
> 
> - AMD DC E-450 1.6GHz
> - 4GB RAM + 500GB HDD
> ...


----------



## fractionMan (Nov 8, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> I've seen the Transformer TF101 for £239.99 but they sold out yesterday, something like that would be good I suppose or a 10" screen netbook type thing.


 
ex-display model here for £217!

eta: not sure if it comes with the keyboard


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 10, 2012)

editor said:


> You can get this for £270:


 
How does this compare?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toshiba-S...M-500GB-/290808965868?clk_rvr_id=409058582955


----------



## Chz (Nov 11, 2012)

That one is vastly more powerful. Nice one for the price, I was certain you wouldn't get anything that wasn't over a year old for £250.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 21, 2012)

Course they sold out before payday...still on the look out


----------



## Kuso (Dec 2, 2012)

I'd like people's opinions on this http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer...lue_with_8GB_RAM!_NX.M1KEK.0028GB/version.asp please.


need a seperate laptop  for uni and personal stuff so the current on is going into the lab,  was thinking about that one to replace it in the house


----------



## Chz (Dec 2, 2012)

It seems a bit silly that it's using an ultra-low power CPU in a bog standard 15.6" laptop. For the price, you can get something more powerful but it would likely have 6GB of RAM instead of the 8 on this. But RAM is cheap, and laptops aren't terribly upgradable in the CPU department. I'd avoid it. Those processors are meant for laptops in the 13" and under category, so it just reeks of bad design. It's supposed to be "thin and light", but still bulky and over 6.5 lbs!


----------



## Kuso (Dec 2, 2012)

Chz said:


> It seems a bit silly that it's using an ultra-low power CPU in a bog standard 15.6" laptop. For the price, you can get something more powerful but it would likely have 6GB of RAM instead of the 8 on this. But RAM is cheap, and laptops aren't terribly upgradable in the CPU department. I'd avoid it. Those processors are meant for laptops in the 13" and under category, so it just reeks of bad design. It's supposed to be "thin and light", but still bulky and over 6.5 lbs!


 
cheers!  I'll probably be posting quite a few links in the next while.  I know how to use them but I don't know anything about the specs etc.  Have to wait until after xmas anyway, so hopefully get something in a sale


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 2, 2012)

Kuso said:


> need a seperate laptop for uni and personal stuff so the current on is going into the lab, was thinking about that one to replace it in the house


 
A desktop? 

Not very fashionable these days I guess, but have there own advantages!


----------



## Kuso (Dec 3, 2012)

I've actually really considered it.  But the living room is pretty small, and I wouldn't want to clutter it with a computer desk and more leads.  I've the spare room but my speakers are set up in the living room, and TV for HDMI etc


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 3, 2012)

Kuso said:


> I've actually really considered it. But the living room is pretty small, and I wouldn't want to clutter it with a computer desk and more leads. I've the spare room but my speakers are set up in the living room, and TV for HDMI etc


 
Mini ATI case, run through the TV?


----------



## Kuso (Dec 3, 2012)

nah, I'd still want to be able to do the odd bit of uni work on it and maybe down the line get back into playing with Reason.  Plus I like being able to bring my laptop to a mates for tunes or to watch films or whatever.

money permitting I'd stick a desktop and new speakers in the spare room and get a small(ish) laptop too.  I can but dream


----------



## Kuso (Dec 3, 2012)

Chz said:


> It seems a bit silly that it's using an ultra-low power CPU in a bog standard 15.6" laptop. For the price, you can get something more powerful but it would likely have 6GB of RAM instead of the 8 on this. But RAM is cheap, and laptops aren't terribly upgradable in the CPU department. I'd avoid it. Those processors are meant for laptops in the 13" and under category, so it just reeks of bad design. It's supposed to be "thin and light", but still bulky and over 6.5 lbs!



I wouldn't ask you to try and find me something good, but what sorta specs should I be looking for for 400-450?   although the one I'm looking for for the house is just for 'general' use I wouldn't mind being able to use it for music production/ mixing down the line.  Could possibly stretch to 500 if it was worth the extra,

though I'd love to find a decent offer and get something decent for 350ish, cuz that would allow me to put money towards a new uni laptop too.  this one got pretty badly physically damaged and I'm not 100% sure it'll see me through.  though hopefully once I an reformat it etc and JUST have uni atuff on there it mightn't seem as bad

I know it's impossible to say but dya reckon there'll be good deals going after xmas?


----------



## Chz (Dec 4, 2012)

Well, almost certainly good deals after xmas. It's funny how us desktop jockeys never get decent sales on components, but laptops are a whole other story... (Before someone points out I must have no idea what I'm talking about, just because I don't buy _myself_ laptops doesn't mean I haven't frequently done it for other people)

That being said, I'm not hunting this year for anyone so I'm not really aware of what's about. Keep an eye on hotukdeals.com and do the occasional search is all I can say. I will keep my ear to the ground though.

Crucially, what do you *want*? When we created this thread, £350-450 represented the _absolute minimum_ that had to be spent to get something that was at least partially unlike a giant steaming dog turd with a keyboard stuck on it. Things have progressed since then, and by paying attention to sales it's quite possible to get something rather nice for £450. Do you want the cheapest thing that will do the job without stinking up the sitting room (£300 on sale, easily), or do you have something in mind?

Edit: Size preferences are critical here. The cheapest things are 15.6" diagonal and bulky, but in recent times it's possible to get a proper laptop (not some Atom-powered heap of shit) in a smaller form factor at a reasonable price - see the 13" Thinkpad Edge for example, £380 to start and frequently on sale.


----------



## Chz (Dec 4, 2012)

Here, same laptop with half the RAM and a little less CPU power:
http://www.ebuyer.com/398053-acer-aspire-v5-thin-and-light-nx-m2cek-003
But at £90 less, who cares any more? Doubling the RAM (*if* you need it) costs less than £20 and the CPU is in the same performance arena as the other, albeit somewhat slower. At that price I wouldn't quibble too much if it's the sort of thing you're looking for. Not to my taste, but I don't argue too hard with a bargain.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 4, 2012)

It's just a shame that resolution don't seem to be increasing quickly. I was hoping that with all the new tablets out with super high res screens we'd start seeing more 1080p laptops or at least 1680x1050.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 4, 2012)

Any opinions on this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-650-La...5-6inch-/360528334970?clk_rvr_id=420559325931


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 5, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Any opinions on this?
> 
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-650-La...5-6inch-/360528334970?clk_rvr_id=420559325931


 
Hard to go wrong at that price. Not the fastest chip in the world, but you are getting a laptop for £250


----------



## Chz (Dec 5, 2012)

Agreed. There's nothing *wrong* with it. And at that price you can't complain about things not being as nice as you want. I think one of the primary drivers here is that CPUs have reached the point where even cheap-assed shit like Celerons are plenty powerful for most tasks. Even the Celerys are dual-core and based on the latest architecture now.

Personally, I'd shell out the extra for a 2+GHz Pentium as as minimum. But I know that most people would be fine with this one.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 5, 2012)

What about Windows 8? I use a Mac so I don't use it but not sure I've heard many positive comments?


----------



## SpookyFrank (Dec 5, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> What about Windows 8? I use a Mac so I don't use it but not sure I've heard many positive comments?


 
'Avoid at all costs' seems to be the near-universal verdict.


----------



## thriller (Dec 5, 2012)

£350 is rather expensive. Hardly call it "affordable"


----------



## Kuso (Dec 16, 2012)

anyone wanna give me their (more expert than me at least) opinion on this?

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5087640.htm



> CPU, Memory and Operating System:
> 
> Intel Core i3 2350M processor.
> 2.3GHz processor speed.
> ...


 
Bolded things are a few features that I'd be looking for- card reader for taking photos off the camera in uni, plenty of USB ports for a mouse/ USB pen/ external HD/ charging iPod etc

From what I know (little) seems to be decent in the ram & processor departments, and have a decent sized HD. The only things lacking that my current laptop (that got physically battered in the summer and needs replacing) has are a VGA and eSATA port. The eSATA port isn't a big thing, though it doubled as another USB which was handy. But I often use a second monitor in uni- handy for having results or reading material up on whilst typing about it. All the 'spare' monitors have VGA connections, have googled and seen there's HDMI to VGA leads available. Do these work?

It doesn't matter if it looks a bit rubbish or is heavy as it'll be staying in uni Monday-Friday and only coming home at weekends. Though I imagine I'll to be using my shiny new one at home after not too long and bring it home with me.

Oh, and it's Windows 7- not going anywhere near 8!


----------



## DrRingDing (Dec 16, 2012)

Don't get a Tosh.

They're either fucking massive and ugly or small and flimsy.

I would heartily recommend looking at Samsungs new latops SOME of them are quite sexy.


----------



## Kuso (Dec 16, 2012)

DrRingDing said:


> Don't get a Tosh.
> 
> They're either fucking massive and ugly or small and flimsy.
> 
> I would heartily recommend looking at Samsungs new latops SOME of them are quite sexy.


 
OK, so aesthetics/ build quality aside, how does the rest of it look for that price?  Just so I know what I should or could be getting


----------



## DrRingDing (Dec 16, 2012)

It's alright price wise. But I would not buy it blindly. See it, pick it up, feel it, play with it.


----------



## Chz (Dec 17, 2012)

It's a decent price, if you like it. I'd agree with DrRingDing. You can get similar specs for a little bit cheaper, but everything is built to a price as you know...


----------



## hermitical (Dec 29, 2012)

An unexpected Christmas bonus has made me think of getting a new laptop.
Main uses, films, tv (we don't have a tv so rely on the laptop), streaming video, browsing, downloading, some typing etc. I'm also using linux at the moment so I might fancy making it dual boot.
I got 90% through ordering a Dell Inspiron 15z Ultrabook, got it down to £540 with hopefully another £50 cashback
Spec:

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3517U processor (4M Cache, up to 3.0 GHz)
Windows 8 64bit, English
15.6" (39.6 cm) High Definition (720p) LED Display with Truelife
6GB1 DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
500GB 5400 RPM SATA HDD and 32GB mSATA SSD
8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
Nvidia® GeForce® GT630M 2G
1 yr Next Day In-Home Hardware Support & 90 days Premium Software Phone Support
4.78 lbs
I expect it is a little overblown for my needs but I am sick and tired of our present HP stuttering and stalling so am looking for something that whizzes along nicely and will last a good while.
As we use it for viewing a lot should I really think about a 17" or would that make it too bulky? Bearing in mind that it does get used as a lap-top laptop and in bed when I'm not feeling well. But I really don't want anything smaller than our present 15". £550 is probably the top of my range but would be very happy to spend less if it is still money well spent...

Any thoughts or advice gratefully received


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 29, 2012)

Seems to be loads of post Xmas bargains about. Of course I insisted on taking the lad out to mess with them in Currys and he came away fancying one of these...

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-...9721-0a3328ca1f02&istItemId=qqpxmxaa&istBid=t

His budget has risen due to some considerable generosity on his grandad's part but he wants to compare it to a Transformer. Can't find any in stock anywhere to go and play with.

This may be a daft question but do the Android office apps work with documents/.doc? Just need to be sure he'll be ok doing his homework.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Dec 29, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> This may be a daft question but do the Android office apps work with documents/.doc? Just need to be sure he'll be ok doing his homework.


To an extent - if it's a question of writing things with them and saving them in Word formats, or opening simple Word docs, that's fine. Complex Word shit involving text boxes inside tables with embedded images and that sort of malarkey, not usually so great.

Is there actually a requirement to use Word formats at school these days? Pretty disgraceful if there is.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 29, 2012)

Still if it's for school, I'd say there's something to be said for something that has a proper word processor and it is quite handy to learn word, seeing as that's what most of the world uses.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Dec 29, 2012)

Global Stoner said:


> Still if it's for school, I'd say there's something to be said for something that has a proper word processor and it is quite handy to learn word, seeing as that's what most of the world uses.


Tablet word processors are not quite as full featured as desktop ones usually, but they're generally okay for typing stuff. It's the keyboard that tends to be the issue, which is not a problem with a Transformer of course.

There's no need to "learn" Word - being vaguely computer literate will let you do pretty much anything you're likely to need to do with it.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 29, 2012)

FridgeMagnet said:


> To an extent - if it's a question of writing things with them and saving them in Word formats, or opening simple Word docs, that's fine. Complex Word shit involving text boxes inside tables with embedded images and that sort of malarkey, not usually so great.
> 
> Is there actually a requirement to use Word formats at school these days? Pretty disgraceful if there is.


 
It's not a requirement as such but if he ever has to print things off we don't have a printer so I or his mum usually do them at work.


----------



## spanglechick (Dec 29, 2012)

IME there's no requirement to use word as such, but many schools have a VLE platform where kids can access course materials, worksheets etc. almost all of these will be in word, so if there are formatting problems it can limit the advantage of the VLE - especially if it's left til the night before.


----------



## editor (Dec 29, 2012)

There's a very comprehensive comparison of the capabilities of the seven major Android Office suits here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1085173


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

Any particular post Xmas bargains worth noting? Windows 7 only, unless its easy to get a copy of 7 and uninstall 8?


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Jan 2, 2013)

Yes, actually, my mum need a new laptop and doesnt want to spend too much, but no way am I suggesting something with Win8 on it - that is so not worth my time.


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

i'm going on the hunt properly tomorrow I think pc world etc only do windows 8 these days, but I'm hoping a get clearance win7 stock or something


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

quite a few cheap windows 7 on pcworld atm...


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Yes, actually, my mum need a new laptop and doesnt want to spend too much, but no way am I suggesting something with Win8 on it - that is so not worth my time.


 
£250...

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavilion-g6-1378ea-15-6-laptop-charcoal-11884722-pdt.html

ProcessorIntel® Core™ i3-2330M processor (2.2 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache)
Operating SystemGenuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
RAM4 GB
Graphics cardIntel HD
Screen typeHD LED BrightViewScreen resolution1366 x 768
Screen size15.6
"Hard drive320 GB
Memory card readerMulti-Format Digital Media Card Reader
USB3 USB 2.0 ports
Size37.4 x 24.5 x 3.63cm (W x D x H)
Weight2.55 kg 

might be heavy n look like shit (does it??) but at that price...


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Jan 2, 2013)

Not HP though, not touching that. No offence.


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Not HP though, not touching that. No offence.


 
see, I dont know stuff like that.  any particular problems with hp?


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Jan 2, 2013)

Kuso said:


> see, I dont know stuff like that.  any particular problems with hp?


Build quality and reliability on them seems to be dreadful these days. It's like Dell was many years back (nowadays Dells aren't so bad).


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

TBH, if I get a year out of it to finish my phd on.  Really need a seperate laptop and this one's a bit fucked, enen if I could get it sorted I'd rather have a seperate one.  so 250 quid seems reasonable for writing a thesis on etc


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Jan 2, 2013)

Kuso said:


> TBH, if I get a year out of it to finish my phd on.  Really need a seperate laptop and this one's a bit fucked, enen if I could get it sorted I'd rather have a seperate one.  so 250 quid seems reasonable for writing a thesis on etc


Sure, but if you can get one for £350 which lasts for five years... or £250 with slightly lower spec....

Nowadays the first thing I say when a friend says "hey my laptop just died" is "it's an HP isn't it?"


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

toshiba's any good (in general)?

http://www.ebuyer.com/393189-toshiba-satellite-pro-c850-15v-laptop-pskc9e-01l00hen

same(ish) specs I think, bigger HD and not HP, 70 quid more


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Sure, but if you can get one for £350 which lasts for five years... or £250 with slightly lower spec....
> 
> Nowadays the first thing I say when a friend says "hey my laptop just died" is "it's an HP isn't it?"


 
that £250 one is sold out everywhere- back to the hunt


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 2, 2013)

Kuso said:


> £250...
> 
> http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavilion-g6-1378ea-15-6-laptop-charcoal-11884722-pdt.html
> 
> ...


 
At that price it works.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 2, 2013)

If your after something a bit lighter for the same moneies, but with a bit less grunt on the cpu.

Processor

Intel Pentium B960 2.2GHz
2MB Cache
Intel HM70/76 Express Chipset
Memory

4GB DDR3 1600MHz (max)
Hard Drive

320GB SATA 5400rpm
Optical Drive

None
Software

Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
Display

14" 16:9 HD LED Backlight
Resolution: 1366 x 768
Asus X401A


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 2, 2013)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Build quality and reliability on them seems to be dreadful these days. It's like Dell was many years back (nowadays Dells aren't so bad).


 
Anything at that price range is going to be ultra plastic shite.


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

could do with a bigger screen for uni tbh.  I can spend more than 250, but that offer seemed too good to true, would be perfect tbh as I just want a uni laptop.

I think I'm just gonna go fairly cheap n cheerful (ish), wouldn't wanna spend more than 350. its gonna stay in uni anyway and become my work laptop then if (when, hopefully) I get my post doc sorted I can splash out on a new personal one



Global Stoner said:


> If your after something a bit lighter for the same moneies, but with a bit less grunt on the cpu.
> 
> 
> on: 1366 x Processor
> ...


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 2, 2013)

All about what you need it for isn't it? I'd almost say spend the least you can and treat it as almost disposable over the next year. Even a cheap modern CPU is so much faster then what we've managed with for years that it's going to do what you want.


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

yeah, I'm torn between getting a cheap as fuck one thats just for uni and putting up with this one until I finish up and (hopefully) get a job then getting a decent personal one for the house and spending a bit more if I can get something well sweet for 400-450 and look after it well...


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 2, 2013)

Multiple machines 

You can have it with power, cheap and portable. You just need to choose two.


----------



## Kuso (Jan 2, 2013)

Global Stoner said:


> Multiple machines
> 
> You can have it with power, cheap and portable. You just need to choose two.


 
portability aint a big thing really...

what about this:

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/new-in-box--asus-quad-core-gaming-laptop-laptops/1005981727

Asus AMD A6 Quad Core 15.6" HD/LED gaming laptops 
(We use low cost courier MyHerms and we post anywhere in UK if your not in collection range.) 

Processor 
• AMD A6-3400M Quad Core 1.4GHz + 2.3Ghz in Turbo Mode 
• AMD A70M Chipset 
Memory 
• 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz 
• Configuration 2Gb x 2GB 
Hard Drive 
• 500GB SATA 
Optical Drive 
• DVD Super Multi Dual Layer 
Display 
• 15.6” 16:9 HD LED Backlight 
• Resolution: 1366 x 768 
Graphics 
• AMD Radeon HD 6520G Graphics 
• 320 Core DirectX 11 Ready 
• Perfect for Gaming, HD Content, Video and photo Editing 
• With access to upto 2GB of 1333Mhz 128-bit memory for an astounding 21.3GB per second graphics data bandwidth! 
Audio 
• Built-in speakers and microphone 
• Altec Lansing® speakers 
Networking 
• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN 
• WLAN: 802.11 bg/n 
Interfaces 
• 1 x VGA 
• 1 x HDMI 
• 3 x USB 2.0 
• 1 x USB 3.0 
• 1 x Microphone-in jack 
• 1 x Headphone-out jack 
• 1 x RJ45 (LAN) 
• 1 x DC-In (Power Port) 
Expansion 
• 4 -in-1 card reader ( SD/ MS/ MS Pro/ MMC) 
Warranty / Miscellaneous 
• 1 Year Manufacturer Warranty + Game&Tech on site warranty 
• Webcam 

CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PROFILE --Strabane GameandTech 
could get a lift to collect in person n all, make sure its all legit


----------



## Kuso (Jan 3, 2013)

last few for tonight:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Refu..._Windows_7_Laptop_a1-NX.RN5EK.002/version.asp

http://www.ebuyer.com/393189-toshiba-satellite-pro-c850-15v-laptop-pskc9e-01l00hen

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/sho...6_led_lcd_notebook_black.html?hnav=4294899238

let me know what you lot think if you can be assed, I'm gonna hit town and see if I can get an ex display windows 7 for cheap or on clearance somewhere considering everything is windows 8 these days


----------



## Kuso (Jan 4, 2013)

still undecided, too much choice0 1st world problems...

This here is looking good for the price (300):






or so it appears to me.  what y'all reckon?


----------



## Chz (Jan 4, 2013)

I'd have thought the i3-3000 series (the current Ivy Bridge chips) have been out long enough that you should be able to get a good one for £350 or less. That would be preferable due to better graphics performance and better power management. They're not actually much faster in CPU oomph, but quite frankly that's not been a limitation for most people for quite a while.

There's nothing wrong with the i3-2000s, other than being 2011 models for the most part. Which is just a way of saying that they should *all* be cheap by now. The 3000s started shipping in May last year and no builder would've created new models on the 2000s in 2012 with the new chips showing up.

The first link you posted (out of stock now), is an even older CPU model. I'd avoid that unless they're _very_ cheap.


----------



## Kuso (Jan 4, 2013)

Chz said:


> I'd have thought the i3-3000 series (the current Ivy Bridge chips) have been out long enough that you should be able to get a good one for £350 or less. That would be preferable due to better graphics performance and better power management. They're not actually much faster in CPU oomph, but quite frankly that's not been a limitation for most people for quite a while.
> 
> There's nothing wrong with the i3-2000s, other than being 2011 models for the most part. Which is just a way of saying that they should *all* be cheap by now. The 3000s started shipping in May last year and no builder would've created new models on the 2000s in 2012 with the new chips showing up.
> 
> The first link you posted (out of stock now), is an even older CPU model. I'd avoid that unless they're _very_ cheap.


 
The first one was only £25o.  I bought the one above there.  Once I bought it the price went up to £334.  I decided just to go for it- the last time I was getting a new laptop I spent months waiting for something slightly better for the same price and debating whether that extra 25-50 quid is worth it for whatever extra.

300 is a decent price for a laptop, it'll definitely do what I need (uni stuff) and leaves me money left over for a phone and some new caps, and *possibly* a pair of trainers


----------



## hammerntongues (Jan 8, 2013)

I need a new laptop at the £ 300 region  , lots of suggestions here to follow up on but generally are prices cheaper on line ? I do most elec shopping nowadays on amazon but would like to have a touchy-feely session first , I know I can do that then buy on-line elsewhere but if for example I found a Laptop in PC World would I find it a lot cheaper elsewhere ?
only needed for basic home use , domestic stuff and probably no gaming needs , any obvious choices ?


----------



## Kuso (Jan 12, 2013)

hammerntongues said:


> I need a new laptop at the £ 300 region , lots of suggestions here to follow up on but generally are prices cheaper on line ? I do most elec shopping nowadays on amazon but would like to have a touchy-feely session first , I know I can do that then buy on-line elsewhere but if for example I found a Laptop in PC World would I find it a lot cheaper elsewhere ?
> only needed for basic home use , domestic stuff and probably no gaming needs , any obvious choices ?


If those Asus that I linked to are still going for around 300 I'd recommend them. Was rather impressed when I opened it's nice n sleek, not quite ultra book slim but for 300... Good build quality (first impressions anyway), plenty of USB, and a USB 3, HDMI, card reader etc etc

The pc world near me only had windows 8 laptops in stock, definitely didn't want t that. You might be lucky and find x some where doing windows 7 clearance. Have a look online, and remember you've a fortnight (week?) Cooling off period buying stuff online if you buy it and don't like the look etc.

The last time I was buying a laptop I kept boring out for the next upgrade or whatever, but there's always going to be something new on the horizon, so if you need it now, buy it now. Well, shop around a bit like.

*just a note, I'm no computer expert, but knew that was gonna be plenty good for me.


----------



## yield (Jan 29, 2013)

This looks good for the price. Third generation ivy bridge intel i5 processor and 8gb ram.

Acer Aspire E1-571 (3rd-gen) i5, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD - £379.97 @ saveonlaptops

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_E1-571_1334871.html

found via hotukdeals


----------



## editor (Jan 29, 2013)

I'd definitely have a look at budget Asus VivoBook Windows 8 touchscreen range now.





Five star review: 
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...nd-netbooks/asus-vivobook-s200-1111357/review


----------



## fractionMan (Jan 29, 2013)

yield said:


> This looks good for the price. Third generation ivy bridge intel i5 processor and 8gb ram.
> 
> Acer Aspire E1-571 (3rd-gen) i5, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD - £379.97 @ saveonlaptops
> 
> ...


 
Also this acer timeline - http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/GRADE_B_-_Acer_Aspire_TimelineX_5830T_1344988.html

Bit less power, but a really good batterylife. I've got a previous generation (pre "i" processor) of this laptop and it served me very well indeed. £349

Oh, just realised it's second hand.  I'd not bother.


----------



## Firky (Jan 29, 2013)

.


----------



## Prince Bert (Jan 29, 2013)

editor said:


> I'd definitely have a look at budget Asus VivoBook Windows 8 touchscreen range now.
> 
> 
> Five star review:
> http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...nd-netbooks/asus-vivobook-s200-1111357/review


 
Dabs outlet are selling it for £290 on ebay. 

I'm not sure what that means given the specs, but there was another 4 star review I seen which criticised the screen for being on the dim side.


----------



## oneunder (Feb 1, 2013)

wrong page sorry


----------



## oneunder (Feb 1, 2013)

this seems good..no os included..id stick win7 on it for fl studio,linux mint or ubuntu for everything else..
http://www.ebuyer.com/411061-zoostorm-laptop-7873-9042


----------



## editor (Feb 1, 2013)

Prince Bert said:


> Dabs outlet are selling it for £290 on ebay.
> 
> I'm not sure what that means given the specs, but there was another 4 star review I seen which criticised the screen for being on the dim side.


But for £290?! It's one hell of a bargain.


----------



## Prince Bert (Feb 2, 2013)

editor said:


> But for £290?! It's one hell of a bargain.


 
I have seen some average reviews on that laptop. Some don't seem to be impressed with the specs of it. Also, the smaller screen size would be an issue for me. After reading back through the thread I suspect you've got a thing for the touch screen at the mo, which is fair enough. I like the idea myself, but don't want to get a laptop just for that reason.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 2, 2013)

Prince Bert said:


> I have seen some average reviews on that laptop. Some don't seem to be impressed with the specs of it. Also, the smaller screen size would be an issue for me. After reading back through the thread I suspect you've got a thing for the touch screen at the mo, which is fair enough. I like the idea myself, but don't want to get a laptop just for that reason.


 
I'd not object to having a touch screen on a laptop. It's just I'd rather see things like SSDs and higher res screens as standard first.


----------



## trashpony (Apr 12, 2013)

I have a Compaq Presario CQ56 which is about 2.5 years old. It's getting very hot from the fan area, sometimes the screen goes a bit funny, the keyboard letters get mixed up (so I type 'this' and it comes out 'xabn' for example) and sometimes the screen goes off and I need to restart it about 5 times before it'll behave again.

Is it dying and should I buy a new one before it totally carks it? I'm self-employed and use it for work. I am thinking of also getting a tablet for travelling around so I don't need anything particularly light but I do like to work in different rooms of the house (depending on the time of year as my office is fucking freezing)


----------



## trashpony (Apr 13, 2013)

Anyone? I forgot to mention the fact that the battery lasts a very small amount of time now too - less than an hour

Is it worth getting a tablet AND a laptop or is that just silly? That Acer that editor linked to upthread has a v small screen which I don't think would as my primary computer. Could I get a light netbook that is big enough/has enough memory to act as my primary computer and light enough to cart up to London/bung in carry on luggage?


----------



## editor (Apr 13, 2013)

trashpony said:


> Anyone? I forgot to mention the fact that the battery lasts a very small amount of time now too - less than an hour
> 
> Is it worth getting a tablet AND a laptop or is that just silly? That Acer that editor linked to upthread has a v small screen which I don't think would as my primary computer. Could I get a light netbook that is big enough/has enough memory to act as my primary computer and light enough to cart up to London/bung in carry on luggage?


I'm a big fan of the Asus Transformer prime that's a tablet and laptop in one with an immense battery life (14+ hours).  I've barely touched my laptop since I bought it.


----------



## trashpony (Apr 13, 2013)

editor said:


> I'm a big fan of the Asus Transformer prime that's a tablet and laptop in one with an immense battery life (14+ hours). I've barely touched my laptop since I bought it.


Ooh interesting - that looks great.

Is the screen big enough to write/edit on? I find the ipad (which is my only experience of tablets) a bit weeny for doing serious work on but I've not used it with a keyboard which I suspect would be easier. How do you load programmes with something like that - would I need to buy a portable CD drive too? Is the memory big enough to store photos etc?


----------



## editor (Apr 13, 2013)

trashpony said:


> Ooh interesting - that looks great.
> 
> Is the screen big enough to write/edit on? I find the ipad (which is my only experience of tablets) a bit weeny for doing serious work on but I've not used it with a keyboard which I suspect would be easier. How do you load programmes with something like that - would I need to buy a portable CD drive too? Is the memory big enough to store photos etc?


With a keyboard it's just the same as a laptop reallt - but then you can pull out the display and it becomes a fully fledged Android tablet.

It comes with 32/64GB storage and two SD card slots so you can another 128GB (or more) - which is plenty for photos and anything else.

I use it quite a bit for writing on - the keyboard is a little bit smaller than a full size one but I get on with it OK - but because it's got a USB slot, you can always add an external keyboard (or hard drive).

There's zillions of good programs you can install on the machine.

Em liked mine so much she immediately went out and got one too!

More: http://eee.asus.com/en/transformer-prime/features


----------



## Elvis Parsley (Apr 18, 2013)

finally got an insurance voucher for PCWorld through today, cup of tea killed the old laptop, so i'm hunting for a sub £400 lappy. looking at this one...

*LENOVO G580 15.6" Laptop - Blue *

Processor Intel® Core™ i3-3110M processor (2.4 GHz, 3 MB cache)
Operating System Windows 8
RAM 6 GB DDR3 (8 GB maximum installable RAM)
Graphics card Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 4000
Screen type HD LED
Screen resolution 1366 x 768
Screen size 15.6"
Hard drive 1 TB hard drive, SATA (5400 rpm)

i'll dump Windows 8 for 7 naturally

there are higher spec laptops for the same money, but i've always liked Lenovo, my back up laptop is their ultra budget Edge 15, which i still prefer over more expensive models i've used.

so any reason why i shouldn't go for this one? apart from it being blue


----------



## Prince Bert (Apr 18, 2013)

OK, a little bit over 450 at 479, but what do you think of the specs on this Asus touchscreen. People have been criticising the second generation intel i3 pentium processor like it is a big deal, but I wouldn't know. I'm tempted on this one. 


*ASUS Vivobook S500CA 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop < click for link to currys *








Processor Intel® Core™ i3-2365M processor (1.4 GHz, 3MB Cache)
Operating System Windows 8
RAM 4 GB (DDR3)
Graphics card Integrated Intel® HM76 Express
Screen type 16:9 HD LED Backlight Glare Touch Panel
Screen resolution 1366 x 788
Screen size 15.6"
Screen features 10-point touchscreen
Hard drive 500 GB, SATA III (5400 rpm)


----------



## Chz (Apr 19, 2013)

I think it's expensive for what you get, to be honest. It's _slightly_ thinner than most 15.6" laptops, but given that none of the other specs are impressive I think it's overpriced. Is a half a centimetre of thickness and the touchscreen worth an extra £100?


----------



## Prince Bert (Apr 19, 2013)

I hate keyboard touch mice thingies. I heard there is some alternative to a normal laptop touch mouse that you can wear on your finger - some infrared thing. Editor on here was talking about the touch screen like it is a breath of fresh air. I've never used a laptop enough to have that feeling, but from using my sister's Dell now and again I could believe it is true.

As for the thickness - are we talking weight? Because yes, I think less weight is important. My main concern is the processor. I don't know how much of a limitation it really is. Would it run something like Google Chrome and Photoshop at the same time? Or would it grumble about video editing? That is the most I would use it for I think.


----------



## Chz (Apr 19, 2013)

It could run two things, since there are two processors. It would run them slowly, mind you. 1.4GHz is less than half the speed of most i3s.

The weight difference looks to be a bit less than a pound. It's hardly lightweight, you'd want to look at 13" models for that. I bought a 13" Lenovo with a faster processor, a lot smaller and weighing quite a bit less last year for £350. That was a great sale to be fair, but it puts this one in the spotlight anyhow. Plus Lenovos have the nipple if you don't like the touchpad.


----------



## Prince Bert (Apr 19, 2013)

Could you give me the model so I can look that one up? Again since I haven't used many laptops I'm not sure about 13inch screens. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I am tall and don't want to be lowering my head to try and see the screen properly. Especially since I am typing CSS / PHP. I might be talking bollocks, but that  is my concern about a smaller screen.


----------



## Chz (Apr 20, 2013)

Having used both, I find the screen resolution more important than the size so long as 13.3" is a minimum. And for under £5-600 they all have the same low-ish resolution. The laptop I got last year was a Thinkpad Edge E320, which is discontinued. The E330 replaced it, but they appear to be out of those as well pending the release of Intel's new mobile processor. The nice trick in those is that they've managed to use a standard mobile processor in a thin and light platform. Unlike the above laptop where they've used a neutered ULV processor (which sips power and stays cool, but runs at less than half the speed) in a package that's not terribly thin or light.


----------



## fractionMan (Apr 22, 2013)

I've happily coded on a 12 inch screen, but if I was doing it long term I'd want 14+. For coding resolution/quality is important, as is keyboard quality. Processing speed is rarely an issue. I was running huge simulations on a ULV processor, 14 inch 400 quid acer timeline. It was great for the money. I'd highly recommend looking them up if you're on a budget and want something that's lightish with good battery life.

339 quid, argos refurb: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ACER-TIME...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4d0a7ce103

414 quid, thiner, lighter, new, great battery: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acer-Trav...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item53f02aef8c


----------



## twentythreedom (May 29, 2013)

I'm after a laptop for no more than £400 - Windows 7, 4GB RAM, 15.6" screen, nothing flash just a decent machine that works well for general use. Any suggestions? Thanks


----------



## hipipol (Jul 28, 2013)

got one of these last week




http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...14-4-ultrabook-silver-black-17056575-pdt.html

Says £499 but if you get it online they take a further £50 off if you are a new acct - I simply used a different email addy and they were chuffed
Seems good so far except for the vile Win8 as they installed OS


----------



## stuff_it (Jul 28, 2013)

Prince Bert said:


> OK, a little bit over 450 at 479, but what do you think of the specs on this Asus touchscreen. People have been criticising the second generation intel i3 pentium processor like it is a big deal, but I wouldn't know. I'm tempted on this one.
> 
> 
> *ASUS Vivobook S500CA 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop < click for link to currys *
> ...


 
I can see why people are slating the processor, my 1st gen i3 is 2.53 gHz! 

In fact bar the weight/thickness and the touchscreen those specs are near enough identical to the nearly two year old Lenovo I am typing this on right now (except I have a faster i3 processor), and all for about £20 more. 

Sounds like a massive waste of cash.


----------



## editor (Jul 28, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> In fact bar the weight/thickness and the touchscreen those specs are near enough identical to the nearly two year old Lenovo I am typing this on right now (except I have a faster i3 processor), and all for about £20 more.
> 
> Sounds like a massive waste of cash.


Apart from the touchscreen of course.


----------



## stuff_it (Jul 28, 2013)

editor said:


> Apart from the touchscreen of course.


 
It's a lot to give up just for a touch screen that you will rarely use. If you want to use a touchscreen all the time you'd be better off with a convertible/tablet doda, if you don't use one that much it seems a waste of cash. 

Having had a convertible years ago (now sadly deceased) I found that though it was amazingly handy for several things including graphics input there was nothing that I can't make do without and I didn't actually use it that much. After all you can scan paper pictures in or use a graphics tablet, or indeed if you own a tablet use that and then move the files across. 

To be fair it's the weight that might sway me towards something like that rather than the touchscreen, though it's nice to know that if I'm ever short of a hammer my trusty Lenovo could probably step in and I wouldn't fancy carrying around all the time if I had back problems.


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Aug 2, 2013)

I'm back in the market for a laptop - budget is £350. No special requirements apart from Windows 7 and 2 USB ports min. Anyone want to suggest what might be the best way to spend my money as this moment?

Cheers


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Aug 2, 2013)

.


----------



## wemakeyousoundb (Aug 5, 2013)

porno thieving gypsy said:


> I'm back in the market for a laptop - budget is £350. No special requirements apart from Windows 7 and 2 USB ports min. Anyone want to suggest what might be the best way to spend my money as this moment?
> 
> Cheers


found anything?
am trying to find something around the £450 ideally with win 7 rather than 8 on it.


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Aug 5, 2013)

Nope, nothing!


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Aug 7, 2013)

Chz any ideas mate? You always seem to have good knowledge 

Just found out I need an Intel pentium processor too.


----------



## yield (Aug 7, 2013)

It's worth having a look through http://www.hotukdeals.com/search?action=advanced_search

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/HP_Pavilion_Ultrabook_14-b003SA_1299649.html

£300 only 14" though and Windows 8

or maybe this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B7XW33Q


----------



## editor (Aug 7, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> It's a lot to give up just for a touch screen that you will rarely use.


How do you know that? I use the touchscreen on my laptop all the time, so much so that the trackpad is barely touched.


----------



## stuff_it (Aug 7, 2013)

editor said:


> How do you know that? I use the touchscreen on my laptop all the time, so much so that the trackpad is barely touched.


Because I've had a touchscreen before and barely used it except to twizle it round flat and draw on. If they all had that hinge and were transformable it would be a different matter.


----------



## editor (Aug 7, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> Because I've had a touchscreen before and barely used it except to twizle it round flat and draw on. If they all had that hinge and were transformable it would be a different matter.


Which touchscreen laptop did you own?


----------



## stuff_it (Aug 7, 2013)

editor said:


> Which touchscreen laptop did you own?


An ancient old HP Pavilion convertible. No multitouch but it had a pen on a string built in.


----------



## editor (Aug 7, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> An ancient old HP Pavilion convertible. No multitouch but it had a pen on a string built in.


So hardly comparable to a fast, modern, slim, multitouch touchscreen laptop, then.


----------



## stuff_it (Aug 7, 2013)

editor said:


> So hardly comparable to a fast, modern, slim, multitouch touchscreen laptop, then.


At the time it was relatively fast and slim. They all are for a time...

http://reviews.productwiki.com/hp-pavilion-tx2500z-series/


----------



## editor (Aug 7, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> At the time it was relatively fast and slim. They all are for a time...
> 
> http://reviews.productwiki.com/hp-pavilion-tx2500z-series/


That was eight years ago. It's hardly comparable to a modern machine running an entirely different OS.


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Aug 7, 2013)

yield said:


> or maybe this
> 
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B7XW33Q


 
Ta but its Windows 8 though and my only requirements are Windows 7, 2 usb ports and an Intel processor.


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Aug 21, 2013)

Still desperately searching BTW


----------



## danny la rouge (Sep 5, 2013)

Number one daughter is heading off to Uni in a couple of weeks.  She needs a laptop to take with her.  We can't afford it, but both sets of grandparents are going to come in on the venture.  We were hoping for about £300, but realise that might be optimistic.

I personally don't like touchscreens, but since Windows 8 is all the rage now, and it isn't for me anyway, that probably shouldn't figure.

I'm currently considering two on Amazon:

Asus VivoBook S400CA 14-inch Touchscreen Laptop - £386.00

Toshiba Satellite C850 15.6-inch Laptop - £315.00

What do you think?  The Asus VivoBook sounds better to me, but is it worth the extra £70?


----------



## trashpony (Sep 5, 2013)

I'd go for the Asus - I'm an ex-Toshiba owner and now have 2 Asuses (Asi?) and the build quality etc is much better. 
Disclaimer: I am just an end-user, not a geek. However one of my best friends who is a massive geek and runs a programming company also owns only Asus computers


----------



## danny la rouge (Sep 5, 2013)

trashpony said:


> I'd go for the Asus - I'm an ex-Toshiba owner and now have 2 Asuses (Asi?) and the build quality etc is much better.
> Disclaimer: I am just an end-user, not a geek. However one of my best friends who is a massive geek and runs a programming company also owns only Asus computers


Thank you.  End-users' experiences carry great weight in my opinion.


----------



## whaleys (Sep 13, 2013)

I recently bought a HP envy sleekbook from PC World. It had an AMD CPU and Beats audio, 15 in screen and is as sexy as can be. It cost under £300 and is worth every penny.


----------



## shygirl (Sep 27, 2013)

Are refurbished laptops worth considering?


----------



## TruXta (Sep 27, 2013)

shygirl said:


> Are refurbished laptops worth considering?


The Dell ones are supposedly quite good.


----------



## editor (Sep 27, 2013)

shygirl said:


> Are refurbished laptops worth considering?


Only if they come with a full warranty.


----------



## shygirl (Sep 27, 2013)

Thanks guys.


----------



## thriller (Oct 6, 2013)

can u buy a refurb i7 processor lappy for just over £350?


----------



## TremulousTetra (Oct 9, 2013)

twentythreedom said:


> I'm after a laptop for no more than £400 - Windows 7, 4GB RAM, 15.6" screen, nothing flash just a decent machine that works well for general use. Any suggestions? Thanks


 If you're not bothered about Flash, I would recommend looking at Lenovo .on my 2nd laptop,
work horses.


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 16, 2013)

I'm in the market, the build quality on the Toshiba Shatellite my mum kindly bought me is so poor that I aim to return it. 

I'm looking at max £450, would prefer a processor over 2.1 gHz, dedicated graphics, pref 8GB RAM but make do with 6GB.

Sadly it's uni season and many places have sold out of the ones I want.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 16, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> I'm in the market, the build quality on the Toshiba Shatellite my mum kindly bought me is so poor that I aim to return it.
> 
> I'm looking at max £450, would prefer a processor over 2.1 gHz, dedicated graphics, pref 8GB RAM but make do with 6GB.
> 
> Sadly it's uni season and many places have sold out of the ones I want.



I'm taking a chance and buying an old Lenovo T400 from ebay for about £150, then spending about another £70 to drop in 750gb Hybrid SSD/HDD. You can replace the DVD drive with another hard disk if you want a laptop with two drives. Spend a bit more and you can get a T410 with an i5.

Way I look at it is I'm still running Core 2 Duo on the desktop with an SSD and it's still a very quick machine for anything I do and by buying an old corporate workhorse, it should have way better build quality then modern consumer jobs.


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 16, 2013)

Global Stoner said:


> I'm taking a chance and buying an old Lenovo T400 from ebay for about £150, then spending about another £70 to drop in 750gb Hybrid SSD/HDD. You can replace the DVD drive with another hard disk if you want a laptop with two drives. Spend a bit more and you can get a T410 with an i5.
> 
> Way I look at it is I'm still running Core 2 Duo on the desktop with an SSD and it's still a very quick machine for anything I do and by buying an old corporate workhorse, it should have way better build quality then modern consumer jobs.


I still have my old Lenovo, but because I did such a hardcore wipe I've lost Windows forever (no sticker, no way to recover as like a fool my recovery media was stored in the same infected external HD  )


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 16, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> I still have my old Lenovo, but because I did such a hardcore wipe I've lost Windows forever (no sticker, no way to recover as like a fool my recovery media was stored in the same infected external HD  )



Cheaper to buy a new copy of windows surely?


----------



## yield (Oct 16, 2013)

Lenovo Ideapad Z500 15.6-inch Laptop (Dark Chocolate) - (Intel Core i5 3210M 2.5GHz Processor, 6GB RAM, 1TB HDD, DVDRW, LAN, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Nvidia GeForce GT635, Windows 8) currently £483 at amazon

Has been as low as £430 may do so again.


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 16, 2013)

yield said:


> Lenovo Ideapad Z500 15.6-inch Laptop (Dark Chocolate) - (Intel Core i5 3210M 2.5GHz Processor, 6GB RAM, 1TB HDD, DVDRW, LAN, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Nvidia GeForce GT635, Windows 8) currently £483 at amazon
> 
> Has been as low as £430 may do so again.


I'm looking at going now and getting this, as the return computer is also from Argos and I could just go and get it right now. Will I be sorry or is it a good plan, as I'd end up with two working Lenovos (one W8 and one Linux) and at some point one buy of 8GB of RAM would upgrade both machines. 

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Browse?storeId=10151&langId=110&catalogId=10001&mRR=true&c_1=1|category_root|Technology|33006169&c_2=2|33006169|Laptops and PCs|33007795&c_3=3|cat_33007795|Laptops and netbooks|33014243&r_001=8|Type|Laptops|1&r_002=9|Brands|Lenovo|1&r_003=10|RAM (GB)|6|1

Also, do not fucking buy a Toshiba no matter how cheap it seems. This thing is literally not fit for purpose.


----------



## yield (Oct 16, 2013)

Global Stoner said:


> Cheaper to buy a new copy of windows surely?


↑ This


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 16, 2013)

yield said:


> ↑ This


You're forgetting this tale of computer woe involves my family..


----------



## equationgirl (Oct 16, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> I'm in the market, the build quality on the Toshiba Shatellite my mum kindly bought me is so poor that I aim to return it.
> 
> I'm looking at max £450, would prefer a processor over 2.1 gHz, dedicated graphics, pref 8GB RAM but make do with 6GB.
> 
> Sadly it's uni season and many places have sold out of the ones I want.


Get a Dell. Argos does them too.


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 16, 2013)

equationgirl said:


> Get a Dell. Argos does them too.


I got the Lenovo in the end. *shrug*

It will be sufficient until I make some more money. TBH I'd quite like my next lappy after this to be some £1k bad-boy.


----------



## equationgirl (Oct 16, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> I got the Lenovo in the end. *shrug*
> 
> It will be sufficient until I make some more money. TBH I'd quite like my next lappy after this to be some £1k bad-boy.


Your call.


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 19, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> I'm looking at going now and getting this, as the return computer is also from Argos and I could just go and get it right now. Will I be sorry or is it a good plan, as I'd end up with two working Lenovos (one W8 and one Linux) and at some point one buy of 8GB of RAM would upgrade both machines.
> 
> http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Browse?storeId=10151&langId=110&catalogId=10001&mRR=true&c_1=1|category_root|Technology|33006169&c_2=2|33006169|Laptops and PCs|33007795&c_3=3|cat_33007795|Laptops and netbooks|33014243&r_001=8|Type|Laptops|1&r_002=9|Brands|Lenovo|1&r_003=10|RAM (GB)|6|1
> 
> Also, do not fucking buy a Toshiba no matter how cheap it seems. This thing is literally not fit for purpose.


I can't recommend this laptop enough for my needs. Bigger screen than my old Lenovo and despite not having dedicated graphics and only having minor performance improvements over my last machine -  6GB RAM and  2.6 gHz processor vs my previous Lenovo with 4GB RAM and a 2.3 gHz processor I no longer get compatibility warnings from Adobe Creative Suite CC and Illustrator and Photoshop run smoothly. Performance in this type of application was one of the things pissing me off about the old one.

The sound quality is much improved, especially in the built in speakers which are pretty impressive for a budget laptop. Build quality is what you would expect from Lenovo. The power cable  is one of the new rectangular ones so less likely to get damaged. Using each new port is like defiling a virgin compared to most machines they are so well engineered.

It's doubtless possible to get a marginally better deal online but if anyone needs a £400 lappy you could do far worse.

The only bad points are that with that speed of processor the battery life isn't amazing, and it's not the lightest laptop. Definitely more than adequate as a budget desktop replacement, so perfect for my travelling/wandering lifestyle as I can cope without being able to play the latest games when I'm away but I'd be dead without my music and I do quite a lot of processor-heavy things on occasion.


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 19, 2013)

hipipol said:


> got one of these last week
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How is the build quality holding up?


----------



## TremulousTetra (Oct 19, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> I still have my old Lenovo, but because I did such a hardcore wipe I've lost Windows forever (no sticker, no way to recover as like a fool my recovery media was stored in the same infected external HD  )


Try here;


> http://www.windows8serialkey.com/
> 
> If any question, pls feel free to contact with me: serviceonline724@yahoo.com
> So we can help u ASAP


you will only buy the serial key, so much cheaper, and download the software elsewhere.[/QUOTE]


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 19, 2013)

ResistanceMP3 said:


> Try here;
> 
> you will only buy the serial key, so much cheaper, and download the software elsewhere.


Have you read the thread? I have a new Windows machine, the other one can stay on Linux.

I do have access to embedded versions of Win 7 and Win 8 for nowt, anyone know how to get them working in a VM on the old machine?


----------



## hipipol (Oct 19, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> How is the build quality holding up?


Well it was doing well but is currently under repair as some fuck smashed the screen
Came back to the apt I was renting after my Mums funeral and it was fucked
Am getting it back on Monday, lets see how it fairs this time


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 19, 2013)

hipipol said:


> Well it was doing well but is currently under repair as some fuck smashed the screen
> Came back to the apt I was renting after my Mums funeral and it was fucked
> Am getting it back on Monday, lets see how it fairs this time


Like I said my £350 Tosshiba fared rather less well.

Mouse and cursor freezing, one USB port not even wired in, had to reset w32time, audio jack lasted two weeks, hotkey driver frequently crashed, card reader not working properly, etc


----------



## dervish (Nov 7, 2013)

I think you have been very unlucky with your Toshiba stuff it, we've had four Toshiba's over the last eight years and they have all held up extremely well. My tecra is about six years old and still works (keyboard is broke, but a replacement is cheap). Their customer support has been fantastic as well, repairing two laptops for free that were out of warranty, one of them by many months.


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## stuff_it (Nov 12, 2013)

dervish said:


> I think you have been very unlucky with your Toshiba stuff it, we've had four Toshiba's over the last eight years and they have all held up extremely well. My tecra is about six years old and still works (keyboard is broke, but a replacement is cheap). Their customer support has been fantastic as well, repairing two laptops for free that were out of warranty, one of them by many months.


To be fair the Satellite is a much cheaper machine. I suspect it's a bit like those shonky "Whirlpool" appliances you get with a new house/kitchen, but in computer form. Not by a long shot the quality of the "real" thing.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 12, 2013)

Aye my old man got one recent. Fine for him as it never leaves the house, but the build quality seems on the shoddy side, flexes all over the place.


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## spanglechick (Dec 12, 2013)

Ok.  It is with barely contained fury that a mere 14 months after my last purchase (an asus transformer prime) I now need another new fucking machine.  

Budget is actually zero, because I'll have to go into debt for it whatever... So probably that means as little as possible, but I might be persuaded to spend more if it ticked all the boxes.  


And what are the boxes?

Must haves:

Reliability. The bloody asus was a lemon literally from week one, when it wouldn't switch on one day, and I had to send it back.   Then, a catalogue of minor faults (docking station stopped charging; headphone jack died after about tenth use; a bit just snapped off the three pin plug when I put it down on a tiled floor; bits of the screen beading keep breaking off; one of the interior catches on the docking station just fell off...) I use it every day but I'm not rough and it's never been dropped or wet.  It's only left the house twice in just over a year!  The last two days it's been fussy about recognising either of my chargers - power supply is a common problem, over on the transformer forums.   I bought yet another fucking charger (they're not cheap), because apparently that can do the trick.   It didn't.  Transformer is now a brick.	

Must run ms office.   Open office, shareware etc is no good.  The fonts aren't right.  I need to be able to create word, excel, publisher and ppt documents in a format that will look exactly the same as it will on my work windows pc.  

Plays iplayer, 4od, YouTube AND FLASH.  The last year has been like I'm accessing about 80% of the content I would like.  I've downloaded various patches, plug-ins and workarounds but none have worked consistently.   Maybe it's the lemon.   Maybe it's my lack of skillzzz.  I also want to be able to play Netflix, iplayer etc in the background while I use other tabs in my browser.   

Desirable: 

Might be cloud-cuckoo land for the price, but the only unambiguous, regular joy of the transformer has been the solid state drive.   

Lightweight and long battery life.  These were also things I liked about the transformer.  

Decent front facing camera/web cam. I think the transformer is something like 1.6MP, which is pretty good for a webcam.  Better than the iPad etc.  

I don't play proper, graphic-heavy games, btw.  

I need it for watching stuff, surfing the Internet and stuff for work as detailed above.


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## yield (Dec 12, 2013)

This ticks most of your boxes. Not sure of the reliability of Acer laptops though? I'll keep looking.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ACER-M3-581T-NX.RY8EK.011_1290265.html


> Intel® Core™ i3-2377M Dual Core Processor
> 15.6" HD Screen
> Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit
> 4GB DDR3 RAM
> ...


Cost = £380


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## editor (Dec 13, 2013)

spanglechick  If I may dare suggest another Asus machine, the Asus Transformer Book T100 is an absolute bargain. It runs Windows so can do everything a regular (modest) laptop can do, has a massive battery life, and it's ridiculously cheap. It costs around £350.






Review: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/laptops/385585/asus-transformer-book-t100
And: http://www.trustedreviews.com/asus-transformer-book-t100_Tablet_review

*For what it's worth, I'm still using my Asus Android tablet and it's perfect for most of what I need to do, but I am missing some Windows features/programs when it comes to heavy duty photo back-up/editing. This T100 does look interesting.


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## spanglechick (Dec 13, 2013)

Thanks.  If there are any other suggestions, that's be great - then I'll read all the reviews.


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## Chz (Dec 13, 2013)

Small, light, cheap. Not very powerful, to be fair, but it isn't an Atom or ARM or AMD low-power processor so it can handle most tasks decently. Probably as powerful as you're going to get in an 11.6" form factor without dropping a small fortune. I'd say the one major drawback of this and all Lenovos is a crummy touchpad, but the screen is touch so who cares?
Lenovo IdeaPad S210


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## fredfelt (Dec 18, 2013)

My mum took a vacuum cleaner to her old laptop yesterday.  She broke the keyboard and it's a rubbish laptop so I'm getting a new one for her.  I'm seeing her this weekend and I hope to bring it with me.  Budget is around £350.

This Sony Vaio 15.5" is on sale at my local PC World for £350 - does anyone know if it's any good? http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...521a1ew-cek-15-laptop-white-21350484-pdt.html

Any recommendations also greatly appreciated.  It will have to come from a store (Argos, PC World) so I can get it in time.

The laptop just needs to work well and be responsive.  No need for a big drive or graphic capabilities.  She's getting old so perhaps a slightly larger one may suit, but without being very heavy is good.

I think the Sony fits the bill but if anyone has any other recommendations which will help my mum out I'd be grateful.

Ta.

Edited to add that I'm a bit concerned that Windows 8 will be a problem for her but I think she'll be able to work it out.


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## spanglechick (Dec 18, 2013)

Chz said:


> Small, light, cheap. Not very powerful, to be fair, but it isn't an Atom or ARM or AMD low-power processor so it can handle most tasks decently. Probably as powerful as you're going to get in an 11.6" form factor without dropping a small fortune. I'd say the one major drawback of this and all Lenovos is a crummy touchpad, but the screen is touch so who cares?
> Lenovo IdeaPad S210


Right.  I have some John Lewis vouchers and that makes it a straight choice between this and the asus editor recommended.   I'm going for the Lenovo.  Just can't bring myself to take on another asus machine.   

Now, am I going to have to buy ms office separately? (Again, OpenOffice etc are no good for my formatting-heavy purposes). How much will I likely pay? Am I right in thinking there's a cheaper "education / student" version.


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## trashpony (Dec 18, 2013)

FWIW the big company I used to work for issued Lenovos to their staff - they're pretty sturdy workhorses. You'll probably get a trial copy of Office free with it. It's £110 for a one computer home/student installation


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## spanglechick (Dec 18, 2013)

trashpony said:


> FWIW the big company I used to work for issued Lenovos to their staff - they're pretty sturdy workhorses. You'll probably get a trial copy of Office free with it. It's £110 for a one computer home/student installation


Blimey, really?   Shit.  Suppose that'll have to wait a couple of paydays.

Edit - thx, btw


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## fractionMan (Dec 19, 2013)

Chz said:


> Small, light, cheap. Not very powerful, to be fair, but it isn't an Atom or ARM or AMD low-power processor so it can handle most tasks decently. Probably as powerful as you're going to get in an 11.6" form factor without dropping a small fortune. I'd say the one major drawback of this and all Lenovos is a crummy touchpad, but the screen is touch so who cares?
> Lenovo IdeaPad S210



that's a bargain!


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## editor (Dec 19, 2013)

This would be my first choice. It's an absolute bargain for £350. Comes with Office installed too. 









> The Asus Transformer Book T100 is a tablet that leaves out frilly features in order to bring the Transformer form to Windows with zero impact on cost. And what has resulted is a bit of a hit. If a tablet-laptop Windows hybrid is what you’re after, you can’t do any better at the price.



http://www.trustedreviews.com/asus-transformer-book-t100_Tablet_review


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## Chz (Dec 19, 2013)

In this particular case, the fact that it comes with Office Home (a £95 value) makes it appealing.

If it weren't for that, it only has the form factor going for it. If you want a tablet, it's great - best value for money out there. If you could care less, it's weak sauce compared to the others. Less CPU, less RAM, not especially smaller/lighter in laptop form. You could argue it has an SSD instead of magnetic disk, but 64GB gets real small, real fast. I think it's a brilliant _second_ device.


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## editor (Dec 19, 2013)

Chz said:


> In this particular case, the fact that it comes with Office Home (a £95 value) makes it appealing.
> 
> If it weren't for that, it only has the form factor going for it. If you want a tablet, it's great - best value for money out there. If you could care less, it's weak sauce compared to the others. Less CPU, less RAM, not especially smaller/lighter in laptop form. You could argue it has an SSD instead of magnetic disk, but 64GB gets real small, real fast. I think it's a brilliant _second_ device.


It'll be fine for just about all everyday duties, and I'd argue that the versatility - and its extremely cheap price - make it a very good buy for a laptop. It's got a superb battery life (9+ hours) and the addition of Office makes it even more of a bargain. It's just made the PC Pro 'A' list too.


> As for the Transformer Book T100 itself, it’s everything you could ask from a compact, go-anywhere hybrid, and it’s ludicrously affordable. Snap one up while you can – we predict these will sell out fast.


http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/laptops/385585/asus-transformer-book-t100


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## Chz (Dec 19, 2013)

I don't contest that it's a great convertible. But if you only need a laptop, especially as your only device, it lags behind others considerably. 2GB of RAM and 30GB of free storage does not make for a comfortable device when it's all you've got. There are *phones* better than that.


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## fractionMan (Dec 19, 2013)

I like it, but would recommend the lenovo over it to someone who wants to use it for any amount of _real_ _work.  _


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## editor (Dec 19, 2013)

fractionMan said:


> I like it, but would recommend the lenovo over it to someone who wants to use it for any amount of _real work.  _


Not sure what constitutes_ real_ work, but it would be absolutely fine for writing, surfing the web, basic photo editing, watching movies, and all the other everyday duties that most people use laptops for.

Here's another rave review:
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/Asus-Transformer-Book-T100.htm

Here it is running Photoshop:


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## editor (Dec 19, 2013)

Chz said:


> There are *phones* better than that.


Good luck typing on a phone.


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## Chz (Dec 19, 2013)

editor said:


> Good luck typing on a phone.


I doubt it's much harder on a Note 3 than it is on this in tablet mode. And if you're *not* using it as a tablet (which is my point here, if you're following along), it's severely lacking. It's a nifty piece of tech, it's just most certainly not for everyone.

I agree with you on the _real work_ thing. An Asus Eee can be used for _real work_. You might prefer to use something else given a choice, though. I actually wouldn't normally even recommend the 11.6" laptop to someone looking for an Office device, except that small was specifically requested. Keyboards under 13" get nasty.


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## editor (Dec 19, 2013)

Chz said:


> I doubt it's much harder on a Note 3 than it is on this in tablet mode. And if you're *not* using it as a tablet (which is my point here, if you're following along), it's severely lacking.


This thread is asking for cheap laptop recommendations, and I'd put the Transformer right up there with one of the best laptops available for the price. The fact that it doubles up as a tablet is a bonus. What is supposedly "severely lacking" for a £350 laptop?

Have you ever actually used one, by the way?


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## Chz (Dec 19, 2013)

I've used its predecessor yes. Lovely tool.

I already pointed out what's severely lacking, but I'll be generous:

As a laptop, for £350, you can get double the RAM, 8x the storage and roughly 50% more CPU power in a package that's roughly the same size and weight.

There is no such thing as a convertible without trade-offs. Can't be done, not even the Yoga is all things to all people and it costs 4x as much.

I have no problem with the device. I think it's nifty. I do question blind devotion though, and you're _always_ blathering on about the Transformer series.


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## editor (Dec 19, 2013)

Chz said:


> I've used its predecessor yes.


What predecessor? This is the first Asus Transformer Windows 8 machine. And - to repeat myself for the last time - it will happily fulfill most users everyday needs at this price point. 

My £800 Lenovo ThinkPad has barely been touched since I bought the Android Transformer, so I'm definitely equipped to comment on how useful and productive these things can be.


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## yield (Dec 19, 2013)

fredfelt said:


> This Sony Vaio 15.5" is on sale at my local PC World for £350 - does anyone know if it's any good? http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...521a1ew-cek-15-laptop-white-21350484-pdt.html


I'd be more tempted by this one.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...-x551ca-sx024h-15-6-laptop-21707561-pdt.html?

Cheaper and with a slightly faster processor. Currys and PCWorld are the same group.


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## Chz (Dec 19, 2013)

I mean the Android one. And I'm using that as a base point for them being _nice_. If I hadn't actually used one of those, the construction would've put me off; but I use that as a source for Asus being able to make something solid, even if it does look cheap. I'm not using it as a performance reference, because it can't be used as one.



> it will happily fulfill most users everyday needs at this price point.


I've had better machines literally thrown back at me in disgust. 

Though those people were twats, so it's hard to use that as a valid reference.  You're looking at a configuration that was bottom of the heap 2 years ago and I think you just *have* to accept that while it's suitable for some things, it just won't be for others. I've got Excel spreadsheets that would make that thing start swapping to disk after the first three operations. I really think Asus could've at least splurged and give us 4GB of memory.


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## editor (Dec 19, 2013)

Well, I'm done. I'll just finish by saying that an awful lot of reviewers share my opinion that the Asus is an excellent machine that represents fantastic value, and it's capable of performing all the tasks the average user may need it for. I'd certainly consider it if I was on that kind of budget.



> The Transformer Book T100 is really the Wintel camp’s answer to the Chromebook onslaught. Compared to the traditional entry-level PCs out there, the T100 really is a breath of fresh air. You get an IPS panel, great battery life and modern WiFi all in a package that can work as both a notebook and a tablet.
> 
> The system is responsive and predictable in its performance thanks to the use of solid state storage. While there isn’t a full blown SSD inside, the eMMC solution is clearly better for light consumer workloads than a mechanical disk. Solid performance from the rear facing speakers and excellent portability round out the T100’s package.
> 
> ...


----------



## fredfelt (Dec 19, 2013)

yield said:


> I'd be more tempted by this one.
> 
> http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...-x551ca-sx024h-15-6-laptop-21707561-pdt.html?
> 
> Cheaper and with a slightly faster processor. Currys and PCWorld are the same group.



That's great.  Thank you.  Cheaper and touch screen - I think my mum will like that!


----------



## Chz (Dec 20, 2013)

And I could quote the equal amount of space given to its downsides from *the exact same review* if I felt like being a pedant, Ed. Particularly how it's not great as a _laptop_ and can only handle a light load. The review you're quoting actually says exactly the point I'm pushing - that if you want a tablet that can double as a laptop in a pinch, it's fairly unbeatable. If your workload is demanding a traditional laptop then you may want to shop around.

I'd consider it too, but I don't do anything other than fart about on a personal laptop. If they handed those out at work, there'd be mutiny.


----------



## editor (Dec 20, 2013)

Chz said:


> I'd consider it too, but I don't do anything other than fart about on a personal laptop. If they handed those out at work, there'd be mutiny.


What happens at your weirdly mutinous workplace really is totally irrelevant here, you know.


----------



## Chz (Dec 20, 2013)

Oddly enough, no-one likes typing all day long on a 10" keyboard.


----------



## editor (Dec 20, 2013)

Chz said:


> Oddly enough, no-one likes typing all day long on a 10" keyboard.


How many average users in the market for a cheap laptop are going to spend 'all day long' typing, do you think?

If the thread request was, "what's the best laptop for writing on all day long," I certainly wouldn't be recommending the Asus. But it wasn't, so my recommendation stays.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 24, 2013)

Asus can be had for £299 at John Lewis. With £25 appstore card.

Been looking for a tablet/laptop for the mrs so I think that's my Xmas shopping finished. (albeit she'll have to wait until Friday for it).


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 27, 2013)

Just collected the T100. editor any case recommendations? Is it possible to get one that fits the keyboard?


----------



## editor (Dec 27, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Just collected the T100. editor any case recommendations? Is it possible to get one that fits the keyboard?


I never use cases!


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 28, 2013)

Ah, I've a feeling this one will need it. I fear for it's safety.


----------



## TremulousTetra (Dec 29, 2013)

spanglechick said:


> Reliability. The bloody asus was a lemon literally from week one, when it wouldn't switch on one day, and I had to send it back.   Then, a catalogue of minor faults (docking station stopped charging; headphone jack died after about tenth use; a bit just snapped off the three pin plug when I put it down on a tiled floor; bits of the screen beading keep breaking off; one of the interior catches on the docking station just fell off...) I use it every day but I'm not rough and it's never been dropped or wet.  It's only left the house twice in just over a year!  The last two days it's been fussy about recognising either of my chargers - power supply is a common problem, over on the transformer forums.   I bought yet another fucking charger (they're not cheap), because apparently that can do the trick.   It didn't.  Transformer is now a brick.



Reliability, from my experience you cannot be a Lenovo. Something like the ThinkPad. Thoughts of second-hand?

By the way,
on theLenovo website help forums, somewhere it has a link to little official Lenovo videos that show you how to replace the keyboard, screen, memory, hard drive etc. My daughter pulled one of the keys off her keyboard, managed to get a cheap US Chinese source keyboard for £15. She did to repair herself watching the video.


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## spanglechick (Dec 29, 2013)

ResistanceMP3 said:


> Reliability, from my experience you cannot be a Lenovo. Something like the ThinkPad. Thoughts of second-hand?
> 
> By the way,
> on theLenovo website help forums, somewhere it has a link to little official Lenovo videos that show you how to replace the keyboard, screen, memory, hard drive etc. My daughter pulled one of the keys off her keyboard, managed to get a cheap US Chinese source keyboard for £15. She did to repair herself watching the video.


Needs to be from John Lewis, a) because I have vouchers, and b) because they do a two year warranty and aren't pissy about it, apparently.  


So thinking Lenovo s210 touch, but then wondered about the Lenovo G505s, which is reduced by £150, making it £399.  Obv, that's not cheap, but is it worth it considering the big reduction?


----------



## yield (Dec 30, 2013)

The Lenovo G505s is a great laptop for £400.


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## editor (Dec 30, 2013)

yield said:


> The Lenovo G505s is a great laptop for £400.


Yep. Excellent machine, although it's got to be a touchscreen for me these days.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 30, 2013)

ResistanceMP3 said:


> Reliability, from my experience you cannot be a Lenovo. Something like the ThinkPad. Thoughts of second-hand?



I've had a T400 for a couple of months now and am a total convert. Cost £150 from ebay, almost mint with a six month guarantee.

The CPU is quite old by today's standards, but a fast Core 2 Duo isn't going to bottleneck anything I do.  It's got 4gb and a legit version of Windows 7. The keyboard is best I've owned on a laptop and maybe even the best I've used on a portable machine. The 9 cell battery gives me 3+hours of use, which I wasn't expecting on a second hand laptop, but replaced should give 6+  

When I've got a few more pennies I'm going to replace the hard drive with a small SSD and the DVD Drive with a larger mechanical hard drive, which is quite hard on lots of laptops, but should give the best of both worlds. 

The main downside for some people will be the lack of HDMI, but doesn't bother me as I have a desktop for the TV.


----------



## TremulousTetra (Dec 30, 2013)

Global Stoner said:


> I've had a T400 for a couple of months now and am a total convert. Cost £150 from ebay, almost mint with a six month guarantee.
> 
> The CPU is quite old by today's standards, but a fast Core 2 Duo isn't going to bottleneck anything I do.  It's got 4gb and a legit version of Windows 7. The keyboard is best I've owned on a laptop and maybe even the best I've used on a portable machine. The 9 cell battery gives me 3+hours of use, which I wasn't expecting on a second hand laptop, but replaced should give 6+
> 
> ...


 my wife and daughter also have  Lenovo 3000 n500, one of which used to be mine, which are both about 6 years old, with HDMI so I can watch the football from http://news-source.tv on my television for about £30 a year :-D


And yes, even though I used speech recognition,  I can tell the keyboard is very good.


----------



## ShiftyBagLady (Dec 31, 2013)

yield said:


> The Lenovo G505s is a great laptop for £400.


I got ShiftyJunior one of these and it's really pretty good. Seems massive to me though.


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## spanglechick (Dec 31, 2013)

ShiftyBagLady said:


> I got ShiftyJunior one of these and it's really pretty good. Seems massive to me though.


Yeah, I dunno if I want a full-sized lappy.


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## ShiftyBagLady (Dec 31, 2013)

spanglechick said:


> Yeah, I dunno if I want a full-sized lappy.


It's pretty heavy, I'm not sure I'd want to carry it around all day.
I had a HP Notebook and while it died pretty quickly I didnt find the size of it too bad for basic word processing and surfing.


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## spanglechick (Dec 31, 2013)

ShiftyBagLady said:


> It's pretty heavy, I'm not sure I'd want to carry it around all day.
> I had a HP Notebook and while it died pretty quickly I didnt find the size of it too bad for basic word processing and surfing.


It's not that I need to carry it with me much, but it's more laying in bed in a range of comfy positions that make it hard to balance a big laptop.


----------



## purenarcotic (Jan 30, 2014)

So, I bought a new laptop for Kidda but it's a bit rubbish, feels quite clunky and within an hour of being out of the packaging has crashed five times.  I want to take it back to the shop and swap it but I'm not really sure what to swap it to.  I've had a look online at reviews but there's so many it feels like a minefield, so hoping urban can give some personal recommendations.

The man at PC World said this was an excellent laptop, lying cunt. 

It would be used mainly for web browsing, word processing, watching netflix etc.  Would like it to be as fast as possible, 15 inch screen and not to crash less than hour after buying.


----------



## editor (Jan 30, 2014)

purenarcotic said:


> It would be used mainly for web browsing, word processing, watching netflix etc.  Would like it to be as fast as possible, 15 inch screen and not to crash less than hour after buying.


What was this cataclysmic laptop?


----------



## purenarcotic (Jan 30, 2014)

editor said:


> What was this cataclysmic laptop?



An Acer v5-552


----------



## spanglechick (Jan 30, 2014)

I got a lenovo 505s laptop just after xmas.  you can pick one up for less than £400 - though the standard price at john lewis etc is around £500.  

it has a hybrid hard drive - so a small amount of solid state drive for my most regularly used programmes and then a standard hard drive for documents and files.  I LOVE it.  I struggled away with a tablet/laptop hybrid for 14 months which was such shit build quality and was alos a lemon from day one.  That was an asus (though as with all brands, most people have no problems with them).

Anyway, this is ace.  A full size laptop is a bit cumbersome and the battery life doesn't compare to a tablet... but otherwise it feels like travelling first class after a year in economy. (I imagine.  I've never travelled first class).


----------



## purenarcotic (Jan 30, 2014)

KIdda likes the look of the white Sony Vaio Fit 15 E.  Seems to get okay reviews but I dunno if the relatively low Ghz would be a problem.  She uses my old macbook pro at the moment which has 2.2 or 2.4 GHz with 4GB of RAM (bought August 2008).  Would there be a noticeable difference in speed?  editor - any thoughts on the Vaio range? 

God this is so confusing.


----------



## Chz (Jan 31, 2014)

It would be faster than the Macbook. Not by a lot, but architectural advances have made up for the clock speed difference and then some.


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## fenchief (Feb 4, 2014)

the first generation ultrabooks are running pretty cheap these days.  Great machines that can do anything short of heavy gaming and video editing.


----------



## editor (Feb 4, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> Anyway, this is ace.  A full size laptop is a bit cumbersome and the battery life doesn't compare to a tablet... but otherwise it feels like travelling first class after a year in economy. (I imagine.  I've never travelled first class).


I now you had a miserable time with your Asus, but if you're still wanting to use it, a factory reset makes an_ almighty_ difference and reinstalling everything doesn't take much time at all.


----------



## editor (Feb 4, 2014)

purenarcotic said:


> KIdda likes the look of the white Sony Vaio Fit 15 E.  Seems to get okay reviews but I dunno if the relatively low Ghz would be a problem.  She uses my old macbook pro at the moment which has 2.2 or 2.4 GHz with 4GB of RAM (bought August 2008).  Would there be a noticeable difference in speed?  editor - any thoughts on the Vaio range?
> 
> God this is so confusing.


It seems a pretty good offering: 


> The 15.5in touchscreen means you don’t need to rely solely on the touchpad. Flicking, pinching and swiping through Windows 8 works brilliantly, and the sheer ease of navigation meant we often forgot the touchpad was even there. And, while the wide bezel might not look pretty, it ensures edge-swipes are easy to activate with the flick of a finger.
> 
> Image quality is average, though. The 1,366 x 768 panel isn’t particularly bright, reaching a maximum of only 186cd/m2. Colour accuracy isn’t stunning either, but this manages to reproduce a wider range of colours than many budget laptops we've seen, and our test photos weren’t as washed out and pale as a result.
> 
> ...


----------



## strung out (Feb 4, 2014)

I've been helping my sister buy a Chromebook, and she eventually went for the HP 14 version for £249. It arrived today, so I've been having a little play with it, and on first impressions it's absolutely fantastic.

I'm sure she'll find the odd thing it can't do and that she'll have to boot up her old piece of crap for, but as a general internet, social and entertainment laptop, and for light work based things, it's brilliant.


----------



## editor (Feb 4, 2014)

strung out said:


> I've been helping my sister buy a Chromebook, and she eventually went for the HP 14 version for £249. It arrived today, so I've been having a little play with it, and on first impressions it's absolutely fantastic.
> 
> I'm sure she'll find the odd thing it can't do and that she'll have to boot up her old piece of crap for, but as a general internet, social and entertainment laptop, and for light work based things, it's brilliant.


I'm half tempted to get a Chromebook for my writing work. I like the idea of something that is cheap, super fast and super simple to operate - and thus give me less reason to get distracted by fiddling about with apps and settings.


----------



## beesonthewhatnow (Feb 4, 2014)

purenarcotic said:


> She uses my old macbook pro at the moment which has 2.2 or 2.4 GHz with 4GB of RAM (bought August 2008).  Would there be a noticeable difference in speed?


Will that model run the latest version of OSX? If so, it might be worth getting an SSD for it.

Edit - a quick Google seems to suggest it will be fine. Bung a solid state drive in it an it will run a lot faster.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 4, 2014)

editor said:


> I now you had a miserable time with your Asus, but if you're still wanting to use it, a factory reset makes an_ almighty_ difference and reinstalling everything doesn't take much time at all.


I can't do anything to it.  It won't accept a charge so you can't switch it on.


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## editor (Feb 4, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> I can't do anything to it.  It won't accept a charge so you can't switch it on.


That is odd. This checklist may help http://www.transformerforums.com/fo...de-so-your-transformer-won-t-charge-boot.html


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## spanglechick (Feb 4, 2014)

editor said:


> That is odd. This checklist may help http://www.transformerforums.com/fo...de-so-your-transformer-won-t-charge-boot.html


I did all of that and was a very regular and avid reader of those forums in the final few months.   I did do the full system reboot a couple of times in the last day or so, but I think it was a hardware issue.


----------



## editor (Feb 4, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> I did all of that and was a very regular and avid reader of those forums in the final few months.   I did do the full system reboot a couple of times in the last day or so, but I think it was a hardware issue.


It's under two years old isn't it? Mail it back to Asus!


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## spanglechick (Feb 4, 2014)

editor said:


> It's under two years old isn't it? Mail it back to Asus!


Is their warranty 2 years?

I'm a bit worried that they'll say it was misused - since despite it only having been used in the house, ridiculous amounts of shit (bezel strips, hinge catches) kept breaking off.  But at this point i've nothing to lose.


----------



## editor (Feb 4, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> Is their warranty 2 years?
> 
> I'm a bit worried that they'll say it was misused - since despite it only having been used in the house, ridiculous amounts of shit (bezel strips, hinge catches) kept breaking off.  But at this point i've nothing to lose.


I'd give it a go, although you should have perhaps got in touch when things started to first go awry. 





> Two-year guarantee
> Wherever you buy goods in the EU, you have two years to request repairs or replacement if they turn out to be faulty or not as advertised. If a product cannot be repaired or replaced within a reasonable time or without inconvenience, you may request a refund or price reduction.
> 
> The two-year guarantee period starts as soon as your goods are delivered, and you must inform the seller of the fault within two months of discovering it.
> ...


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## Chz (Feb 4, 2014)

The trick with that is if your vendor is being a shit about it, you have to prove that the fault existed at the time of purchase. The EU guarantee doesn't cover anything that happens after that. I had a long bitchfest at Lenovo about this. They did give in in the end, for what it's worth.


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## Hassan I Sabha (Mar 3, 2014)

Is it possible to get an ultrabook for under £500 at all. I have had some PPI money back so looking for a nice laptop, but a nice light laptop to keep my wife happy as she does not want a 'big heavy laptop'.


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## editor (Mar 3, 2014)

Hassan I Sabha said:


> Is it possible to get an ultrabook for under £500 at all. I have had some PPI money back so looking for a nice laptop, but a nice light laptop to keep my wife happy as she does not want a 'big heavy laptop'.


I'd give this one a good look. It's fantastic value for £350. There's a thread here about it here. 







http://www.trustedreviews.com/asus-transformer-book-t100_Tablet_review


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## Chz (Mar 3, 2014)

Good buy, but not an "Ultrabook". Not even close.

Addendum: It's too slow and too thick to meet Intel's standards (Intel owns the term), but it's a pretty good little convertible laptop anyhow.


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## Onket (Mar 3, 2014)

editor said:


> I'd give this one a good look. It's fantastic value for £350. There's a thread here about it here.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Apologies for not knowing much about this kind of technology, but is this a decent replacement for a laptop? or is it more of a mid-stage thingm between a laptop and a tablet.

'We' have already got a tablet, and need to replace the knackered laptop. So this machine will be the thing photos go on, job apps etc get typed on, we will use skype on and music gets streamed from.

Can it do those things? £350 is a good price if so.


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## Chz (Mar 3, 2014)

You might want an external disk for photos and music, because the internal storage is quite limited. Aside from that, it's perfectly capable of that sort of lightweight stuff.

It is primarily designed as a tablet first and laptop second though. You compromise certain things to get small and light. The CPU is slow, though fast enough for the tasks you mention. Ram is 2GB and not upgradeable. Storage is quite limited. 10" keyboards (of any sort, not just the T100's) are not comfortable to use for long sessions. So long as small and light at a price is appealing to you, there's not much that competes with it. If you don't need small and light (or have a bundle to spend), there are better options.


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## Onket (Mar 3, 2014)

Thanks Chz, we don't need small and light.


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## editor (Mar 3, 2014)

Chz said:


> Good buy, but not an "Ultrabook". Not even close.


It's close enough for some people to describe it thus and I imagine most punters would be happy enough with its diminutive proportions given the price. 

The CPU is easily powerful enough for just about all everyday functions (you can run Photoshop on it) and I'd disagree that it's a tablet first and laptop second. As someone who owns the Android version of this, it's most definitely a laptop first for me and the keyboard is fine for my use (which is a lot, seeing as I'm a writer).  And of course you get Office bundled in. It's a remarkable package.


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## Chz (Mar 3, 2014)

My point was that "Ultrabook" is a trademarked term owned by Intel. It does not measure up to the specs. It's too fat and much too slow. 

And it would be silly to blow a Creative Suite license on a screen like that, regardless of whether it is or isn't capable of running it. Photoshop costs more than the laptop!

Agreed that the Office bundle makes it an incredible value.


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## editor (Mar 3, 2014)

Chz said:


> My point was that "Ultrabook" is a trademarked term owned by Intel. It does not measure up to the specs. It's too fat and much too slow.
> 
> And it would be silly to blow a Creative Suite license on a screen like that, regardless of whether it is or isn't capable of running it. Photoshop costs more than the laptop!
> 
> Agreed that the Office bundle makes it an incredible value.


I suspect most punters have no idea about the 'ownership' of the ultrabook name and this machine will most likely be considerably lighter and thinner than whatever machine they had before. I've run Photoshop on smaller machines before because sometimes only a small machine is practical.


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## Chz (Mar 3, 2014)

I suspect most punters think "Ultrabook" = Macbook Air. It is around 60% of Ultrabook sales.


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## Hassan I Sabha (Mar 3, 2014)

editor said:


> I'd give this one a good look. It's fantastic value for £350. There's a thread here about it here.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It is £329 at Currys online at the moment, I am just worried about the screen size. We have a Dell Netbook at the moment we have had for about 4 years and I was looking for something with a bigger screen. I think I will have to go and see one in the flesh, and take my wife as well to check she can cope with the small screen as she is always moaning about the size of the Netbook screen (as well as the speed).

Interested in any other recommendations that others may have.


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## editor (Mar 3, 2014)

Hassan I Sabha said:


> It is £329 at Currys online at the moment, I am just worried about the screen size. We have a Dell Netbook at the moment we have had for about 4 years and I was looking for something with a bigger screen. I think I will have to go and see one in the flesh, and take my wife as well to check she can cope with the small screen as she is always moaning about the size of the Netbook screen (as well as the speed).
> 
> Interested in any other recommendations that others may have.


The larger screened Lenovos are always worth a look too.


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## Onket (Mar 3, 2014)

Hassan I Sabha said:


> It is £329 at Currys online at the moment, I am just worried about the screen size. We have a Dell Netbook at the moment we have had for about 4 years and I was looking for something with a bigger screen. I think I will have to go and see one in the flesh, and take my wife as well to check she can cope with the small screen as she is always moaning about the size of the Netbook screen (as well as the speed).
> 
> Interested in any other recommendations that others may have.


Me too. I think having an actual look may be the only way.

Screens that are too small, and keyboards that are too small, are too small.


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## gracious (Mar 3, 2014)

my brilliant and everso reliable thinkpad r61 is finally giving up after 5 years of heavy, continuous and super reliable use. i am sad, its been just right for my needs (mainly doing statistical modelling, internetting, travelling, working and generally never failing when i needed it). someone here recommended it to me in 2008/2009 ish. can someone tell me what to get now to replace it. i basically want more of the same..... 

would be immensely grateful.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 4, 2014)

gracious said:


> my brilliant and everso reliable thinkpad r61 is finally giving up after 5 years of heavy, continuous and super reliable use. i am sad, its been just right for my needs (mainly doing statistical modelling, internetting, travelling, working and generally never failing when i needed it). someone here recommended it to me in 2008/2009 ish. can someone tell me what to get now to replace it. i basically want more of the same.....
> 
> would be immensely grateful.



I picked up a second hand T400 recently on ebay for £150. For a bit more you can get an more up to date model. Obviously second hand, but as you know corporate lenovo's are very very sturdy, something you wont get on a £400 new consumer level machine.


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## scifisam (May 13, 2014)

I recently bought this for less than the ultrabook above, which I don't think is a good suggestion for when you actually want a laptop and already have a tablet. It's working fine so far; Windows 8 is going to take a lot of getting used to, but that's inevitable unless you go for Ubuntu or Linux. 8gig ram, pentium quad core, 750gig ram (not huge, but I'll use an external hard drive). Pretty good video, etc. Don't know about the battery life yet, but tbh I'm always going to be next to a plug socket when using it.


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## Chz (May 13, 2014)

Jeez, Intel's getting cheeky branding Atoms as Pentiums. How many people would know the dual core is faster than the quad?


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## scifisam (May 14, 2014)

Chz said:


> Jeez, Intel's getting cheeky branding Atoms as Pentiums. How many people would know the dual core is faster than the quad?



Oh, is that why it's so cheap then? It's still very good spec for the price.


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## Chz (May 14, 2014)

It is, but the Atom is an acceptable performance level for a lot of things these days. The gap between supercharged netbook and low end laptop is getting pretty small.


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## editor (May 19, 2014)

This looks to be a very interesting machine. Consider me tempted!








> Lenovo has announced its business-focussed ThinkPad 10, an attractive and flexible 10-inch tablet running the 64-bit Windows 8.1 operating system.
> 
> The tablet comes with a slew of handy accessories, including an optional stylus and two add-on keyboards, both with a trackpad and QWERTY layout.
> 
> ...


Pricing starts from $599, keyboard is $129.
http://www.wirefresh.com/lenovo-unv...board-accessories-running-64-bit-windows-8-1/


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## Chz (May 19, 2014)

I'd wait and see what Microsoft pulls out with the Surface 3 tomorrow. In the past, they felt an Atom wasn't powerful enough for it, but there's a good chance that this time the regular Surface is an Atom-powered device running a full Windows suite (bye-bye WinRT!), with the Pro being some sort of i5 again.


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## editor (May 19, 2014)

Chz said:


> I'd wait and see what Microsoft pulls out with the Surface 3 tomorrow. In the past, they felt an Atom wasn't powerful enough for it, but there's a good chance that this time the regular Surface is an Atom-powered device running a full Windows suite (bye-bye WinRT!), with the Pro being some sort of i5 again.


I'd be interested in the Surface 3 if it could double up as something approaching a proper laptop-like device, but that current 'folding leg' configuration does not please me.


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## scifisam (May 19, 2014)

editor said:


> This looks to be a very interesting machine. Consider me tempted!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Why do you keep recommending this sort of thing in a thread about laptops?


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## editor (May 19, 2014)

scifisam said:


> Why do you keep recommending this sort of thing in a thread about laptops?


Let me see. It runs Windows 8.1 and has a keyboard and has almost all of the same features as a regular laptop. So I'd say it will function perfectly well as a laptop for most users.


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## scifisam (May 19, 2014)

editor said:


> Let me see. It runs Windows 8.1 and has a keyboard and has almost all of the same features as a regular laptop. So I'd say it will function perfectly well as a laptop for most users.



It has a tiny keyboard, a tiny memory and its features are not the same as laptops in the same price range. If people want a tablet that can easily connect to a keyboard, that's fine, but they probably won't be looking on a laptop thread.


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## editor (May 19, 2014)

scifisam said:


> It has a tiny keyboard, a tiny memory and its features are not the same as laptops in the same price range. If people want a tablet that can easily connect to a keyboard, that's fine, but they probably won't be looking on a laptop thread.


I'm looking for a laptop in this price range and this machine interest me. It has enough power and features to satisfy the average, non techie user.


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## scifisam (May 19, 2014)

editor said:


> I'm looking for a laptop in this price range and this machine interest me. It has enough power and features to satisfy the average, non techie user.



Really? Why wouldn't you just buy an actual laptop that had better specs? You already have a tablet, I think, from previous threads. This seems more like a tablet that happens to click onto a keyboard quite well.


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## editor (May 19, 2014)

scifisam said:


> Really? Why wouldn't you just buy an actual laptop that had better specs? You already have a tablet, I think, from previous threads. This seems more like a tablet that happens to click onto a keyboard quite well.


Amazingly, some people prefer to interact with laptops in different ways and some people - like me - may prefer to have something with a touchscreen and a removable screen and a proper keyboard. 

Just because you're not interested, don't assume that others think the same as you.


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## scifisam (May 19, 2014)

editor said:


> Amazingly, some people prefer to interact with laptops in different ways and some people - like me - may prefer to have something with a touchscreen and a removable screen and a proper keyboard.
> 
> Just because you're not interested, don't assume that others think the same as you.



Weeeell, maybe, but I don't think many people do actually have the same specs as you, sorry, ed. Given that you already have a decent tablet, and I presume a decent desktop, why do you want this hybrid? Genuine question.


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## editor (May 19, 2014)

scifisam said:


> Weeeell, maybe, but I don't think many people do actually have the same specs as you, sorry, ed. Given that you already have a decent tablet, and I presume a decent desktop, why do you want this hybrid? Genuine question.


For various reasons, I want a machine for travelling that has a great battery life, a decent enough keyboard and something that can run Photoshop and other full Windows apps.


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## Chz (May 19, 2014)

Scifisam, I think you and I would agree on what an "appropriate" laptop would be. But surely you can see the appeal of something like this? I would never buy it, but I can rattle off a long list of people who _would_ be happy with it.

Personally, I fit into "I have a desktop, and I have a very good phone. I don't actually need *anything* in-between them because between them they cover everything." But I have a laptop that work gives me and so I find it very interesting to look at this stuff. Plus my wife gets by with cheap-assed phone plus rather nice laptop and I need to look out for her needs.


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## Onket (May 19, 2014)

I have a decent phone and a laptop that's on it's last legs. I want a direct replacement for the laptop, not a hybrid tablet thing.


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## editor (May 19, 2014)

Chz said:


> Scifisam, I think you and I would agree on what an "appropriate" laptop would be. But surely you can see the appeal of something like this? I would never buy it, but I can rattle off a long list of people who _would_ be happy with it.


Indeed. And that's why I've thrown them into the mix, especially as some of the newer ones are blurring the lines between laptops/hybrids even further.


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## scifisam (May 20, 2014)

Onket said:


> I have a decent phone and a laptop that's on it's last legs. I want a direct replacement for the laptop, not a hybrid tablet thing.





Chz said:


> Scifisam, I think you and I would agree on what an "appropriate" laptop would be. But surely you can see the appeal of something like this? I would never buy it, but I can rattle off a long list of people who _would_ be happy with it.
> 
> Personally, I fit into "I have a desktop, and I have a very good phone. I don't actually need *anything* in-between them because between them they cover everything." But I have a laptop that work gives me and so I find it very interesting to look at this stuff. Plus my wife gets by with cheap-assed phone plus rather nice laptop and I need to look out for her needs.



I disagree. The hybrids ed's been recommending seem to be, when you look at their spec, low-end tablets that connect well with a keyboard. 

This is a thread about laptops. Would you buy a 64gig laptop with terrible ram, a tiny keyboard and a tiny screen, all just because you can detach the screen from the base now and then? Yes? Then if you want that, you're not looking for a laptop. 

It can go on your lap, yes, but it can also go on your desk. It's the new 64gig desktop pc! With none of the functionality you actually want, but you can remove the screen! 

That would be as absurd as calling these hybrids "laptops."


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## Onket (May 20, 2014)

Can someone please suggest an actual laptop on this thread for laptop suggestions?!


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## editor (May 20, 2014)

scifisam said:


> I disagree. The hybrids ed's been recommending seem to be, when you look at their spec, low-end tablets that connect well with a keyboard."


The bit you're singularly failing to understand is that for some people something like the Transformer 100 will prove to be a perfectly adequate laptop for their needs, as _well as being a tablet_. It comes with a full version of Office for a start and can run Photoshop CS6. And some people may like that dual functionality. I certainly would.

Obviously it's not for people who are seeking high powered machines or big screens or are looking to write a novel, but for basic computing it's definitely worthy of a recommendation as an alternative to the usual laptops, regardless of whether you personally can see the attraction or not.


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## Chz (May 21, 2014)

Looks like MS aren't willing to risk a sub-standard experience on their own-branded stuff with Surface 3.

On the plus side, it looks freakin' awesome as a Macbook Air competitor.


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## editor (May 23, 2014)

Th exact specs are a bit woolly but this looks a good machine for £350 - touchscreen 11.6" 1366 x 768 pixel multitouch display, powered by an ‘Intel Quad core Pentium processor’ and backed by 8 GB memory and 128GB Solid State Disk







http://www.wirefresh.com/acer-trave...ttractive-touchscreen-ultraportable-from-349/


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## scifisam (May 23, 2014)

Onket said:


> Can someone please suggest an actual laptop on this thread for laptop suggestions?!



I suggested one several posts up. I don't know if it's the best ever, but it's pretty good. The ram makes it worthwhile.

It doesn't come with pre-loaded full office software, but I have a licence for that from my old PC that I can legally use on this one.


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## Chz (May 27, 2014)

It's not so easy to just suggest a laptop these days.

Five years ago, there were:
Netbooks - cheap and small. laughably slow.
consumer laptops - cheap and heavy. reasonably powerful.
business laptops - smaller, lighter, powerful, expensive. screens that actually don't suck.
(I'm leaving portable workstations out of this, they're not "laptops" as most people see them)

It's a lot more complex now. The Netbook class is powerful enough for a lot of tasks, though still immensely less powerful than even a basic i3 equipped model. They've become as expensive as the cheaper consumer laptops to compensate. The Acer above is an example of this new breed.

Consumer laptops have hardly changed, except that they're now grossly powerful machines. Integrated graphics is powerful enough to run many games with good results - one thing that really separates them from the netbooks. Sadly they've not got any lighter, nor have their screens got any better.

Business units have split into the super small and light (MBA, Ultrabook) segment and the standard business unit segment. They cost the same, the the MBA-alikes sacrifice speed and flexibility to be super thin and light. These units now represent the high-end of consumer units as well.

I'll take a moment here to point out that Intel sells a Pentium and a Pentium Quad Core. Bizarrely, the Pentium (which is a dual core unit) is considerably more powerful. The PQC is what used to be called an "Atom" and is designed for tablets and netbooks. The regular, dual core Pentium is designed for laptops and desktops. I believe in a threaded CPU benchmark they come off as being in the same league, but there are caveats to that:
- The dual core Pentium has a vastly more powerful graphics unit onboard.
- In situations of equal theoretical performance, it is almost always better to have half the number of cores running twice as fast. This is because the real world doesn't thread so well.


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## Onket (May 28, 2014)

Chz said:


> Consumer laptops have hardly changed, except that they're now grossly powerful machines. Integrated graphics is powerful enough to run many games with good results - one thing that really separates them from the netbooks. Sadly they've not got any lighter, nor have their screens got any better.



Sounds like one of these is what I am after.


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## Chz (May 28, 2014)

There's a huge selection in the £350-450 range, so it's not all about the specs. i3 is worth it over Pentium, i5 probably not worth it over i3. Any current generation i3 (named i3-4xxx) is much the same as any other, so long as they don't have a U or Y at the end. Those are for ultra-portables and have severe speed restrictions to reduce heat and power draw. 8GB of RAM is standard these days. Beyond that, go with what you like.

Personally, I would find the cheapest i3/8GB I could in a package that's not abominable to use or look at. Then spend whatever I saved over a nicer one on a 256GB SSD disk. Those are under £100 these days, and really make the biggest difference to system responsiveness you can buy. The difference inside an application is negligible, but it just makes everything so *smooth*. If you can find a laptop already equipped with one for under £450 that's great, but most of the manufacturers are still chasing specs and would rather put in a 750GB-1TB spinning disk because it looks bigger (and is a bit cheaper).

Edit: The i3 U class aren't really so bad. It looks like a lot of them are put in to get reasonable battery life. I'd prefer one that's not, but it's not crippling.


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## emanymton (Jul 13, 2014)

My laptop seems to be on its way out and I will have a bit of extra cash floating around in October so plan to buy a new one around then. It's a bit early in the day but have been having a quick look around to get an idea of prices and what is available. I though of getting a hybrid but have settled on a proper full laptop, and now I am torn between being practical and getting something in £4-500 range or pushing the boat out and spending around £8-900, which will be about the absolute upper limit I can afford, and to be honest would probably be a bit unnecessary for me. But those choices can wait until nearer the time. 

I have come across this company and have spent ages playing around as you can configure your own laptop which I find quite appealing and the prices look reasonable to me. so I am thinking of buying from them in October. A bit of goggling tends to turn up positive reviews, although mainly on their own forums. I was wondering what the more tech savvy  of you think, do they look decent, or am I better of going somewhere else?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jul 13, 2014)

What do you do that needs a 5000 quid laptop.


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## yield (Jul 13, 2014)

This looks good value.

Toshiba Satellite C55 Notebook, 15.6" Intel® Core™ i5-4200M 2.6, 3.2GHz £400 at staples


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## maomao (Jul 13, 2014)

emanymton said:


> I have come across this company and have spent ages playing around as you can configure your own laptop which I find quite appealing and the prices look reasonable to me. so I am thinking of buying from them in October. A bit of goggling tends to turn up positive reviews, although mainly on their own forums. I was wondering what the more tech savvy  of you think, do they look decent, or am I better of going somewhere else?



I got a desktop from them 3 years ago and was very very happy with it. Still running with no problems.


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## ViolentPanda (Jul 13, 2014)

yield said:


> This looks good value.
> 
> Toshiba Satellite C55 Notebook, 15.6" Intel® Core™ i5-4200M 2.6, 3.2GHz £400 at staples



Hopefully the Satellite range has got over the issue of screen death (caused by useless flexible connectors) that it suffered a few years ago!


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## two sheds (Jul 14, 2014)

Watch the 'cashback for your old laptop' deals Toshiba give. A friend recently got a Toshiba and the 'old laptop' needs to be working and from what I saw the specs need to be better than the new laptop that you're getting.


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## fractionMan (Jul 14, 2014)

I just bought my dad a samsung ativ book 9 lite for £380.  It's a great little laptop for those looking for *a cheap 13.3 inch ultra portable*.  The screens not the best and the processor isn't super speedy but it's great for the money.  128 SSD, 4g ram, 13.3 inch touchscreen and 5 hours real life battery.  8 seconds boot from cold & 1.5kg weight.

http://www.ebuyer.com/542793-samsung-ativ-book-9-lite-np915s3g-k02uk

It's just about the only laptop in this price range with that sized screen.  Last september it was 560 quid, so hefty discount on release price.


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## bmd (Aug 12, 2014)

I'm looking for a laptop for my daughter for college. She doesn't want Windows 8 and doesn't need a touchscreen.

What do you think of this one?

http://www.ebuyer.com/633691-lenovo-thinkpad-b5400-laptop-mb82juk#


----------



## discobastard (Sep 9, 2014)

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Leno...ows_8.1_Laptop_in_Black__59414062/version.asp

Thinking about getting this.  My current laptop is about 7 years old, Vista, 3GB RAM and 250GB hard drive.  Disk is more or less full of music etc and while I have a backup, just worried about it failing.  It's getting a bit cranky (though am using System Mechanic which is really good at keeping things in check).

I only really use it for storing music, the odd bit of Office work and sometimes I run Reason on it, which it handles reasonably well.  So it does most of that fine but want something that will be more resilient for another 5 or so years to store more music, video and run some DAW stuff.

Thought it was a decent price, any views?


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 9, 2014)

Look at what your price range can buy in you from a decent manufacturer with an SSD drive.


----------



## editor (Sep 9, 2014)

discobastard said:


> http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Leno...ows_8.1_Laptop_in_Black__59414062/version.asp
> 
> Thinking about getting this.  My current laptop is about 7 years old, Vista, 3GB RAM and 250GB hard drive.  Disk is more or less full of music etc and while I have a backup, just worried about it failing.  It's getting a bit cranky (though am using System Mechanic which is really good at keeping things in check).
> 
> ...


That's a very decent price.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 9, 2014)

discobastard said:


> http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Leno...ows_8.1_Laptop_in_Black__59414062/version.asp
> 
> Thinking about getting this.  My current laptop is about 7 years old, Vista, 3GB RAM and 250GB hard drive.  Disk is more or less full of music etc and while I have a backup, just worried about it failing.  It's getting a bit cranky (though am using System Mechanic which is really good at keeping things in check).
> 
> ...





editor said:


> That's a very decent price.



I think the OP didn't want Windows 8 (can't blame em, it's a bit shit, it works, but it's a bit shit).


----------



## discobastard (Sep 10, 2014)

Cpatain Rbubish said:


> I think the OP didn't want Windows 8 (can't blame em, it's a bit shit, it works, but it's a bit shit).



Cheers both.  Have read some bad stuff about laptops direct, and part of the price is a VATback offer from Lenovo, having looked at it properly - on their site it doesn't actually list that model as being in the promotion so I'll need to check that out properly.  Does seem like a good deal for a decent spec machine, though, thanks for comments.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 10, 2014)

A couple of drive considerations. SSD is becoming the obvious option for most with the resilience and ever increasing storage mean prices are dropping quickly. 

From what you've posted it seems you like some grunt (CPU&Memory) but you're work/finished product/archive etc could be stored on a potable drive.

SSD storage means no de-fragging, massively less likelihood of hard ware  and keeping on tech curve of less on my machine, more in the cloud ETC.)


----------



## editor (Sep 10, 2014)

You won't get a lot of SSD for the price of that Lenovo though.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 10, 2014)

editor said:


> You won't get a lot of SSD for the price of that Lenovo though.



True, buts it's likely to have a longer life.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Sep 10, 2014)

But it's also very easy to do yourself and much more economical as OEMs still tend to jack the price up more than they should for SSDs, even if they are getting better about it now.

128GB SSDs go for £50 these days if you get them in a sale, i've seen 256GBs for around £80 too.


----------



## editor (Sep 10, 2014)

Bob_the_lost said:


> But it's also very easy to do yourself and much more economical as OEMs still tend to jack the price up more than they should for SSDs, even if they are getting better about it now.
> 
> 128GB SSDs go for £50 these days if you get them in a sale, i've seen 256GBs for around £80 too.


I tried to do it myself with my Lenovo X200. Disaster followed


----------



## discobastard (Sep 10, 2014)

editor said:


> You won't get a lot of SSD for the price of that Lenovo though.


Guess I could downgrade to a 500GB drive and spend the extra on an SSD?  To be honest the amount of space I use is slowing and I don't buy amounts of music anymore (most of that was my back catalogue).


----------



## Chz (Sep 10, 2014)

editor said:


> I tried to do it myself with my Lenovo X200. Disaster followed


To be fair, it _should_ have been simple but there were some definite oddities in the way that thing works. (But it was a good lesson for the rest of us!) And secondly, anything new will be set up with SSDs in mind in the first place.


----------



## shambler (Sep 11, 2014)

If anyone's looking for an old Lenovo to kit out with SSD, this deal on HUKD might be of interest

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ref...220-t420-from-only-149-98-3000rpm-com-1993639


----------



## discobastard (Sep 23, 2014)

I'm going for this one when it goes on sale.  £375 (using VAT back), i5, 8GB, 1TB.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/59414062-Lenovo-G50-70_1673073.html


----------



## ddraig (Sep 23, 2014)

that looks well decent


----------



## discobastard (Sep 23, 2014)

Is Windows 8.1 really bad or not?  I'm used to Vista Home and 7 Pro.  Presumably you're able to can all that tile shit and just use Windows (more or less) like you're used to?  I'm not a sophisticate or anything (office and a bit of Reason - which may be a problem as I don't have a paid for copy), so not really that arsed as long as it isn't massively more confusing than what I'm currently doing.

The alternative is to buy something cheaper or reconditioned with 7 on it.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 24, 2014)

discobastard said:


> I'm going for this one when it goes on sale.  £375 (using VAT back), i5, 8GB, 1TB.
> 
> http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/59414062-Lenovo-G50-70_1673073.html



That's a great deal! Especially with a 4th generation i5 



discobastard said:


> Is Windows 8.1 really bad or not?  I'm used to Vista Home and 7 Pro.  Presumably you're able to can all that tile shit and just use Windows (more or less) like you're used to?  I'm not a sophisticate or anything (office and a bit of Reason - which may be a problem as I don't have a paid for copy), so not really that arsed as long as it isn't massively more confusing than what I'm currently doing.
> 
> The alternative is to buy something cheaper or reconditioned with 7 on it.



You can use 8.1 pretty much like 7 with only minor changes to navigation n'stuff and it's easy enough. I use it and never see the tiles, just toggle it to the traditional desktop view.

If you really do hate 8.1 you may be able to downgrade to 7 with your 8.1 licence.


----------



## dervish (Sep 24, 2014)

discobastard said:


> Is Windows 8.1 really bad or not?  I'm used to Vista Home and 7 Pro.  Presumably you're able to can all that tile shit and just use Windows (more or less) like you're used to?  I'm not a sophisticate or anything (office and a bit of Reason - which may be a problem as I don't have a paid for copy), so not really that arsed as long as it isn't massively more confusing than what I'm currently doing.
> 
> The alternative is to buy something cheaper or reconditioned with 7 on it.



Not really. I'm a die hard linux fan, and I have a tablet with win 8 on it (not entirely legit, and set not to open in metro), I hate to say it but I actually like it. The metro tile thing is a waste of time and don't even bother to go anywhere near the "app" store but they have made some small but significant improvement to the OS. It boots faster and operates smoother, if you have a touch screen device it does work really well, once you get used to the charms (swiping from the sides, for quick access to menus, or from the top to close apps).

After reading about it and hearing other people opinions of it, I didn't want to like it, but I actually do, they have got a lot of things right.


----------



## maomao (Sep 24, 2014)

My 8.1 machine boots in 18 seconds


----------



## discobastard (Sep 24, 2014)

Thanks everyone, v helpful to know.


----------



## scifisam (Sep 27, 2014)

I find windows eight really bloody awkward, even after several months. It keeps opening up the stupid apps page when I scroll to the right, it's not always easy to find your documents, and you have to download vlc because the version of wmp on there doesn't play DVDs. Yes, really; it's because it's cross platform and phones and tablets don't have dvd drives. 

Still, considering the specs I got for 300 quid I'm very happy. It costs more to get Windows 7 and the inconvenience isn't worth as much as that.


----------



## ddraig (Sep 28, 2014)

discobastard said:


> I'm going for this one when it goes on sale.  £375 (using VAT back), i5, 8GB, 1TB.
> 
> http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/59414062-Lenovo-G50-70_1673073.html


Did you manage to get one? Says 'currently not available'


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 28, 2014)

TBH W8.1 takes some getting used to. But once you do it's pretty easy to never see their Apps or Start Menu splashes. Nearly everyone I know uses it that way even with a touch screen. They are a long way off from making the OS a competitive tablet IMO. I'm re-building mine this weekend and now wish I hadn't started but I had some errant processes that I couldn't pin down to one program but together they were utilising a constant 50% CPU 

The re-build including factory reset, recovering 400gb of data, re-installing all program's and then setting all your preferred settings is a two day job. Wish I hadn't even started now but need it for work tomorrow


----------



## discobastard (Sep 29, 2014)

ddraig said:


> Did you manage to get one? Says 'currently not available'



Yeah, it changed from 'coming soon' to 'currently not available'


----------



## ddraig (Sep 29, 2014)

booo


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Sep 29, 2014)

Lenovo G500 £300

Intel® Core™ i3-3110M processor
Windows 8.1
Memory: 4 GB
Hard drive: 500 GB
Or Acer Aspire E5-571 £329

Intel® Core™ i3-4030U Processor
Windows 8.1
Memory: 4 GB
Hard drive: 500 GB
Help me choose Urban!


----------



## editor (Sep 29, 2014)

Excuse me for throwing this one back in the mix, but for £265 it is a total bargain and my swanky Vaio W8.1 touchscreen ultrabook has remained untouched since I bought it.






http://www.stuff.tv/asus/asus-transformer-pad-tf701t/review
http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/125230-asus-transformer-pad-tf701t-review


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 29, 2014)

Mr.Bishie said:


> Lenovo G500 £300
> 
> Intel[emoji768] Core[emoji769] i3-3110M processor
> Windows 8.1
> ...



Not much to choose on the minimal specs provided. The Acer has a slightly better CPUS but IMO the Lenovo is likely to have a better build quality. 

Other specs would make a difference to you in terms of what you want like No and type of ports, connectivity etc & form factor.


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Sep 29, 2014)

Cpatain Rbubish said:


> Not much to choose on the minimal specs provided. The Acer has a slightly better CPUS but IMO the Lenovo is likely to have a better build quality.
> 
> Other specs would make a difference to you in terms of what you want like No and type of ports, connectivity etc & form factor.



Cheers. Looking at the screen spec in more detail, the Acer has LED backlighting. What is this, & would it be beneficial to me when using photo editing software?


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Oct 1, 2014)

Reading reviews of both of my choices, & other Lenovo's, the screens are shite. Realistically, I'm not going to get a laptop with a decent screen for photo editing for that money am I?


----------



## editor (Oct 1, 2014)

Mr.Bishie said:


> Reading reviews of both of my choices, & other Lenovo's, the screens are shite. Realistically, I'm not going to get a laptop with a decent screen for photo editing for that money am I?


Oh, I dunno. I've done photo editing on far shittier laptops. It's not like you're outputting to print, is it?


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Oct 1, 2014)

editor said:


> Oh, I dunno. I've done photo editing on far shittier laptops. It's not like you're outputting to print, is it?



Fortunately not. So don't be put off from bad reviews regards poor screen view?


----------



## editor (Oct 1, 2014)

Mr.Bishie said:


> Fortunately not. So don't be put off from bad reviews regards poor screen view?


At this price range you're not going to get a _wunderscreen_, but it'll still be better than what most people were using 5 years ago. 
That said, the screen on the Asus is a beaut.


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Oct 1, 2014)

editor said:


> At this price range you're not going to get a _wunderscreen_, but it'll still be better than what most people were using 5 years ago.
> That said, the screen on the Asus is a beaut.



My Samsung is on it's last legs, about 5 years old second hand, & the screen is excellent. Which Asus?


----------



## ddraig (Oct 1, 2014)

editor said:


> Excuse me for throwing this one back in the mix, but for £265 it is a total bargain and my swanky Vaio W8.1 touchscreen ultrabook has remained untouched since I bought it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


says that is £430 on those links


----------



## editor (Oct 1, 2014)

Mr.Bishie said:


> My Samsung is on it's last legs, about 5 years old second hand, & the screen is excellent. Which Asus?


The Transformer TF701T which probably isn't what you want anyway. But I freaking love mine.


----------



## editor (Oct 1, 2014)

ddraig said:


> says that is £430 on those links


You can pick it up for under £300 new (or thereabouts) on eBay. Mine was £270
e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ASUS-Tran...=UK_iPad_Tablets_eReaders&hash=item540ffc0e20


----------



## ddraig (Oct 1, 2014)

ta! does look good


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Oct 1, 2014)

You have to read a lot of reviews to get any balanced idea. You can always find a broad spectrum of positive, neutral and negative about anything your considering.

As to LED backlighting it can vary enormously dependant on the type and quality at the end of the day. You can read reviews of laptops that o the face of it are similarly specked e.g. QHD led backlighting where on one machine it's good and on another there are issues raised.

Sorry I'm not much help. I always look at reviews from pro reviewers but also consumers (their often more objective). I find a lot of pro reviews are based not solely on the product in question but against what they consider to be 'alike' products. Often they are not alike at all.


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Oct 2, 2014)

Cheers for that. I've done nothing than read reviews tbh  & I've decided on a Lenovo Thinkpad B590 from ebuyer 

Plus it has Win7 pro!


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Oct 4, 2014)

It arrived this morning. Very impressed!


----------



## ddraig (Oct 4, 2014)

tidy!
still can't decide myself! also not sure on specs 
how is that thinkpad better than this please?
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...acer-e1-572-15-6-laptop-red-22070762-pdt.html
ta


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Oct 4, 2014)

Win7 Pro for starters!


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Oct 4, 2014)

http://www.ebuyer.com/633694-lenovo-thinkpad-b590-laptop-mbx3quk

£50 cash back too!


----------



## MooChild (Oct 6, 2014)

Seen the transformer that Editor mentioned for £270 here.
Tempting !


----------



## ddraig (Oct 6, 2014)

thick question but is it possible to get anything other than android apps on it, ie photoshop or even gimp?
thanks


----------



## MooChild (Oct 6, 2014)

Not sure with the transformer, it's the whole is it a laptop or a tablet thing keeps on in the back of my mind.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 6, 2014)

ddraig said:


> thick question but is it possible to get anything other than android apps on it, ie photoshop or even gimp?
> thanks



There are windows and android flavours.


----------



## ddraig (Oct 6, 2014)

ah! cheers
e2a not for that model on that site


----------



## editor (Oct 6, 2014)

MooChild said:


> Not sure with the transformer, it's the whole is it a laptop or a tablet thing keeps on in the back of my mind.


I use it as a laptop for 99% of the time, although it's kinda handy to be able to pull out the screen for watching TV in bed.


----------



## editor (Oct 6, 2014)

ddraig said:


> thick question but is it possible to get anything other than android apps on it, ie photoshop or even gimp?
> thanks


There's loads of image editing apps available and although I wouldn't recommend a Transformer for high end publishing /image editing, it's fine for everyday duties.


----------



## ddraig (Oct 6, 2014)

ta


----------



## ddraig (Oct 9, 2014)

what about this for £330 at Argos? some other ones there too
HP 15-r110na 4GB 1TB 15.6 Inch Laptop. 
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2927789.htm

3rd off this
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2571922.htm
£300
Toshiba L50-B-1N8 15.6 Inch Ci3 Processor 4GB 1TB Laptop


----------



## ddraig (Oct 9, 2014)

any reasons not to get this?
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2571922.htm 
*Toshiba L50-B-1NL 15.6 Inch Ci3 Processor 4GB 1TB Laptop. *
248/8307


----------



## MooChild (Oct 9, 2014)

Just went for this, can't complain at the price, and only need it for studying 
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/TF701T-1B040A-ASUS-Transformer-Pad-TF701T-1B040A_1481109.html


----------



## editor (Oct 9, 2014)

MooChild said:


> Just went for this, can't complain at the price, and only need it for studying
> http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/TF701T-1B040A-ASUS-Transformer-Pad-TF701T-1B040A_1481109.html


I'm tapping away on one right now while my more expensive Sony Windows laptop prepares to be sold on eBay.


----------



## discobastard (Nov 20, 2014)

This is the best deal I have been able to find - just placed my order:
http://www.johnlewis.com/lenovo-g50...tb-15-6-black/p1741059?s_dscid=ct_700_100000_

Claiming VAT back before 5th Dec brings it down to £441, which is the best deal I've seen in a long time for a machine of that spec.  And two years free warranty.


----------



## gorski (Nov 27, 2014)

Anyone mentioned pcspecialists?

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptops/

You get them without an OS and Bob's yer uncle...


----------



## gorski (Nov 27, 2014)

For instance:

*£370.00 ex VAT.

£444.00 inc VAT and Delivery.*






Chassis & Display

*UltraNote: 15.6" Matte HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1366x768)*




Processor (CPU)

*Intel® Pentium® Dual Core Processor 3550M (2.30GHz) 2MB Cache*




Memory (RAM)

*4GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 4GB)*




Graphics Card

*INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600 *




Memory - Hard Disk

*WD Black² Dual Drive - 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD - WD1001X06XDTL*




DVD/BLU-RAY Drive

*UltraNote Series: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)*




Memory Card Reader

*Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)*




Thermal Paste

*STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING*




Sound Card

*Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack*




Bluetooth & Wireless

*GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0*




USB Options

*2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD*




Battery

*UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)*




Power Lead & Adaptor

*1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor*




Keyboard Language

*ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD*




Operating System

*NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED*




Office Software

*NO OFFICE SOFTWARE*




Anti-Virus

*NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE*




Notebook Mouse

*INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE*




Webcam

*INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM*

Warranty

*3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)*

Insurance

*1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft*

Delivery

*STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)*

Build Time

*Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days*


----------



## ddraig (Dec 2, 2014)

obviously it depends what you want! but if you had £350 which of these would you go for today?
i haven't had a new computer for about 7+ years so will notice the difference with anything
thanks

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...n-15-p077sa-15-6-laptop-red-10012277-pdt.html

Intel® Core™ i3-4030U Processor
Windows 8.1
Memory: 8 GB
Hard drive: 1 TB
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...ouchscreen-laptop-red-10022728-pdt.html#cat-0

Intel® Core™ i3-4010U Processor
Windows 8.1
Memory: 4 GB
Hard drive: 500 GB SSHD


----------



## Chz (Dec 3, 2014)

Hybrid drive is tempting. I think it would depend on whether there was a free slot in that one to add another 4GB yourself. Popping some RAM in is simple enough for even those who are terrified of tech.


----------



## ddraig (Dec 3, 2014)

ta
nah, not afraid of doing that


----------



## Fingers (Dec 15, 2014)

OK this last week my trusty Asus has died. The battery, the power supply, the screen and the hard drive. All in the space of a week! 

So I am looking for a 11 to 13" screen, min i5 but i7 will do as well with 8gb of ram. Under a grand. Anyone got any recommendations?


----------



## fractionMan (Dec 15, 2014)

Fingers said:


> OK this last week my trusty Asus has died. The battery, the power supply, the screen and the hard drive. All in the space of a week!
> 
> So I am looking for a 11 to 13" screen, min i5 but i7 will do as well with 8gb of ram. Under a grand. Anyone got any recommendations?



macbook air


----------



## Fingers (Dec 15, 2014)

Yes I was thinking that myself. As long as I can bung windows on it which I presume I can do with boot camp


----------



## ddraig (Dec 26, 2014)

2 for £350 in sales

£349.00 
was £549.99 (£549.99 From 18/11/14 to 24/12/14) 

Windows 8.1
Intel® Core™ i3-4005U processor
Memory: 12 GB
Hard drive: 1 TB
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...-571-15-6-laptop-iron-10071657-pdt.html#cat-0
Acer E-Series E5-571 Core i5 15.6 Inch 4GB 1TB Laptop. 
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2569439.htm#pdpFullProductInformation


----------



## crustychick (Feb 28, 2015)

does anyone have any recommendations at the moment? 

I think my bro-in-law bought this one http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...er-e5-551-15-6-laptop-black-10011211-pdt.html and I'd go for that unless there's something better


----------



## quiquaquo (Jun 22, 2015)

Asus X200MA one to be avoided: http://www.silentpcreview.com/ASUS_X200MA

Replaced with this old but excellent ThinkPad X201, highly recommended: http://www.notebookreview.com/notebookreview/lenovo-thinkpad-x201-review/


----------



## SpamMisery (Jun 25, 2015)

I need a laptop which has windows 7 on it. Any recommendations? Only needs to be used for word and emails etc

[EDIT]To clarify, I have Microsoft office which is only compatible with Windows 7, hence asking for a laptop which must have Win 7 on it


----------



## ViolentPanda (Jun 26, 2015)

SpamMisery said:


> I need a laptop which has windows 7 on it. Any recommendations? Only needs to be used for word and emails etc
> 
> [EDIT]To clarify, I have Microsoft office which is only compatible with Windows 7, hence asking for a laptop which must have Win 7 on it



Morgans Computers have a reasonable choice of used/refurbed laptops running W7, priced from about £110 to £300+. If you're just after using word and e-mails, the £110 is over-specced even for that!


----------



## Manter (Jul 27, 2015)

Help! I need to be able to run windows (not very precious about which version, as long as it isn't their silly fake-apple one, and is compatible with  8 and XP. Basically I need to mimic what I'd get in a boring corporate office- word, excel, PowerPoint, outlook email and diary. I know I could do all sorts of whizzy, sexy, cloud based blah blah blah, but I need to be able to talk to all the boring big corporates I am hoping I will now be working for.... So I need all the dull stuff. 

I have a mac, and I know I could instal windows on that, but it's old and a bit sick and I suspect a Lenovo/HP or something is the way forward. 

All my photos etc will stay on the mac- this is a work laptop, basically.

Where do I start? I don't keep up to date at all, I can't even figure out the listings- solid state hard drive- what?!


----------



## yield (Jul 27, 2015)

Both look good for the money. Better guarantee at John Lewis

Lenovo G50-45 Laptop, AMD A8, 8GB RAM, 1TB, 15.6", Black £300 at John Lewis

Lenovo Essential B50-80 Laptop Intel Core i3-5010U 2.1GHz 4GB RAM + 500GB HDD 15.6" £260 at ebuyer


----------



## Manter (Jul 27, 2015)

T


yield said:


> Both look good for the money. Better guarantee at John Lewis
> 
> Lenovo G50-45 Laptop, AMD A8, 8GB RAM, 1TB, 15.6", Black £300 at John Lewis
> 
> Lenovo Essential B50-80 Laptop Intel Core i3-5010U 2.1GHz 4GB RAM + 500GB HDD 15.6" £260 at ebuyer


hankyou!


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 25, 2015)

Any recent additions for this list - I'm going to get hit up for a laptop on Friday by_ theBoy. _ 

His desktop's hard drive dies last month and he's been using Puppy Linux since (and moaning about it), so we need to get him a stop gap computer - he's going to Uni next year- this is for twatting around at home on.  He'll be affixing it to a desk/monitor/kybrd&mouse set up so he can sit at his desk, if that matters (are docking stations worth it?)


Anyway - suggestalot.


----------



## BuzzaroundTown (Dec 1, 2015)

Award winning supplier, performance hardware & systems - Scan.co.uk is a good site for laptops, with good prices.

I'm on a Lenovo Flex 2, configured with Linux Mint 17.2. It's very nice.


----------



## Chz (Dec 1, 2015)

Scan doesn't necessarily have the best deals, but their customer support is tops (by online electronics shop standards, at least) and they use DPD to ship instead of Yodel or some other crappy courier. Yes, their shipping costs more. And yes, you want to pay it.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 2, 2015)

BuzzaroundTown said:


> Award winning supplier, performance hardware & systems - Scan.co.uk is a good site for laptops, with good prices.
> 
> I'm on a Lenovo Flex 2, configured with Linux Mint 17.2. It's very nice.



Yes, Scan are good. I have used them in the past for components. Long time ago, though.  I live nearer to them now so I could even drop in there if I'm over that way.  



Chz said:


> Scan doesn't necessarily have the best deals, but their customer support is tops (by online electronics shop standards, at least) and they use DPD to ship instead of Yodel or some other crappy courier. Yes, their shipping costs more. And yes, you want to pay it.



Yeah, they were always good on the customer service front in my experience.  Advice too.  No bullshit or unnecessary up-selling for the sake of it.


----------



## xes (Dec 23, 2015)

Looking for a laptop for 500 or under. I'd like one with touch screen, but also a keyboard. But...most stuff now is going to come with windows 10 on it, and I'd much rather have 7. Is that going to be a major kerfuffle?


----------



## yield (Dec 23, 2015)

xes said:


> Looking for a laptop for 500 or under. I'd like one with touch screen, but also a keyboard. But...most stuff now is going to come with windows 10 on it, and I'd much rather have 7. Is that going to be a major kerfuffle?


What screen size? SSD? What games do you want to play on it? 

I'd probably wait for the January sales now.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 23, 2015)

yield said:


> I'd probably wait for the January sales now.



Aye!


----------



## xes (Dec 23, 2015)

yield said:


> What screen size? SSD? What games do you want to play on it?
> 
> I'd probably wait for the January sales now.


Just a fair sized screen, think the one I have now is 15", and that's ok. Don't really play games, only really internet use and playing music.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 23, 2015)

Playing music how?  Streaming? iTunes? Spotify? Summat else?


----------



## xes (Dec 23, 2015)

downloading and playing from files, and streaming mainly.


----------



## Epona (Dec 24, 2015)

Chz said:


> Scan doesn't necessarily have the best deals, but their customer support is tops (by online electronics shop standards, at least) and they use DPD to ship instead of Yodel or some other crappy courier. Yes, their shipping costs more. And yes, you want to pay it.



Tbh, I'd rather have Yodel delivering my stuff than DPD - I live on a housing estate with pedestrian-only access, and all my deliveries via DPD have gone wrong because walking 50 yards will knock off their entire schedule, and they make a (sensible from the delivery person's point of view, I suppose) decision to miss 1 delivery (or drop it off at a different flat nearer the road than the delivery address, including stuff that is supposed to be signed for, but they don't tell you they've dropped it off at a different address until hours later) rather than jeopardise the timing of all their subsequent scheduled deliveries.  Yodel don't tend to do scheduled 1 hour delivery slots, so they will bother to walk to my door.  At least that is my experience, I've never had a problem with Yodel, but DPD always, every time, fail to deliver - citing "could not get access to the building", or deliver stuff that is supposed to have a signature on receipt to some random house or flat and not let me know where it has ended up for hours whilst I am sat here waiting in for the delivery   I have never once had DPD make a delivery to my door as expected, there is always some massive fuckup.


----------



## Chz (Dec 28, 2015)

It definitely does depend on the local staff. But if you look at their customer ratings, it's assuredly true that DPD is _generally_ much better than Yodel.

We had a good Yodel deliveryperson a few years back. I couldn't understand the hate. Then she quit and went to work for someone else and I haven't had Yodel *actually* deliver a single thing to my door since. And that's not without me trying to get them to!


----------



## crustychick (Mar 2, 2016)

my parents have asked me for advice on buying a laptop - they have about 300 to spend and don't do anything but emails and web-browsing. But I guess they do need it to not take ages to start up (which my cheapy Lenovo is shit for) and to just run okay. Any good options?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 2, 2016)

crustychick said:


> my parents have asked me for advice on buying a laptop - they have about 300 to spend and don't do anything but emails and web-browsing. But I guess they do need it to not take ages to start up (which my cheapy Lenovo is shit for) and to just run okay. Any good options?



Chromebook if they can live without windows?


----------



## crustychick (Mar 2, 2016)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Chromebook if they can live without windows?


no, don't think that would work for them really... they need something familiar...


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Mar 2, 2016)

crustychick said:


> my parents have asked me for advice on buying a laptop - they have about 300 to spend and don't do anything but emails and web-browsing. But I guess they do need it to not take ages to start up (which my cheapy Lenovo is shit for) and to just run okay. Any good options?



I say Chromebook too - the OS shouldn't be the thing you interact with, the web, the email, the content is.

Mine starts in seconds.  If they literally only do email and web browsing, it is perfect for that unless they are looking at niche stuff in weird formats and sending millions of emails for which they need special software.

The learning curve is minimal.


----------



## Chz (Mar 2, 2016)

Is it to be their *only* PC? Much as I love 'em, I wouldn't recommend a CB to most people as a sole machine. As a laptop to go with a Windows PC? Always.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Mar 2, 2016)

crustychick said:


> no, don't think that would work for them really... they need something familiar...



OK - so what is familiar in this case? Are you talking about Windows (which version?) or particular software like Word/Chrome/Outlook etc



Chz said:


> Is it to be their *only* PC? Much as I love 'em, I wouldn't recommend a CB to most people as a sole machine. As a laptop to go with a Windows PC? Always.



this is a good point


----------



## editor (Mar 2, 2016)

I'm going to get my Mum a Chromebook. Windows update would completely baffle her and all the starting up palaver wouldn't help either.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Mar 2, 2016)

John Lewis have a few, *all with 2 year guarantees here.*

Personally I like Lenovo machines, but I am basing that on older machines.  All laptops slow down after a while as they get full of dust and chock full of bits of software.  I religiously reinstalled the OS annually to roll mine back to just having Win7 on it and that helped a lot with boot times. Hardware (screen in this case) is failing now though.

The other thing to remember is that a £300 laptop ain't going to be brilliant so won't be the quickest but perfectly adequate for what you've described.

I have a Chromebook now and hardly ever use my Lenovo Windows laptop. Occasionally there will be something I can't do on my CB or iPad and I have to boot it up and blimey it feels like a long time.  Usually this is something to do with a physical CD, something to do with iTunes or I can't get the online version of MS Word to render summat properly and I have to check it in Word on the Windows machine.

Pretty much everything else I can do it all on a Chromebook.


----------



## Janh (Mar 5, 2016)

editor said:


> I'm going to get my Mum a Chromebook. Windows update would completely baffle her and all the starting up palaver wouldn't help either.


You should check this guy who recently wrote an article about getting his mum a Chromebook.
How I 'upgraded' my mom's Windows XP computer


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 5, 2016)

Chromebook here for a 100 quid. Despite having plenty of toys I'm slightly tempted. 

Samsung 12.1


----------



## editor (Mar 5, 2016)

I really would like to have a go on a Chromebook.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (May 11, 2016)

Right - suggestions appreciated regarding a laptop for a 9 yr old.

She plays stuff like Animal Jam (website based game) and uses YouTube a bit. She has her own channel and is getting into hosting her own live streams over Google Hangouts.  She mainly uses web-based resources, websites to do with school, a bit of research for projects she's doing in class and the games I've mentioned.

She has taken to monopolising my Chromebook  for the majority of the above. The problem I have with this is the lack of easily configurable parental controls. Chromebooks do have what they call 'supervised users' but this means literally saying 'yes' with an admin password every time they visit a page they haven't been to before (page, not site).

I have used Windows Home Safety or whatever it's called in the past and found it good and easy to use and like the email reports it sends me about what the child has been doing over the previous few days, what it has blocked etc

SO...  would she be ok with summat like an HP Stream (like a Windows chromebook in my opinion) 32gb storage, no cd drive, relies on the cloud etc, BUT has Windows software which she is used to as she uses these at school

Suggestions are GO >>>>>


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (May 11, 2016)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Right - suggestions appreciated regarding a laptop for a 9 yr old.
> 
> She plays stuff like Animal Jam (website based game) and uses YouTube a bit. She has her own channel and is getting into hosting her own live streams over Google Hangouts.  She mainly uses web-based resources, websites to do with school, a bit of research for projects she's doing in class and the games I've mentioned.
> 
> ...



Why the need for a Chromebook like device? It sounds like a bog standard (and maybe tough given her age) windows machine is what your after. 

I'd be wary of a small SSD on a Windows machine as they tend to fill them...


----------



## AnnaKarpik (Dec 29, 2016)

If anyone can help with this it will be Urban!

Can anyone give me a clue as to what the specs should be for a laptop for me.
I need to use MS office applications on it, some reasonably lean accounting and payroll stuff, email, browse, listen to a bit of music. Skype too at some point.

I don't need to store masses of anything on it, don't need all day battery life; do need enough ports to add mouse, external hard drive and maybe a monitor or TV when at home.

TIA


----------



## editor (Dec 29, 2016)

AnnaKarpik said:


> If anyone can help with this it will be Urban!
> 
> Can anyone give me a clue as to what the specs should be for a laptop for me.
> I need to use MS office applications on it, some reasonably lean accounting and payroll stuff, email, browse, listen to a bit of music. Skype too at some point.
> ...


Budget? Screen size? What MS Office apps do you need to run?


----------



## AnnaKarpik (Dec 29, 2016)

editor said:


> Budget? Screen size? What MS Office apps do you need to run?



Gosh that was quick!
Screen size 15.6in, using Excel and Outlook mainly, then Word, the rest not so much atm but I don't know what the future may bring.
As for budget, the lower the better really, tops would be 450; what I'm trying to find here is roughly what specs I need to look for. Is 4gb RAM too little, or 6 or 8?


----------



## gorski (Dec 29, 2016)

Search online for laps without OS...

Best, to me, are pcspecialist.co.uk.

At the bottom of the list of modifications to the system you choose "no OS" etc. Price drops for some £90.

Good luck!


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 29, 2016)

I take it will be your main machine?

I'd say look for an I3 minimum with 4gb of RAM or more. HDMI port for TV, USB for the other stuff.

Luckily the 15 inch size is the easiest to find a cheap well speced machine.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 29, 2016)

gorski said:


> Search online for laps without OS...
> 
> Best, to me, are pcspecialist.co.uk.
> 
> ...



That's not much use for most....


----------



## gorski (Dec 29, 2016)

???


----------



## editor (Dec 30, 2016)

gorski said:


> ???


The requirement is for a laptop that can run MS Excel, Outlook, Word, Skype etc. Faffing about installing OSs is probably not something they're looking for.

Something like this would fit the bill more readily, I fancy:

Windows 10
The latest Intel® Core™ i5 processor
RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 1 TB HDD

HP Pavilion 15.6" Laptop with the latest 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 Processor - Gold


----------



## Wolveryeti (Dec 30, 2016)

I would get a 2nd hand thinkpad t420/x220 for around £150 (depending on what is more important to you - cd drive or form factor) and put in a new 240gb SSD for ~£70.

They have good keyboards, build quality and connectivity plus they are so popular parts and driver support for them will likely be around for ages. They are also not bad in terms of power (will cope with light gaming).


----------



## Chz (Dec 30, 2016)

I'd say it depends on whether you're happy to get something like a refurb Thinkpad, or would prefer something new.

For new, just get any old thing so long as you've heard of the brand. That HP is roughly the specs I'd go for, except it's now possible to find 15.6" laptops under £400 that have a Full HD screen. It's worth hunting about for one, though they are rare. I'd rather forgo the Intel processor and have the screen like in this one: LENOVO IdeaPad 310 15.6" Laptop - White

The CPU speed isn't noticeably different, though AMD does grant less battery life.


----------



## gorski (Jan 17, 2017)

Look, there is something for everybody here: PCSPECIALIST - Laptops, Custom Laptops, Gaming Laptops, Buy Laptop

If one can install an operating system - it's cheaper. If not, then the price you see includes (usually) W10. The price usually jumps if one wants better graphics (a special graphics card that is not already built-in or "onboard"). For those who plays games, they need a special graphics card. If not - cheaper. And for any piece of HW you are choosing - all the help you need is online, just scratch the surface.

It's brand new, from PC specialist, all is easily accessible, if you decide to upgrade it later on - you can do it.

It is simple!

P.S. "How to install Winblows guide" and everything else is waiting for you online, in detail, with screenshots. Drivers will come with the HW.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 17, 2017)

Except you then need to pay for a Windows license. Or not. But that way is likely ball ache.


----------



## editor (Jan 17, 2017)

For a lot of regular users, Chromebooks are definitely an option worth looking at. Cheaper and faster than a Windows machine for the price.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 1, 2017)

Hello. I know nothing about laptops.
I'm looking for something that is fast enough to run video editing software, after effects, and logic audio at a decent price. Any ideas?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 1, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Hello. I know nothing about laptops.
> I'm looking for something that is fast enough to run video editing software, after effects, and logic audio at a decent price. Any ideas?



Not specific models, but I've been doing some research recently and it seems at the sub £500 you compromise something. So it may have lots of CPU power and RAM, but maybe be less portable or have an average screen. It's worth identifying what's a priority and what you can compromise on.


----------



## gorski (Feb 1, 2017)

_My Digital Life_ forum helps in OS regard... Not difficult at all!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 1, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Not specific models, but I've been doing some research recently and it seems at the sub £500 you compromise something. So it may have lots of CPU power and RAM, but maybe be less portable or have an average screen. It's worth identifying what's a priority and what you can compromise on.


Portability is not a huge issue. Ram would be helpful for after effects and making logic run without a delay. I'm not going to be gaming. I don't know how much difference a screen would really make.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 1, 2017)

gorski said:


> _My Digital Life_ forum helps in OS regard... Not difficult at all!



You still not actually shown its significantly cheaper enough to make it worth the faf. Installing Windows isn't that hard, but by choosing a machine without an OS you massively limit your choice. I totally see the appeal if your planning on running Linux or similar, but that's not most people.

The laptop manufacturers will be getting the Windows license at a fraction of the cost of what a retail copy will sell for.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 1, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Portability is not a huge issue. Ram would be helpful for after effects and making logic run without a delay. I'm not going to be gaming. I don't know how much difference a screen would really make.



I don't know the software personally, but know that the more resources you can throw at it the better. 

I think the screen makes a machine nicer to use. One thought may be though is that if your editing 1080p video you want a screen that supports that?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 1, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I don't know the software personally, but know that the more resources you can throw at it the better.
> 
> I think the screen makes a machine nicer to use. One thought may be though is that if your editing 1080p video you want a screen that supports that?


Yes you are probably right. I thought they all did nowadays though.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 1, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Yes you are probably right. I thought they all did nowadays though.



Sadly a lot of cheaper laptops still have resolutions below the average phone. Which is frankly nuts in 2017.

Anyway I'd be looking for a machine with an I5, 8gb of RAM and a 1920x1080 display, which should be possible, but worth reading specs carefully.


----------



## keybored (Feb 1, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> You still not actually shown its significantly cheaper enough to make it worth the faf. Installing Windows isn't that hard, but by choosing a machine without an OS you massively limit your choice. I totally see the appeal if your planning on running Linux or similar, but that's not most people.
> 
> The laptop manufacturers will be getting the Windows license at a fraction of the cost of what a retail copy will sell for.



Eh? You don't buy Windows, you .torrent it.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 1, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Sadly a lot of cheaper laptops still have resolutions below the average phone. Which is frankly nuts in 2017.
> 
> Anyway I'd be looking for a machine with an I5, 8gb of RAM and a 1920x1080 display, which should be possible, but worth reading specs carefully.


I 5 is Intel 5 right?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 1, 2017)

Oh my, they all seem to be pushing a grand.


----------



## clicker (Feb 1, 2017)

Following this thread...would like to get my first lap top. Ideally from Argos as teenager gets 10% discount.

Just need it to browse web, email, homework and watch you tube. Portability isn't an issue. Really technically challenged so idiot proof is a big plus. Would like it to be under £400...any recommendations gratefully recieved. Looking at them on line just confuses me more...I don't need bells and whistles.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 2, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Oh my, they all seem to be pushing a grand.



They can be had cheaper then that. What is your budget? First Google is at 750 and thats got dedicated graphics as well both SSD and HDD. 

GL552VX-CN239T| Asus Laptop | ao.com Standing&WT.z_PC=GL552VX-CN239T&WT.srch=1&wt.z_cn=CE - Laptops - ASUS&wt.z_ag=brand type&wt.z_kw=gl552vx-cn239t&gclid=CIeC0-Cj8NECFccp0wodob8MjA


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 2, 2017)

clicker said:


> Following this thread...would like to get my first lap top. Ideally from Argos as teenager gets 10% discount.
> 
> Just need it to browse web, email, homework and watch you tube. Portability isn't an issue. Really technically challenged so idiot proof is a big plus. Would like it to be under £400...any recommendations gratefully recieved. Looking at them on line just confuses me more...I don't need bells and whistles.



Many people recommend Chromebooks for this sort of thing as they are very simple and they often run better then equivalent priced Windows machines m


----------



## gorski (Feb 2, 2017)

Ech, it's about the quality of components (including the drivers) and price, that is the point with pcspecialist PC.

PCSPECIALIST - CosmosXT 15, Gaming CosmosXT 15, Build Your Own CosmosXT 15, Buy CosmosXT 15

Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor 6300HQ (2.3GHz, 3.2GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Kingston SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 950M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
128GB M.2 2280, SATA 6Gb/s (534MB/R, 150MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 90W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema 2
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Cosmos Series 3 Cell Prismatic Battery Pack (48WH)
Keyboard Language
COSMOS SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
QTY
1
£609.17
ex VAT
£731.00
inc VAT and Delivery
Current estimated lead times: 5 to 7 working days


----------



## maomao (Feb 2, 2017)

gorski said:


> Ech, it's about the quality of components (including the drivers) and price, that is the point with pcspecialist PC.
> 
> PCSPECIALIST - CosmosXT 15, Gaming CosmosXT 15, Build Your Own CosmosXT 15, Buy CosmosXT 15
> 
> ...



That's a very nice laptop and PCSpecialist are great (IME) but it's twice the given budget of the thread.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 2, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> They can be had cheaper then that. What is your budget? First Google is at 750 and thats got dedicated graphics as well both SSD and HDD.
> 
> GL552VX-CN239T| Asus Laptop | ao.com Standing&WT.z_PC=GL552VX-CN239T&WT.srch=1&wt.z_cn=CE - Laptops - ASUS&wt.z_ag=brand type&wt.z_kw=gl552vx-cn239t&gclid=CIeC0-Cj8NECFccp0wodob8MjA


I was kind of hoping for it all to be nicely below the £500 mark.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 2, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I was kind of hoping for it all to be nicely below the £500 mark.



I found one though, but despite the screen resolution being high, it has poor viewing angles and shit speakers. 

Acer Aspire E 15, Intel® Core™ i5 Processor, 8Gb DDR4 RAM, 1Tb Hard Drive, 15.6 inch Full HD Laptop with Intel® Iris™ Graphics and Optional Microsft Office 365 - White | littlewoods.com - KVI&utm_term=na&utm_content=163612683052&profileid=415&keywordid=na&productgroupid=pg475729&device=m&gclid=CMiZ_uGY8dECFYW87QodcTMCng

This HP seems a better option if you can go over and also has an SSD which makes many small tasks seem faster. 

HP 250 G5 Laptop W4Q06EA - Laptops at ebuyer

You may also want to look at getting a machine with an I3 which is still quicker then other many other budget options.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 2, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I found one though, but despite the screen resolution being high, it has poor viewing angles and shit speakers.
> 
> Acer Aspire E 15, Intel® Core™ i5 Processor, 8Gb DDR4 RAM, 1Tb Hard Drive, 15.6 inch Full HD Laptop with Intel® Iris™ Graphics and Optional Microsft Office 365 - White | littlewoods.com - KVI&utm_term=na&utm_content=163612683052&profileid=415&keywordid=na&productgroupid=pg475729&device=m&gclid=CMiZ_uGY8dECFYW87QodcTMCng
> 
> ...


Interesting. Thanks a lot. 
I don't really need good speakers as I would be using external ones mostly. 
I don't know how important viewing angles would be. I assume I would be sitting right in front of it.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 3, 2017)

Is there anywhere I can get windows for free so that I can boot it up and see if it's all working fine? I only have a mac to download it on though. If I get a new hard drive for £50, it would still be a decent laptop for my daughter to do homework and stuff on.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 3, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Is there anywhere I can get windows for free so that I can boot it up and see if it's all working fine? I only have a mac to download it on though. If I get a new hard drive for £50, it would still be a decent laptop for my daughter to do homework and stuff on.



I believe you can download it from Microsoft. It will nag you to licence it, but if it's just for testing that doesn't matter.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 3, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I believe you can download it from Microsoft. It will nag you to licence it, but if it's just for testing that doesn't matter.


Exelent, I shall try.


----------



## baffled (Feb 3, 2017)

I'm not up to date on spec but the dell outlet currently have one of these available for £385 ex VAT.

Inspiron 15 - 7548
Processor: Intel[emoji768] Core[emoji769] i5-5200U (3M Cache, up to 2.70 GHz)
Windows 10 Home (64bit)
8 GB DDR3 Memory 1600MHz (2 DIMMs)
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
No Optical Device
4 GB DDR3 AMD Radeon R7 M270
Software
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 802.11ac, 1x1, 2.4 & 5GHz + Bluetooth 4.0
LCD Back Cover - Silver (Non-Touch Screen)
43 WHr, 3-Cell Battery (integrated)
15.6 inch HD (1366 x 768) Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display
Internal Qwerty Backlit Keyboard

They're refurbs were always good quality when I bought in the past and were often cancelled or returned orders.

Haven't bought Dell in a while so can't comment on the quality now but it may be worth checking the outlet store regularly.


----------



## Mapped (Feb 11, 2017)

We're a Mac/Chromebook house and I haven't looked into the windows market for years, but I'm going to have to this weekend.

My 97 year old grandad has been emailing me that his 8 year old HP vista laptop is causing him trouble (no shit! ) Anyway he's of the make do and mend generation and from Yorkshire and doesn't want to buy a new one so he's trying to roll back to XP  and is having trouble with service packs. This is all far too much hassle for a 97 year old, so I'm just going to get him a machine and give the bill to my dad, who has fucked off abroad for retirement.

He was interested in Chromebooks, due to the price, but 'doesn't trust the cloud' and wants a copy of office on the machine.

I can get 25% off at John Lewis and I need the computer in my hands ASAP, as I only have time to get down and give it to him tomorrow. Is this one over'specced for windows 10 lightish use - office stuff, photos, videos, a bit of basic stuff too (although please remember I'm not paying )

Buy Lenovo Ideapad 310 Laptop, Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB, 15.6" | John Lewis with the discount it is £400

Going on previous windows experience and wanting a trouble free existence am I right in thinking that i5+8gb should make things nice and smooth? I've not even seen windows 10, let alone used it.


----------



## Miss-Shelf (Feb 11, 2017)

editor said:


> The requirement is for a laptop that can run MS Excel, Outlook, Word, Skype etc. Faffing about installing OSs is probably not something they're looking for.
> 
> Something like this would fit the bill more readily, I fancy:
> 
> ...


I got this one a month ago. Good for my work needs and nice keyboard


----------



## Mapped (Feb 11, 2017)

Miss-Shelf said:


> I got this one a month ago. Good for my work needs and nice keyboard



I've just been looking at those pavilions from Currys as a back-up to the JL plan in case they are out of stock. Good to have a positive review.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 11, 2017)

Mapped said:


> We're a Mac/Chromebook house and I haven't looked into the windows market for years, but I'm going to have to this weekend.
> 
> My 97 year old grandad has been emailing me that his 8 year old HP vista laptop is causing him trouble (no shit! ) Anyway he's of the make do and mend generation and from Yorkshire and doesn't want to buy a new one so he's trying to roll back to XP  and is having trouble with service packs. This is all far too much hassle for a 97 year old, so I'm just going to get him a machine and give the bill to my dad, who has fucked off abroad for retirement.
> 
> ...



I don't think it's over speced. Sure you could make do with less, but if your not paying for it, then it should certainly deal with everything we'll and allow for a certain amount of crap to be installed without slowing down. Plus if he's tight then it should work as it should for many years.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Feb 12, 2017)

Mapped said:


> We're a Mac/Chromebook house and I haven't looked into the windows market for years, but I'm going to have to this weekend.
> 
> My 97 year old grandad has been emailing me that his 8 year old HP vista laptop is causing him trouble (no shit! ) Anyway he's of the make do and mend generation and from Yorkshire and doesn't want to buy a new one so he's trying to roll back to XP  and is having trouble with service packs. This is all far too much hassle for a 97 year old, so I'm just going to get him a machine and give the bill to my dad, who has fucked off abroad for retirement.
> 
> ...



I recently bought a 2nd-hand Thinkpad T420 (*Win 7, 8gb RAM, 2nd-gen i5 processor) to replace my 6 month-old Dell Win 10 "built to a low price" laptop, which while it works, stresses over anything remotely hard like ripping a DVD. The T420 is a breath of fresh air in comparison, and the processor/RAM combo makes mincemeat out of any hard work like rendering or ripping.

*I'll declare my bias and state here that I dislike Win 10, and prefer Win 7, given the option.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 12, 2017)

ViolentPanda said:


> I recently bought a 2nd-hand Thinkpad T420 (*Win 7, 8gb RAM, 2nd-gen i5 processor) to replace my 6 month-old Dell Win 10 "built to a low price" laptop, which while it works, stresses over anything remotely hard like ripping a DVD. The T420 is a breath of fresh air in comparison, and the processor/RAM combo makes mincemeat out of any hard work like rendering or ripping.
> 
> *I'll declare my bias and state here that I dislike Win 10, and prefer Win 7, given the option.



I do like my old thinkpad for how sturdy it feels, although it's a fair bit older then yours. However I'm curious... What kind of spec did the Dell have. Was it similar on paper, but other things let it down or was it just out classed by the Lenovo?


----------



## ViolentPanda (Feb 12, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I do like my old thinkpad for how sturdy it feels, although it's a fair bit older then yours. However I'm curious... What kind of spec did the Dell have. Was it similar on paper, but other things let it down or was it just out classed by the Lenovo?



Spec was a bit lower - 4gb RAM and i3 processor - but also it feels so bloody fragile with it's creaky plastic frame that I'm worried about carrying it around anywhere in case it gets twatted. The Thinkpad on the other hand, is built like a tank, and doesn't creak whenever you handle the casing!


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 12, 2017)

I thought mine was indestructible till the cat knocked it off the table. It still works though, just the bezel round the screen is somewhat damaged!


----------



## ViolentPanda (Feb 14, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I thought mine was indestructible till the cat knocked it off the table. It still works though, just the bezel round the screen is somewhat damaged!



The T420 is the fourth Thinkpad I've had in 12 years. The other three all still work, but are too low-spec for everyday use. And yeah, they've all got dings in them, from drops, accidental kicks etc.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 7, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Interesting. Thanks a lot.
> I don't really need good speakers as I would be using external ones mostly.
> I don't know how important viewing angles would be. I assume I would be sitting right in front of it.



I don't know if you still looking, but this just arrived in my Inbox. Older I with a proper high definition screen. 

HP Elitebook 8570W i7 Quad Core 2.6GHz 8GB 500GB 2GB Nvidia Quadro DVD-RW Win 7 Pro


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 7, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I don't know if you still looking, but this just arrived in my Inbox. Older I with a proper high definition screen.
> 
> HP Elitebook 8570W i7 Quad Core 2.6GHz 8GB 500GB 2GB Nvidia Quadro DVD-RW Win 7 Pro


So super good then? Do you think it could do music and video editing?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 7, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> So super good then? Do you think it could do music and video editing?



Probably the best you'll get for the price. I'd rather like one myself, but can't justify anymore tech for a few months. 

Main downside is they aren't light, but if you aren't carrying it much, that shouldn't be an issue. 

Obviously 500gb isn't a big drive if editing video, but assume you'll be using an external.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 7, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Probably the best you'll get for the price. I'd rather like one myself, but can't justify anymore tech for a few months.
> 
> Main downside is they aren't light, but if you aren't carrying it much, that shouldn't be an issue.
> 
> Obviously 500gb isn't a big drive if editing video, but assume you'll be using an external.


I've only got 500 on my Mac I use external LaCie drives for everything. I assume it will have the fast ports?
Weight is not an issue, I wouldn't be using on the go either, just going from place to place.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 7, 2017)

I think annoyingly all my current LaCie drives are thunderbolt.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 7, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Probably the best you'll get for the price. I'd rather like one myself, but can't justify anymore tech for a few months.
> 
> Main downside is they aren't light, but if you aren't carrying it much, that shouldn't be an issue.
> 
> Obviously 500gb isn't a big drive if editing video, but assume you'll be using an external.


It's only got 8gigs of ram, I've got a feeling thats what I had on my Mac and I had to buy a load more to make it do the things I wanted properly. I would be doing the same stuff on this hopefully.


----------



## editor (Mar 7, 2017)

Let me throw this in



> On paper, this shouldn’t be a fair fight. My Surface Book has 16GB of RAM, a Core i7 processor and a discrete graphics card, plus a fancy QHD screen that can detach and be separately used as a tablet with an included stylus.
> 
> The Acer Chromebook has a 1080p screen, a pathetic-looking 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a MediaTek processor that no-one has ever heard of. In theory, the two laptops aren’t even in the same league.
> 
> But a strange thing happens when you start using the Chromebook. My normal work use involves Chrome with 10-20 tabs open, Spotify, and Slack. With the Chromebook and its 4GB of RAM, I expected that to slow the computer to a halt in seconds. I kept waiting for the crash, but it keeps chugging along quite happily. In some cases, I’d even say it’s faster than the Surface Book, which is the last thing you’d expect.




Why your next laptop should be a Chromebook


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 7, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> It's only got 8gigs of ram, I've got a feeling thats what I had on my Mac and I had to buy a load more to make it do the things I wanted properly. I would be doing the same stuff on this hopefully.



On the plus side it should be far easier and cheaper to upgrade then a Mac.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 7, 2017)

editor said:


> Let me throw this in
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You see I'm quite torn. I have a powerful desktop and use my phone a lot. Have a tablet for occasional use. The laptop really doesn't get used that much. 

Part me thinks my next machine should be a full fat machine like I'm suggesting for ATOMIC SUPLEX with loads of horse power and just works the way I expect. The other part of me wonders if actually I could make do with something small and light. It's certainly a tough call, although having to replace my phone this month unexpectedly has sadly delayed me making this choice.


----------



## editor (Mar 7, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> You see I'm quite torn. I have a powerful desktop and use my phone a lot. Have a tablet for occasional use. The laptop really doesn't get used that much.
> 
> Part me thinks my next machine should be a full fat machine like I'm suggesting for ATOMIC SUPLEX with loads of horse power and just works the way I expect. The other part of me wonders if actually I could make do with something small and light. It's certainly a tough call, although having to replace my phone this month unexpectedly has sadly delayed me making this choice.


I have a tablet and I have a beefy laptop. Neither has been touched since I bought the Acer Flip.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 7, 2017)

editor said:


> Let me throw this in
> 
> 
> 
> ...


A Chromebook is not going to run decent music software is it.
Oh actually wait! I always use logic on the Mac, that's not going to be compatible. Balls.


----------



## editor (Mar 7, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> A Chromebook is not going to run decent music software is it.
> Oh actually wait! I always use logic on the Mac, that's not going to be compatible. Balls.


Chromebooks aren't for those people anyone looking to run niche, specialist software, but they're just fine for the vast amount of 'regular' users. 
If you're getting a Windows machine, there are very capable alternatives to Logic
Logic Pro Alternatives for Windows - AlternativeTo.net
Logic Pro for Windows - Logic Pro for PC users, alternative professional music software - Garageband for Windows


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 7, 2017)

editor said:


> Chromebooks aren't for those people anyone looking to run niche, specialist software, but they're just fine for the vast amount of 'regular' users.
> If you're getting a Windows machine, there are very capable alternatives to Logic
> Logic Pro Alternatives for Windows - AlternativeTo.net
> Logic Pro for Windows - Logic Pro for PC users, alternative professional music software - Garageband for Windows


I've used a few of those but mostly Pro tools and cubase. I found logic to be easier for me to use fro my mixing style, (though have done albums and pro work just fine on the other two and various other platforms). All the work I have done in the last four years has been logic, it would be a shame if I couldn't transport projects from laptop to desktop. Bit of a bummer. I don't really want a macbook.


----------



## editor (Mar 8, 2017)

This seems pertinent tor the debate and maybe provides a bit of food for thought for some:


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

I would be grateful for a laptop recommendation. 

What I am looking for: 

- runs on Windows
- it needs to be lightweight
- has decent memory
- it needs to be fast
- it needs to have a built in mic

Thank you!


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

little_legs said:


> I would be grateful for a laptop recommendation.
> 
> What I am looking for:
> 
> ...



Just to add: the laptop doesn't have to run on Windows as long as it can let me install Microsoft office & Adobe as I still frequently use Word, Excel and Adobe. 
Ta.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 16, 2017)

How much do you want to spend? You can normally choose 2 of light, fast and cheap.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

Apologies for not stating my budget. I don't want to spend more than  £400. Thank you.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 16, 2017)

You probably need to decide what is important to you at that price. You can buy more traditional 15" laptop with a half decent processor, but it won't be small and light or you can find something with a pretty small form factor and low powered chip in there, but to have both would be way over your budget. When you say memory, do you mean storage or RAM? If you're talking about storage then again you need to make a choice. Machines with big conventional are pretty common, but also slower then the more modern Solid State Drives.


----------



## Wolveryeti (Mar 16, 2017)

I would go for a 2nd hand Lenovo x230 all day long. You should be able to get one with an SSD for around £200 - 250 or without for around £150. I have one and think it is really good - light, good battery life, and more importantly good integral mouse and keyboard. I went into a laptop shop the other day and I was appalled at how shit some of the mice/keyboards on the lower-end laptops were. Would annoy the shit out of me if I was to buy one, despite OK specs overall.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

By memory I mean that I want to be able to always have Microsoft office and Adobe. I want to be able to store pictures, but not insane numbers. I can put up with a 15 inch laptop. And will consider paying more.

Can I also mention that until a day ago I had Acer 5733ZG. He was almost 10 years old and he died yesterday.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 16, 2017)

Wolveryeti said:


> I would go for a 2nd hand Lenovo x230 all day long. You should be able to get one with an SSD for around £200 - 250 or without for around £150. I have one and think it is really good - light, good battery life, and more importantly good integral mouse and keyboard. I went into a laptop shop the other day and I was appalled at how shit some of the mice/keyboards on the lower-end laptops were. Would annoy the shit out of me if I was to buy one, despite OK specs overall.



That's not a bad idea actually. I've had one second hand thinkpad and they are well built. I've been meaning to replace it as it's showing it's age, but to get what I want is more then I can justify spending on a machine that wont get much use.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 16, 2017)

little_legs said:


> By memory I mean that I want to be able to always have Microsoft office and Adobe. I want to be able to store pictures, but an insane numbers. I can put up with a 15 inch laptop. And will consider more.
> 
> Can I also mention that until a day ago I had Acer 5733ZG. He was almost 10 years old and he died yesterday.



Then most modern machines will be a nice improvement. I hope you've got a decent backup if your planning on storing lots pictures on a laptop. Do you know roughly how many GBs we are talking?


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

No, sir/mam. No back up. I came home yesterday, switched on Acer and the screen wouldn't come on. Just stayed black. I did the usual of talking out the battery, draining out the power, switching on and nothing helped. I took it to the office today to try a dual screen via Fn + F5 that didn't work either. The work IT man came in with a hangover, he said I will need to take the laptop to a repair shop.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

We are talking about 200  pictures, each roughly 4mb.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 16, 2017)

little_legs said:


> No, sir/mam. No back up. I came home yesterday, switched on Acer and the screen wouldn't come on. Just stayed black. I did the usual of talking out the battery, draining out the power, switching on and nothing helped. I took it to the office today to try a dual screen via Fn + F5 that didn't work either. The work IT man came in with a hangover, he said I will need to take the laptop to a repair shop.



The pictures may well still be there. Do you know anybody half techie who can take the hard drive out and put it in a cheap caddy?



little_legs said:


> We are talking about 200  pictures, each roughly 4mb.



That's a pretty small amount by modern standards. I know it's a bit late now, but can I suggest that when you setup again you use something like Google Drive or Dropbox so they are automatically backed up?


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> The pictures may well still be there. Do you know anybody half techie who can take the hard drive out and put it in a cheap caddy?
> 
> 
> 
> That's a pretty small amount by modern standards. I know it's a bit late now, but can I suggest that when you setup again you use something like Google Drive or Dropbox so they are automatically backed up?



I don't know anyone half techie, will try a shop somewhere.

A lot of my pictures are already on Google drive but being the dufus that I am I kept delaying putting everything elsewhere than my laptop. Not even sure how to tell a laptop to sync picture files with my Google account.

Plus, I don't have TV at home so it sucks not being able to watch anything.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

Just remembered that my Acer was 7 years old, not 10. Still, he was a good egg.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 16, 2017)

little_legs said:


> I don't know anyone half techie, will try a shop somewhere.
> 
> A lot of my pictures are already on Google drive but being the dufus that I am I kept delaying putting everything elsewhere than my laptop. Not even sure how to tell a laptop to sync picture files with my Google account.
> 
> Plus, I don't have TV at home so it sucks not being able to watch anything.



You install the google drive software and then save all your documents in there. It keeps a copy on the PC and also on Google's servers. 

I can see you need a new laptop soon. I'm a bit busy tonight to look through loads of machines...can I suggest as a starting point you look at some machines with at least an i3 or even i5 CPU/Processor which fit your price and people here can tell you if its decent. I suspect performance wise most machines will be a great improvement though.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> You install the google drive software and then save all your documents in there. It keeps a copy on the PC and also on Google's servers.
> 
> I can see you need a new laptop soon. I'm a bit busy tonight to look through loads of machines...can I suggest as a starting point you look at some machines with at least an i3 or even i5 CPU/Processor which fit your price and people here can tell you if its decent. I suspect performance wise most machines will be a great improvement though.



Thank you very much for your advice so far. I will look into installing Google drive software when I buy my next laptop. So far I've been telling myself but look at the bright side, now you can read and swim more, it's proving to be not very convincing.


----------



## yield (Mar 16, 2017)

little_legs said:


> Thank you very much for your advice so far. I will look into installing Google drive software when I buy my next laptop. So far I've been telling myself but look at the bright side, now you can read and swim more, it's proving to be not very convincing.


If I was looking for a laptop I'd be tempted by this.

Lenovo 14" Thinkpad T420 Core i5 Win 7 Laptop Factory Refurbished - £200 from Scan.
Core i5-2520m, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, New Battery, Windows 7 Pro, 12 Mth Warranty *Refurb*

Replace the HHD for a solid state drive. I'll keep looking for any better suggestions

It's worth keeping your eye on Computers, Laptops & Tablets - Cheapest Prices Online - Hot UK Deals for flash deals.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

Guys, it needs to be brand new. It's going to be used for watching stuff online, storing picture files, internet, working at home remoting to work desk. Nothing fancy. If the budget needs to increase, then so be it. I can't deal with refurbished and 2nd hand stuff, I won't be able to get over the barrier that someone else has touched it.

Appreciate the link to the deals but luddites like me don't do tech stuff.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

And where is editor anyway, he is the one who recommended Acer that died yesterday. Gotta offer something else now.


----------



## yield (Mar 16, 2017)

little_legs said:


> Guys, it needs to be brand new. It's going to be used for watching stuff online, storing picture files, internet, working at home remoting to work desk. Nothing fancy. If the budget needs to increase, then so be it.
> 
> I can't deal with refurbished and 2nd hand stuff, I won't be able to get over the barrier that someone else has touched it.
> 
> Appreciate the link to the deals but luddites like me don't do tech stuff.


Really? I ain't being facetious. Even a new laptop will be touched by those who assembled it.

I'm no techie. Changing the hard drive is easy. Okay new only I'll keep looking.


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## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

Thank you, yield 
I will clean the new one a couple of times with compressed air and will convince myself it's ok to use it. With the 2nd hand, the thought of it being in someone's bag, car, office will never completely leave my forehead, it'll be there like a blob cloud.


----------



## editor (Mar 16, 2017)

little_legs said:


> And where is editor anyway, he is the one who recommended Acer that died yesterday. Gotta offer something else now.


I've been on holiday! Sorry about that laptop. All I ever say is 'get a Chromebook' these days.


----------



## yield (Mar 16, 2017)

little_legs said:


> Thank you, yield
> I will clean the new one a couple of times with compressed air and will convince myself it's ok to use it. With the 2nd hand, the thought of it being in someone's bag, car, office will never completely leave my forehead, it'll be there like a blob cloud.


No problem little_legs it just isn't an issue for me. Get most my clothes off ebay or from charity shops. Now I know I'll see what I can find.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 16, 2017)

editor said:


> I've been on holiday! Sorry about that laptop. All I ever say is 'get a Chromebook' these days.


But isn't it true that Chromebook won't let me install Microsoft office?

Btw, welcome back!


----------



## editor (Mar 16, 2017)

little_legs said:


> But isn't it true that Chromebook won't let me install Microsoft office?
> 
> Btw, welcome back!


You can run a version of Word (I do) or just use alternatives like Google Docs that can open and edit Office file formats. 



> It may be best to stick with Microsoft Office Online if you already have a lot of Office files that you're bringing over to your Chromebook. There are often formatting issues when importing third-party documents into Drive. Fortunately, Google Drive allows you to save documents to Microsoft formats, so you'll still be able to share files with non-Chromebook users.
> Should I Buy a Chromebook? Buying Guide and Advice


----------



## Boudicca (Mar 17, 2017)

I bought this one recently from Tesco, ordered on line and picked up next day.  I paid £320 though, at which price I would be happy to recommend it, but it's now £379.  It has reasonable power but it isn't light.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 17, 2017)

Mr yield
Mr editor
Mr UnderAnOpenSky

Do you have any other recommendations?


----------



## editor (Mar 17, 2017)

little_legs said:


> Mr yield
> Mr editor
> Mr UnderAnOpenSky
> 
> Do you have any other recommendations?


Give me a quick synopsis of your main computing needs (including battery life/portability etc) and I'll have another think.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 17, 2017)

editor said:


> Give me a quick synopsis of your main computing needs (including battery life/portability etc) and I'll have another think.



I've taken from what little_legs has said that they want to watch tv/films on it and have reasonable storage and doesn't change computers that often. Probably needs to run  Windows. Is that a fair summary? 

From that I've been sort of looking at the standard 15" as that is where the best value lies and what may seem like a more powerful CPU then is needed will last longer. 

I've been looking a bit today, but have been kind of manic.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 17, 2017)

editor
UnderAnOpenSky

Just to recap of what I'd like:

15 - 16 inch screen
Runs on Windows with a built-in mic
Battery life not important
Fit for not very technical person who uses internet to watch videos, stores picture files though not massive amounts, uses Microsoft to create and store Word/Excel docs, and remotes from home to work desk PC.

Don't want to spend more than £500.

Thank you


----------



## little_legs (Mar 17, 2017)

This is me this evening without a laptop:


----------



## little_legs (Mar 17, 2017)

The dead Acer was called Acer Aspire 5732Z.
Anything better that that will be fine.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 17, 2017)

This has a lot of bang for the buck. Smaller hard disk, but it's an SSD which means the machine should be more responsive and it's got an I5 which for the money is pretty good. 

HP 250 G5 i5 Laptop X0Q07ES - Laptops at ebuyer


----------



## little_legs (Mar 17, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> This has a lot of bang for the buck. Smaller hard disk, but it's an SSD which means the machine should be more responsive and it's got an I5 which for the money is pretty good.
> 
> HP 250 G5 i5 Laptop X0Q07ES - Laptops at ebuyer



Ok, this is a start.

Do you mind suggesting an Acer, kind sir? Within £500 - £550 range? Thank you.

ETA: so I just googled SSD, I think I will be ok without it. I need a housewife laptop.


----------



## editor (Mar 17, 2017)

little_legs said:


> Ok, this is a start.
> 
> Do you mind suggesting an Acer, kind sir? Within £500 - £550 range? Thank you.
> 
> ETA: so I just googled SSD, I think I will be ok without it. I need a housewife laptop.


SSD speeds things up massively - especially when you're booting up the machine.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 17, 2017)

Sure. I'll try to find time tomorrow  

With regard SSD they aren't essential, but very nice to have. For less demanding stuff, your hard drive is the thing you are waiting on most. I've fitted them to quite old machines and they've made a huge difference to how responsive the PC feels.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 17, 2017)

Right. Waiting was ticking me off with my last laptop. So SSD sounds like a solution. Ok, I am open to having one as long as a dufus like me can attach it to the laptop.

UnderAnOpenSky and editor educating us luddites


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 18, 2017)

little_legs said:


> Right. Waiting was ticking me off with my last laptop. So SSD sounds like a solution. Ok, I am open to having one as long as a dufus like me can attach it to the laptop.
> 
> UnderAnOpenSky and editor educating us luddites



You don't need to. Unless someone told you, you may not know you had one as they do the same function as a normal hard disk.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Mar 19, 2017)

yield said:


> If I was looking for a laptop I'd be tempted by this.
> 
> Lenovo 14" Thinkpad T420 Core i5 Win 7 Laptop Factory Refurbished - £200 from Scan.
> Core i5-2520m, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, New Battery, Windows 7 Pro, 12 Mth Warranty *Refurb*
> ...



Pretty much what I got about 6 weeks ago, except I opted for 8gb RAM, just to make Handbrake run a bit faster. Didn't bother with an SSD, as I'm not particularly arsed about quick booting, and no program I use requires fast writing.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 20, 2017)

Good morning, do you guys have any more recommendations?


----------



## yield (Mar 20, 2017)

little_legs said:


> Ok, this is a start.
> 
> Do you mind suggesting an Acer, kind sir? Within £500 - £550 range? Thank you.


This Acer looks good top of your price range though. Most recent, 7th generation, processor & a decent sized ssd

Acer Aspire E5-575 £550 @ ao.com or saveonlaptops


> Intel Core i5-7200U Dual Core Processor
> 15.6" HD Screen
> Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
> 8GB DDR3 RAM
> ...


----------



## yield (Mar 20, 2017)

ViolentPanda said:


> Pretty much what I got about 6 weeks ago, except I opted for 8gb RAM, just to make Handbrake run a bit faster. Didn't bother with an SSD, as I'm not particularly arsed about quick booting, and no program I use requires fast writing.


What are your first impressions? As sturdy as the older models?


----------



## ViolentPanda (Mar 20, 2017)

yield said:


> What are your first impressions? As sturdy as the older models?



Yep. I've previously had a couple of T23s and a T60, and it's just as solid.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Mar 20, 2017)

ViolentPanda said:


> Yep. I've previously had a couple of T23s and a T60, and it's just as solid.


I've got several T430's, 440's and 450's on my ebay watch list at the moment.

I might have been prepared to pay up to £500 for this if I was around near the end of the auction, but alas I missed it.


I definitely much rather get a good second hand Thinkpad over a brand new Acer all day long.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 21, 2017)

little_legs said:


> Good morning, do you guys have any more recommendations?



I had a look at Acer's for you. They don't seem as well specced on the more basic models.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 21, 2017)

PaoloSanchez said:


> I've got several T430's, 440's and 450's on my ebay watch list at the moment.
> 
> I might have been prepared to pay up to £500 for this if I was around near the end of the auction, but alas I missed it.
> View attachment 102605
> ...



They look like a nice bit of kit. Will definelty be in the running to replace my T60 later this year. See you can get an i5 a fair bit cheaper, which would be fine for me as I also have a desktop.


----------



## little_legs (Mar 22, 2017)

Many thanks to yield and UnderAnOpenSky

Have not made the decision to buy yet. So far, as I've gotten past the laptop withdrawl, I've been able to clean my room, go for 2 bike rides, cooked every day, ironed 5 shirts, cleaned the bathroom, folded away woolens.


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## PaoloSanchez (Apr 5, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> They look like a nice bit of kit. Will definelty be in the running to replace my T60 later this year. See you can get an i5 a fair bit cheaper, which would be fine for me as I also have a desktop.


I eventually bought 2 T430's and a couple of docking stations which cost £14 each



So far I'm very happy with what I got for the money. These are business orientated machines and this spec would have been sold for around £1000+ when it was new about 4/5 years ago. 

Only a couple of slight negatives so far. The first one I has some fan noise, which tbf, isn't very loud at all, especially compared to my work laptop, but I do notice it when the room is quiet. The second one isn't "noisy" like the first, however the trackpad was a bit worn. The screen resolutions and brightness are definitely not "retina",  but apart from that I think they are FANTASTIC, well built, bullet proof machines, and I LOVE the docking station setup.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 5, 2017)

Looks good. I've been looking at old lenovos to replace my T400. The annoying thing is you can several screen types on the same model and ebay doesn't have an easy way to search so I only see screen of a higher resolution.


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## PaoloSanchez (Apr 5, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Looks good. I've been looking at old lenovos to replace my T400. The annoying thing is you can several screen types on the same model and ebay doesn't have an easy way to search so I only see screen of a higher resolution.


I'm not sure which model you are looking at but for the T430 and older models there's only 2 resolutions 1366 x 768 and the "high" resolution of 1600 x 900. During my shopping spree if the resolution didn't appear in the description I assumed it to be the lower one. If it's important enough you can always ask the seller. I wasn't particularly bothered about the resolution as the ones I bought will be used with external monitors plugged into the docking station.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 5, 2017)

Not sure one model, maybe a T440. Your right if it's not listed I assume it's lower one, it would just be nice to able to sort through them. I've already got a decent desktop, so it's very much a second machine, but I'd still like at least 1600x900.


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## Throbbing Angel (Apr 17, 2017)

Inspired by some of the links to refurbished Thinkpads above......
Does anyone feel like recommending or slagging off some of these laptops for me?

jabl2939 | eBay

I'm after a small-ish laptop with a better keyboard than my Chromebook, purely for writing on.  I struggle with chiclet/island keyboards for some reason. [probably my age]

No games, vidz, web use (well maybe to upload documents to Google Drive?)  I'm not interested in the 17" or 15"+ screens as I don't want to be lugging that around.

I'm planning on running a word processor *only*.  These laptops are all £150, mainly Thinkpads,  running Linux Mint.  I might upgrade to the larger battery and SSD (if I have an SSD am I likely to have a quieter computer? less fan usage?). This brings the price up to £210ish which is comparable or a little more expensive than those linked to above on eBay and at Scan.co.uk running Windows.  

TBF I don't care about the OS for this machine as long as I can write on it fairly easily in some form of reasonably modern WP.  A quiet machine is a requirement, though, as noisy fans etc really get on my nerves.

Cheers muchly


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## PaoloSanchez (Apr 17, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Inspired by some of the links to refurbished Thinkpads above......
> Does anyone feel like recommending or slagging off some of these laptops for me?
> 
> jabl2939 | eBay
> ...


Having recently bought 2 Thinkpads, if I was in your shoes, I'd probably be heavily favouring Thinkpads and probably wouldn't even bother with the others. Some ebay examples that might be ok within the up to £150.

Lenovo Thinkpad T410 14.1" Core i5 Nvidia Quadro 4gb ram 160gb hd Linux Mint  | eBay

Lenovo Thinkpad T410/14.1"/i5-520M/4GB RAM/160GB HD/WIN 7 - 60662  | eBay

Fast Lenovo Thinkpad T410 Laptop 14.1" Intel Core i5 2.4Ghz Wireless Windows 10-

It would be good if you could get some try before you buy "hands on". The Thinkpad keyboards are widely regarded as being among the best ever laptop keyboards. Neither of the laptops I bought were particularly noisy, although the first one has an audible whine and I'd probably find it a bit annoying if I were using it in a quiet room.


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## Throbbing Angel (Apr 17, 2017)

I've had a couple of 2nd hand thinkpads in the past and have used a few through work and do like the keyboards (except for that bloody nipple thing).

I'll take a look at those links, thanks


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## PaoloSanchez (Apr 17, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> I've had a couple of 2nd hand thinkpads in the past and have used a few through work and do like the keyboards (except for that bloody nipple thing).
> 
> I'll take a look at those links, thanks


I briefly owned a T40 that I bought on ebay (£1700) back in 2003/4, apart from that I haven't really used Thinkpads, but I've always wanted to buy one. I actually really like the nipple and much prefer it to using the trackpad, although 90% of the time I'm using a proper usb keyboard and mouse at my desk and hardly ever use it on my lap.


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## cybershot (Apr 17, 2017)

The build quality on modern thinkpads is nowhere near what it used to be, and in my opinion the performance of them has also got worse.

I'm using an Ideapad personally at the moment, and whilst appreciate it's not in the thinkpad range the build quality is terrible, It's about  6 months old and the monitor besel is already loose and will not clip back in correctly. I'm just dealing with it at the moment because I need the device more than I don't need it, but I suspect it will go back under warranty at some point. Really do think Lenovo have started cutting a lot of corners.

Although for the prices you're picking them up on ebay above, you can't complain too much, but in my opinion the fact you can get them so cheaply 2nd hand just echo's what i've said above.

We've actually stopped buying thinkpad's at work and replaced them with Acer Travelmate's of which I am very impressed with, but there's better spec's out there for the same sort of price.


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## Beetlebum (Apr 22, 2017)

I'm surprised Lenovo still sell the Thinkpad and the Ideapad with similar names as there's no comparison.

Indeed I'm surprised they didn't keep the IBM brand just for Thinkpad unless they weren't allowed to.


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## PaoloSanchez (Apr 22, 2017)

Beetlebum said:


> I'm surprised Lenovo still sell the Thinkpad and the Ideapad with similar names as there's no comparison.
> 
> Indeed I'm surprised they didn't keep the IBM brand just for Thinkpad unless they weren't allowed to.


Agreed, Thinkpads and Ideapads are in completely different leagues, even though the purists probably aren't happy with Thinkpads becoming dumbed down and a bit more ultrabook like. I would put Ideapads in the same category as the cheaper Acers.


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## cybershot (Apr 22, 2017)

Despite the build quality issues on the shell of my ideapad, I love it. it flies. I ripped out the shipped with HDD before I even powered it on, and replaced it with my SSD from my old laptop, I also purchased a Samsung Evo 850 m2 for the main OS as it also has an M2 slot.

15" screen, 16GB of RAM in built and i7-6700HQ 2.6GHz woth a Nvidea Geforce GTX for just over £800 including the purchase of the M2, and nothing else came close spec wise for the price. Model is now dicontinued which may have helped the price at the time, and probably the crappy build quality. Seems the latest versions are equipped with less RAM (12GB) with the same processor and graphics and might not have the backlit keyboard looking at the layout, unless they've moved the Fn key for it. Yet cost more! Design looks the same.

But as I say besides the bezel issue I love it. Runs all my VMs with no fuss.


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## Chz (Apr 23, 2017)

I'm not going to knock the Ideapads too much. I bought one for the missus 4 or so years back (or whenever SB was being phased out for IB and things were on sale), and there was nothing else on the market that was a thin and light 13.3" for under £400. And unlike similar models today, it's a full Core CPU (no Atom-derivates) and you can upgrade the RAM and HDD. Yes, the screen is crap - they all are under £500 - and yes the touchpad is an abomination (use the nipple!). But other than that, it's served very well.


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## Beetlebum (Apr 23, 2017)

Just had this pop up in my Facebook feed.

HP 255 G5 Laptop 1TT38ES - Laptops at ebuyer

It even avoids Windows to save money but it might be a better bet than the ideapad.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 23, 2017)

Jbxsetukj3578 said:


> If you like dells I have used itc sales  multiple times and found them to be reliable Cheap laptops for sale UK | Dell laptop deals & notebook computers | Refurbished Dell laptops - ITC Sales



It appears even if we wanted some of your tasty canned meat products, most of them are out of stock.


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## cybershot (Apr 23, 2017)

Chz said:


> I'm not going to knock the Ideapads too much. I bought one for the missus 4 or so years back (or whenever SB was being phased out for IB and things were on sale), and there was nothing else on the market that was a thin and light 13.3" for under £400. And unlike similar models today, it's a full Core CPU (no Atom-derivates) and you can upgrade the RAM and HDD. Yes, the screen is crap - they all are under £500 - and yes the touchpad is an abomination (use the nipple!). But other than that, it's served very well.



Ah yes, I forgot to mention the trackpad is awful, proper RSI inducing. I have to use a mouse with it.


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## iamwithnail (May 7, 2017)

I'm excited.  Just bought my first new laptop in 6 years, and it's an utter beast. (This doesn't fit into the 'affordable laptop recommendations', but it's still less than a Macbook Pro and about twice as powerful. Plus I couldn't find a more relevant thread.)
It's a full on desktop replacement. Going from a Macbook Air 2011 to this, for about the same as the Air cost: 

2.8Ghz Quad Core, 16Gb Ram, GTX 1050Ti 4gb Graphics, 480Gb SSD. 15" screen (actually the only bad point, you can't get a GTX in anything smaller, didn't really want one that size, it's 2.5kg!)


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## PaoloSanchez (May 7, 2017)

iamwithnail said:


> I'm excited.  Just bought my first new laptop in 6 years, and it's an utter beast. (This doesn't fit into the 'affordable laptop recommendations', but it's still less than a Macbook Pro and about twice as powerful. Plus I couldn't find a more relevant thread.)
> It's a full on desktop replacement. Going from a Macbook Air 2011 to this, for about the same as the Air cost:
> 
> 2.8Ghz Quad Core, 16Gb Ram, GTX 1050Ti 4gb Graphics, 480Gb SSD. 15" screen (actually the only bad point, you can't get a GTX in anything smaller, didn't really want one that size, it's 2.5kg!)


What make/model? 

...and how comes you didn't buy a Chromebook? Don't you know that they're taking over the whole world?


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## iamwithnail (May 7, 2017)

It's a custom build from PC Specialist.  Can you get Chromebooks with big-ass graphics cards now? *innocent face*. 

I'll be dual booting this into Ubuntu (it comes with Windows) as my main development machine, so a Chromebook or similar was definitely not on the shortlist.  I nearly bought a hackintosh, then realised for about the same I could get a brand new fairly top line machine.


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## PaoloSanchez (May 8, 2017)

iamwithnail said:


> It's a custom build from PC Specialist.  Can you get Chromebooks with big-ass graphics cards now? *innocent face*.
> 
> I'll be dual booting this into Ubuntu (it comes with Windows) as my main development machine, so a Chromebook or similar was definitely not on the shortlist.  I nearly bought a hackintosh, then realised for about the same I could get a brand new fairly top line machine.


To be fair, you can also dual boot Ubuntu with ChromeOS on a Chromebook (although I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that), and as for the graphics, well for the same price as your beast you could have bought 5 or 6 chromebooks and set up some kind of parallel processing supercomputer. Looks like you missed out on an opportunity. (*tongue planted firmly in cheek*)

Sounds like you've got yourself a nice laptop there. I'm still using my Asus N56 i7/16gb/Geoforce GT630m which I've had for 5 years now and paid £900 for. Overall I'm happy with it and it works fine and I've never had any real issues. Battery needs replacing, and build quality is okish, but nowhere near macbook/thinkpad t levels. 

No manufacturer has made my dream laptop yet, which will be a 14 inch 2 in 1 and have the best elements from Thinkpad, macbook and Surface, well screwed together and be easily dockable with the ability to have a separate graphics card in the dock.


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## iamwithnail (May 8, 2017)

Oh, separate (affordable) graphics card would be the dream, wouldn't it?  (As opposed to this fucker.) I don't need it when I'm dicking about remotely, but want it at home (for gaming) and smooth multi-screen action.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (May 8, 2017)

iamwithnail said:


> Oh, separate (affordable) graphics card would be the dream, wouldn't it?  (As opposed to this fucker.) I don't need it when I'm dicking about remotely, but want it at home (for gaming) and smooth multi-screen action.



Lightweight laptop for on the go and a small desktop for at home would probably be a similar to price to such a thing if it existed.


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## cybershot (May 8, 2017)

iamwithnail said:


> I'm excited.  Just bought my first new laptop in 6 years, and it's an utter beast. (This doesn't fit into the 'affordable laptop recommendations', but it's still less than a Macbook Pro and about twice as powerful. Plus I couldn't find a more relevant thread.)
> It's a full on desktop replacement. Going from a Macbook Air 2011 to this, for about the same as the Air cost:
> 
> 2.8Ghz Quad Core, 16Gb Ram, GTX 1050Ti 4gb Graphics, 480Gb SSD. 15" screen (actually the only bad point, you can't get a GTX in anything smaller, didn't really want one that size, it's 2.5kg!)



Nice!


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## PaoloSanchez (May 8, 2017)

iamwithnail said:


> Oh, separate (affordable) graphics card would be the dream, wouldn't it?  (As opposed to this fucker.) I don't need it when I'm dicking about remotely, but want it at home (for gaming) and smooth multi-screen action.


If I'm honest, I probably don't even need it at home, but I'd like to have it available should I decide to Autocad or 4k video editing or After Effects animations. I'm not sure that the GTX630 in my current laptop has had to do any real work at all in the time that I've owned it. If I do ever get around to a building a heavy lifter, it will most likely be a desktop, even though they are not as popular as they used to be, imo represent the best bang for your buck as long as you are ok with the lack of portability. 

As excited as you are with your new machine, I'm still very happy with the 2 T430's that I bought for £190 each on ebay, especially with the build quality and docking station arrangement, which I think is brilliant.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (May 8, 2017)

PaoloSanchez said:


> If I'm honest, I probably don't even need it at home, but I'd like to have it available should I decide to Autocad or 4k video editing or After Effects animations. I'm not sure that the GTX630 in my current laptop has had to do any real work at all in the time that I've owned it. If I do ever get around to a building a heavy lifter, it will most likely be a desktop, even though they are not as popular as they used to be, imo represent the best bang for your buck as long as you are ok with the lack of portability.
> 
> As excited as you are with your new machine, I'm still very happy with the 2 T430's that I bought for £190 each on ebay, especially with the build quality and docking station arrangement, which I think is brilliant.



It's the small things on a desktop, like multiple hard drives.  

Took me months after moving to get mine up and running. Despite being a similar vintage to my thinkpad, the performance difference is like night and day just for relatively simple tasks.


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## iamwithnail (May 8, 2017)

I want it nowwwwwwwww.  Didn't want to pay another £60 for 3 day build time though. Tomorrow will be 3 of probably 9 (working days). Arrgghhhhhh.

I was *this* (makes tiny gesture) close to buying a desktop, but I was only going to save about £100 for the same spec, which is a bit crazy.  I'd rather have the portability. I probably don't need the GTX for anything work related. But it'll be nice to play Elite:  Dangerous and some other stuff in 60fps HD.


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## PaoloSanchez (May 9, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> It's the small things on a desktop, like multiple hard drives.
> 
> Took me months after moving to get mine up and running. Despite being a similar vintage to my thinkpad, the performance difference is like night and day just for relatively simple tasks.


With my current use I don't really notice any particular lack of performance, but it could be that I don't know what I'm missing. I have a single 1tb drive and use external 2tb usb drives for the various VM's and if I wanted to could replace the optical drive with an additional hard drive in a caddy. There's no doubt that a similarly priced desktop would be faster and represents the better price/performance ratio, however for me right now the sweet spot is an I5/I7 in a laptop form factor which for me has the right balance of power/flexibility and convenience. Even though I mostly use my current laptop like a desktop, 95% of the time it's on my desk plugged into an external monitor with a usb keyboard and mouse plugged in, I do like the ability to pick it up and just take it with me whenever I need to do so and have all my stuff with me in a conveniently sized package.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (May 9, 2017)

Everyone has different needs.  

For me cloud storage means that switching between machines has never been so easy and I'm increasingly finding I dont need a laptop very often. When I'm away from the home I can do 90% of what I need with a phone and tablet, so laptop comes out for the rest. Whilst part of me is drawn to form factor and price of Chromebooks, as I do relatively little with a laptop, I like the idea of doing Windows type tasks with ease when I need to.


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## PaoloSanchez (May 9, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Everyone has different needs.
> 
> For me cloud storage means that switching between machines has never been so easy and I'm increasingly finding I dont need a laptop very often. When I'm away from the home I can do 90% of what I need with a phone and tablet, so laptop comes out for the rest. Whilst part of me is drawn to form factor and price of Chromebooks, as I do relatively little with a laptop, I like the idea of doing Windows type tasks with ease when I need to.


Indeed, horses for courses. I can understanding you not using your laptop that often if you already have a decent desktop machine to do the heavy lifting. I guess my laptop would be the equivalent of your desktop (albeit not as powerful), and it's great to be able to pick my "portable desktop" up and take it with me out and about with all the applications installed and files that I need. There's no way that I could do all that comfortably on a Chromebook, tablet or phone. I don't often take my laptop out with me anyway so it's mostly deskbound, however it's nice to know that I can whenever I need to.

The reason that it's my sweet spot is because I can do nearly everything I need to in one machine (to rule them all). If I need a bit of power I've got it, if I want to do lightweight webby stuff consumption stuff, no problem, if I want to watch a movie in bed I can, if I want to take it on a plane, yep that too (for the moment). A good balance of power and versatility and convenience. It's not perfect, nothing is, but compared to what we had 15 years ago, it's bloody marvellous and hopefully will get even better.

Cloud storage is a wonderful thing and I use Onedrive, Dropbox, GoogleDrive and Amazon, mainly for backups of photos and documents and Onenote backup, however nothing beats having your own physical files on your own local machine especially when Virgin broadband or the wifi stops working and there's no interwebs. On top of that, even though they have improved quite a bit, web applications are on the whole nowhere near as good as native ones.


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## ruffneck23 (May 10, 2017)

iamwithnail said:


> Oh, separate (affordable) graphics card would be the dream, wouldn't it?  (As opposed to this fucker.) I don't need it when I'm dicking about remotely, but want it at home (for gaming) and smooth multi-screen action.


ASUS:GRAPHICS DOCK ROG XG STATION 2 - HardwareHeaven.com


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## UnderAnOpenSky (May 10, 2017)

ruffneck23 said:


> ASUS:GRAPHICS DOCK ROG XG STATION 2 - HardwareHeaven.com



That's a bit nuts. £500 and doesn't come with a graphics card!


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## UnderAnOpenSky (May 10, 2017)

PaoloSanchez said:


> Cloud storage is a wonderful thing and I use Onedrive, Dropbox, GoogleDrive and Amazon, mainly for backups of photos and documents and Onenote backup, however nothing beats having your own physical files on your own local machine especially when Virgin broadband or the wifi stops working and there's no interwebs. On top of that, even though they have improved quite a bit, web applications are on the whole nowhere near as good as native ones.



Yup. Handy for keeping machines in sync rather then relying on to always be working!


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## kalidarkone (Jun 20, 2017)

So I have read the last few pages of this thread and am considering:
 chrome book R11
Something from the Lenova range.
I need a laptop for writing essays and researching as my little tablet does not support much...
Music/ film would be good.
I also need a laser jet printer - but I'll go to the relevant thread for that.
My budget for the laptop is £350.
Cheers babbers


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## Throbbing Angel (Jun 20, 2017)

Careful with printer choices if you get a Chromebook. They use Cloud Print  Google Cloud Print

You can print from a local printer via a cable but it isn't as straight forward as you may like. I dropped lucky and already had a WiFi enabled printer which made things easier.

More: 
How To Print from your Chromebook - Introduction -
https://chromeunboxed.com/usb-printing-from-a-chromebook-is-possible-and-quite-simple/


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 20, 2017)

kalidarkone said:


> So I have read the last few pages of this thread and am considering:
> chrome book R11
> Something from the Lenova range.
> I need a laptop for writing essays and researching as my little tablet does not support much...
> ...



When you say music and film do you mean downloading them from torrents and the like or streaming them from paid services like Spotify and Netflix. I only ask as it would massively effect your storage requirements.


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## editor (Jun 20, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Careful with printer choices if you get a Chromebook. They use Cloud Print  Google Cloud Print
> 
> You can print from a local printer via a cable but it isn't as straight forward as you may like. I dropped lucky and already had a WiFi enabled printer which made things easier.
> 
> ...


It's improving 
Your Chromebook is about to get some improved printing options | TechRadar


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## kalidarkone (Jun 20, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> When you say music and film do you mean downloading them from torrents and the like or streaming them from paid services like Spotify and Netflix. I only ask as it would massively effect your storage requirements.


 don't know how to stream 
Downloading I guess.


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## PaoloSanchez (Jun 20, 2017)

kalidarkone said:


> don't know how to stream
> Downloading I guess.


I would suggest that spend a bit of time working out what you want to do with the laptop you intend to buy and then doing a bit of research before purchase. Don't just rely on advice from internet randoms.
What tablet do you currently have and what do you use it for?
If you can take a trip to your nearest Currys/PC World and get some "hands on" with cheap laptops/chromebooks and see what the staff there say.

If you absolutely must have a "2 in 1" which is basically a laptop that can sort of be used as a tablet as well or at least has a touch screen, the following would be in your budget (£150 - £450) at PC World...
2 in 1 laptops - Best   2 in 1 laptops Offers | PC World


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## kalidarkone (Jun 20, 2017)

This is part of my research!  also I know and trust a couple of the 'random posters' on this thread.
I use my tablet for emails and social media etc.
I need a lappy because I'm studying and need to write essays and research papers and to be able to do a power point presentation. 
But yes I will go to the shop and try a few out. Cheers x


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## PaoloSanchez (Jun 20, 2017)

kalidarkone said:


> This is part of my research!  also I know and trust a couple of the 'random posters' on this thread.


Fair enough.  I wasn't dissing your forum friends. Even if you do trust the people that you ask, you will need to be able to communicate exactly what your requirements are so that they can give reasonable advice. For example, is it important that your laptop has a touchscreen if you already have a tablet? Is it important to be able to carry your laptop around and use it out and about or will it be mostly used at a desk? Is long battery life a priority? Does the laptop have to be brand new? Those are just a few off the top of my head, you may have other things that are uniquely important to you that others might not know about when giving you advice.



kalidarkone said:


> I use my tablet for emails and social media etc.
> I need a lappy because I'm studying and need to write essays and research papers and to be able to do a power point presentation.
> But yes I will go to the shop and try a few out. Cheers x


Laptops are definitely more convenient than tablets for typing long documents/essays.

If your assignment/essays, research papers and presentations absolutely have to be in Microsoft Word and Powerpoint, then you might be better off with a Windows laptop and you will need to include that in your budget. There are of course other free word processors and presentation software available. LibreOffice is one and GoogleDocs for Chromebooks. There is also Office Online which is free and can be used from any browser.

My daughter is in the middle of doing a degree and her assignments have to be in Microsoft Word format. Initially we were using LibreOffice Writer which is supposedly compatible with Word but there were subtle differences that just didn't quite work as required. If you haven't already, it may be an idea to check what the policy is at your university. Microsoft Word appears to be the most widely used format for assignments.

If you need to have room on your laptop for your own music and films (as opposed to streaming services like Spotify and Netflix) then you might be better off with more local storage. Chromebooks typically don't have as much local storage, so that's another thing you'll need to take into consideration. Good luck with your search.


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## kalidarkone (Jun 20, 2017)

I don't absolutely have to have a 2 in 1. As I have a tablet. Anyway thanks for the link.


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## PaoloSanchez (Jun 20, 2017)

kalidarkone said:


> I don't absolutely have to have a 2 in 1. As I have a tablet.


That's what I thought. If you don't need to have a touchscreen then you'll have a bit more choice at that budget as there are quite a few regular laptops that you can get for under £450.


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## kalidarkone (Jun 28, 2017)

I got an acer aspire e14 from pc world and an HP envy printer/ scanner/ photocopier.

Thanks for the advice.

They gave me macafee anti virus free as I refused to buy it and they were ' concerned'.  
I have always used free avg as well as spy bot and lavatory.
Any anti viral advice?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 28, 2017)

Along with the built in Windows defender you should be covered with those.


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## kalidarkone (Jun 28, 2017)

I must be getting old...... The lappy does not seem to have a dvd player.......I forgot to ask about that. It's not important.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 28, 2017)

kalidarkone said:


> I must be getting old...... The lappy does not seem to have a dvd player.......I forgot to ask about that. It's not important.



Makes for more compact design. As you say, it's not important to you and most others these days. How times change. I remember paying a fair bit to add a CD drive to my first computer.


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## The Boy (Jun 28, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Makes for more compact design. As you say, it's not important to you and most others these days. How times change. I remember paying a fair bit to add a CD drive to my first computer.



My current desktop came with no optical drive, but the drivers (including for the NIC) were in a CD.  Had to scavenge a drive from an old machine, result of which is that I still have a close-to-15 years old drive in my desktop.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 28, 2017)

The Boy said:


> My current desktop came with no optical drive, but the drivers (including for the NIC) were in a CD.  Had to scavenge a drive from an old machine, result of which is that I still have a close-to-15 years old drive in my desktop.



No idea how old mine is, but it's been through a few upgrades. That's a bit shit on their part, thought everything was on the net these days!


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## PaoloSanchez (Jun 29, 2017)

kalidarkone said:


> I got an acer aspire e14 from pc world and an HP envy printer/ scanner/ photocopier.
> 
> Thanks for the advice.


No problem, hopefully you'll have many years of trouble free computing with your new friend. Funnily enough that Acer laptop is currently on my shortlist as I have been asked to help one of my Dad's friends to by a new laptop after her current (old win xp) one was wrecked by a coffee spill. I've had a couple of trips to PC World and had a gander and will probably suggest that she get an HP Stream 14 which is about £250. She is quite elderly and won't be using it for downloading videos and music etc mainly surfing, skype, youtube so storage isn't a high priority. 



kalidarkone said:


> They gave me macafee anti virus free as I refused to buy it and they were ' concerned'.
> I have always used free avg as well as spy bot and lavatory.
> Any anti viral advice?


I used to use avg and malwarebytes back in the Windows XP days, but haven't installed any third party anti virus software since Windows 7 and just use the delivered Windows Defender. I think there's a lot of fearmongering and scare stories which helps to sell anti-virus software, and I've found that the software can sometimes be more of a hinderance than help. I personally wouldn't install McAfee even if it was free, however if you feel more comfortable and safer having it installed then go for it.


----------



## stavros (Aug 20, 2017)

I'm thinking I might need a new laptop. My current one, a Dell Latitude E6400, has been good to me. It was someone else's ex-business computer, sold on to me through an independent shop where I used to live. I have another similar shop near me now who I think are quite good, so can any of you knowledgeable people tell me what kind of spec I need? Most of what I do is just using the web, and not gaming. I stream, use torrents and Soulseek, but other than that not much else. The shop in question have said they can build something to order, so I'd like to know what I should ask for. I don't have a strict budget as such, and I could go a little higher than the thread title if needed.

My Dell has that annoying joystick button in the middle of the keyboard, between the G, H and B keys. It sometimes drifts the cursor, which fucking annoying, and is part of my reason for considering a change.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Aug 20, 2017)

They can build you a laptop? 

No specific suggestions, but worth thinking how portable and what screen size you need it to help narrow the search.


----------



## Chz (Aug 21, 2017)

stavros said:


> I'm thinking I might need a new laptop. My current one, a Dell Latitude E6400, has been good to me. It was someone else's ex-business computer, sold on to me through an independent shop where I used to live. I have another similar shop near me now who I think are quite good, so can any of you knowledgeable people tell me what kind of spec I need? Most of what I do is just using the web, and not gaming. I stream, use torrents and Soulseek, but other than that not much else. The shop in question have said they can build something to order, so I'd like to know what I should ask for. I don't have a strict budget as such, and I could go a little higher than the thread title if needed.
> 
> My Dell has that annoying joystick button in the middle of the keyboard, between the G, H and B keys. It sometimes drifts the cursor, which fucking annoying, and is part of my reason for considering a change.


If you have the proper Dell driver installed, you can turn off the nipple or the touchpad. You can even disable the upper set of "mouse" buttons.


----------



## stavros (Aug 21, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> They can build you a laptop?



I may have misunderstood/misheard then.



Chz said:


> If you have the proper Dell driver installed, you can turn off the nipple or the touchpad. You can even disable the upper set of "mouse" buttons.



The engineer I spoke to there previously suggested that the nipple was interlinked with the keyboard, so disabling it would mean the keyboard was defunct. Quite why anyone would want the nipple is beyond me.

Portability isn't a factor, as I only use it at home, and almost always in the same place on a table. I'm more investigating what sort of processor I should be looking for, and the RAM and storage memory. Not being particularly techy, I'm not aware of the important factors, so all advice is welcome.


----------



## Chz (Aug 21, 2017)

Nonsense, I used a 6400 for years at my last job. Personally, I'm a nipple man and had the trackpad disabled, but most of the staff did the opposite to no ill effect.


----------



## stavros (Sep 2, 2017)

I've taken the nipple off now and that's improved things slightly. The drifting still happens though.

Can someone tell me what I should be looking for in terms of RAM and storage please?


----------



## stavros (Sep 16, 2017)

In the absence of direct recommendations, can someone tell me if this is a decent enough guide please? It's from a retailer, so one could question its objectivity.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 16, 2017)

stavros said:


> I've taken the nipple off now and that's improved things slightly. The drifting still happens though.
> 
> Can someone tell me what I should be looking for in terms of RAM and storage please?



It's not a bad guide I guess. What do you want to use it for and what's your budget?


----------



## stavros (Sep 17, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> It's not a bad guide I guess. What do you want to use it for and what's your budget?



Mostly surfing the web, with torrents, live streams and Soulseek thrown in. The only game I ever play is the ancient but excellent Arcade Pool 2, but that's not online at all.

As for budget, I'm prepared to pay what I need to as I use it a lot, so I'm open to hear opinions. This caught my eye in my browsing.


----------



## cybershot (Sep 17, 2017)

stavros said:


> Mostly surfing the web, with torrents, live streams and Soulseek thrown in. The only game I ever play is the ancient but excellent Arcade Pool 2, but that's not online at all.
> 
> As for budget, I'm prepared to pay what I need to as I use it a lot, so I'm open to hear opinions. This caught my eye in my browsing.



Not bad for the price, especially as it comes with Win 10 Pro. You might be able to scrape something slightly better for that price elsewhere if you're happy to use Win 10 Home Edition instead and sacrifice the DVD drive. (for something thinner and lighter)


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 17, 2017)

Also if your torrenting films you'll probably want an external drive, but that's okay as an SSD as the main one will make the machine far nicer to use.


----------



## nick (Sep 18, 2017)

FWIW I just got a Thinkpad X1	  Refurb X1 Carbon [1st Gen] i7-3667U 2.00GHz 8GB 240GB SSD Grade A
£470 with Win 10 Pro

From an initial play (whilst setting it up, installing office etc) it seems to be a nice machine. Makes my reconditioned T430 seem like a house brick


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 18, 2017)

nick said:


> FWIW I just got a Thinkpad X1	  Refurb X1 Carbon [1st Gen] i7-3667U 2.00GHz 8GB 240GB SSD Grade A
> £470 with Win 10 Pro
> 
> From an initial play (whilst setting it up, installing office etc) it seems to be a nice machine. Makes my reconditioned T430 seem like a house brick



That looks a lovely bit of kit!


----------



## stavros (Sep 18, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Also if your torrenting films you'll probably want an external drive, but that's okay as an SSD as the main one will make the machine far nicer to use.



Yes, that's something the bloke at the shop mentioned to me when he did a previous fix on my existing laptop. The torrenting thing is fairly new, but the thousands of MP3s would be a great loss.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 18, 2017)

stavros said:


> Yes, that's something the bloke at the shop mentioned to me when he did a previous fix on my existing laptop. The torrenting thing is fairly new, but the thousands of MP3s would be a great loss.



Unless you have a truly heroic MP3 collection they'd probably fit.

I think a lot of home broadband boxes now support plugging in a drive if you didn't fancy the cables to the laptop.

Ive got a little micro server filled out the drives that everything on the network can access.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 19, 2017)

nick said:


> FWIW I just got a Thinkpad X1	  Refurb X1 Carbon [1st Gen] i7-3667U 2.00GHz 8GB 240GB SSD Grade A
> £470 with Win 10 Pro
> 
> From an initial play (whilst setting it up, installing office etc) it seems to be a nice machine. Makes my reconditioned T430 seem like a house brick


x1 carbons are lovely. The only thing that would put me off slightly is that they don't plug into a base station like the T series and the position of the control key which lenovo refuse to move even though nearly every other keyboard has the control key in the corner where it belongs. I bought 2 T430's for the kids on ebay about 6 months ago for £190 each and so far have been very happy with them even though as you said they are a bit more chunky compared to a carbon.


----------



## nick (Sep 19, 2017)

Yep the Base station thing is annoying - as I managed to borrow one from a place of employment.
The weight makes up for it as it is for my daughter now she has started secondary - and she may need to lug it into central London on public transport occasionally

Was also pleasantly surprised to find out that it is also touch screen - when I tried to clean the screen and things started happening. I didn't know that when I ordered it


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 20, 2017)

nick said:


> Yep the Base station thing is annoying - as I managed to borrow one from a place of employment.
> The weight makes up for it as it is for my daughter now she has started secondary - and she may need to lug it into central London on public transport occasionally
> 
> Was also pleasantly surprised to find out that it is also touch screen - when I tried to clean the screen and things started happening. I didn't know that when I ordered it


As I personally use my laptop at a desk +90% of the time, I'd rather have the base station although I can see the benefits of light weight. The other disadvantage of thin and light "ultrabooks" is that they tend not to have easily replaceable batteries and have to compromise a bit more on power because they are harder to cool. When my current laptop expires which hopefully won't be for a good while, I'll have my eyes on something like a Thinkpad T460/70 or a P50/51 (complete with base station of course  ).


----------



## stavros (Sep 20, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I think a lot of home broadband boxes now support plugging in a drive if you didn't fancy the cables to the laptop.



Is there a reason why cables into the laptop might be a bad idea? I thought the back-up drives could be used as a separate entity, for adding stuff periodically. Have I got the wrong end of the stick?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 20, 2017)

stavros said:


> Is there a reason why cables into the laptop might be a bad idea? I thought the back-up drives could be used as a separate entity, for adding stuff periodically. Have I got the wrong end of the stick?



No at all and that solution works just fine as well. Personally I don't like external drives dangling of laptops, buts thats only personal preference and if you want to transfer large amounts of data a cable is still the easiest way.


----------



## stavros (Sep 21, 2017)

Cheers. Are there brands that are recommended, and/or should be avoided? My current machine is a Dell, and I'm leaning towards that Toshiba I referenced upthread as and when I do buy a new one.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 21, 2017)

Most Toshibas I've seen feel cheap and plasticy. That's not the end of the world though if it rarely leaves the home.

When I get round to replacing my aging thinkpad I'll be willing to compromise on the internals for something tough as I've got a desktop as my main machine, so it's for occasional use out and about. If I was buying a laptop as my main computer I'd probably be go the other way and get the most grunt I could for the money.

Unlike desktops I think there's something to be said for going to your local Currys and handling one, even if you don't end up buying from there.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Sep 22, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> /snip/
> If I was buying a laptop as my main computer I'd probably be go the other way and get the most grunt I could for the money.
> 
> Unlike desktops I think there's something to be said for going to your local Currys and handling one, even if you don't end up buying from there.



Aye, go and play with laptops in a shop - John Lewis are great for this if you have one nearby - very helpful staff.  I did this last couple of times I was buying. It helps a lot.  There's nothing worse than buying a laptop online and then it landing and you hate the keyboard, or the way the touch-pad ain't just as intuitive as you'd like etc etc.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Sep 22, 2017)

nick said:


> FWIW I just got a Thinkpad X1	  Refurb X1 Carbon [1st Gen] i7-3667U 2.00GHz 8GB 240GB SSD Grade A
> £470 with Win 10 Pro
> 
> From an initial play (whilst setting it up, installing office etc) it seems to be a nice machine. Makes my reconditioned T430 seem like a house brick



Hows it going with this X1 Carbon?  I'm interested/tempted but worry about processor being older models.

So how are you finding it nick ?


----------



## nick (Sep 22, 2017)

Can't answer fully yet - my daughter is getting it for her birthday this weekend - so I 've only been on it to set up and install software etc.

The boot up is quick - due no doubt to the SSD. It certainly feels quicker than the T430 and (I guess) the I7 is a relatively newish processor?

It feels speedy enough for day to day stuff - but suspect it will never be challenged with video encoding / graphics rendering / heavy gaming etc etc


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 22, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Aye, go and play with laptops in a shop - John Lewis are great for this if you have one nearby - very helpful staff.  I did this last couple of times I was buying. It helps a lot.  There's nothing worse than buying a laptop online and then it landing and you hate the keyboard, or the way the touch-pad ain't just as intuitive as you'd like etc etc.


I agree that "hands on" time can be valuable, although tbf even then you don't always catch the quirks and foibles until you've got the laptop at home and start using it properly, then you can pick up on things like fan noise or overheating. I would also recommend doing at least a bit of research and having some idea of what you want before you visit the shops. I've found that shop sales staff aren't that knowledgeable themselves. PC World staff next to useless John Lewis better but often have little more than superficial knowledge.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 22, 2017)

God. I wouldnt go to a shop and expect to actually get useful advice!


----------



## stavros (Sep 22, 2017)

Cheers all. I shall continue to browse at my town's Curry's and John Lewis.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 24, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> God. I wouldnt go to a shop and expect to actually get useful advice!


Well, salespeople should have some idea about what they're selling, imo. I'm not much of an audiophile, but whenever I'd go to Richer Sounds in Tooley Street to buy something the staff seemed to know their shit. Whenever I go to Curry's/PC World most of the staff really don't know shit. I've found John Lewis staff to be more knowledgeable but even they are quickly out of their depth after a few questions.


----------



## Riklet (Sep 24, 2017)

My 2008 Samsung Laptop is still alive and kicking with Windows 7 64 bit. It semi died a few years back but a format and getting rid of vista solved that.

Im just about to fit a 250gb samsung SSD as a bit of a future plan. Can always swap that over in future right? Been overheating sadly but i opened it up and blew out some dust, which has actually helped a lot. Im sure ssd wont run at full speed and the processor is a bottleneck tho...

Im wondering where to go from here anyway!  We shall see how the ssd helps (worth a shot for 90 quid)  but I think it's time for an upgrade this year. Can probs spend up to 600. Are the new ASUS models any cop?


----------



## cybershot (Sep 24, 2017)

PaoloSanchez said:


> Well, salespeople should have some idea about what they're selling, imo. I'm not much of an audiophile, but whenever I'd go to Richer Sounds in Tooley Street to buy something the staff seemed to know their shit. Whenever I go to Curry's/PC World most of the staff really don't know shit. I've found John Lewis staff to be more knowledgeable but even they are quickly out of their depth after a few questions.



Richer Sounds staff are top notch. I will always buy something from them over anywhere else if they have it in stock and will price match. In fact the fact they sell it gives me confidence that it's fairly decent.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 25, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Richer Sounds staff are top notch. I will always buy something from them over anywhere else if they have it in stock and will price match. In fact the fact they sell it gives me confidence that it's fairly decent.


I haven't been there for a while but I always found the staff to be very knowledgeable. It would be nice if Currys/PC World staff had similar levels of quality but they're not even close. The main reason for my visits to Currys/PCWorld for laptops is to get some hands on for laptops that I've already researched on the interwebz. A few months ago I did buy an HP laptop on behalf of an elderly family friend and the staff were pretty much useless as they usually are.


----------



## stavros (Sep 25, 2017)

Do people err one way or the other with regard Lenovo vs Toshiba? The two I'm looking at are virtually the same spec and the same price, so I'm keen to hear if I should towards one.


----------



## Fingers (Sep 25, 2017)

Bought a Thinkpad X230 from Ebay

i5 Core
64GB SSD
8GB ram
Free carry case

£149

Also bought a 512GB micro SD card for £17 to make up for lack of storage.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 25, 2017)

A 512gb Micro SD card for £17??

I've not kept up to date with the latest trends but that sounds an awful lot of storage for the money. Almost too good to be true. I'm guessing it's not a Sandisk or Kingston.


----------



## Fingers (Sep 25, 2017)

PaoloSanchez said:


> A 512gb Micro SD card for £17??
> 
> I've not kept up to date with the latest trends but that sounds an awful lot of storage for the money. Almost too good to be true. I'm guessing it's not a Sandisk or Kingston.



Sorry £18.35 it was

Class 10 512GB Micro SD Card & free Adapter For Smartphones Tablets Cameras etc  | eBay


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 25, 2017)

Fingers said:


> Sorry £18.35 it was
> 
> Class 10 512GB Micro SD Card & free Adapter For Smartphones Tablets Cameras etc  | eBay



I wish you well with this, but I suggest you don't put any important data on it that's not backed up.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 25, 2017)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Extreme-SDXC-UHS-I-Memory/dp/B00NP699ZI

£232 for a proper one from Amazon.


----------



## Fingers (Sep 25, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I wish you well with this, but I suggest you don't put any important data on it that's not backed up.



Everything gets backed up so if it fails, it fails I guess.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 26, 2017)

Fingers said:


> Everything gets backed up so if it fails, it fails I guess.



On the plus side if it works as it should let us know.


----------



## Fingers (Sep 26, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> On the plus side if it works as it should let us know.



I shall report back!


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 26, 2017)

Fingers said:


> Sorry £18.35 it was
> 
> Class 10 512GB Micro SD Card & free Adapter For Smartphones Tablets Cameras etc  | eBay





Fingers said:


> Everything gets backed up so if it fails, it fails I guess.


Ok well, good luck with that, although my spidey senses are detecting something a bit dodgy here, especially as it's significantly cheaper than regular prices. 

Don't buy a microSD card until you've read our expert buying advice and recommendations


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 26, 2017)

Riklet said:


> Im wondering where to go from here anyway!  We shall see how the ssd helps (worth a shot for 90 quid)  but I think it's time for an upgrade this year. Can probs spend up to 600. Are the new ASUS models any cop?





stavros said:


> Do people err one way or the other with regard Lenovo vs Toshiba? The two I'm looking at are virtually the same spec and the same price, so I'm keen to hear if I should towards one.


Which brand should I buy? This isn't always straightforward. I will always suggest that you do at least a bit of homework and check the reviews. If you are novice buyer then the various online buyers guides might be a good first port of call for general advice, for example...

Laptop Buying Guide: 8 Essential Tips
Laptop Buying Guide: 10 tips to help you choose the right notebook | Trusted Reviews

Laptop guides and advice - Which?

 From there you can create a shortlist of laptops that suit your budget and pick one from your list.

I bought my current i7 Asus laptop 5 years ago after doing some research. I currently have a bias towards Lenovo Thinkpads mainly because of their build quality, however I'm not sure about their consumer models (Ideapads) they don't seem to be as good. Toshiba's were a leading quality brand once upon a time. however I think they've had a few troubles of late. My understanding is that the current crop of laptops are mostly reliable but you need to check the reviews before parting with your cash.


----------



## doodlelogic (Sep 26, 2017)

The fake SD cards never record the data in the first place, they have software on which falsely reports the disk size as higher to the computer and only stores the last few files loaded onto it.


----------



## cybershot (Sep 26, 2017)

Yeah I ended up with a fake SD card a few years back, the seller fortunately lived quite near. I went and paid him a visit!


----------



## Fingers (Oct 4, 2017)

Well, I have tested the card and it is legit. it works in my old laptop and on my phone but the new laptop does not seem to be picking it up. Have tested all the files on my phone and they are fine.  i am wondering if it is the card holder (to make it into a full sized one) is a bit dodgy


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Oct 4, 2017)

Just out of interest, what did you use to test the card? Did you use any of the card testing utilities or did you just copy a selection of your own files?


----------



## Fingers (Oct 8, 2017)

PaoloSanchez said:


> Just out of interest, what did you use to test the card? Did you use any of the card testing utilities or did you just copy a selection of your own files?



i copied all the files on my old laptop to my phone (around 30gb) and all the files work fine on the phone.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Oct 8, 2017)

Fingers said:


> i copied all the files on my old laptop to my phone (around 30gb) and all the files work fine on the phone.


Fair enough if you're happy with that test although I would exercise caution before saving valuable photos/videos onto one of those cards because the scam appears to work by making you think that you've got a lot more space than you've actually got. So for example, you might have a 16gb SD card which does a really good job of pretending to be a much larger capacity and you may not find out until much later when you try to retrieve the photos or watch the recorded video only to find that they are corrupted. 

I would personally use something like h2testw before trusting my content on one of those generic SD cards.

Software Sunday EP7: Verify Flash Media With H2testw


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Oct 8, 2017)

This dude explains how the scam works quite well...


----------



## Hollis (Oct 22, 2017)

I have been looking at this machine:

EliteBook 8540p i5-540M 15.6" Laptop Grade B Webcam

At that price, must there be something wrong with it?  

I've not bought a refurbished machine before.. anything to watch out for?


----------



## editor (Oct 22, 2017)

Hollis said:


> I have been looking at this machine:
> 
> EliteBook 8540p i5-540M 15.6" Laptop Grade B Webcam
> 
> ...


Well, Grade B means that it's going to fairly scuffed up, and you're getting a piddly 250GB drive. The machine is about 7 years old too, although it got good reviews at the time. It's chunky as fuck too

Review HP EliteBook 8540p Notebook


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Oct 22, 2017)

tbh it doesn't look good value to me. I'd prefer to look at something like a 5 year old thinkpad T for around the same price.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 14, 2017)

lil'Angel _needs_ a laptop to replace that *chunk of crap* we bought about 18 months back.

She is soon to be 12 and at secondary school so she'll use it for study & writing.
She does a lot of drawing and animation on her phone & tablet and wants to progress to doing this on a laptop with a graphics tablet.
She is getting into youtubing and podcasting.

The laptop needs to do all the above well and quick as we're all sick of slow laggy laptops that take an age to do anything.

She thinks she wants a touchscreen laptop - what do we reckon?  I think it is just summat else to go wrong personally - if you want a touchscreen device, use your tablet.

I'm also interested in graphics/drawing tablet and microphone recommendations.  She has mentioned  Blue Yeti mic she has seen for about a ton - I know the brand name and nothing else.

Suggestatron 5000 is GOoooooo>>>>>


----------



## Chz (Nov 14, 2017)

Touchscreen laptops don't cast the earth any more. Lenovo's Yoga line stretches from cheap 'n' cheerful to "I keep a tiny god in a box" and the bendy hinge thing is great for using it as laptop or tablet.

I know nowt of mikes, but Wacom has pretty much owned the serious drawing tablet market for forever. It's not obvious that these are better than touchscreens, but a decent drawing tablet senses different pressures which can be a huge advantage for replicating physical media (paint, pastel, etc.) rather than just digital stuff. You'd probably end up spending more on the software than the hardware for that sort of thing.

Edit: Some of the Yogas even come with a pressure-sensitive pen, negating the tablet need.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 14, 2017)

You won’t find anything that does what you want well for £450. 

If she’s serious about graphics tablet I’d recommend a full desktop system. You might get close enough to your budget then. Certainly if it was custom built.


----------



## editor (Nov 14, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> lil'Angel _needs_ a laptop to replace that *chunk of crap* we bought about 18 months back.
> 
> She is soon to be 12 and at secondary school so she'll use it for study & writing.
> She does a lot of drawing and animation on her phone & tablet and wants to progress to doing this on a laptop with a graphics tablet.
> ...


Maybe not appropriate but it's one hell of a price at £299: 

Pixel C - Google Store


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 19, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> lil'Angel _needs_ a laptop to replace that *chunk of crap* we bought about 18 months back.
> 
> She is soon to be 12 and at secondary school so she'll use it for study & writing.
> She does a lot of drawing and animation on her phone & tablet and wants to progress to doing this on a laptop with a graphics tablet.
> ...




So, we have a £90 voucher for Amazon that we can put towards the lappy we need - seen these two today - would appreciate your thoughts Urban..

HP 250 G6 i5 Laptop, Intel Core i5-7200U 2.5GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 15.6" ... 
£486.99 & FREE UK delivery (minus £90)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076ZXMNBZ/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_LwceAbP6SD840 via @AmazonUK

vs

Dell Inspiron 3000 15.6-Inch HD Laptop - (Black) (Intel Core i5-7200U, 8GB ... 
£549.99  free delivery thru Prime (minus £90)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073QSWZH6/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_PwceAb157Z7NQ via @AmazonUK


Same processors and RAM right?  Main diff is one has an SSD and one has a HDD, from a performance POV.  So why the initial price difference of nearly £60? The  one with the HDD is more expensive which I find odd.

Whaddya think?  Suit our needs?


----------



## Chz (Nov 19, 2017)

I can't see the full specs on the HP, but it looks to be a vastly better deal than the Dell. 

Even ignoring the SSD, Full HD vs. 1366x768? Who in the hell is trying to sell "HD Ready" on a £500 laptop?

Given that Amazon only sells the regular Yogas and not the convertible ones, I think this is your best bet with the voucher. But it really depends on how seriously Angel takes the tablet/drawing functions - It may be better to get a simpler laptop and put aside money for a dedicated drawing device (because this ain't it).


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 19, 2017)

cheers Chz 

The HP is being sold by ebuyer via Amazon - they have it on their website but I can't use my voucher there 

spec is listed there
HP 250 G5 i5 Laptop 2SY46ES - Laptops at ebuyer

Just notice that they've dropped the price on ebuyer for black friday, hmmm


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 20, 2017)

Looks solid. If I didn't have space for a desktop, but wanted something with a decent CPU, that's exactly what I'd be looking at.


----------



## mango5 (Nov 20, 2017)

I think I'm going to have to reluctantly join this black Friday thing as I need a new laptop like this Dell E5480, but touch screen not necessary and for around £500. Perhaps I want the moon on a stick but I also need it to fit my Dell docking station which I don't think many other brands do.


----------



## Chz (Nov 21, 2017)

They may not be the _best_ value proposition, but you're not going to go wrong with a Latitude. Always solid machines, not too bad to work on. Get the on-site warranty, because Dell's pretty fantastic at it.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 21, 2017)

She wants a Lenovo Yoga book tent flip thingy, so that's sorted that, then.


----------



## scifisam (Nov 21, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> She wants a Lenovo Yoga book tent flip thingy, so that's sorted that, then.



My daughter has one of those and loves it. It's not suitable for everything (small amount of memory and hard drive and ordinary graphics card) so it's not a replacement for a laptop really. What it's good for is using on the go (like at college), especially for drawing, and it starts up really quickly and the battery is decent. It'd probably work well for your daughter.


----------



## Chz (Nov 21, 2017)

scifisam said:


> My daughter has one of those and loves it. It's not suitable for everything (small amount of memory and hard drive and ordinary graphics card) so it's not a replacement for a laptop really. What it's good for is using on the go (like at college), especially for drawing, and it starts up really quickly and the battery is decent. It'd probably work well for your daughter.


There's a wide range of them, from underpowered play-tablets to full-blown development workstations.

In Angel's budget, there's this:
Lenovo Yoga 520 (14") | Stylish 2-in-1 Entertainment Laptop | Lenovo UK
Even the Pentium-powered ones are quite powerful compared to the basic tablets (Pentiums are basically what used to be i3s - dual core, four threads) and come with the pressure sensitive drawing pen. It's not cheap, but it is nice for the money.
(Though I'd spring the extra £70 just to get the Full HD screen, I have _feelings_ about laptops that cost over £350 without them)


----------



## scifisam (Nov 21, 2017)

Chz said:


> There's a wide range of them, from underpowered play-tablets to full-blown development workstations.
> 
> In Angel's budget, there's this:
> Lenovo Yoga 520 (14") | Stylish 2-in-1 Entertainment Laptop | Lenovo UK
> ...



But for the same price you can easily get up to i5 and 8 gig of ram plus possibly a better screen and a larger SSD. (I recently did myself). And it's not quite as good for extended typing. Hence me saying it's not really a laptop replacement. However the advantages really are quite noticeable as well, especially if you want to use it a lot for drawing. My daughter's had several non-integral graphics tablets including a £500 Wacom one and this has almost as good sensitivity and responsiveness as that. The hinge concerns me because she's always falling asleep holding it but she hasn't broken it yet, so it must be more robust than it looks.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 21, 2017)

In our case it is the drawing that lil'Angel wants to do the most, along with general web browsing and faffery that the yoot get up to.  It'll more than suit her.


----------



## Chz (Nov 21, 2017)

scifisam said:


> But for the same price you can easily get up to i5 and 8 gig of ram plus possibly a better screen and a larger SSD. (I recently did myself). And it's not quite as good for extended typing. Hence me saying it's not really a laptop replacement. However the advantages really are quite noticeable as well, especially if you want to use it a lot for drawing. My daughter's had several non-integral graphics tablets including a £500 Wacom one and this has almost as good sensitivity and responsiveness as that. The hinge concerns me because she's always falling asleep holding it but she hasn't broken it yet, so it must be more robust than it looks.


I get that it's not the best value in laptops, but the screen is (the Full HD one anyhow) is as good as any at that price and Lenovo's 14" Thinkpads are some of the best keyboards on the market. The trade-off for the hinge and pen gimmick is a slower CPU and smaller HDD. But the hinge and pen is what's _wanted_ and I'm of the opinion that *any *Core-based CPU is plenty of oomph for anyone not playing high-end 3D games or rendering video.

Which leaves that the hard disk is on the small side. Small compromise to make, IMO. Would *I* buy one? No, I don't care about the convertible aspect and the pen. Would I recommend it here? Obviously.


----------



## scifisam (Nov 21, 2017)

Chz said:


> I get that it's not the best value in laptops, but the screen is (the Full HD one anyhow) is as good as any at that price and Lenovo's 14" Thinkpads are some of the best keyboards on the market. The trade-off for the hinge and pen gimmick is a slower CPU and smaller HDD. But the hinge and pen is what's _wanted_ and I'm of the opinion that *any *Core-based CPU is plenty of oomph for anyone not playing high-end 3D games or rendering video.
> 
> Which leaves that the hard disk is on the small side. Small compromise to make, IMO. Would *I* buy one? No, I don't care about the convertible aspect and the pen. Would I recommend it here? Obviously.



Yeah... That's what I also said when pointing out the advantages and saying that it would probably suit TA's daughter. I'm recommending the same item as you. 

It's the keyboard that makes the most difference if you're doing a lot of typing, which is often what people want a laptop for. The keyboard on this is tablet style rather than the usual, er, press in keys or whatever proper computer keyboards are known as. But - like I already said - if that's not your priority then the advantages definitely outweigh that issue.


----------



## mango5 (Nov 22, 2017)

mango5 said:


> I think I'm going to have to reluctantly join this black Friday thing as I need a new laptop like this Dell E5480, but touch screen not necessary and for around £500. Perhaps I want the moon on a stick but I also need it to fit my Dell docking station which I don't think many other brands do.





Chz said:


> They may not be the _best_ value proposition, but you're not going to go wrong with a Latitude. Always solid machines, not too bad to work on. Get the on-site warranty, because Dell's pretty fantastic at it.



My problem is the price. I can't afford a mid-range latitude and I'm looking for similar heavy duty performance for less than £500


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## DaRealSpoon (Nov 27, 2017)

I need a new machine... Is there owt better than this around for under £300??

Lenovo V110 Laptop - Laptops at ebuyer


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## crossthebreeze (Dec 9, 2017)

Chz said:


> There's a wide range of them, from underpowered play-tablets to full-blown development workstations.
> 
> In Angel's budget, there's this:
> Lenovo Yoga 520 (14") | Stylish 2-in-1 Entertainment Laptop | Lenovo UK
> ...


I just bought one of these as my new laptop - I think the drawing function will be very useful for work, I've already enjoyed putting it in tablet form and turning it around so I can view a whole page in one go, and I otherwise do a bit of accounts spreadsheets and word documents and a bit of internetting so don't need anything too powerful. The idiots at PC world (I needed to get a laptop in a hurry) not only don't include the pen with the laptop, they don't even sell it, and the staff didn't even know anything about it, despite that being basically the main selling point because otherwise you're basically paying for a hinge.  So I've had to order it from Lenovo - only £25 but hassle.  The PC World staff were also trying to upsell me to a very solid but boring laptop with non of the functionality I wanted for £100 extra, or the new Microsoft surface - as if I'd be looking at a machine for less than £400 which I know has some limitations if I could afford something top spec for over a grand


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## Chz (Jan 6, 2018)

For what it's worth, Currys has a Yoga 520 for £380:
LENOVO Yoga 520 14" 2 in 1 - Grey

Full HD screen, 128GB SSD. Only 4GB of RAM, but it is replaceable (not soldered on). I bought one to replace Mrs. Chz's 6 year-old IdeaPad. There's even a spare SATA drive slot inside, so you can put the old laptop drive in there and get your stuff. The included SSD is M.2. I think, for the price, it's excellent. It's only £30 over the regular IdeaPad 320, so you're not paying much for the touchscreen and tablet hinge.
(The 320 is also i3 vs. Pentium, but for Kaby Lake CPUs that means they're *both* 2 cores, 4 threads. Just 200MHz and a bit of cache in it, so it's well worth it unless you're _certain_ you'll never use that capability)

Also, you can upgrade to 3 years' warranty through Lenovo for £62 (£52+VAT). Which is way better than whatever PCWorld are offering.


----------



## editor (Jan 6, 2018)

Just a reminder: if you're after a machine for non advanced computing : i.e. Word, accounts, email, browsing, watching videos etc, a Chromebook will deliver VASTLY improved performance for your money.


----------



## Chz (Jan 6, 2018)

I was really tempted to get her one, but she does sometimes do real work on it and needs the full vpn config, rdp, (these things exist in ChromeOS but cost extra) and most importantly the drivers for the damned Barclays card reader. Otherwise I'd have saved a good hundred quid.


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## Throbbing Angel (Jan 6, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> In our case it is the drawing that lil'Angel wants to do the most, along with general web browsing and faffery that the yoot get up to.  It'll more than suit her.



FYI lil'Angel loves her Yoga Book
We got hers when it was reduced by a ton and also had an Amazon vchr to use so paid well under the current price for the Win 10 model.  It's still under £450 and the Android version is even cheaper

*Lenovo Yoga Book 10.1" Black Touch Laptop (Quad Core Atom X5-Z8550, 4GB RAM... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M2YOST2/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_uGquAbHQQKJSE *


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 7, 2018)

editor said:


> Just a reminder: if you're after a machine for non advanced computing : i.e. Word, accounts, email, browsing, watching videos etc, a Chromebook will deliver VASTLY improved performance for your money.



I'm still amazed by how such a low spec cheap machine performs. Not sure if I'd want it as my only PC,  but I kept putting of buying a new laptop as I couldn't justify spending as much as I knew I needed to for a decent windows laptop. 

I do think the inbuilt video player is a bit shit and even VLC is rather basic, hopefully that will improve. I'd also rather like an alternative file browser and I've still not managed to map any network drives, but for many these simply aren't issues.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 7, 2018)

Chz said:


> I was really tempted to get her one, but she does sometimes do real work on it and needs the full vpn config, rdp, (these things exist in ChromeOS but cost extra) and most importantly the drivers for the damned Barclays card reader. Otherwise I'd have saved a good hundred quid.



Barclaycard needs drivers? That's pretty shit!


----------



## Chz (Jan 7, 2018)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Barclaycard needs drivers? That's pretty shit!


It's a security card reader for the business banking login. I mean, Barclays IS shite, but they're not quite that shite.


----------



## ash (Jan 7, 2018)

editor said:


> Just a reminder: if you're after a machine for non advanced computing : i.e. Word, accounts, email, browsing, watching videos etc, a Chromebook will deliver VASTLY improved performance for your money.


I need something that you can access internet explorer on for a work portal that only functions well with IE. I understand that you can't use IE with chrome do you know if that is the case?? It's annoying having to buy a new laptop just for this contract but as it could be ongoing work for a while I'm going to have to!!


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 7, 2018)

You could try this, but no personal experience 

IE Tab


----------



## dervish (Jan 8, 2018)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> You could try this, but no personal experience
> 
> IE Tab



I don't think IE tab will work on a chromebook, I thought it was only a frame for the installed version of ie. Pretty sure it doesn't work for linux cos of that.


----------



## Slo-mo (Jan 15, 2018)

A general question, which I can probably ask here rather than starting a new thread. Are CD/DVD drives in laptops a thing of the past already? Neither Currys nor Argos seem to include them in their cheap laptops anymore. Surely people still want to rip CDs and watch movies on their lappie?


----------



## RoyReed (Jan 15, 2018)

Slo-mo said:


> A general question, which I can probably ask here rather than starting a new thread. Are CD/DVD drives in laptops a thing of the past already? Neither Currys nor Argos seem to include them in their cheap laptops anymore. Surely people still want to rip CDs and watch movies on their lappie?


If you really need one, buy an external drive. You can get one for about £15.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 15, 2018)

Slo-mo said:


> A general question, which I can probably ask here rather than starting a new thread. Are CD/DVD drives in laptops a thing of the past already? Neither Currys nor Argos seem to include them in their cheap laptops anymore. Surely people still want to rip CDs and watch movies on their lappie?



I don't think most people rip CDs or even use DVDs tbh. I've not used an optical drive in years.


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## Slo-mo (Jan 15, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> If you really need one, buy an external drive. You can get one for about £15.


If they are only 15 squid, that shifts the numbers a bit. That said, if they are that cheap, why don't manufacturers still include them?


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## Chz (Jan 15, 2018)

Slo-mo said:


> If they are only 15 squid, that shifts the numbers a bit. That said, if they are that cheap, why don't manufacturers still include them?


Space. People want smaller, thinner laptops. (and cost - even £5 in parts matters)

The six year-old laptop I replaced with the Yoga above didn't even have a DVD drive. Because it was a 13" laptop and we wanted something smaller/lighter. It's just that that desire has moved up the range. I believe most 17" laptops still come with one.


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## The Boy (Jan 15, 2018)

Slo-mo said:


> If they are only 15 squid, that shifts the numbers a bit. That said, if they are that cheap, why don't manufacturers still include them?



Weight and space mainly.  Plus that's still getting on for 5% of the final retail price for something that most people don't use anymore. 

One less thing to break too, I suppose. Which if you're value engineering everything to within an inch of its life has to be a consideration.


----------



## Slo-mo (Jan 15, 2018)

Thanks guys. Can I ask one last question? Do external DVD drives need a separate power adapter or do they draw power from USB?


----------



## cybershot (Jan 15, 2018)

Slo-mo said:


> Thanks guys. Can I ask one last question? Do external DVD drives need a separate power adapter or do they draw power from USB?



Draw power from USB

My Lenovo laptop was provided with an external DVD writer, I wasn't expecting it to be, so just something to be aware of.


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## Slo-mo (Jan 15, 2018)

Thanks. Hopefully my elderly Acer will limp on for a while yet but at least I don't have to rumage around on the second hand market when the time comes.

In an ideal world I'd go second hand every time for tech, but I've had too many eBay duds over the years, and the local second hand shops are overpriced.


----------



## Riklet (Jan 24, 2018)

450 quid for a reconditioned ASUS ultrabook ux303 with Nvidia 940m 8gb ram and 256 ssd. Looks good but from mid 2016 I guess. Bit cautious although cant afford much more really and unimpressed with new laptops I've seen around under 800 quid.

This thing should fly and only weighs 1.4kg max. But will it run ubuntu/linux ok? No fucking way am I faffing around with windows 10.

Currently running an oooooold Samsung from 2008 which is a fucking survivor. Weighs a lot but 4gb ram and ssd I installed so it flies with ubuntu/windows 7.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 24, 2018)

Riklet said:


> 450 quid for a reconditioned ASUS ultrabook ux303 with Nvidia 940m 8gb ram and 256 ssd. Looks good but from mid 2016 I guess. Bit cautious although cant afford much more really and unimpressed with new laptops I've seen around under 800 quid.
> 
> This thing should fly and only weighs 1.4kg max. But will it run ubuntu/linux ok? No fucking way am I faffing around with windows 10.
> 
> Currently running an oooooold Samsung from 2008 which is a fucking survivor. Weighs a lot but 4gb ram and ssd I installed so it flies with ubuntu/windows 7.



Do you get a new battery? Being an ultra book I guess they are a bitch to change. Sounds good potential though. 

Being unimpressed with budget laptops is why I got a Chromebook, but that of course depends what you actually need to do with it?


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## Riklet (Jan 24, 2018)

Didnt go for it.

Any tips for decent powerful but lightweight laptops folks? Under 1.6kg preferably. 500 quid max. Must must must have an ssd.

I dunno what I actually _need _to do with it. But aim to learn more it skills and some coding, browsing, photos and photo editing, some gaming. Words processing browsing videos downloading mucking around with ubuntu too. I want power with portability and aim to move away from windows probably.

Anything stand out I should be looking at/for?


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## Throbbing Angel (Feb 16, 2018)

. don't matter - they sold out.


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## brixtonblade (Feb 24, 2018)

Riklet said:


> Didnt go for it.
> 
> Any tips for decent powerful but lightweight laptops folks? Under 1.6kg preferably. 500 quid max. Must must must have an ssd
> 
> ...


Did you find anything?
I'm after something very similar (weight/portability not a biggie for me) I think so also looking for tips.


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## Riklet (Feb 25, 2018)

Bought a Dell xps 15 9550 from 2016 for 900 euros so like 750 quid. Formatted it and reinstalled windows 10 and linux mint.

It's a frickin beast. Bit outside the price range of this thread but any reconditioned or second hand xps machines going for 600-700 in the future would be an excellent  investment.

It was that or a Lenovo. Some of the midrange ones look great. I would spend 500 for better specs n build quality tho probably.


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## Vintage Paw (Apr 2, 2018)

Can anyone give me a rec please? I've done some searching but the laptop market has changed loads since I last bought one.

Him indoors needs a laptop since the old macbook pro finally died. Under £400. Don't want a chromebook because don't want to be tied into their ecosystem and apps.

Will mostly be used for work, writing, browsing, youtube, but if it can manage Civ 3 and maybe 4, and some of the gentler indie games, that would be ideal.

My own interjection into the preferred spec is as decent a screen as possible for that price (size isn't too much of a concern - not too tiny though), and SSD because I'm guessing it'll help mitigate a little of the slowness that will come from the compromises you have to make with cpu etc at that price point.

He'll be happier with closer to £350 but some arm-twisting would possibly get him closer to £400 if necessary.

Cheers!


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## David Clapson (Apr 2, 2018)

My advice never changes - get a good condition used Lenovo.  It will probably last for 10 years. Do an ebay search for used or refurbd with SSD and a £350 limit. The choice is huge. Pick a well reviewed youngish model with as much CPU as possible, for future proofing and gaming.


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## David Clapson (Apr 2, 2018)

Check this out: Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon Ultrabook V2 i5 4300U 4GB 128GB SSD Backlit Win 10  | eBay Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon review: Specifications | TechRadar  A fairly safe buy. Loads of business sellers sell masses of these things, with a guarantee and immaculate feedback and so on. So if it was my money I'd take my time and get a more recent machine with more poke from a private seller! No guarantee but maybe an awesome deal. You can try to work out how well the machine has been looked after by quizzing the seller.

Eta: Lenovo build quality and repairability seem to me to be as good as ever. Their online support has slipped a bit...they don't help you with drivers and recovery copies of Windows as well as they used to. But I would still say they are in a league of their own for long-term ownership.


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## cybershot (Apr 2, 2018)

I'd say Lenovo build quality is only there for the thinkpad range but still nowhere near as good as it used to be years ago, but that's down to users wanting lightweight laptops. My ideapad build quality is awful. Pretty sure it wouldn't survive a drop.


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## Chz (Apr 2, 2018)

Dunno, I've got the Yoga 520 that we picked up new for under £400 and it's a damned sight more solid than the old Ideapad it replaced. Mostly metal construction, and that hinge is military-grade. Plus the Ideapad only _felt_ flimsy. It absorbed a horrific amount of abuse and it still works.


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## Vintage Paw (Apr 2, 2018)

It's probably going to be kept in the house, so robustness isn't as much as an issue as for someone carting it around all the time. (There's no room for a desktop, which of course would be cheaper, and he likes to use it on the sofa while relaxing.)


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## David Clapson (Apr 2, 2018)

cybershot said:


> I'd say Lenovo build quality is only there for the thinkpad range but still nowhere near as good as it used to be years ago, but that's down to users wanting lightweight laptops. My ideapad build quality is awful. Pretty sure it wouldn't survive a drop.


My 4 year old Thinkpad 10 tablet is going nicely, despite the first owner breaking the bezel. I'm not sure what to make of it - it doesn't have a removable battery, but Lenovo doesn't discourage you from opening it up. Do the other mfrs compare? https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/videos/vid100420

Lenovo ThinkPad 10 review: a good Windows tab hurt by poor battery life

Nothing comes close to Thinkpads of yore. Stubborn IBM manufacturing bosses insisted on quality standards comparable to proper computers, so they were all sold at a loss.


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## drachir (May 31, 2018)

I needed a laptop in a pinch a few weeks ago (I'm a contractor, so was better to fork out for one rather than not work at all!), and found that most of the second hand phone/electronics shops had a stock of refurb ex-business ThinkPads.

Got a ThinkPad X240 of a decent spec (8GB, i5 1.6GhZ, 256GB SSD) for £250 (was listed at £290, but he had a few so was happy to take that!). Absolutely solid, and the display on it was lovely too - if I didn't have the hassle of switching from a Mac I'd be more than happy with using one as my main computer. Windows is looking pretty nice these days.


----------



## Riklet (Jun 5, 2018)

drachir said:


> Got a ThinkPad X240 of a decent spec (8GB, i5 1.6GhZ, 256GB SSD) for £250 (was listed at £290, but he had a few so was happy to take that!). Absolutely solid, and the display on it was lovely too - if I didn't have the hassle of switching from a Mac I'd be more than happy with using one as my main computer. Windows is looking pretty nice these days.



I am thinking of buying one myself, just came on here to ask for tips actually.  Would you def recommend? Thinkpads still seem pretty solid. I have a Dell XPS 15 but I'm going travelling for almost a month soon and I dont wanna take it with me cos it's not super light and I don't want to risk it anyway. Another option is not taking a laptop I guess...

There are X240s being sold here with 256gb SD and 4gb RAM for 210 quid, which seems like a steal. What's the display like? FHD or just normal HD? It comes with windows so will probably keep that and dual boot linux mint on it, see how that goes.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jun 5, 2018)

That does seem like a bargain, to me anyway.

This review makes me want one: ThinkPad X240s Review - ThinkScopes

Seems that this model was sold with different panels so might be FHD, but might not.  You need to ask if it's a deal breaker for you.  I imagine it might not be FHD considering the price, but what do i know?


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> That does seem like a bargain, to me anyway.
> 
> This review makes me want one: ThinkPad X240s Review - ThinkScopes
> 
> Seems that this model was sold with different panels so might be FHD, but might not.  You need to ask if it's a deal breaker for you.  I imagine it might not be FHD considering the price, but what do i know?


I had the X220. Fabulous machine.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jun 5, 2018)

editor said:


> I had the X220. Fabulous machine.


I had one of the x200 range, can't recall which now. It had a touchscreen & pen affair going on. Great machine.  Flogged it off when I was in need or I imagine I'd still be using it now.


----------



## drachir (Jun 5, 2018)

Riklet said:


> I am thinking of buying one myself, just came on here to ask for tips actually.  Would you def recommend? Thinkpads still seem pretty solid. I have a Dell XPS 15 but I'm going travelling for almost a month soon and I dont wanna take it with me cos it's not super light and I don't want to risk it anyway. Another option is not taking a laptop I guess...
> 
> There are X240s being sold here with 256gb SD and 4gb RAM for 210 quid, which seems like a steal. What's the display like? FHD or just normal HD? It comes with windows so will probably keep that and dual boot linux mint on it, see how that goes.



I can't say for certain, as I gave it to my girlfriend - will check tonight for you! I would guess at the price it was the normal HD one, but saying that it does look crisper than my MacBook Air (although that might just be because the screen is smaller).

Would definitely recommend regardless, they're a really nice size/weight for travelling.


----------



## Riklet (Jun 5, 2018)

editor said:


> I had the X220. Fabulous machine.



How come you got rid of it or changed? Reckon with a decent SSD and enough memory it'd still be worth using now? There's some cheap ones available second hand and it has the proper oldskool button trackpad, unlike the x240 model. I really want something cheap, light, robust and useable.  I have a tablet and bluetooth keyboard and that would definitely be an option, but I like fiddling around online, writing, emailing without endless android notification and bullshit distracting me.

I guess for 200 cant really go wrong, in any case.....


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2018)

Riklet said:


> How come you got rid of it or changed? Reckon with a decent SSD and enough memory it'd still be worth using now? There's some cheap ones available second hand and it has the proper oldskool button trackpad, unlike the x240 model. I really want something cheap, light, robust and useable.  I have a tablet and bluetooth keyboard and that would definitely be an option, but I like fiddling around online, writing, emailing without endless android notification and bullshit distracting me.
> 
> I guess for 200 cant really go wrong, in any case.....


The cheap Chromebook I bought did all I needed and was faster, lighter and with a better battery life.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 5, 2018)

editor said:


> The cheap Chromebook I bought did all I needed and was faster, lighter and with a better battery life.



Indeed. Does most of what I need very well and as its so light and long lasting, gets taken more places then my old thinkpad.


----------



## Riklet (Jun 7, 2018)

Got an x230 second hand today, in great condition tbh, the guy had 3 of them so I went for the best battery of the three after a few tests. Then I realised it slightly rattles and is very very slightly loose, so the gaffa tape has come out.

Tough as fuck machine, feels great to use and to type with, fair bit of power to it with 8gb RAM and even with just a normal HDD it's running well. Perfect for backpacking and easy to modify and fix if it goes wrong.  I can see why the chromebooks are appealing, though, so will keep those in mind in future - swapping out one of the mini ssds for a 128gb one would be worthwhile, though.


----------



## rutabowa (Jun 11, 2018)

Could I run indesign/photoshop on a thinkpad and it not be unbearable? I need a laptop for working from home.


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## Riklet (Jun 14, 2018)

You definitely could.  I would look online for one with an IPS display though if you need colour accuracy, though. The standard display is a bit bleh, fine for me for the moment but compared to my Dell Xps it's shit.  I would get one that's already got an IPS so you don't have to change it. The tablet x230T version also looks good for illustration arty stuff.

They are fricking powerful little beasts from what I've seen so far.  I've just installed a Samsung 860 SSD and it's fast as hell.  Well aside from the wasted hours reinstalling everything cos when I cloned the HD the windows bootloader got totally fucked up by linux one and just kept showing grub, couldnt fix it even with various tools or in command line, so I've just had to reinstall everything.  Urgggg!!! But even that didn't take long with the SSD.

If you are techy and adventurous they are VERY servicable and you could get a dirt cheap x230 and then do it up, or else pay a bit more say 350 quid for one with SSD etc and already sorted.  They seem seriously fixable and have a massive nerdy fanbase, plus are very portable.  Worth a shot!


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## Throbbing Angel (Jul 11, 2018)

Is this worth£400???  
My concerns would-be the older processor and battery life, although I know I can replace a ThinkPad battery quite easily

Refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad T440s Core i7 4600U 12GB 240GB SSD 14 Inch  Windows 10 Professional 1 Year Warranty - Laptops Direct

*Refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad T440s Core i7 4600U 12GB 240GB SSD 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional 1 Year Warranty T1/T440S-UK-T020*


----------



## drachir (Jul 13, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Is this worth£400???
> My concerns would-be the older processor and battery life, although I know I can replace a ThinkPad battery quite easily
> 
> Refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad T440s Core i7 4600U 12GB 240GB SSD 14 Inch  Windows 10 Professional 1 Year Warranty - Laptops Direct
> ...



That's a very very decent price - and if it's refurbed they might have already replaced the battery? Wouldn't worry about the processor, would you be doing anything particularly CPU bound?


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jul 13, 2018)

drachir said:


> That's a very very decent price - and if it's refurbed they might have already replaced the battery? Wouldn't worry about the processor, would you be doing anything particularly CPU bound?



Nah.  Mainly writing and surfing

Lil'Angel might want to play Minecraft or summat. Would it cope with that (the processor)?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jul 13, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Nah.  Mainly writing and surfing
> 
> Lil'Angel might want to play Minecraft or summat. Would it cope with that (the processor)?



Might struggle a bit, CPU is decent, but the on board graphics aren't great.


----------



## drachir (Jul 13, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Nah.  Mainly writing and surfing
> 
> Lil'Angel might want to play Minecraft or summat. Would it cope with that (the processor)?



Yeah the processor isn't a worry there, games are more GPU bound - it won't be able to play recent graphic intensive games mind (most laptops won't), but Minecraft will be fine even on max settings



UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Might struggle a bit, CPU is decent, but the on board graphics aren't great.



Minecraft works fine with integrated GPUs, it looks horrendous so will run on anything! I attempted to play it for about 10 minutes a few years ago to see what the fuss was about, and it ran fine on a 2007 MacBook.


----------



## iona (Jul 22, 2018)

I posted a separate thread to ask about internet too, but might as well cross post this since I'm getting directed here anyway..



iona said:


> Assume I know _nothing_ about any of this  Any advice appreciated; specific product recommendations or just suggesting things I might want to/not've thought to consider...
> 
> *Laptop*
> Budget: around £300-400, willing to spend slightly more for something noticeably better
> ...


----------



## iona (Jul 26, 2018)

Is this decent, alright price, etc?

Lenovo Yoga 720 (13") | Thin & Light 2-in-1 Laptop | Lenovo UK


> Intel Core i5-8250U Processor ( 1.60GHz 2400MHz 6MB )
> Windows 10 Home 64
> 3.3" FHD IPS AntiGlare LED Backlight 1920x1080 Multi-point Touchscreen
> 8.0GB PC4-17000 DDR4 Soldered 2133MHz 256GB SSD PCIe
> ...



Stupid question: if a laptop spec only says 802.11ac wifi, it should still work fine with a mobile broadband router that does 802.11b/g/n wifi but not ac, right? Definitely?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jul 26, 2018)

iona said:


> Is this decent, alright price, etc?
> 
> Lenovo Yoga 720 (13") | Thin & Light 2-in-1 Laptop | Lenovo UK
> 
> ...



Saying its not available and suggesting a very expensive alternative .. 


AC is backwards compatible


----------



## iona (Jul 26, 2018)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Saying its not available and suggesting a very expensive alternative ..
> 
> 
> AC is backwards compatible



How about if I'd hypothetically already bought one on the spur of the moment because I'm sick of thinking about this shit?  Would it be an alright buy then?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jul 26, 2018)

iona said:


> How about if I'd hypothetically already bought one on the spur of the moment because I'm sick of thinking about this shit?  Would it be an alright buy then?



Looks lovely. Nice balance between size and portability, decent processor, nice screen.

Sounds like a good purchase.


----------



## iona (Jul 26, 2018)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Looks lovely. Nice balance between size and portability, decent processor, nice screen.
> 
> Sounds like a good purchase.



Tbh 13.3" is about the minimum of what I'd consider usable—between a 14.5" and 15" screen would be perfect for me—but it should be handy for taking to work ("my" clunky old work laptop gets its own chair at meetings atm coz there's no room for it on the table). I did actually like the yoga 720s I looked at in a shop too, and the keyboards felt loads nicer to type on than some others I tried.

Now I just need to get some internet sorted. 3 doesn't think my address exists when I try to buy online and there's no option to enter an address manually, so I've got to go to the shop and get them to order me one because if I buy in-store I can't return it or something


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jul 26, 2018)

Watching films is different I accept, but I'd much rather use a slighter smaller high res screen then the murky 720 beloved of cheap Windows laptops for the last decade.


----------



## Chz (Jul 27, 2018)

It's a nice machine, but you do need to decide if you actually want to pay the Yoga tax or if you're never actually going to fold it in half and use the touchscreen.
I use ours that way for watching stuff, but that's about it. I bought the missus a pen for it (it's her laptop), thinking it would be useful for photo editing and whatnot, but I don't think it's ever been used.


----------



## iona (Jul 28, 2018)

Chz said:


> It's a nice machine, but you do need to decide if you actually want to pay the Yoga tax or if you're never actually going to fold it in half and use the touchscreen.
> I use ours that way for watching stuff, but that's about it. I bought the missus a pen for it (it's her laptop), thinking it would be useful for photo editing and whatnot, but I don't think it's ever been used.



I have been using the touchscreen and I think the tablet mode will be useful for work. It came with a free active pen which I've been playing around with and I think I will use it after some practice — it's useful as a more precise mouse, if nothing else, and trying to make tiny changes to posters etc with my old shitty work mouse was one of the most annoying things about that setup.

I'll report back in a few weeks


----------



## addysmith97 (Aug 30, 2018)

Hiiii, there are lots of good options available in the market that suits your pocket. For example, Acer Aspire E 15, HP’s 15-BS020WM, Acer Chromebook R13, Samsung Chromebook Plus etc.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Aug 30, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Nah.  Mainly writing and surfing
> 
> Lil'Angel might want to play Minecraft or summat. Would it cope with that (the processor)?



I ended up buying a newer Chromebook that *can* run Android apps (my other chromebook was too old to do that) so I have Word on my Chromebook now along with another (free) office suite and other apps I use on my phone - love that.

ASUS Chromebook C302ca, Intel Core M3, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 12.5" £399.99  2 year guarantee included from John Lewis - *loving it*


----------



## Riklet (Sep 3, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> ASUS Chromebook C302ca, Intel Core M3, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 12.5" £399.99  2 year guarantee included from John Lewis - *loving it*



The chromebooks with 4gb of ram def look pretty tasty, bet that ASUS runs extremely snappily. How do you find it and the OS compared to the last one?

For those who need Windows, my x230 Thinkpad has been going strong past few months, now using it as my daily driver over my three times more expensive Dell! 

For 250 quid you can get one with 8gb ram and an ssd (or cheaper and buy your own Samsung 860) and it should fly doing not-too-demanding stuff.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Sep 3, 2018)

Riklet said:


> The chromebooks with 4gb of ram def look pretty tasty, bet that ASUS runs extremely snappily. How do you find it and the OS compared to the last one?
> .



Aye, 4gb or more is the way to go.  I made sure if that last time too.

The recent update you mean?  Not a fan of what it has done to the look of Chrome tbh.  Other than that I haven't noticed any difference.  Doesn't matter anyway.  I can run other browsers now if it bothered me that much.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Sep 3, 2018)

Riklet said:


> For those who need Windows, my x230 Thinkpad has been going strong past few months, now using it as my daily driver over my three times more expensive Dell!
> 
> For 250 quid you can get one with 8gb ram and an ssd (or cheaper and buy your own Samsung 860) and it should fly doing not-too-demanding stuff.



Speaking of which - this has just landed in my inbox:
Refurbished Lenovo T430 Core i5-3210M 8GB 240GB SSD 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional Laptop with 1 Year Warranty	£299.97
Refurbished Lenovo T430 Core i5-3210M 8GB 240GB 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional Laptop with 1 Year Warranty - Laptops Direct


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 3, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Speaking of which - this has just landed in my inbox:
> Refurbished Lenovo T430 Core i5-3210M 8GB 240GB SSD 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional Laptop with 1 Year Warranty	£299.97
> Refurbished Lenovo T430 Core i5-3210M 8GB 240GB 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional Laptop with 1 Year Warranty - Laptops Direct


A great laptop. I bought 2 on ebay 18 months ago @ £189 each for my kiddos. Very happy with the purchases so far. The only problems that we've had so far is that the battery on one of them is knackered, but that's not a big problem as they are always plugged in anyway.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

Please help. I had to give back my work laptop after being made redundant and am struggling with an old netbook that gets very hot and is on its last legs. I have a conference presentation to prepare for and need a laptop ASAP. 

I’m in Turkey but am wary of buying a laptop here due to everything being in Turkish and Turkish keyboards. Plus online shopping is rubbish here so it would have to involve traipsing round shops.

Thinking of getting a refurbished one from the UK - my mum is coming soon and could bring it for me (hopefully not too heavy). I know almost nothing about computers but I want a good battery life, an hdmi port, don’t need a DVD drive. Something solid and decent that will last a good few years. And not get hot. It’s already hot enough here!

My budget is up to £500 but preferably less, say £400. 

I’ve been browsing through amazon and am drawn to hp (my work one was hp) or Lenovo but other than that I don’t know where to begin. There are so many :/


----------



## cybershot (Sep 5, 2018)

Currys have just knocked £200 off this, haven;t done any research on what else is available, but looks a good buy.

HP 14" Intel® Core™ i5 Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Silver


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

cybershot said:


> Currys have just knocked £200 off this, haven;t done any research on what else is available, but looks a good buy.
> 
> HP 14" Intel® Core™ i5 Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Silver


Grate minds and all that...I was just about to post the very same link (gold is also available for the same price...if you like bling)

HP 14" Intel® Core™ i5 Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Gold


----------



## Chz (Sep 5, 2018)

I would personally go for the HP's specs, but if you need to save money I've found this one to be perfectly usable. My wife uses the Yoga version of it (same specs, but with the 360 degree hinge and touchscreen) and thinks it's marvellous.

LENOVO IdeaPad 330S 14" Intel® Pentium® Gold Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Blue

Edit: I take it back. The IdeaPad version doesn't get a Full HD screen. Pity. The i3, Full HD IdeaPad used to be that price and it threw me off. The HP's the best for the money at Curry's right now, unless you want to go Chromebook. Whatever has a decent combination of Full HD screen, SSD storage, and Pentium Gold or better CPU that's on sale is going to be best really.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

I like it! Can’t seem to find much info or reviews though?


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

Chz said:


> I would personally go for the HP's specs, but if you need to save money I've found this one to be perfectly usable. My wife uses the Yoga version of it (same specs, but with the 360 degree hinge and touchscreen) and thinks it's marvellous.
> 
> LENOVO IdeaPad 330S 14" Intel® Pentium® Gold Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Blue


For all round general purpose reasonably "future proofed" computing needs I tend to recommend a minimum Core I5 (if you can afford it). That's what I put in the PC World laptop selection criteria and the HP was the only one within the budget. Pentiums are a bit bargain basement, but as you say are usable for very light use. I bought a HP Stream Pentium for my wife nearly 3 years ago and she's quite happy with it, although it does slow down dramatically when she overindulges with upteen youtube tabs open in chrome.

Speaking of chrome, Chromebooks would also fit comfortably in the budget and although I'm not a fan of them myself there are quite a few folks in here who like them and it might be a suitable alternative.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

I'm going for the HP. Is it worth buying office too?


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> I'm going for the HP. Is it worth buying office too?


I think that's a reasonable choice at that price.  It should last you a reasonable amount of time if you look after it. The build quality at this price point is lower and a bit more "plasticy" than an £800 - £1000 laptop however as long as you're not chucking it around and dropping it, that shouldn't matter too much.

Getting Office yes or no.  It really depends on if you need it and what you're using your laptop for. If you'll only be using it very occasionally then there are free alternatives. If you are used to Office and use it regularly then yes it will be worth it. I have an annual Office365 subscription which allows it to be installed on 5 laptops, which suits our family.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> I'm going for the HP. Is it worth buying office too?


Only if you really need it, otherwise there's a wealth of free software that will serve you well.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

Gah. Tried to pay over and over again with different cards - finally to be told that because I'm abroad, it won't let me. Never had that before! Any suggestions as to how I can make it look like my laptop is in the UK (without buying or downloading anything?)


----------



## TruXta (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> Gah. Tried to pay over and over again with different cards - finally to be told that because I'm abroad, it won't let me. Never had that before! Any suggestions as to how I can make it look like my laptop is in the UK (without buying or downloading anything?)


You'll need to go via vpn I think, which costs.


----------



## alcopop (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> Gah. Tried to pay over and over again with different cards - finally to be told that because I'm abroad, it won't let me. Never had that before! Any suggestions as to how I can make it look like my laptop is in the UK (without buying or downloading anything?)


VPN


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> Gah. Tried to pay over and over again with different cards - finally to be told that because I'm abroad, it won't let me. Never had that before! Any suggestions as to how I can make it look like my laptop is in the UK (without buying or downloading anything?)


Can you not get one of your family to buy it on your behalf? If not you will need to download/install or subscribe to a VPN in order to make it look like you are in the UK. It might be an anti fraud measure from your bank. Do they know you are abroad? You may be able to get the restriction "switched off" if you contact your bank, worth a try anyway.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

It's all such a faff. It's not to do with my bank but PC world. I'm giving a free VPN a go.


----------



## Chz (Sep 5, 2018)

PaoloSanchez said:


> *For all round general purpose reasonably "future proofed" computing needs I tend to recommend a minimum Core I5 (if you can afford it).* That's what I put in the PC World laptop selection criteria and the HP was the only one within the budget.* Pentiums are a bit bargain basement, but as you say are usable for very light use.* I bought a HP Stream Pentium for my wife nearly 3 years ago and she's quite happy with it, although it does slow down dramatically when she overindulges with upteen youtube tabs open in chrome.
> 
> Speaking of chrome, Chromebooks would also fit comfortably in the budget and although I'm not a fan of them myself there are quite a few folks in here who like them and it might be a suitable alternative.


That's bollocks. Current Pentium Golds are 2 core/4 thread CPUs like i3s were for the longest time and based on the same core. In fact, the only difference between a Pentium Gold and an i3-7xxx CPU is 10% clock speed and a bit of cache. No normal user requires more CPU oomph than that. It's certainly a great _bonus_ that the HP has an i5 (and thus 4 cores/8 threads) at that price, but I wouldn't have discounted it for an instant if it didn't have it. It's taken *10 years* of having mass-market 4-thread (not even 4-core, just 4-thread) CPUs available to get a decent amount of software that can use them. We're not going to need 8 threads for standard computing uses any time soon. 

I consider myself a power user and 4cores/4threads is _more_ than adequate. Obviously some people have specific uses that require more threads, but it simply isn't the case for most users.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> It's all such a faff. It's not to do with my bank but PC world. I'm giving a free VPN a go.


If it's not to do with the bank then you could try ringing customer services. I called them just now and they said you can order it by phone. That should save you VPN pallava.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

Problem is I also had to give my phone back after being made redundant so I don’t have a phone and even if I did, it wouldn’t let me call international numbers. You’d think they don’t want my money


----------



## TruXta (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> Problem is I also had to give my phone back after being made redundant so I don’t have a phone and even if I did, it wouldn’t let me call international numbers. You’d think they don’t want my money


No landlines nearby?


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> Problem is I also had to give my phone back after being made redundant so I don’t have a phone and even if I did, it wouldn’t let me call international numbers. You’d think they don’t want my money



Skype?


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

No landline and think this netbook I’m using will blow up if I try to put Skype on it. Sick of everything being so difficult! I will keep trying!!!!!


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Sep 5, 2018)

PaoloSanchez said:


> Getting Office yes or no.



My son is at Uni and uses Home | LibreOffice - Free Office Suite - Fun Project - Fantastic People since his 365 subscription expired.  It is free and does everything he needs for Word and Excel purposes - no idea about presentation side of things, sorry.  Free though so Give it a go?

Also - can't one sign up for a month at a time for Office 365? Like a subscription you can stop when you've finished with it?  If that's right you might get away with only spending a tenner or summat on one month's subscription?!?


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> Problem is I also had to give my phone back after being made redundant so I don’t have a phone and even if I did, it wouldn’t let me call international numbers. You’d think they don’t want my money


Are you out in the middle of a forest or something? Surely there's got to be a phone near you. Can you not borrow somebody's? Apologies if I'm not understanding your predicament.
The woman at PC World said if your transaction failed more than three times then you would have to wait 24 hours before trying again online. Are you sure it's not a bank restriction? You wouldn't necessarily be able to tell from what you see on the screen. I remember having a similar problem when I tried to purchase something abroad and my bank phoned me to see if it was really me. I would double check with them to make sure that it isn't the banks anti fraud measures kicking in.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

I'm not in a forest but people don't have land lines here. I don't know a single person with a land line and most phones block international numbers. 

I chatted to someone on the online help at PC world and was told that they don't accept transactions from PCs or phones that aren't in the UK. Seems rather counter productive. 

Thank you for calling and asking, I do appreciate it! I am just running a bit short on time for it to be delivered in time to be brought over.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> My son is at Uni and uses Home | LibreOffice - Free Office Suite - Fun Project - Fantastic People since his 365 subscription expired.  It is free and does everything he needs for Word and Excel purposes - no idea about presentation side of things, sorry.  Free though so Give it a go?
> 
> Also - can't one sign up for a month at a time for Office 365? Like a subscription you can stop when you've finished with it?  If that's right you might get away with only spending a tenner or summat on one month's subscription?!?


My daughter was using LibreOffice for her uni assignments after I changed job and no longer had access to the 365 subscription. Unfortunately the LibreOffice word equivalent caused some formatting issues with her assignments so I ended up getting the 5 user 365 subscription. I think it cost £65/year. LibreOffice is ok and it's free. I did find a few quirks and annoyances though and reverted back to my personal copy of Office 2010 before getting the 365 subscription.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> I'm not in a forest but people don't have land lines here. I don't know a single person with a land line and most phones block international numbers.
> 
> I chatted to someone on the online help at PC world and was told that they don't accept transactions from PCs or phones that aren't in the UK. Seems rather counter productive.
> 
> Thank you for calling and asking, I do appreciate it! I am just running a bit short on time for it to be delivered in time to be brought over.


Can your mum not do it your your behalf? I can understand to a degree why they don't accept online shopping from foreign locations. There is an awful lot of fraudsters around getting up to all sorts of mischief.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

...otherwise you might have to go with the vpn. I'm not sure how that works so can't really advise you on that.

Are there any internet cafe/call cabins nearby? Perhaps you can call from one of those.

(sorry running out of ideas)


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

I’ll ask someone in the uk to help. Thank you!


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Sep 5, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Also - can't one sign up for a month at a time for Office 365? Like a subscription you can stop when you've finished with it?  If that's right you might get away with only spending a tenner or summat on one month's subscription?!?



Have checked - yes - monthly is £5.99 for Personal use and £7.99 for Family (up to 5)


----------



## dervish (Sep 5, 2018)

I would use something like tunnel bear which is free and works pretty well. Just install the extension, choose your destination country and connect.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

dervish said:


> I would use something like tunnel bear which is free and works pretty well. Just install the extension, choose your destination country and connect.


I tried that repeatedly and it didn’t work. Once it finally connected to the uk, it wouldn’t let me open any websites and said I had no internet connection. Thanks though.


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

The impression I get is that free vpn's can be a bit hit and miss and that the only way to guarantee a reasonably reliable connection is to pay for one. I remember trying to use one from Brussels so that I could watch stuff on the BBC Iplayer, but it didn't work and was all a bit of a faff.

A final suggestion if you haven't already sorted it out miss direct , do they have international phone cards in Turkey?


----------



## cybershot (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> I'm going for the HP. Is it worth buying office too?



Office online does all the basic stuff you might need. If you are a student or know a student, you can pick it up for £10. Or if your work place is part of the Microsoft home use program, you can also pick it up for a tenner.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

PaoloSanchez said:


> A final suggestion if you haven't already sorted it out miss direct , do they have international phone cards in Turkey?



I used to use them when I was first here but haven’t seen any for a few years. Hopefully it is sorted now. Lots of things are made difficult here regarding phones and internet - lots of sites blocked, even booking dot com and Wikipedia.


----------



## miss direct (Sep 5, 2018)

Done! Thanks for all the assistance on here, such a great place on the internet!


----------



## PaoloSanchez (Sep 5, 2018)

miss direct said:


> Done! Thanks for all the assistance on here, such a great place on the internet!


 Nice one. Let us know you how you get on with your new acquisition.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Sep 9, 2018)

Riklet said:


> The chromebooks with 4gb of ram def look pretty tasty, bet that ASUS runs extremely snappily. *How do you find it and the OS compared to the last one?*
> 
> For those who need Windows, my x230 Thinkpad has been going strong past few months, now using it as my daily driver over my three times more expensive Dell!
> 
> For 250 quid you can get one with 8gb ram and an ssd (or cheaper and buy your own Samsung 860) and it should fly doing not-too-demanding stuff.





Throbbing Angel said:


> Aye, 4gb or more is the way to go.  I made sure if that last time too.
> The recent update you mean?  *Not a fan of what it has done to the look of Chrome tbh*.  Other than that I haven't noticed any difference.  Doesn't matter anyway.  I can run other browsers now if it bothered me that much.



If you want to roll back the UI changes in the recent Chrome update *have a look at this*


----------



## Brainaddict (Sep 24, 2018)

I'm eyeing this - does it look decent for the price? Refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad T420 i5-2520M 8GB 160GB 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional Laptop - Laptops Direct

I'm also considering it only because the current laptop I have is about 5 years old and I leave it on a lot of the time (it acts as my desktop) and partly because it's a fairly low-end consumer laptop I'm worried about it just conking out at some point. Should I be?


----------



## Stanley Edwards (Oct 9, 2018)

Seems to be that time of year for laptops. Students are done and Holiday season is coming. Get them off the shelves before they go stale.

HP 15-bs011np - Portátil 15.6" | Core i3 | 4GB | 500GB HDD | Radeon 2GB


----------



## heinous seamus (Oct 9, 2018)

Any good deals kicking about just now?


----------



## heinous seamus (Oct 12, 2018)

Any thoughts on this? It looks good to my novice eye:
Refurbished HP Proebook 430 G1 i5 Laptop, 8GB, 128GB SSD


----------



## cybershot (Oct 13, 2018)

heinous seamus said:


> Any thoughts on this? It looks good to my novice eye:
> Refurbished HP Proebook 430 G1 i5 Laptop, 8GB, 128GB SSD



The link says 128gb ssd above but the description says 500gb hdd. So I assume it’s not an ssd drive. 

The device is about 4-5 years old. Personally I’d ‘upgrade’ to an ssd drive from their options if you can afford it. 256GB should suffice for the operating system, applications and small docs, however if you’re going to be storing movies and such things on it also you might want to consider something larger or an additional external drive. 

Also take into account most batteries on ex business laptops are ruined because they stay plugged in most of the time. So don’t expect great battery life out of it unless you get a replacement. Research how easy it is to replace the battery in that model. It’s getting more and more difficult with newer equipment. No longer can you just easily pop them out and put a new one in. Now requires taking things apart.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Oct 13, 2018)

GRADE C- but cheap!   


Condition - Grade C
Laptops show noticeable signs of use. These laptops have scuffs to the casing and display, and have pressure marks on the screen (white marks shown in pictures)

Lenovo X1 Carbon, 256 SSD, 8 GB ram, 4th gen i5 processor, Full HD screen (refurbished) - tier1-outlet eBay - £249.99
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon i5-4300U 240GB SSD 8GB Win 10 Home Touchscreen Laptop  | eBay

found on HUKD	  caveat emptor innit


----------



## andrewdroid (Oct 31, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> GRADE C- but cheap!
> 
> 
> Condition - Grade C
> ...


I haven't got round to trying win 10 yet and wondered if this will take win7 as you can get the pro version quite cheap now


----------



## cybershot (Oct 31, 2018)

andrewdroid said:


> I haven't got round to trying win 10 yet and wondered if this will take win7 as you can get the pro version quite cheap now



That particular model, yes.

laptops and netbooks :: thinkpad x series laptops :: thinkpad x1 carbon type 20a7 20a8 Lenovo PC Support - GB


----------



## donkyboy (Nov 26, 2018)

ordered this last night:

4XX96EA#ABU | HP Laptop | Ryzen 5 Processor & 8GB of RAM | ao.com


----------



## TopCat (Dec 23, 2018)

What's the cheap end of laptops with an HDMI port?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 24, 2018)

TopCat said:


> What's the cheap end of laptops with an HDMI port?



They pretty much as have one these days.


----------



## TopCat (Jan 2, 2019)

Bought a refurb Lenovo ThinkPad T430 8gig ram for £250. 
Being Urban please do feel free to point out limitations.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jan 2, 2019)

TopCat said:


> Bought a refurb Lenovo ThinkPad T430 8gig ram for £250.
> Being Urban please do feel free to point out limitations.



Great Keyboard on those,imho.

Did you go for an SSD?


----------



## TopCat (Jan 2, 2019)

128gb ssd yeah. I keep most data elsewhere.


----------



## Riklet (Jan 8, 2019)

If you ever need more physical storage you can fit a cheapo mSATA ssd next to the RAM slot.. might be useful if only 35 quid or so. IIRC you can even upgrade the processors on em

They are great laptops tbh. Bit bulky maybe. Only real limitation I'd say are the OEM battery capacities being low after years of use/disuse. My x230 thinkpad battery I bought for 25 quid has 88% capacity though and Im sure there are a fair few similarly decent genuine batteries out there.


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## TopCat (Jan 9, 2019)

Unwrapped it tonight. Amazed at the quality given its a refurb, as new. Really good build quality. I dont care about the weight. It will rarely if ever leave the house. 
I'm having fun sorting it. The SSD is new to me and wow. I am really impressed overall thus given it was £250. 

Only issue is windows 10? I mean what the fuck is going on? How do I navigate? I rather liked win 7.


----------



## r0bb0 (Jan 10, 2019)

Win 10 is a bit of a mission and I put a mates laptop onto Win7 the other day as windows update killed it.  I did a complete format of the HD via a usb stick. I think these sticks are great for storage now you can get 128gb for under a £10!


----------



## TruXta (Jan 10, 2019)

r0bb0 said:


> Win 10 is a bit of a mission and I put a mates laptop onto Win7 the other day as windows update killed it.  I did a complete format of the HD via a usb stick. I think these sticks are great for storage now you can get 128gb for under a £10!


Mental when you think how much they've managed to compress storage over the years. It doesn't feel that long ago when a 1GB hard-drive was a thing of wonder.


----------



## mojo pixy (Jan 28, 2019)

TopCat said:


> Bought a refurb Lenovo ThinkPad T430 8gig ram for £250.
> Being Urban please do feel free to point out limitations.



I've found one of these, looks like a bargain. 128GB SSD, Win 7, 8GB RAM, for £200.
I can afford it and am in the market for a new laptop to see me through the next couple of years.
Should I?


----------



## cybershot (Jan 28, 2019)

mojo pixy said:


> I've found one of these, looks like a bargain. 128GB SSD, Win 7, 8GB RAM, for £200.
> I can afford it and am in the market for a new laptop to see me through the next couple of years.
> Should I?



First thing is work out if 128GB of storage is going to be enough for your needs. Once it's formatted and Windows is installed, as well as any other applications you need, that's going to take a severe dent into what free space is available. So this will depend really on what your usage case is.

One other thing to consider is Windows 7 goes end of life in less than 12 months, so no more updates, and perhaps more importantly, no more security updates, which is when we'll probably start seeing cyber criminals really targeting the OS for holes that they know will not ever get fixed come end of January 2020

Windows 7 End of Support

You can upgrade to Windows 10, but again, Windows 10 and 128GB of SSD is probably going to be a problem down the line, especially with it's constant 6 month cycle of feature updates, which saves the existing installation to the drive in order for you to recover to it, if there's problems.

Personally, I'd look for 256GB of storage minimum if you're keeping data local.


----------



## mojo pixy (Jan 28, 2019)

Good to know, thank you.

I understand the issues with Win 7 too, may bite the bullet of an extra 50 quid for 250GB and Win 10. Makes it less impulse buy and more reflection on the ifs and buts. Still, it's a good price for what appears to be a good machine - and keyboard is important given how much I write.

Edit .. 1Tb HDD drive as the 250 SDD isn't available with Win 10 .. so it'd be either 250GB SDD / Win 7 *or *1TB HDD / Win 10.

Now I'm not sure. Win 10 / 1TB HDD is a tenner cheaper.


----------



## cybershot (Jan 28, 2019)

It’s because the 1tb drive will not be ssd. So it will be slower. When I say slower I do mean considerably noticeable too. Once you go ssd you don’t go back to a spinning disc.


----------



## mojo pixy (Jan 28, 2019)

Fair enough, I had no idea the difference was so great. Anyway it looks as if my choice is SDD with Win 7 or HDD with Win 10. I think the SDD with Win 7 + later upgrade to Win 10 may be the answer.


----------



## cybershot (Jan 28, 2019)

mojo pixy said:


> Fair enough, I had no idea the difference was so great. Anyway it looks as if my choice is SDD with Win 7 or HDD with Win 10. I think the SDD with Win 7 + later upgrade to Win 10 may be the answer.



256GB SSD drives are in a nice sweet spot price wise, so simply upgrading the drive and using some software to mirror the existing drive at a later date is also an option. Assuming you can get to the drive to swap it out of course. Haven't looked up the model you mentioned.


----------



## TopCat (Jan 28, 2019)

mojo pixy said:


> I've found one of these, looks like a bargain. 128GB SSD, Win 7, 8GB RAM, for £200.
> I can afford it and am in the market for a new laptop to see me through the next couple of years.
> Should I?


I am loving mine. Get the bigger SSD though.


----------



## Riklet (Feb 1, 2019)

I would always get 256GB+ SSD after reading something about quality and speeds being lower with 128 models sometimes.

If you need more storage then you can fit an mSATA small SSD card like so which will run at half the speed of your SATA III main SSD but will be great for cheap light physical backup. And much faster than a HDD.


----------



## mojo pixy (Feb 1, 2019)

I went for the 256GB / Win7 version, the idea being it'll be easier and cheaper to acquire and install another OS. I'm thinking since this is a laptop only for work I might put Linux on it.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Feb 5, 2019)

I'm old and not very techie at all and understand very little about about modern hardware, help!

I'm currently working on an old HP laptop now that is about to die (overheats alot). I use it to access internet, email and use word and excel for my own admin /record /accounts (I don't even have a full version of office and it drives me mad)

I've found out I can get an old laptop from my work for about £50 - is it worth it?
no idea what it is how old etc might be a HP model not sure yet - only that it will probably have Windows 7 on it, everything else wiped clean and no software. What else do I need to know? what do I need to ask?

If it has windows 7 will I be able upgrade? will that be too expensive?
Can I even get a proper version of office these days - last time I looked I was completely baffled by the idea of paying monthly for what, renting it? - can that be avoided? 

all advice welcome. thank you


----------



## cybershot (Feb 5, 2019)

friendofdorothy said:


> I'm old and not very techie at all and understand very little about about modern hardware, help!
> 
> I'm currently working on an old HP laptop now that is about to die (overheats alot). I use it to access internet, email and use word and excel for my own admin /record /accounts (I don't even have a full version of office and it drives me mad)
> 
> ...



Ask for the exact model number, then we get the specifications on if it's worth the hassle or not.

Windows 7 goes end of life in January 2020, so it's got limited life span. It would be worth asking them if they can put Windows 10 on it, but I guess it depends on how your company licenses stuff, but if you don't ask, you don't get.

Yes you can still buy Office standalone, 2019 edition has recently been released. Again, depending on how your company licenses Microsoft software, they may even be part of the home use program, where  employees can buy Office for £10 as part of the companies license plan with Microsoft. It's worth asking as some companies are part of this, yet don't really bother to advertise it to their employees because they don't want the hassle.

If you use Office 365 at work, then most employees are also allowed to install it on their home devices too, just log in to the office 365 portal with your company log in, and they'll be a download office 365 button.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Feb 6, 2019)

thank you cybershot! thats really helpful.


----------



## cybershot (Apr 2, 2019)

This seems a good price for a new Lenovo with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. No expierence of the AMD Ryzen processors mind! £370

Lenovo V330-14ARR AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 8GB 256GB Radeon Vega 8 14 Inch FHD Windows 10 Laptop  - Laptops Direct


----------



## Chz (Apr 2, 2019)

cybershot said:


> This seems a good price for a new Lenovo with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. No expierence of the AMD Ryzen processors mind! £370
> 
> Lenovo V330-14ARR AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 8GB 256GB Radeon Vega 8 14 Inch FHD Windows 10 Laptop  - Laptops Direct


AMD is up with Intel in performance these days, but they still generally have worse battery life. There's a hardware flaw that prevents them going into ultra-low power mode. The practical upshot of which is that they last the same amount of time in continuous use, but in the slightly more real-world usage scenario of lots of idle time they lag behind.

Looks nice, though. Good to see RAM prices have come down enough to get sub-£400 laptops with 8GB again. Hopefully 4GB laptops will never return north of £300.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 4, 2019)

For some reason  I got a morgan computers catalogue through the mail this week.
Loads of A1 refurbs for plantymuchcheap. Quite surprised at the range of brands and availability.

Lenovos here: Buy Cheap Laptops & Netbooks > IBM/Lenovo at Morgan Computers  £130 up to £300

Laptops/Notebooks front page: Buy Cheap Laptops & Netbooks at Morgan Computers

Age of units? Reliability of batteries? Warranties?  No idea - caveat emptor, innit.  Check the listings carefully.

Have used Morgan in the past without issue, YMMV.


----------



## cybershot (Apr 5, 2019)

Wow, I remember getting Morgan catalogues, I assumed they had long bit the bullet.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 25, 2019)

Anyone heard of Coda laptops?  Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Laptop Deals & Laptop Computers | Ebuyer.com

New. Win 10. Cheap. 32gb eMMC though. 2/4gb.  Under £250.	Any ideas?


----------



## cybershot (Apr 25, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Anyone heard of Coda laptops?  Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Laptop Deals & Laptop Computers | Ebuyer.com
> 
> New. Win 10. Cheap. 32gb eMMC though. 2/4gb.  Under £250.	Any ideas?



No idea but the spec's are dreadful even for that price.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 25, 2019)

cheers cybershot


----------



## Chz (Apr 26, 2019)

It's gonna be awful, but sometimes needs must when the budget isn't there. There aren't a lot of things much different in that price range. Though it should be against the law to sell a Windows machine with 2GB of RAM. People have had a lot of trouble with the 32GB eMMC machines not having space for patching Windows.

Edit: Though if I were desperate, the Acer Aspire at £200 (4GB/64GB) seems a better deal.
Acer Aspire 1 Pentium 4GB 64GB 14in Win10 Home Laptop | Ebuyer.com


----------



## cybershot (May 1, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Anyone heard of Coda laptops?  Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Laptop Deals & Laptop Computers | Ebuyer.com
> 
> New. Win 10. Cheap. 32gb eMMC though. 2/4gb.  Under £250.	Any ideas?



New Win 10 Minimum requirements have been released, and the disk space is now 32GB (This is due to how Windows 10 will now be reserving disk space for updates, it's a catch 22 in order to provide for functional options to end users on how and when they choose to do feature updates)

Microsoft bumps minimum Windows 10 storage requirement to 32 Gigabytes - gHacks Tech News

So yeah, stay away from those 32GB eMMC machines going forward, and for people that have them, if possible, just save yourself the bother and get yourself a new machine, and/or turn the 32GB device into a Chromebook.

CloudReady Home Edition Free Download — Neverware


----------



## Throbbing Angel (May 1, 2019)

cybershot said:


> New Win 10 Minimum requirements have been released, and the disk space is now 32GB ..[snip]..
> 
> So yeah, stay away from those 32GB eMMC machines going forward, and for people that have them, if possible, just save yourself the bother and get yourself a new machine, and/or turn the 32GB device into a Chromebook.
> 
> CloudReady Home Edition Free Download — Neverware




Looks like I'll be doing that with, or selling, lil'Angel's HP Stream.  It has, to be honest, been a bit shit from the get go. If I'd had anything about me I'd have returned it.


----------



## cybershot (May 1, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Looks like I'll be doing that with, or selling, lil'Angel's HP Stream.  It has, to be honest, been a bit shit from the get go. If I'd had anything about me I'd have returned it.



My Mum's got one, The HP Stream's are officially supported by the CloudReady guys, I put it on her's about a year ago, and she said it's been running fine ever since. Haven't had to touch it in months.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (May 1, 2019)

Cheers - that's encouraging


----------



## Riklet (May 26, 2019)

Finally upgraded my x230 screen to an IPS panel.  So much better than the TN basic one.  38 quid off ebay...

I've been sorting out Macbook Pros recently and installing SSDs for people, and I seriously think my machine blows most of them out of the water.  And all for less than 300 quid.  Samsung EVO 860 SSD plus a seperate mSATA SSD... it really flies.  Just need to redo the thermal paste cos it's a bit noisy.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jun 2, 2019)

Opinions sought please on old vs new

An older, sub £200, possibly refurbed Thinkpad from eBay, _*or*_, a new *IdeaPad S130* (14") for £200, or an 11" screen from £180

For example, I could get *this Thinkpad* for £190. Lots of similar machines available that have been 'furbed, had Win 10 installed, can have the RAM upped, an SSD installed, some have new batteries, some don't (I would prefer a new battery tbh).

I essentially want to run Excel and Word and Scrivener [can get Office through work for a tenner using the Home Use Programme]

I reckon the older machine would have a better keyboard for doing a lot of typing. I'd be sat at a table and would probably therefore cable it to the router if I need the web.


----------



## Riklet (Jun 2, 2019)

Id get either a T430, X230 or X1 carbon (1st or 2nd gen) refurbed or second hand. Then fit more RAM and an SSD etc. Cheap and cheerful. IPS display is nice to have if possible. As you say, the keyboard on older ones is better. They are also excellent quality and very upgradable/repairable.

Seen lots of good deals on 2012 Macbook Pros too. If you dont mind Apple?


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jun 2, 2019)

Riklet said:


> Id get either a T430, X230 or X1 carbon (1st or 2nd gen) refurbed or second hand. Then fit more RAM and an SSD etc. Cheap and cheerful. IPS display is nice to have if possible. As you say, the keyboard on older ones is better. They are also excellent quality and very upgradable/repairable.
> Seen lots of good deals on 2012 Macbook Pros too. If you dont mind Apple?



Cheers Riklet - I have an iPad and have wondered about getting Scrivener on that, but I need (what I'll call) _proper_ access to Word and Excel too so it kinda made sense to have it all on one machine.  I generally use a Chromebook, but, whilst I can do most stuff on that, not being able to do that last 5% of 'stuff' means having to tweak stuff later on another machine or emailing it to work or someone else in a condition/format that isn't finished imho.

As for Apple, I don't mind at all - haven't used a Macbook so have no opinion.  They worth it (at that age)?
I mainly worry about things failing when looking at older machines - I like warranties but realise that this costs.

I'll have a look at those models of Thinkpad on ebay - cheers - I used to have an X2?? - can't recall the exact model - 12"or so, went into a tablet mode that you could use a pen on (not a proper touch screen). Liked that keyboard a lot as I remember.


----------



## Riklet (Jun 3, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Cheers Riklet I'll have a look at those models of Thinkpad on ebay - cheers - I used to have an X2?? - can't recall the exact model - 12"or so, went into a tablet mode that you could use a pen on (not a proper touch screen). Liked that keyboard a lot as I remember.



Well, I'd either go for an older Macbook Pro like 2012/2013, paying 300 quid or so... and then upgrade to SSD, or get one with.

Or more likely (cheaper, easier to work on) go for an X1 off ebay. SSD, IPS panel, 8gb RAM minimum.  14 inch and looks like it's touch screen too. Great for doing proper work on.  This looks like a proper bargain to me.  If you don't mind a few minor scrapes, anyway!


----------



## cybershot (Jun 18, 2019)

Good price on some refurbed ThinkpadT440S touch screen here.

Lenovo Thinkpad T440S 14" Touch Laptop Core i5 8GB RAM 1TB HDD SSD Windows 10  | eBay

I specced it up with 8GB of RAM, 240GB SSD and Win 10 home, which should suffice for most people. £245.


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## Throbbing Angel (Jun 18, 2019)

Thanks cybershot , I'm currently have a calm down cup of tea in a cafe near john Lewis after having a nearbuying experience with a reduced price MacBook.

This or summat similar would be much better.  Back down to earth now.


----------



## Riklet (Jun 18, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Thanks cybershot , I'm currently have a calm down cup of tea in a cafe near john Lewis after having a nearbuying experience with a reduced price MacBook.
> 
> This or summat similar would be much better.  Back down to earth now.



If you want cheap, get a 2012 Macbook Pro off gumtree or ebay that's in decent nic... and upgrade to an ssd and 8gb ram. You can usually get one for like 250 quid and it's honestly still a good machine and even better when upgraded. Retina ones even better and nice screen too.

You cant really upgrade the 2013 onwards Macbooks sadly.... what sort of specs/price were you just looking at??


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 18, 2019)

Don't apple stop supporting their machines after a few years though?


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jun 18, 2019)

Riklet said:


> If you want cheap, get a 2012 Macbook Pro off gumtree or ebay that's in decent nic... and upgrade to an ssd and 8gb ram. You can usually get one for like 250 quid and it's honestly still a good machine and even better when upgraded. Retina ones even better and nice screen too.
> 
> You cant really upgrade the 2013 onwards Macbooks sadly.... what sort of specs/price were you just looking at??



John Lewis and Currys have had the 2018 MacBook (not Pro, not Air) reduced for a week or so now, by £366!! to £799. Spec etc here:
Apple MacBook 12", Intel Core m3, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Intel HD Graphics 615, Gold at John Lewis & Partners

I was in Manchester to went into the Apple Store to try one out and got talking to a bloke in there - I liked the machine a fair bit, more than the Air (2017) mainly due to the keyboard being better in my view (larger keys) despite it being an inch smaller screen.  Anyway, apple store said they'd price match and had a wider range of colours available as Currys and JLewis only had Gold units available.

My Chromebook's keyboard is playing up and I was thinking about giving MacOS a go.  Anyway - as I say I walked away and now JL and Currys have sold out - so my wallet is safe!


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jun 18, 2019)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Don't apple stop supporting their machines after a few years though?



What's 'a few'?  Fewer than Microsoft?


----------



## cybershot (Jun 18, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> What's 'a few'?  Fewer than Microsoft?



The current macOS for example is supported on 2012 models minimum. So I guess you can expect to get OS updates for approx 7 years.

So if you’re looking at a 2017 model then it’s probably got about 5 years worth of updates left. You need to ask yourself if price or longevity is of greater value to you. 

Unlike phones vendors can get quite twitchy about you having quite up to date versions of macOS installed to get latest versions of their software so as the Mac goes out of support so does various software within 2/3 years after that.

In general it’s orobsbly about the same as Microsoft in the fact that you’ll probably get about 10 years out of a device that’s brand new.

Although Microsoft’s model has kind of changed and windows depending on the build is only supported for approx 18 months on home systems and 30 months on enterprise/pro editions.

E.g. nothing stopping you running the release of windows 10 that first came out but you won’t see any security updates for it anymore and again no guarantee all software will work but for the most part of it works on windows 7 (which support ends for in January after 11 years) then it will work on any build of 10.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jun 18, 2019)

So, similar to Windows then insomuch that stuff will keep working when unsupported - just riskier

You take your chances I suppose.

What's pissed me off recently is the subscription model for Word. It has stopped working on my Android phone and iPad and Chromebook (the app, not the online version).  It is just very much easier to format stuff in a 'proper' word processor.  Google Docs is great but doesn't do it all and there are a few formatting issues when saving to another format such as docx I have found. Nothing massive - just requires _doing it again_ which fucks me right off.   I was thinking of using Pages instead. Full stop. If i *hadgone* Mac.  Plus Scrivener too.

I may just get an old Thinkpad refurb and use old install-able M$ office or *Libreor* Apache Office. The x1 carbon that's been mentioned and linked to above looks great for under £300.

A n y w a y	 As you can see, my space bar *isplaying* up a bit on this Chromebook [see emboldened stuff] - still under warranty but they don't sell this model any more and I feel upgrading isn't worth it. I don't think over £500 for a Chromebook that does _most things_ is worth it.  I'd rather have a cheaper Cbook and summat else. That Cbook needs to work full and properly, though.


----------



## mariopepper (Jun 24, 2019)

Macbook maybe? I am not sure you can get the new one but I prefer this kind of laptops


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## cybershot (Jul 7, 2019)

Decent laptop for £170 here for basic stuff. No OS so you’ll need to install windows yourself which could see the price rise but worth a punt with a cheap key of eBay. 


15.6" HP 255 G6 Laptop 1TB HDD FreeDOS Laptop


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jul 8, 2019)

cybershot said:


> Decent laptop for £170 here for basic stuff. No OS so you’ll need to install windows yourself which could see the price rise but worth a punt with a cheap key of eBay.
> 
> 
> 15.6" HP 255 G6 Laptop 1TB HDD FreeDOS Laptop



My other half has a laptop with an A6 and spinning rust. Still running 8.1. It's just grim to use. She mostly uses my desktop or Chromebook now.

Very cheap though!


----------



## Chz (Jul 8, 2019)

Yeah, I mean it is a proper laptop and very cheap but things have moved on and you can get some _very _appealing stuff in the £3-400 range these days. Slim and light, Full HD touchscreen, SSD, far better battery life... It's well worth doubling your budget if you can afford it.

Though every once in a while someone comes in and asks for something with a CD/DVD writer - there it is!


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jul 9, 2019)

cybershot said:


> Decent laptop for £170 here for basic stuff. No OS so you’ll need to install windows yourself which could see the price rise but worth a punt with a cheap key of eBay.
> 
> 
> 
> 15.6" HP 255 G6 Laptop 1TB HDD FreeDOS Laptop



They've been selling this machine with FreeDos on it for ages.  Depends on your needs, innit.


----------



## Riklet (Jul 13, 2019)

I wouldnt waste 170 on that. Nothing special about it. much better used and refurbished options out there or decent new stuff for a bit more, as mentioned.

Also I bet it's quite big, heavy and 4 hours battery life allegedly... why bother!

I just got a Macbook Pro Retina 2013 that was a bit battered and needed some love for £160 off gumtree.. nice bit of kit now that Ive replaced the battery (groan) etc.


----------



## sim667 (Sep 20, 2019)

Its dawned on me that when I leave this job I'll be losing my beloved 2015 macbook pro....... I have a 2012 macbook pro, but they're chunky and I'm scared of it getting knocked around for every day use as its my DJ laptop (although to be fair its been glitching mid set lately).

So I'm trying to decide if I should save up and buy a second hand model of the macbook pro I'll be losing, or go cheap and cheerful and get a non mac laptop I can chuck ubuntu on.


----------



## Libertad (Sep 21, 2019)

sim667 said:


> (although to be fair its been glitching mid set lately).



Love it, set signature, breaking the sonic wall.


----------



## cybershot (Sep 21, 2019)

sim667 said:


> Its dawned on me that when I leave this job I'll be losing my beloved 2015 macbook pro....... I have a 2012 macbook pro, but they're chunky and I'm scared of it getting knocked around for every day use as its my DJ laptop (although to be fair its been glitching mid set lately).
> 
> So I'm trying to decide if I should save up and buy a second hand model of the macbook pro I'll be losing, or go cheap and cheerful and get a non mac laptop I can chuck ubuntu on.



Save. Drop a grand a bit on a new one and know it’s going to do you proud for 8 years or more which makes it a sound investment. You can get interest free loans still directly from apple store if that helps. You’ll be credit checked mind. 

Abviously that’s not advice that fits in with the theme of this thread.


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## sim667 (Sep 23, 2019)

cybershot said:


> Save. Drop a grand a bit on a new one and know it’s going to do you proud for 8 years or more which makes it a sound investment. You can get interest free loans still directly from apple store if that helps. You’ll be credit checked mind.
> 
> Abviously that’s not advice that fits in with the theme of this thread.



I think I've decided to do that, my partner has the shittiest old laptop she got free from work, but has never used, so she said I can have that and I'll stick ubuntu on it..... then i'll get something new when I've got the cash to splash. It will have to go on my list, as I want new decks, new diving kit first...... I dont *need* a new laptop, I'm just scared of not having the laptop I've had for the last five years from work.


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## Throbbing Angel (Sep 28, 2019)

"12% Off Select Products Only, With Code, eg Lenovo Thinkpad X250, A Refurb (12.5", i5 5300U 2.3GHz, 8GB/180GB SSD, Win 10) £140.80 @ ITZOO"
from HUKD
12% Off  Select Products Only, With Code, eg Lenovo Thinkpad X250, A Refurb (12.5", i5 5300U 2.3GHz, 8GB/180GB SSD, Win 10) £140.80 @ ITZOO - hotukdeals

Cheap Refurbished Laptops & Tablets The UK's best priced laptop deals.

Quite a few Thinkpads at 'Grade A refurbished'
inidividual item descriptions seem to mention specific issues with the machine you'd be buying - worn palm rest, mark on screen etc.  so *read* the descriptions


Does anyone here know the X250?
I was looking at them on ebay oddly when I saw this - quite a bit lighter than their similarly priced T450's - which is important for my spine!


----------



## izz (Oct 18, 2019)

Off-topic a tad, apologies, but what does the hive mind think of this ? Refurbished HP Envy 13-ah0003na Core i7-8550U 16GB 512GB MX150 13.3 Inch Touchscreen Windows 10 Laptop - Laptops Direct  ?

I played with an 8GB version in Currys and liked it a lot - they're available new but for like,_ pounds_ more.


----------



## editor (Oct 18, 2019)

izz said:


> Off-topic a tad, apologies, but what does the hive mind think of this ? Refurbished HP Envy 13-ah0003na Core i7-8550U 16GB 512GB MX150 13.3 Inch Touchscreen Windows 10 Laptop - Laptops Direct  ?
> 
> I played with an 8GB version in Currys and liked it a lot - they're available new but for like,_ pounds_ more.


Looks pretty decent!


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Oct 18, 2019)

izz said:


> Off-topic a tad, apologies, but what does the hive mind think of this ? Refurbished HP Envy 13-ah0003na Core i7-8550U 16GB 512GB MX150 13.3 Inch Touchscreen Windows 10 Laptop - Laptops Direct  ?
> 
> I played with an 8GB version in Currys and liked it a lot - they're available new but for like,_ pounds_ more.



It is a good price - cheaper than the 8gb version (new)!

Rating on TrustPilot  Laptops Direct is rated "Great" with 4.2 / 5 on Trustpilot

You can extend the warranty to 12 months for £30


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 1, 2019)

Not a laptop, but we don't have a thread for desktop bargains... 

I got an HP Elite 8300 refurbished from Amazon for £113. Its got an i5 3470, 500gb hdd, 8gb ram and a Windows 10 license. You can pay a bit more get one with a 256 SSD, but I've already got one. Anyway chucked the SSD in and took the RAM up to 16gb and its proper flying machine.

Apparently it will take a 1050 ti low profile card and become a fairly modern gaming machine, but as that's a bit more then PC itself, it may have to wait till next year.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 1, 2019)

I'm trying to steer my OH into buying a laptop. She's up for it in principle, but is a total convert to the twin monitor desktop setup. It's just having a PC is so critical to her that I think there should be some backup. Needs to be as powerful as we can afford for her spreadsheets, but also budget, so obviously refurbished makes more sense.

Not ready to buy yet, more just getting a feel, but what else is worth considering besides old Think pads?


----------



## nick (Nov 2, 2019)

Happy to be overruled by those that know more than I but I think most laptops will per able to wrangle most Excel spreadsheets.   
Perhaps  second hand thinkpad and a nice docking station - then she can use it with the monitors as well very easily, if required.  Would have thought a RAM upgrade would always help more than processor speed.  

At work I am using an (admittedly shittily made) new Thinkpad X280 i5 with only 8gb Plugged into a decent monitor + keyboard and mouse  (PS the screen res is dreadful when using it stand-alone)	
It only starts to struggle when i push it with summits + array formula against +200,000 line data tables etc, say a 20+ MB file size


----------



## Anju (Nov 19, 2019)

A bit over £450 but is this worth considering? Looking for a laptop for 18 year old daughter for art/design course and maybe some gaming. 

Any alternative suggestions also very welcome.

Thanks. 

Medion Akoya P6645 Core i5-8265U 8GB 256GB SSD 15.6 Inch GeForce MX 150 Windows 10 Home Laptop - Laptops Direct


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 19, 2019)

Anju said:


> A bit over £450 but is this worth considering? Looking for a laptop for 18 year old daughter for art/design course and maybe some gaming.
> 
> Any alternative suggestions also very welcome.
> 
> ...



I'd be wary of the make, but specs look good for general use. 

Unless you spend loads though laptops are terrible for gaming, a compact desktop would win on value and power any day.


----------



## Anju (Nov 19, 2019)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I'd be wary of the make, but specs look good for general use.
> 
> Unless you spend loads though laptops are terrible for gaming, a compact desktop would win on value and power any day.



Thanks, I haven't shopped for a computer for about 8 years and there's a lot to catch up on. I thought that might be the case  with gaming but wondering if the graphics card is worthwhile or if it's better to get a higher spec cpu and no graphics card. 

Apparently the brand is part of Lenovo and it comes with 3 year warranty.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 19, 2019)

Anju said:


> Thanks, I haven't shopped for a computer for about 8 years and there's a lot to catch up on. I thought that might be the case  with gaming but wondering if the graphics card is worthwhile or if it's better to get a higher spec cpu and no graphics card.
> 
> Apparently the brand is part of Lenovo and it comes with 3 year warranty.



A quick bit of reading suggests that it will certainly be up to some light gaming, so would certainly do harm if that's your budget and it should be a fairly nippy machine for general use.


----------



## Anju (Nov 20, 2019)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> A quick bit of reading suggests that it will certainly be up to some light gaming, so would certainly do harm if that's your budget and it should be a fairly nippy machine for general use.



Thanks taking some time to check it out. Very much appreciated.


----------



## hermitical (Nov 27, 2019)

Any thoughts on these two refurbished Thinkpads? Both from a company called Compuclear.

£470
Lenovo T560, 15.6" Laptop, Core i7-6600u 2.6GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Win 10 Pro  | eBay




£400
Lenovo T540p, 15.6" Laptop, i7-4600m 2.9GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Windows 10 Pro  | eBay


----------



## Chz (Nov 27, 2019)

£70 seems fair for the extra battery life and improved graphics performance you'd get from the newer one.


----------



## hermitical (Nov 27, 2019)

Cheers

Decent prices and specs? It's been a long while since I've bought anything like this....


----------



## maomao (Dec 23, 2019)

Any recommendations for a Windows laptop (Chromebook won't do apparently) with a c. 11" screen at the very bottom end of the budget given above or possibly a bit cheaper (ideally our budget is 300 but apart from Chromebook that looks difficult). Would be nice if it wasn't too sluggish but wont be needed for anything much heavier than Netflix and Internet browsing. Or any ideas of where and when to look for deals in the post-Xmas sales?


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 29, 2019)

maomao said:


> Any recommendations for a Windows laptop (Chromebook won't do apparently) with a c. 11" screen at the very bottom end of the budget given above or possibly a bit cheaper (ideally our budget is 300 but apart from Chromebook that looks difficult). Would be nice if it wasn't too sluggish but won't be needed for anything much heavier than Netflix and Internet browsing. Or any ideas of where and when to look for deals in the post-Xmas sales?




There will be plenty of offers on now - I'd stay away from HP Stream if I were you.  We had one and it was pants.  I'd stay away from anything with an N5000 processor tbh - struggled like hell with everything and the Stream was pretty much useless after6 months due to Windows 10 updates.

Anyway - Lenovo has a sale on:  Christmas Sale & Deals 2019| Tech Gift Ideas | Lenovo UK  quite a few under £300

Usual outlets will too as I am sure you're aware


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 29, 2019)

Oh - consider the difference between Windows 10S and W10 Home too.

S mode is a cut down version - don't know the full details/limitations - but that seems to affect pricing at the lower end.


----------



## maomao (Dec 29, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> There will be plenty of offers on now - I'd stay away from HP Stream if I were you.  We had one and it was pants.  I'd stay away from anything with an N5000 processor tbh - struggled like hell with everything and the Stream was pretty much useless after6 months due to Windows 10 updates.
> 
> Anyway - Lenovo has a sale on:  Christmas Sale & Deals 2019| Tech Gift Ideas | Lenovo UK  quite a few under £300
> 
> Usual outlets will too as I am sure you're aware


I had seventy quid in John Lewis vouchers lying about unused and they had fifty quid off this:

https://www.johnlewis.com/hp-14s-dq...-128gb-ssd-14-full-hd-natural-silver/p4239403

So worked out a tenner over budget and am confident it's powerful enough to run W10. It didn't have the small screen size she wanted but she doesn't have to lug this one into town twice a week so will be okay. 

Thanks for advice though.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 29, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Oh - consider the difference between Windows 10S and W10 Home too.
> 
> S mode is a cut down version - don't know the full details/limitations - but that seems to affect pricing at the lower end.



S will only run apps downloaded from Microsoft. Sounds best avoided.


----------



## maomao (Dec 29, 2019)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> S will only run apps downloaded from Microsoft. Sounds best avoided.


As in can't even run Google Chrome?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 29, 2019)

maomao said:


> As in can't even run Google Chrome?



It appears so. You can run third party apps, but they have had to submit them to Microsoft and Google havnt bothered.

Happy to stand corrected, not a Windows PC so can't check the store.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 29, 2019)

maomao said:


> As in can't even run Google Chrome?





UnderAnOpenSky said:


> It appears so. You can run third party apps, but they have had to submit them to Microsoft and Google havnt bothered.
> 
> Happy to stand corrected, not a Windows PC so can't check the store.



Wow - sounds shit/restrictive


----------



## maomao (Dec 29, 2019)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> It appears so. You can run third party apps, but they have had to submit them to Microsoft and Google havnt bothered.
> 
> Happy to stand corrected, not a Windows PC so can't check the store.


It seems you can switch out of S mode permanently for free. I'll sort it once the Mrs has set it up.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 29, 2019)

maomao said:


> I had seventy quid in John Lewis vouchers lying about unused and they had fifty quid off this:
> 
> https://www.johnlewis.com/hp-14s-dq...-128gb-ssd-14-full-hd-natural-silver/p4239403
> 
> ...



 looks great  - nice one


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 2, 2020)

Is this any good? Need a new laptop, mainly for work, my current one is a Lenovo ideapad, refurb from Argos, but it's fucked, it takes ages to do anything. Anyway I understand thinkpads are workhorses, is this one a decent one for price?

Has to be windows before anybody suggests Chromebooks or Linux etc


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 3, 2020)

Any thoughts on this? Should I be looking for a recon with a later generation or does it not matter?


----------



## Chz (Jan 4, 2020)

Depends if you're going to be using it on battery a lot. The 6th gen (Skylake) chips are a lot better on the juice. They also stay clocked up a bit better on the battery. It's one of those weird things with the limited power budget of mobile platforms - desktop Skylake is, at best, 15% faster than Haswell (4th gen) and that's about what you'd get plugged into the wall. But on battery it can be considerably more as it can keep its turbo mode engaged for longer.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 4, 2020)

Proper Tidy said:


> Any thoughts on this? Should I be looking for a recon with a later generation or does it not matter?



What are you using it for. I'd have thought for standard office work type stuff it will be plenty fast enough. I think most kit with a half decent CPU, plenty of RAM and an SSD probably is. So buy buying a second hand machine your probably getting better quality all round more then a speed advantage of a cheap but well specced new laptop.


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 4, 2020)

Thanks both. Yeah will be using it on battery quite often, probably only for an hour or two at a time though. Just work stuff but that means various bits of software not just Microsoft office stuff, some web based but some not. I dont really know completely cos I'm starting a new job which I have to have my own laptop for and dunno yet what software they will expect me to use.

Defo going for a recon and quite fancy a thinkpad, might look for a 5th gen or later


----------



## maomao (Jan 4, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> It appears so. You can run third party apps, but they have had to submit them to Microsoft and Google havnt bothered.
> 
> Happy to stand corrected, not a Windows PC so can't check the store.



Just to clarify it is a piece of piss, and free, to switch out of S-mode but really best done at set up. Thanks for pointing it out as I hadn't a clue what the s meant and would have probably been bemused for days.


----------



## wemakeyousoundb (Jan 4, 2020)

maomao said:


> Just to clarify it is a piece of piss, and free, to switch out of S-mode but really best done at set up. Thanks for pointing it out as I hadn't a clue what the s meant and would have probably been bemused for days.


thanks, I was gonna ask how easy it was.

How is the laptop performing?
Currently looking for a friend who needs to browse, vaguebook with the chat switched on and stream stuff, would this be future-proof for a few years you think?


----------



## editor (Jan 4, 2020)

wemakeyousoundb said:


> thanks, I was gonna ask how easy it was.
> 
> How is the laptop performing?
> Currently looking for a friend who needs to browse, vaguebook with the chat switched on and stream stuff, would this be future-proof for a few years you think?


Surely that's Chromebook territory?


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 4, 2020)

This looks suspiciously cheap, 7th gen, hmmm


----------



## Part-timah (Jan 4, 2020)

Its 2nd hand.


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 4, 2020)

Part-timah said:


> Its 2nd hand.


Yeah pretty sure reconditioned laptops usually are


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 4, 2020)

Well I've ordered it anyway, price seemed too good (maybe to be true) and the supplier is an asset management company so it's somebody's old work computer that's been replaced not a return, but fuck knows really, hopefully it's not a bag of shit. Time will tell. PayPal'd money so if it is I can kick off to them


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 4, 2020)

Proper Tidy said:


> Thanks both. Yeah will be using it on battery quite often, probably only for an hour or two at a time though. Just work stuff but that means various bits of software not just Microsoft office stuff, some web based but some not. I dont really know completely cos I'm starting a new job which I have to have my own laptop for and dunno yet what software they will expect me to use.
> 
> Defo going for a recon and quite fancy a thinkpad, might look for a 5th gen or later



If battery is important the best thing you'll be able to do for it is buy a new one.


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 4, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> If battery is important the best thing you'll be able to do for it is buy a new one.



Cheers. I went for a later gen in end anyway and did a bit of research on seller before hand, so ex work laptops not returns and reconditioned by microsoft accredited people, hoping this means it will be a decent enough machine and battery life will be ok. Tbh I will only ever need to run it without plugging in for a couple of hours at a time I think, three tops, rest of time I should be able to plug in.

I mainly want a laptop that doesn't take ages to do stuff, so not seeing 'not responding' constantly and wasting time waiting for it before I can do work even when I'm switching between different software. Do you think this will be ok for that?


----------



## butcher (Jan 4, 2020)

I use a pimped Lenovo from WOC Home

Local, good hardware, long established and I have had no problems.

if youcan't see what you want, call and chat, they are not sell sell sell but actually talk to you.


----------



## Riklet (Jan 4, 2020)

Refurbed x1 carbon still a solid solid bet IMO. Loads of barely used business machines out there at decent prices with hardware better than a Macbook Pro 4 times more expensive.


----------



## Chz (Jan 5, 2020)

Proper Tidy said:


> Cheers. I went for a later gen in end anyway and did a bit of research on seller before hand, so ex work laptops not returns and reconditioned by microsoft accredited people, hoping this means it will be a decent enough machine and battery life will be ok. Tbh I will only ever need to run it without plugging in for a couple of hours at a time I think, three tops, rest of time I should be able to plug in.
> 
> I mainly want a laptop that doesn't take ages to do stuff, so not seeing 'not responding' constantly and wasting time waiting for it before I can do work even when I'm switching between different software. Do you think this will be ok for that?


I think it's a great deal, but it's still a 4th gen. The i3/i5/i7 is the class of processor representing budget/mainstream/Manly and the first digit of the second number denotes the generation. But like I said, a Carbon at that price would be a good deal with an i3-2530 in it so don't worry it much.
If you think Intel's gone out of their way to make consumer processors a bit confusing, you should see the utter shitshow that the Xeons are. I've been doing this IT malarky for over 20 years and I don't know what the fuck a particular Xeon is without looking it up every single time.


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 5, 2020)

Chz said:


> I think it's a great deal, but it's still a 4th gen. The i3/i5/i7 is the class of processor representing budget/mainstream/Manly and the first digit of the second number denotes the generation. But like I said, a Carbon at that price would be a good deal with an i3-2530 in it so don't worry it much.
> If you think Intel's gone out of their way to make consumer processors a bit confusing, you should see the utter shitshow that the Xeons are. I've been doing this IT malarky for over 20 years and I don't know what the fuck a particular Xeon is without looking it up every single time.



Ah cheers, yeah I realised last night I had the gen thing wrong, but I figured an i7 will presumably be better than an i5 and SSD ok so hopefully will be alright. Just hope battery isn't shit.


----------



## dervish (Jan 5, 2020)

On paper an i7 will be faster but in my experience there is often no real difference in speed, the i7's run hotter than the i5's which is fine in a desktop as you can have better cooling to cope with it, but on a laptop that's not really an option so under a heavy load it will turbo up to it's full speed then start thermally throttling until it's slower than the i5 under the same load. 

Have tested this pretty extensively using identical dell laptops and getting the same results from gen 6 to gen 9. I would not recommend an i7 over an i5 if you have to pay any more, in real world usage it's really no faster, just noisier.


----------



## Chz (Jan 5, 2020)

It depends. (Does it ever not?)
In the ultra-low power realm, like for the Carbon, it is much of a muchness. Bump your power budget (and the size of the laptop) a bit, and you can get actual quad core i7s and they represent a big upgrade from an i5.


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 5, 2020)

Ah fuck it ordered now, will just see how it runs. Hopefully I'll get a bit flusher then in a year I can buy something new and nice (saw one of those Huawei mate book whatevers in shop, lovely)


----------



## Part-timah (Jan 5, 2020)

Proper Tidy said:


> Well I've ordered it anyway, price seemed too good (maybe to be true) and the supplier is an asset management company so it's somebody's old work computer that's been replaced not a return, but fuck knows really, hopefully it's not a bag of shit. Time will tell. PayPal'd money so if it is I can kick off to them



Thinkpads are usually a safe bet buying 2nd hand; they’re sturdy old beasts and are designed to be relatively easy to upgrade.


----------



## editor (Jan 5, 2020)

Part-timah said:


> Thinkpads are usually a safe bet buying 2nd hand; they’re sturdy old beasts and are designed to be relatively easy to upgrade.


Well, not always!



😂





__





						My ebay nightmare:  IBM X31 laptop
					





					urban75.org


----------



## 8ball (Jan 6, 2020)

My old laptop is in its final, terminal phase, regularly reminding me that "HARD DISK FAILURE IS IMMINENT!!".
I've burned all essential information onto a bunch of DVD's...

I help with organising a local film festival and have a lot of use for a new machine, starting pretty imminently.

Would be v. grateful for any advice on a replacement which:


- can be hooked up to make a multiple screen setup
- has plenty of grunt (super-graphical gaming grunt less important than a good processor)
- has optical drive (I hear lots of laptops don't have one these days)
- has a numberpad (can be combined with general keys... y'know what I mean)
- is fine if it is a little on the bigger side
- has decent connectivity to all the shizz you need these days
- do I need a memory card thingy?
- doesn't come filled with fucking annoying crapware
- won't report all of my doings to the Chinese Government

I used to know a lot about computers and these days I can't even properly articulate what I want - will hopefully know it when I see it. 

Cheers, boffins!!


----------



## dervish (Jan 6, 2020)

Chz said:


> It depends. (Does it ever not?)
> In the ultra-low power realm, like for the Carbon, it is much of a muchness. Bump your power budget (and the size of the laptop) a bit, and you can get actual quad core i7s and they represent a big upgrade from an i5.



Yeah, true I was doing my testing on (top of the range) business class laptops not gaming laptops.


----------



## Chz (Jan 6, 2020)

8ball said:


> My old laptop is in its final, terminal phase, regularly reminding me that "HARD DISK FAILURE IS IMMINENT!!".
> I've burned all essential information onto a bunch of DVD's...
> 
> I help with organising a local film festival and have a lot of use for a new machine, starting pretty imminently.
> ...


Optical drives and numpads are pretty cheap as peripherals, should you want a smaller laptop. 
That being said, most - if not all - of the big, 17" models still come with both.


----------



## wemakeyousoundb (Jan 6, 2020)

editor said:


> Surely that's Chromebook territory?


that's where we went in the end, let's hope she gets on with it.


----------



## editor (Jan 6, 2020)

wemakeyousoundb said:


> that's where we went in the end, let's hope she gets on with it.


There's a big thread in this forum if she needs help.


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 7, 2020)

Reconditioned thinkpad arrived today, really like it. Has a few bumps and scratches but seems smooth and quick and battery seems to be lasting a while, gave it full charge about half six, have been using it since (just web stuff, downloading all the apps I need etc) and still 44% left so that'll do me. Have not had anything tell me it's 'not responding' yet which is a novelty.

Do get some symbols coming up on screen sometimes that I have no idea what they mean, they go after a couple of seconds.

Also audio and camera work but not great, not that arsed about that though.

Fucked cortana off obviously, annoying cunt


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 7, 2020)

Actually will amend that slightly, went on spotify and audio is pretty decent, camera bit ropey though


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 8, 2020)

Did you get the X1 in the end?


----------



## Chz (Jan 8, 2020)

Proper Tidy said:


> Reconditioned thinkpad arrived today, really like it. Has a few bumps and scratches but seems smooth and quick and battery seems to be lasting a while, gave it full charge about half six, have been using it since (just web stuff, downloading all the apps I need etc) and still 44% left so that'll do me. Have not had anything tell me it's 'not responding' yet which is a novelty.
> 
> Do get some symbols coming up on screen sometimes that I have no idea what they mean, they go after a couple of seconds.
> 
> ...


Symbols on the screen...
I take it you're new to Thinkpads. Could be you were trying to use a function key, and by default they're mapped to their alternate uses - volume up/down, camera on/off, etc. It will flash something on the screen when you do that. This behaviour can (blissfully) be altered in the BIOS.

Just guessing, though.


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 8, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Did you get the X1 in the end?



Yeah X1, six years old, according to the seller the original owner (a company) got rid around fifth anniversary


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 8, 2020)

Chz said:


> Symbols on the screen...
> I take it you're new to Thinkpads. Could be you were trying to use a function key, and by default they're mapped to their alternate uses - volume up/down, camera on/off, etc. It will flash something on the screen when you do that. This behaviour can (blissfully) be altered in the BIOS.
> 
> Just guessing, though.



Yeah when I googled it said that but it isn't when I'm using a function key or anything, it would just flash up symbols when I opened it up or opened a browser or something. Fuck knows. But yeah it's mapped default like you say, will have a fiddle round with it at some point


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jan 12, 2020)

Proper Tidy said:


> Reconditioned thinkpad arrived today, really like it. Has a few bumps and scratches but seems smooth and quick and battery seems to be lasting a while, gave it full charge about half six, have been using it since (just web stuff, downloading all the apps I need etc) and still 44% left so that'll do me. Have not had anything tell me it's 'not responding' yet which is a novelty.
> 
> Do get some symbols coming up on screen sometimes that I have no idea what they mean, they go after a couple of seconds.
> 
> ...



Which seller did you use? I'm looking at refurbished ThinkPad on eBay atm.


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 12, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Which seller did you use? I'm looking at refurbished ThinkPad on eBay atm.



Was some firm called Tier 1 Asset Management, early days but had no issues with laptop so far and they had cleaned it properly, reinstalled windows 10 etc


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jan 12, 2020)

Proper Tidy said:


> Was some firm called Tier 1 Asset Management, early days but had no issues with laptop so far and they had cleaned it properly, reinstalled windows 10 etc



Cheers, I know who you mean. Glad to hear it was a good experience.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jan 16, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Bollocks - I had to return my Chromebook [ASUS C302ca, Intel Core M3, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 12.5"] same as
> editor ‘s due to a few dead pixles and the right hand side of the space bar collapsing a bit and making typing (my main use) a right pain in the arse.
> 
> John Lewis have just called me saying that they can’t repair it and ‘Do I want a refund or what?’
> ...



So - I am in the market for a chromebook or laptop again due to ^^^^.  Any ideas - I want to write and surf mainly.

how’s the X1 going Proper Tidy


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 16, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> So - I am in the market for a chromebook or laptop again due to ^^^^.  Any ideas - I want to write and surf mainly.
> 
> how’s the X1 going Proper Tidy



Yeah it's been spot on so far, I mean it doesn't look new but it's quick and feels quality compared to every other laptop I've ever owned, doesn't glitch, miles better than the ideapad I had before it despite being a few years older


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jan 18, 2020)

Proper Tidy said:


> Yeah it's been spot on so far, I mean it doesn't look new but it's quick and feels quality compared to every other laptop I've ever owned, doesn't glitch, miles better than the ideapad I had before it despite being a few years older



That’s encouraging (for me).  Which model / generation did you go for in the end - the one you saw at Wowcher which you posted up?


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jan 18, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> That’s encouraging (for me).  Which model / generation did you go for in the end - the one you saw at Wowcher which you posted up?



It was a newer one from the same seller on wowcher but not via wowcher, so that one on wowcher was a 2nd gen X1 carbon i7 for 270 or something, got in touch with the seller and got a 4th gen for 330


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 19, 2020)

If some one was feeling brave you can get a laptop with 16gb and a 1tb SSD for £327 from China 









						Lhmzniy A9 14.1-inch Laptop 16GB RAM Intel Celeron 3867U Metal Body Silver Sale, Price & Reviews| Gearbest Mobile
					

Buy Lhmzniy A9 14.1-inch Laptop 16GB RAM Intel Celeron 3867U Metal Body Silver at cheap price mobile online, with Youtube reviews and FAQs, we generally offer free shipping to Europe, US, Latin America, Russia, etc.




					m.gearbest.com


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jan 19, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> If some one was feeling brave you can get a laptop with 16gb and a 1tb SSD for £327 from China
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Saw that this morning on some feed or other I follow.  Great innit.  I’m not that brave . The tax, the warranty, returning it, learning how to pronounce Lhmzniy - it all gave me the fear


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jan 19, 2020)

Right - advice sought - refurbed Thinkpads  - I have 2 in my sights...


Thinkpad X1 Carbon - £399 - i7-5600u - 256gb SSD - 8gb RAM - Full HD - Grade B - Win10 Home - 1yr warranty from eBay seller [a refurb IT company] - weighs 2.6lbs
Lenovo ThinkPad X270 Core i5 16GB RAM 180GB SSD Win10 PRO Excel Cond. Lenovo WARRANTY UNTIL JULY 2021 - £314 - weighs 2.9lbs
I have a back issue meaning weight is important - but these both seem OK to me.  The Chromebook that I’ve just lost weighed 2.6lbs according to Google and I used to lug that about in a messenger back with no real issues as long as I wasn’t having a bad back day.

The X1 is older, but is thinner and lighter and has an older processor and less RAM as you can see.
I’m writing and surfing mainly - some Social, some youtube but not loads.  No iTunes, mixing, video or photo editing etc.
So Chrome and Word (or similar) will be getting hammered - not much else.

Also - hate fans - have had Chromebooks for the last 5 years or so and they’ve been silent and I liked that a lot.

Suggestatron is _GO_!


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jan 21, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Right - advice sought - refurbed Thinkpads  - I have 2 in my sights...
> 
> Suggestatron is _GO_!



Anyone?


----------



## editor (Jan 21, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Anyone?


Thinkpad X1 Carbon would be my choice


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Feb 12, 2020)

Quick Question refurbished laptop types....

*Is a 120gb SSD in a refurbished Thinkpad with Win10 Pro installed "too small to handle updates properly" as my mate claims.*

I know my daughter had many issues with a shitty HP Stream that had Win8 and a 32gb eMMC had this issue - the machine couldn't download and unzip/unpack updates after a while as there was no wiggle room on the hard drive to do this.

Any thoughts on whether 120gb is enough?  I reckon it is as long as it isn't completely full.  Google reckons a Win10 install is between 25 & 40gb.

Machine is to be used by a different mate to browse and write on after installing summat like Libre Office and Chrome and that'll be pretty much "it"

*What say Urban? *
_editor UnderAnOpenSky Proper Tidy maomao Riklet Chz dervish  [recent contributors to thread]_


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 12, 2020)

It's small, but plenty for W10 and just a few apps. Especially as most of us are increasingly not storing huge amounts of data on our machines anymore.

And unlike the machine you had before, it's really not hard to swap it out for something bigger.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Feb 12, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> It's small, but plenty for W10 and just a few apps. Especially as most of us are increasingly not storing huge amounts of data on our machines anymore.
> 
> And unlike the machine you had before, it's really not hard to swap it out for something bigger.



Cheers - that's what I thought - this guy has most stuff in Dropbox (docs) rather than on the machine.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 12, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Cheers - that's what I thought - this guy has most stuff in Dropbox (docs) rather than on the machine.



Plus things like these make it super easy to add extra storage if needed. I've got one on my Chromebook in case I want to watch films... 



			https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Ultra-Flash-Drive-Read/dp/B07855LJ99/ref=asc_df_B07855LJ99/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310829205597&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10009226593527557093&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046598&hvtargid=pla-420863762609&psc=1&th=1&psc=1


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Feb 12, 2020)

Indeeedy... Cheers UnderAnOpenSky


----------



## Riklet (Feb 12, 2020)

I would contact the seller and see if you can get a 256 or 512 and pay a bit more. But if not it's still fine, 128 is plenty nowadays with online apps and storage. Even after a windows 10 install you should have like 50gb.

I just like to have the option to put 30gb of music and 50gb of movies and series on my hard disc and download some stuff on netflix, install a few games etc.

If no upgrade possible an x1 with 128gb will still be great.


----------



## LDC (Feb 13, 2020)

What do folks think of this one that's made to run Linux? I have no clue about specs, but the price is not too bad, and I'm still wanting to ditch the Mac, but not go to a PC running the usual virus/crash prone stuff.









						Star Lite Mk III - 11-inch Mini Linux Laptop
					

The Star Lite Mk III has been forged to continue it's legacy, whilst improving on usability with an Arc display, a matte display that has both a 21% Haze and a hard coat which boasts both durability and glare-free viewing.




					starlabs.systems


----------



## Chz (Feb 13, 2020)

It's okay. Pricey, when there are plenty of Chromebooks that can be hijacked to run Linux.


----------



## iamwithnail (Feb 13, 2020)

I think that's seriously expensive for what it is.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Feb 13, 2020)

Chz said:


> It's okay. Pricey, when there are plenty of Chromebooks that can be hijacked to run Linux.





iamwithnail said:


> I think that's seriously expensive for what it is.




this & this


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 13, 2020)

Isn't a bit of a faff to hijack a Chromebook to run Linux? At least more so then a Windows laptop. It certainly caused me enough ball ache I filed it in "Can't be bothered"


----------



## editor (Feb 13, 2020)

LynnDoyleCooper said:


> What do folks think of this one that's made to run Linux? I have no clue about specs, but the price is not too bad, and I'm still wanting to ditch the Mac, but not go to a PC running the usual virus/crash prone stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks mightily unimpressive for the price to me.


----------



## Riklet (Feb 14, 2020)

While part of me would like to support companies producing machines specifically for Linux, I'm not convinced it's often such a good deal. Slimbook however is worth checking out, there was a KDE one that was good value. German company called Tuxedo Computers looks good too.

Not to be boring but get a Thinkpad and wipe windows if you really don't want it - most Linux distros will work great straight out of the box as so many IT professionals use Linux. Or you could ring Dell and see what they have with Ubuntu new/refurbished.

I like dualbooting but you do have to be prepared to get your hands messy - windows update recently corrupted my boot partition meaning I could only boot to a grub error blackscreen and had to do some googling and commands specifically for UEFI to get it all back.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Feb 16, 2020)

Finally got me a Thinkpad after much faffing and prevarication.
Local refurbishing company so I can walk it back in if needed. Which is nice and comforting somehow.

Lenovo ThinkPad L460 i5-6200u laptop 240GB SSD 4GB Ram 14″ FHD Win 10
Near mint as far as I am concerned.  Ex-corporate machines - they had at least 12 of them on the shelf awaiting refurb.
Was on ebay and their website for £290 so I offered £225 on ebay and mentioned I could collect rather than them having to post it out.
So - £225 it was - 1 yr warranty - near mint condition -luvverly keyboard - battery life is great - I've had it on a while now and it reckons 60% = 5h 30 min.

As soon as I get used to the Fn key being on the bottom left corner of the keyboard rather than the CTRL I'll be 100%.

Happy to recommend the company/post the site up if anyone wants a look.

clicky



e2a - battery life is great - assuming the reporting is correct, of course


----------



## Petcha (Apr 5, 2020)

Not for me, but a friend who has asked me what kind of budget laptop she should buy to watch movies on etc during the apocalypse... any ideas?


----------



## cybershot (Apr 5, 2020)

Petcha said:


> Not for me, but a friend who has asked me what kind of budget laptop she should buy to watch movies on etc during the apocalypse... any ideas?



stream or illegally download?


----------



## Petcha (Apr 5, 2020)

Both.. iPlayer etc plus torrents...


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 5, 2020)

Petcha said:


> Not for me, but a friend who has asked me what kind of budget laptop she should buy to watch movies on etc during the apocalypse... any ideas?



Anything sold today will be able to do this, so just pick the one with screen size you/they like.


----------



## cybershot (Apr 5, 2020)

Petcha said:


> Both.. iPlayer etc plus torrents...



is there a minimum screen size?


----------



## Petcha (Apr 5, 2020)

Maybe 13 inch but preferably 15...

She would also probably use it for work but that's just Citrix/Office based stuff


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 5, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Finally got me a Thinkpad after much faffing and prevarication.
> Local refurbishing company so I can walk it back in if needed. Which is nice and comforting somehow.
> 
> Lenovo ThinkPad L460 i5-6200u laptop 240GB SSD 4GB Ram 14″ FHD Win 10
> ...



I've bought a 2nd Thinkpad from this company for lil'Angel and friends I have referred have bought another three - good to be able to support local

daughter's Thinkpad is the same model as mine and again - fab battery life, fab keyboard


----------



## iamwithnail (Apr 5, 2020)

If she's going to use Citrix I'd try and get 8gb ram. It's a bit hungry.


----------



## PursuedByBears (Apr 27, 2020)

My vintage Macbook Pro from 2010 has finally died so I'd really appreciate some help working out what to replace it with as I'm completely out of the loop.  I need something mainly for internet browsing, some streaming, some torrenting, a bit of MS Office for home admin and for my daughter to do year 6 home-school work.  I'd like to move back to MS so assume I need Windows 10? My budget's around £500-600.  Oh and I'd like it to have a numeric keypad too!  Looking at articles on laptops, storage seems to be much smaller these days than I'm used to (I had a 1TB drive in the Macbook) although I suppose as I have everything stored on Google Drive I don't need everything on the laptop as well?


----------



## yield (Apr 27, 2020)

Touchscreen? Size?


----------



## PursuedByBears (Apr 27, 2020)

Probably a 15" screen.  I've never used a touchscreen laptop so don't know how useful this would be?


----------



## sleaterkinney (Apr 27, 2020)

PursuedByBears said:


> Probably a 15" screen.  I've never used a touchscreen laptop so don't know how useful this would be?


My one is touchscreen but I use it hardly ever.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 27, 2020)

sleaterkinney said:


> My one is touchscreen but I use it hardly ever.



Ditto - hardly ever used mine when I had one - my work laptop is a touchscreen too - hardly use it..
Chromebook or Windoze PursuedByBears


----------



## PursuedByBears (Apr 27, 2020)

I'd like Windows to make it compatible with work and school stuff.


----------



## yield (Apr 27, 2020)

Wow, we all know why but there are slim pickings. I'll have another look this afternoon.


----------



## cybershot (Apr 27, 2020)

Lenovo have had some fantastic deals on their site recently, not sure if they are still live, otherwise check hotukdeals for well, deals.


----------



## yield (Apr 27, 2020)

hotukdeals - Your No.1 Deals & Discounts Community
					

hotukdeals ▶️ Your Shopping Community ☑️ The best place for Deals, Discounts & Freebies ☑️ Find daily great offers and voucher codes on hotukdeals.




					www.hotukdeals.com


----------



## PursuedByBears (Apr 27, 2020)

What do you think about this HP Pavilion?  Sounds OK?
Buy HP Pavilion 15.6in Ryzen 5 8GB 256GB Touchscreen Laptop | Laptops and netbooks | Argos


----------



## cybershot (Apr 27, 2020)

Done a filtered ebuyer search here: Laptops: Cheap Laptop Deals - Acer, Asus, HP, Dell & More | Ebuyer.com


----------



## PursuedByBears (Apr 27, 2020)

Oh this one looks better Asus A509JA Core i5 8GB 512GB SSD 15.6" Win10 Home Laptop | Ebuyer.com for £590 with a bigger SSD.  Are ebuyer OK to buy from?


----------



## existentialist (Apr 27, 2020)

PursuedByBears said:


> Oh this one looks better Asus A509JA Core i5 8GB 512GB SSD 15.6" Win10 Home Laptop | Ebuyer.com for £590 with a bigger SSD.  Are ebuyer OK to buy from?


They're my go-to supplier. They're efficient to the point that I've never had any need to find out how good their customer service is...


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 27, 2020)

existentialist said:


> They're my go-to supplier. They're efficient to the point that I've never had any need to find out how good their customer service is...


Same here


----------



## iamwithnail (Apr 27, 2020)

I have a touchscreen laptop and it's incredibly irritating and I hate it.


----------



## Chz (Apr 28, 2020)

I'd only go touchscreen for a Chromebook, since it can be useful for Android apps. I got the mrs a Yoga and she pretty much never uses the touch capability.

Though I don't get how it's irritating. If you don't use it, it doesn't get used.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 28, 2020)

Chz said:


> I'd only go touchscreen for a Chromebook, since it can be useful for Android apps. I got the mrs a Yoga and she pretty much never uses the touch capability.
> 
> Though I don't get how it's irritating. If you don't use it, it doesn't get used.



The point and touch crew don't like them I've found - some seem to forget that if you interact with it it'll do something.


----------



## Chz (Apr 28, 2020)

People who touch screens for reasons other than using a touchscreen...


----------



## iamwithnail (Apr 28, 2020)

^^ that. Plus if you move your screen forward or back tilting you invariably touch it. I moved around the office a lot with it, and that was a nuisance.


----------



## editor (Apr 28, 2020)

iamwithnail said:


> I have a touchscreen laptop and it's incredibly irritating and I hate it.


I'm the opposite.  Going back to a screen you can't interact with feels positively backwards now - but that's on a Chromebook.  It's not so compelling on W10.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 28, 2020)

PursuedByBears said:


> My vintage Macbook Pro from 2010 has finally died so I'd really appreciate some help working out what to replace it with as I'm completely out of the loop.  I need something mainly for internet browsing, some streaming, some torrenting, a bit of MS Office for home admin and for my daughter to do year 6 home-school work.  I'd like to move back to MS so assume I need Windows 10? My budget's around £500-600.  Oh and I'd like it to have a numeric keypad too!  Looking at articles on laptops, storage seems to be much smaller these days than I'm used to (I had a 1TB drive in the Macbook) although I suppose as I have everything stored on Google Drive I don't need everything on the laptop as well?



Not ideal if yours has just died, but real soon Lenovo will be launching a new range with the Ryzen 4000 series chips which are supposed to be a real step change and also in your price range.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 28, 2020)

editor said:


> I'm the opposite.  Going back to a screen you can't interact with feels positively backwards now - but that's on a Chromebook. * It's not so compelling on W10.*



This is true - my work laptop is a touchscreen W10 and I virtually never use it because there's no need and it isn't a useful addition.
When at my main place of work it is docked to 2 massive monitors and a keyboard and mouse so the lid is down anyway.
If I am working elsewhere I am usually typing so generally not needed.


----------



## steveseagull (May 5, 2020)

Picked up a Thinkpad Carbon X1 (3rd Gen) with 2560 x 1440 hi res screen for £270 on Ebay. It has a small mark on the screen which is barely noticeable.

It totally rocks and is an absolute bargain. .


----------



## izz (Jun 7, 2020)

izz said:


> Off-topic a tad, apologies, but what does the hive mind think of this ? Refurbished HP Envy 13-ah0003na Core i7-8550U 16GB 512GB MX150 13.3 Inch Touchscreen Windows 10 Laptop - Laptops Direct  ?
> 
> I played with an 8GB version in Currys and liked it a lot - they're available new but for like,_ pounds_ more.



Got the 1TB version of this from another refurbished laptop company. _ loving_  the touchscreen, it flies, backlit keyboard, webcam killswitch (yes I know some applications can access the camera anyway so will be circumspect), loving everything about the laptop, luscious


----------



## izz (Jul 3, 2020)

izz said:


> Got the 1TB version of this from another refurbished laptop company. _ loving_  the touchscreen, it flies, backlit keyboard, webcam killswitch (yes I know some applications can access the camera anyway so will be circumspect), loving everything about the laptop, luscious


...aaaand it's fucking gorgeous to type on as well, bloody lovely, best buy I've made in years.


----------



## two sheds (Jul 3, 2020)

> (yes I know some applications can access the camera anyway so will be circumspect),



I taped a small square of paper over my laptop camera when I got it oooo 7-8 years ago, my paranoia has been backed up by reports I've subsequently read


----------



## Johnny Doe (Jul 3, 2020)

What's the comparable budget 11 years later? I bought my dad a tablet with an optional keyboard last month for about £100 (from Asda) and from what I could tell it did most stuff


----------



## editor (Jul 3, 2020)

I've just got this for a friend. Big 15.6" screen, 64GB storage, HD screen and decent construction. A blooming bargain for £299 if you ask me





__





						Acer Chromebook 315 Laptop, AMD A6 Processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 15.6” Full HD, Silver
					

Buy Acer Chromebook 315 Laptop, AMD A6 Processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 15.6” Full HD, Silver from our View All Laptops & MacBooks range at John Lewis & Partners. Free Delivery on orders over £50.



					www.johnlewis.com


----------



## Chz (Jul 3, 2020)

The A6 is no faster than the Celeron in comparable Chromebooks and laptops. It's not a bad deal, but not a great one either. It's from the bad old days when AMD was getting slaughtered by Intel for very good reason.


----------



## editor (Jul 3, 2020)

Chz said:


> The A6 is no faster than the Celeron in comparable Chromebooks and laptops. It's not a bad deal, but not a great one either. It's from the bad old days when AMD was getting slaughtered by Intel for very good reason.


I don't think the processor makes a great deal of difference in a Chromebook for most people, unless it's something really shit and old - it will certainly be plenty fast enough for my mate, and having a big touchscreen is perfect for someone who's not tech-savvy.

I'm still using my three year old Asus Flip using a fuck-knows-what CPU and it does the job just fine.


----------



## Chz (Jul 4, 2020)

editor said:


> I don't think the processor makes a great deal of difference in a Chromebook for most people, unless it's something really shit and old - it will certainly be plenty fast enough for my mate, and having a big touchscreen is perfect for someone who's not tech-savvy.
> 
> I'm still using my three year old Asus Flip using a fuck-knows-what CPU and it does the job just fine.


In this case it does very well make a difference in battery life. The Celeron based ones are old, too - there hasn't been a new one in a few years. It's about battery life, and until very recently it's not something AMD has been even remotely competitive on. My point was that there are plenty of Intel ones at the same price that are just as powerful.


----------



## Cloo (Aug 15, 2020)

editor said:


> I've just got this for a friend. Big 15.6" screen, 64GB storage, HD screen and decent construction. A blooming bargain for £299 if you ask me
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks, may consider this for daughter - she has been using my old one and it's fallen apart (literally) and this looks like what we need


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 13, 2020)

So a victim of my own success. Work PCs were awful and my boss asked the directors for more money. They only gave £500, but I upgraded one and bought a refurb and two 27 inch monitors and now he thinks I can perform miracles. I'm going to scan the last few pages of this thread, but a tiny £300 for a windows laptop, speed more important then size.

What would be a good refurb to look for in this price. Is it still old think pads or does anything else shine?


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 13, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> So a victim of my own success. Work PCs were awful and my boss asked the directors for more money. They only gave £500, but I upgraded one and bought a refurb and two 27 inch monitors and now he thinks I can perform miracles. I'm going to scan the last few pages of this thread, but a tiny £300 for a windows laptop, speed more important then size.
> 
> What would be a good refurb to look for in this price. Is it still old think pads or does anything else shine?



Depends what it's to be used for as you no doubt know.
My £200 refurbed ThinkPad is the dogs for what I do (Outlook, Excel, Visio and Word get hammered) but for someone else at my place of work it'd be no use (planning dept. for example - lots of graphics and massive images from architects in 'special' software)

For £200 I got a 2016 L460 - i5 6th gen - 4gb RAM and a 256gb SSD running Win 10 - I'd say it was in mint condition but they said it was grade B because of a couple of scuffs on the lid.  Like it so much I bought another for my daughter when Lockdown1 started and she was schooling at home.


----------



## David Clapson (Nov 13, 2020)

That's a great price. Where did you get it?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 13, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Depends what it's to be used for as you no doubt know.
> My £200 refurbed ThinkPad is the dogs for what I do (Outlook, Excel, Visio and Word get hammered) but for someone else at my place of work it'd be no use (planning dept. for example - lots of graphics and massive images from architects in 'special' software)
> 
> For £200 I got a 2016 L460 - i5 6th gen - 4gb RAM and a 256gb SSD running Win 10 - I'd say it was in mint condition but they said it was grade B because of a couple of scuffs on the lid.  Like it so much I bought another for my daughter when Lockdown1 started and she was schooling at home.



Not super portable, so 14 inch screen and above. Normal office stuff and as its 2020 plenty of video calling. 

I'm actually finding it harder then I thought on ebay to get 8gb or over with an SSD.


----------



## AnnO'Neemus (Nov 14, 2020)

List of some Black Friday deals here, there's an Asus Chromebook for only £199. Looks like it will be updated when other retailers announce their Black Friday deals. I'm hoping to get a new laptop too.
The Best Black Friday laptop deals 2020


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 14, 2020)

Well after dire pickings on ebay I'm wondering about this. Only 4gb of Ram, but a £30 upgrade would take it to 12gb. Has the advantage of a slightly more modern form factor as well.






						Laptops - Cheap Laptop Deals | Currys
					

Take advantage of amazing deals on our Laptops range here at Currys. Shop online and get free delivery or order & collect in store.




					www.currys.co.uk


----------



## Chz (Nov 15, 2020)

That's another case of "pull the other one". It was never worth £379. £279 is an appropriate price, not a spectacular bargain. Doesn't make it a bad deal, I'm just aghast at the "sale" part of it when there's a vastly more powerful version of _the same laptop_ at a regular price of £349.

It's bottom of the barrel, processor-wise. If you can cope with things taking a little while to run, it's fine. I don't know where you're getting 12GB of RAM from, though. It only supports 8. Also it only has the one RAM slot. 

Edit: Ah, maybe the 4 is soldered on and there's an empty slot. But I wouldn't swear to it, and Lenovo still says it's limited to 8GB.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 15, 2020)

Chz said:


> That's another case of "pull the other one". It was never worth £379. £279 is an appropriate price, not a spectacular bargain. Doesn't make it a bad deal, I'm just aghast at the "sale" part of it when there's a vastly more powerful version of _the same laptop_ at a regular price of £349.
> 
> It's bottom of the barrel, processor-wise. If you can cope with things taking a little while to run, it's fine. I don't know where you're getting 12GB of RAM from, though. It only supports 8. Also it only has the one RAM slot.



My bad. When I googled I found some information that said it supported 20gb. So the 4gb soldered to the motherboard and a 8gb stick. See this is why I'm glad I posted.

I think after many hours at staring at deals (I was being paid) my very strong recommendation is he finds some more money as your right the Ryzen 3 model isn't that much more. Personally I'm slightly at a loss about modern processors. I know that 4gb in 2020 isn't enough, this is very strongly evidenced by the work computer I upgraded.  I5 3470, took it from 4 to 16gb and gave it an SSD and it went from sluggish and awful to like a new computer and very very nice to use. I guess I'd hoped that even the more basic ones released in the last few years would work well for office stuff given enough ram and an SSD, but this is why I value your input.


----------



## Chz (Nov 16, 2020)

16G is nice and all, but quite honestly 8 is plenty for anyone who's not into gaming or video editing.


----------



## AnnO'Neemus (Nov 23, 2020)

Chz said:


> 16G is nice and all, but quite honestly 8 is plenty for anyone who's not into gaming or video editing.


Acer laptops come with shitloads of bloatware though. I've had two. So if an Acer said 8G I'd expect to have to uninstall/delete stuff.


----------



## maomao (Nov 23, 2020)

So my budget is 4-450. I need to be able to run teams and powerpoint at the same time but not to play games (chance would be a fine thing). At least a 14" screen would be good and I'm not keen on second hand or refurbished. I'm not really sure what I should be looking for and am getting bored scrolling through lists of laptops. Is black Friday likely to be helpful or are the bargains associated with it exaggerated?


----------



## yield (Nov 23, 2020)

Slightly over budget but I'd be tempted by this




__





						ASUS VivoBook M413DA 14" FHD Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7, 1 TB SSD, 8GB RAM, Silver - £476.10 delivered @ Currys PC World | hotukdeals
					






					www.hotukdeals.com


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 23, 2020)

I saw little actual bargains it must be said. Ended up pointing my boss at an Acer at Argos as it was the cheapest I could find with 8gb. From this whole experience I realised that spending a bit more really would pay dividends and why I ended up getting a chromebook for myself (obviously this isn't suitable for everyone)


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 23, 2020)

yield said:


> Slightly over budget but I'd be tempted by this
> 
> 
> 
> ...



See that looks like a nice machine.


----------



## maomao (Nov 23, 2020)

yield said:


> Slightly over budget but I'd be tempted by this
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good shout. That's more or less exactly what I'm after. Would settle for a much smaller ssd in fact.


----------



## maomao (Nov 23, 2020)

I might be doing less shopping around than I planned. My PC has just borked.


----------



## maomao (Nov 23, 2020)

yield said:


> Slightly over budget but I'd be tempted by this
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well I've bought it now. Paid a fiver to have it come tomorrow too. Thanks. It's better than my previous favourite and not much more.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 6, 2020)

from the Chromebook thread...


Throbbing Angel said:


> Chromebook 2 in 1 tablet deal @ Currys
> 
> £349  for  LENOVO IdeaPad Duet 10.1" 2 in 1 Chromebook & JBL Wireless Noise-Cancelling Headphones Bundle - MediaTek P60T, 128 GB eMCP, Blue & Grey
> 
> ...


----------



## maomao (Dec 11, 2020)

maomao said:


> Well I've bought it now. Paid a fiver to have it come tomorrow too. Thanks. It's better than my previous favourite and not much more.


This is a piece of shit, has crashed repeatedly and is now going to the Bios screen and no further. After the first two crashes I asked for a replacement and they told me it would take a week so I hung on to it because I need it desperately for work. Now I've missed an important Teams meeting and am staring at a lump of useless plastic. And the customer service bloke was so rude when I complained I will never use PCWorld again.


----------



## editor (Dec 11, 2020)

maomao said:


> This is a piece of shit, has crashed repeatedly and is now going to the Bios screen and no further. After the first two crashes I asked for a replacement and they told me it would take a week so I hung on to it because I need it desperately for work. Now I've missed an important Teams meeting and am staring at a lump of useless plastic. And the customer service bloke was so rude when I complained I will never use PCWorld again.


Would a Chromebook work for you? They're ridiculously fast, smooth and reliable compared to Windows machines around the same price.


----------



## maomao (Dec 11, 2020)

editor said:


> Would a Chromebook work for you? They're ridiculously fast, smooth and reliable compared to Windows machines around the same price.


I know from colleagues Teams runs poorly on Chromebooks and I struggle with anything less than the full version of PowerPoint and those are my main two needs. I think I'll be sending the bricked one back, requisitioning my wife's one and looking for something decent in the sales. 


Though any non PC World suggestions still welcome!


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 11, 2020)

maomao said:


> This is a piece of shit, has crashed repeatedly and is now going to the Bios screen and no further. After the first two crashes I asked for a replacement and they told me it would take a week so I hung on to it because I need it desperately for work. Now I've missed an important Teams meeting and am staring at a lump of useless plastic. And the customer service bloke was so rude when I complained I will never use PCWorld again.



tbf it isn't PCW or the customer service bloke's fault that the computer is playing up - so shopping there again or not makes no difference whatsoever to whether next laptop will work properly or not.  CSagents are supposed to just bend over though and take what you give them - that's part of the job, within limits, obvs. 

Of course, *none *of this helps you get your computer working or your Teams meeting back.  Don't you have a mobile or tablet as well you could have used for that.  Resilience they call it in IT.

Are you sure you're holding it right?


----------



## maomao (Dec 11, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> tbf it isn't PCW or the customer service bloke's fault that the computer is playing up - so shopping there again or not makes no difference whatsoever to whether next laptop will work properly or not.  CSagents are supposed to just bend over though and take what you give them - that's part of the job, within limits, obvs.
> 
> Of course, *none *of this helps you get your computer working or your Teams meeting back.  Don't you have a mobile or tablet as well you could have used for that.  Resilience they call it in IT.
> 
> Are you sure you're holding it right?


I don't use companies that piss me off (and he was genuinely rude and dismissive); I have a long list and enjoy bearing grudges.

And yes, I was already aware that people sometimes use Teams on their phones. They're the ones that keep saying 'I can't really see that, I'm on my phone'. I have no tablet to speak of, a titchy mobile near the end of its life, poor eyesight and dislike having work on my phone in the first place so I abandoned the idea rather than embarrass myself squinting into a badly angled screen unable to share or read documents. If I had just needed to talk to her I would have fucking phoned her.

I'm pretty sure I'm holding it right. It's on a nice cool desk, it refused to boot and on the two occasions it got past the password screen it bluescreened within a minute. I've removed peripherals and it's the same.  It had only been on for about ten minutes and was far too hot for a laptop with ssd that only had Outlook and Teams open.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 11, 2020)

Sounds fucked to me, you should c a l l  c  u  s  t  o ...

Oh


----------



## maomao (Dec 12, 2020)

So, moving on, are Dell laptops any good? Hardwearing is more important than good looks. I can get 5% off as a student so this one is pushing it a bit:









						Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell UK
					

Dell provides technology solutions, services & support. Buy Laptops, Touch Screen PCs, Desktops, Servers, Storage, Monitors, Gaming & Accessories



					www.dell.com
				




but I can get this for more or less exactly what the Asus cost:









						Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell UK
					

Dell provides technology solutions, services & support. Buy Laptops, Touch Screen PCs, Desktops, Servers, Storage, Monitors, Gaming & Accessories



					www.dell.com
				




I'm not arsed about storage, 250gb is plenty. Is the extra 20 quid worth it for a AMD Ryzen™ 5 4500U  rather than a  AMD Ryzen™ 5 3450U ?


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 12, 2020)

It is a better chip. If your spending that much, I'd be tempted. 








__





						UserBenchmark: AMD Ryzen 5 3500U vs 4500U
					





					cpu.userbenchmark.com


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 12, 2020)

maomao said:


> So, moving on, are Dell laptops any good? Hardwearing is more important than good looks. I can get 5% off as a student so this one is pushing it a bit:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



We pretty much have all Dells at work.
Mines an Inspiron 5400 i5 does the job very well.
I'm in Teams meetings all the time at work and it copes well with that plus using other office 365 apps at the same time.

I am cabled to a dock, though, so have no speed or wifi issues as I am in the office as we're Tier1 people.

At home on WiFi, a few stutters but nothing major.

Is your home WiFi up to it?

Oh, I hate the keyboard.  Others love the keyboard.
YMMV


----------



## maomao (Dec 12, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> We pretty much have Dells at work.
> Mines an Inspiron 5400 i5 does the job very well.
> I'm in Teams meetings all the time at work and it copes well with that plus using other office 365 apps at the same time.
> 
> ...


I have a USB docking station at home. And a nice wireless keyboard.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 12, 2020)

maomao said:


> I have a USB docking station at home. And a nice wireless keyboard.


You should be golden then.
I too use an external everything when using it at home.

Oh, and I never use the touchscreen.

Dell have this odd system of classifying their screens where some models accept stylus sand some don't.

If that's a must have for you, check it out. Touchscreen in the specs doesn't mean stylus or pen compatible, only finger compatible


----------



## Chz (Dec 12, 2020)

maomao said:


> So, moving on, are Dell laptops any good? Hardwearing is more important than good looks. I can get 5% off as a student so this one is pushing it a bit:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The performance difference isn't vast, but AMD made some big gains in battery efficiency in the newer chips. So if you're planning on using it in a mobile fashion, instead of as a small, movable desktop, it's probably worthwhile.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 14, 2020)

Speed on hukd





__





						Refurbished Grade A - Dell Latitude 5480 Laptop - i5-7440HQ / 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD / 14" FHD £327.88 @ Dell Refurbished | hotukdeals
					






					www.hotukdeals.com


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 14, 2020)

Dell Refurbished
					

Get great deals on Dell Refurbished Computers, Laptops, Desktops and more - Includes Dell Warranty. Direct from Dell




					www.dellrefurbished.co.uk


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 14, 2020)

Most seem average, but this one seems good if you can cope with a 17inch laptop









						Dell Refurbished
					

Get great deals on Dell Refurbished Computers, Laptops, Desktops and more - Includes Dell Warranty. Direct from Dell




					www.dellrefurbished.co.uk


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Dec 28, 2020)

Can I get some advice on these two plz? The first has great specs but is above budget. I'm happy to treat myself but mindful that I might be able to get something cheaper if I keep an eye out next couple of weeks...






						Laptops - Cheap Laptop Deals | Currys
					

Take advantage of amazing deals on our Laptops range here at Currys. Shop online and get free delivery or order & collect in store.




					www.currys.co.uk
				




Then there's this. Would like there to be an image yet the specs and price look great. 





__





						Ex-Display Lenovo IdeaPad 330S-15IKB Laptop Intel Core i5-8250U 1.6GHz 8GB DDR4 1TB HDD 15.6 | Ebuyer.com
					

Get a great deal on a Ex-Display Lenovo IdeaPad 330S-15IKB Laptop Intel Core i5-8250U 1.6GHz 8GB DDR4 1TB HDD 15.6 as well as thousands of products at Ebuyer!




					www.ebuyer.com


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 28, 2020)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Can I get some advice on these two plz? The first has great specs but is above budget. I'm happy to treat myself but mindful that I might be able to get something cheaper if I keep an eye out next couple of weeks...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I wouldnt go near the second one as it doesn't have a SSD.


----------



## RoyReed (Dec 28, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I wouldnt go near the second one as it doesn't have a SSD.


I wouldn't go near the first one either unless you're going to save everything to the cloud. 256GB is going to fill up pretty quickly.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Dec 28, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> I wouldn't go near the first one either unless you're going to save everything to the cloud. 256GB is going to fill up pretty quickly.



I don't think it will for me tbh. I stream most music/films, store my photos on the cloud and don't play games.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 28, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> I wouldn't go near the first one either unless you're going to save everything to the cloud. 256GB is going to fill up pretty quickly.


It is running *Windows 10 S * too  
_" Windows 10 S is a feature-limited edition of Windows 10 designed primarily for low-end devices in the education market. "_


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Dec 28, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> It is running *Windows 10 S * too
> _" Windows 10 S is a feature-limited edition of Windows 10 designed primarily for low-end devices in the education market. "_



That can be upgraded in the app store no?


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Dec 28, 2020)

I'm currently using a chromebook so 256GB is going to be plenty.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 28, 2020)

Threshers_Flail said:


> That can be upgraded in the app store no?



Dunno - I'd check that out before pulling the trigger tbh


----------



## maomao (Dec 28, 2020)

Throbbing Angel said:


> It is running *Windows 10 S * too
> _" Windows 10 S is a feature-limited edition of Windows 10 designed primarily for low-end devices in the education market. "_


As long as you turn off the s stuff on installation it's exactly the same as home edition. But do do it on installation or it's a pain apparently. Has never been any sort of problem on my wife's laptop since following this advice.


----------



## maomao (Dec 28, 2020)

Threshers_Flail said:


> That can be upgraded in the app store no?







__





						Switching out of S mode in Windows
					

Learn how to switch out of S mode to install apps from outside of the Microsoft Store or to upgrade to Windows 11.




					support.microsoft.com


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 28, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> I wouldn't go near the first one either unless you're going to save everything to the cloud. 256GB is going to fill up pretty quickly.



I guess it depends on what your working on, but to me, having loads of local storage on a mobile device is less important then it used to be as so much stuff is available in the cloud. And if you do want to add more then you can get tiny tiny usb drives which are quite high capacity. Obviously no good if your main thing is editing huge photos or video, but I'd rather have a small fast SSD over a slow HDD anyday.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 28, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I guess it depends on what your working on, but to me, having loads of local storage on a mobile device is less important then it used to be as so much stuff is available in the cloud. And if you do want to add more then you can get tiny tiny usb drives which are quite high capacity. Obviously no good if your main thing is editing huge photos or video, but I'd rather have a small fast SSD over a slow HDD anyday.



⬆⬆⬆ THIS ⬆⬆⬆


----------



## maomao (Dec 28, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> tiny tiny usb drives which are quite high capacity.


I got a 512gb san disk one for under 40 quid on black friday. Stupidly small too.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 28, 2020)

Yeah you can barely notice the one in my Chromebook is plugged in, other then the port not being free.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Dec 28, 2020)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Yeah you can barely notice the one in my Chromebook is plugged in, other then the port not being free.



SanDisk Cruzer was my choice or a mahoosive SD card.  I've finally cracked and paid for Microsoft 365 so 1TB of cloud storage and all me photos are slung into Google Photos automagically anyway.


----------



## RoyReed (Dec 28, 2020)

Threshers_Flail said:


> I don't think it will for me tbh. I stream most music/films, store my photos on the cloud and don't play games.


That’s OK then. I'm just comparing it to the one my wife bought two years ago with very similar specs. She's down to 15GB left. No videos, just a load of photos and music files.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Jan 6, 2021)

I'm still stuck getting a new laptop so if anyone stumbles on a deal then please share here!


----------



## Roadkill (Jan 24, 2021)

AnnO'Neemus said:


> Acer laptops come with shitloads of bloatware though. I've had two. So if an Acer said 8G I'd expect to have to uninstall/delete stuff.



I know I'm responding to an old post here, but ain't that the truth.  I've just bought an Acer and the inevitable session of disabling and uninstalling the crapware was even longer than usual!

I quite like the Acer though.  Compared to the HP it replaced, the sound isn't as good, the touchpad is very sensitive and takes a bit of getting used to, and in general it feels a bit cheap.  But then it _was_ cheap; fully fifty quid cheaper than an HP of similar spec, so I can't complain.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 29, 2021)

Anyone bought a Chuwi before? 

Was helping my boss laptop shop today and they are really good value and the reviews aren't terrible, but I couldnt quite bring myself to suggest one. It's really not a great time to be buying a laptop though is it?


----------



## cybershot (Jan 29, 2021)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Anyone bought a Chuwi before?
> 
> Was helping my boss laptop shop today and they are really good value and the reviews aren't terrible, but I couldnt quite bring myself to suggest one. It's really not a great time to be buying a laptop though is it?


Nope. It’s a case of get hold of what you can. Still waiting for Lenovo’s to arrive that I ordered 3 months ago!!


----------



## maomao (Jan 29, 2021)

I ended up getting this for 489 from AO:









						1N7V2EA#ABU | HP Laptop | ao.com
					

From your next holiday to a lawn mower, you can shop deals with this 1N7V2EA#ABU HP laptop. It comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 processor and a 256GB SSD.




					ao.com
				




Currently out of stock in silver but they have in white or blue. Can always get a tenner voucher code on ao stuff.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 29, 2021)

cybershot said:


> Nope. It’s a case of get hold of what you can. Still waiting for Lenovo’s to arrive that I ordered 3 months ago!!



Ended up getting a refurb HP Elite book from 2018, 5th gen i5 and SSD. Should hopefully run a bit nicer then the really cheap stuff from Argos and if it dies in a year, we'll hopefully I won't be here.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 16, 2021)

Upgraded a Lenovo 505s for £27. The adding a SSD and more RAM is not exactly a new trick, but it's certainly more affordable. £15 SSD and second hand RAM from ebay. It was my OHs and has been sat gathering dust for years. The market is bonkers at the moment. With out upgrades people are trying to sell them for £150 on ebay at the moment.


----------



## Riklet (Mar 27, 2021)

Threshers_Flail said:


> I'm still stuck getting a new laptop so if anyone stumbles on a deal then please share here!



Did you get one or still looking?

Budget?


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 22, 2021)

Riklet said:


> Did you get one or still looking?
> 
> Budget?



I'm looking.  Got a lenovo for my daughter to do her homework last March.  
12 month warranty. After 13 months the motherboard dies

So looking for a replacement.  Storage isn't a priority as she can save in the cloud.  But reliability is

My old Asus N56 from 2012 is still going strong!


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 22, 2021)

any thoughts on this?

Asus vivobook

or this

another asus

or a chromebook


she needs to write essays and edit documents .  we don't have an ofice 365 subscription so  I don't know if software the chromebook would be good for that


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 22, 2021)

rubbershoes said:


> any thoughts on this?
> 
> Asus vivobook
> 
> ...



You can use the Web version, which is impressive for what it is, but not the same. 

Both this Windows machines are very low spec, so will be sluggish as anything to use. In the circumstances I'd probably buy a chromebook for this reason.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 22, 2021)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> You can use the Web version, which is impressive for what it is, but not the same.
> 
> Both this Windows machines are very low spec, so will be sluggish as anything to use. In the circumstances I'd probably buy a chromebook for this reason.




we've got decent broadband  and she does her work online on the school system


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 22, 2021)

rubbershoes said:


> we've got decent broadband  and she does her work online on the school system



I'd be tempted by a Chromebook then. They are so much nicer to use then cheap Windows laptops.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 22, 2021)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I'd be tempted by a Chromebook then. They are so much nicer to use then cheap Windows laptops.



^^^this^^^

from the 3 you linked to I'd go for Asus C403NA-FQ0034 Intel Celeron N3350 4GB 32GB eMMC 14 Inch Chromebook - Laptops Direct

3 year warranty and a spill resistant keyboard would catch my eye as a parent.
My daughter used my old Chromebook for a year or so to do her Secondary school work - no issues.  
Used Word etc online via a school subscription or worked within their VLE. All good.

There are loads of Chromebook models about at around that price point - have a scout round.
John Lewis will automatically give you a 2 yr warranty.

Also check the end of life date here   Auto Update policy - Google Chrome Enterprise Help

That model from laptops direct has just over 3 years of updates left.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 22, 2021)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I'd be tempted by a Chromebook then. They are so much nicer to use then cheap Windows laptops.



Definitely much less frustrating than an underpowered Windows machine, which cheaper models often are.


----------



## Chz (Apr 23, 2021)

rubbershoes said:


> I'm looking.  Got a lenovo for my daughter to do her homework last March.
> 12 month warranty. After 13 months the motherboard dies
> 
> So looking for a replacement.  Storage isn't a priority as she can save in the cloud.  But reliability is
> ...


I imagine you'd have a very good case under consumer protection laws to get that repaired for free. But you'd have to fight for it, which is a right pita.

It's a bit late to say so, but _always_ buy the extended warranty on a laptop unless you're the sort who enjoys fighting for repairs. I think the last Lenovo I bought the extension to 3 years was all of £40.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 27, 2021)

Chz said:


> I imagine you'd have a very good case under consumer protection laws to get that repaired for free. But you'd have to fight for it, which is a right pita.
> 
> It's a bit late to say so, but _always_ buy the extended warranty on a laptop unless you're the sort who enjoys fighting for repairs. I think the last Lenovo I bought the extension to 3 years was all of £40.



Liked for the warranty comment - same here if it is reasonably priced. It is one of the main reasons I used to use John Lewis for a lot of stuff. 2 yr warranty, sometimes 3, on electricals and they never once baulked at me returning a gadget. I even got a 100% refund after 20 months into a 2yr warranty on a Chromebook they couldn't fix (or it wasn't worth it, whichever).


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 27, 2021)

Another cheap player to the market for people looking for a laptop-like device.

Might suit some of you/them/everybody. The same set up with an iPad would be approaching £500 
 [iPad £329, Smart Keyboard £159 - cheaper folio type keyboards are available but were in my experience all shitty, go to CeX and get one for £20 like I did]


The reviews of the Amazon keyboard should be interesting. £50 if bought alone.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 27, 2021)

Please bear in mind that this is a gateway drug to get you to buy all manner of other Amazon stuff.

Cheap but pretty good tablet - cheap and hopefully good keyboard folio case thing - and bundled with one year of Office 365 (anywhere between £40and £80 depending on where and when you buy). It has a nag screen that shows you Amazon adverts unless you pay to remove that (a tenner) - plus all the apps are Amazon based. They have their own OS and app store, so it is but really isn't an Android tablet.


We've all had Fire Tablets. Lil'Angel and I unlocked ours to make them able to use the Google Play Store for apps which opened the device up a lot and made them much more useful in my opinion. Like being able to install BorrowBox so I could read library books on my Kindle (Fuck You Bezos!)

YMMV and unlocking this straight away will obviously bork your warranty immediately.


----------



## cybershot (May 28, 2021)

Next door neighbour has done the dreaded can you recommend me a new laptop, and as I only moved in, in December and he seems a really nice bloke especially when it comes to doing building type work, I'd like to keep him on side.

As it's bank holiday weekend I thought there might be some deals on.

He said something light, 13" range, and doesn't do a whole lot just browsing and word processing and what not, however said in the £350 price range. I said for a slim light laptop for that price you'll be looking at the budget end of the market, so I have pre-empted that.

Best I can see in Currys is this: LENOVO IdeaPad 3i 14" Laptop - Intel® Core™ i3, 128 GB SSD, Blue although 14" and a bit over budget.

I don't mind wiping it and putting on vanilla Windows so it runs a bit smoother and I can install Office for him using a work key.

Anything better out there urban hive mind? No shitty small 64GB eMMC hard drives please, as I don't want regular visits because Windows Updates won't install  I can't believe laptops are still being shipped with 4GB of RAM though as standard, seems like it's been like that for years now!


----------



## Throbbing Angel (May 28, 2021)

Lenovo have a flash sale on ATM


----------



## Chz (May 28, 2021)

I find that 4GB offensive. That 10th gen i3 is no better than the 7th gen i3 I bought the mrs 3 years back, and for a bit under that price it was at least a convertible with a touchscreen.

That said, there is a shortage of parts out there so things are a bit pricier than they could be. I would save £50 and get the Pentium here:





						Laptops - Cheap Laptop Deals | Currys
					

Take advantage of amazing deals on our Laptops range here at Currys. Shop online and get free delivery or order & collect in store.




					www.currys.co.uk
				




Only difference between the Pentium Gold and the i3 is a bit of clock speed. They're both 2core/4thread which is enough for any casual use.


----------



## glitch hiker (May 28, 2021)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Lenovo have a flash sale on ATM


do you have a link?


----------



## Throbbing Angel (May 28, 2021)

__





						Bag up to -32% bargains on the quick
					

We’re spring clearing our inventory at lenovo.co.uk: Roll up your sleeves, take action and save on selected laptops & more ✅



					www.lenovo.com
				





glitch hiker said:


> do you have a link?


----------



## Chz (May 28, 2021)

Ah, it's a pity the mainstream 14" ones aren't really on "sale" (they're cheaper at Curry's). The big discounts are on the expensive ones and Chromebooks.


----------



## glitch hiker (May 28, 2021)

Throbbing Angel said:


> __
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It is so!

Thanks


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (May 28, 2021)

Chz said:


> I find that 4GB offensive. That 10th gen i3 is no better than the 7th gen i3 I bought the mrs 3 years back, and for a bit under that price it was at least a convertible with a touchscreen.
> 
> That said, there is a shortage of parts out there so things are a bit pricier than they could be. I would save £50 and get the Pentium here:
> 
> ...



It's pretty shocking how many budget laptops are still sold like this. I dread people asking me with this kind of budget like they have for cybershot.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jun 10, 2021)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Another cheap player to the market for people looking for a laptop-like device.
> 
> Might suit some of you/them/everybody. The same set up with an iPad would be approaching £500
> [iPad £329, Smart Keyboard £159 - cheaper folio type keyboards are available but were in my experience all shitty, go to CeX and get one for £20 like I did]
> ...



Even cheaper now at £209.99
All-new Fire HD 10 tablet, 32 GB, Black, with Ads + Bluetooth keyboard + 12-month Microsoft 365 Personal subscription
by Amazon: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08XXFT6QZ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_FP6B5X5501PESMJQXKB2


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 10, 2021)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Even cheaper now at £209.99
> All-new Fire HD 10 tablet, 32 GB, Black, with Ads + Bluetooth keyboard + 12-month Microsoft 365 Personal subscription
> by Amazon: All-new Fire HD 10 tablet, 32 GB, Black, with Ads + Bluetooth keyboard + 12-month Microsoft 365 Personal subscription: Amazon.co.uk: Amazon Devices



They can be removed but I can now confirm ads on a tablet are a travesty.

Also I'm not sure if I could recommend a Fire Tablet with the Amazon ecosystem to most people, unless they were confident to remove it (which luckily is quite easy)


----------



## iamwithnail (Jun 11, 2021)

I have a fire tablet and it’s honestly one of the worst bits of kit I have.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 11, 2021)

iamwithnail said:


> I have a fire tablet and it’s honestly one of the worst bits of kit I have.



Have you run the fire toolkit on it to make it stock.


----------



## Chz (Jun 11, 2021)

iamwithnail said:


> I have a fire tablet and it’s honestly one of the worst bits of kit I have.


Adjusted for price, I think it's the best bit of kit I have. Though maybe not quite as good as the Tesco Hudl 2 was at the time. But the first part of that sentence is key. Also, the Fire 10" (which is what I have) is quite a *lot *more powerful than the smaller ones.

Ads are just on the lockscreen, so I don't even see them really.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 4, 2021)

mum-tat is contemplating a lap-top as a second device (she has a full PC, but tends to use something else when she is downstairs, and going up / down stairs a few times a day is getting more difficult) - it's going to be mainly internetting and e-mails, nothing too drastic.

she has seen a couple of things that argos do for about 200 quid - i've looked at them, and they appear to be 'cloudbooks' with this s-mode windoze 10.  

my initial reaction to this is  and i can't help thinking that for similar money, a refurbished proper laptop would be better (i've got a refurbished thinkpad for when i'm away from home), and we could keep the software pretty much matching between the two.

any thoughts from the panel?


----------



## existentialist (Oct 4, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> mum-tat is contemplating a lap-top as a second device (she has a full PC, but tends to use something else when she is downstairs, and going up / down stairs a few times a day is getting more difficult) - it's going to be mainly internetting and e-mails, nothing too drastic.
> 
> she has seen a couple of things that argos do for about 200 quid - i've looked at them, and they appear to be 'cloudbooks' with this s-mode windoze 10.
> 
> ...


If all she wants is Internet and email, might a tablet not be more the job?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 4, 2021)

existentialist said:


> If all she wants is Internet and email, might a tablet not be more the job?



she has a tablet now and this is a possible replacement for it.

she finds it a bit small to see clearly, and poking at the touch-screen with a prodding stick instead of a proper keyboard is fairly time consuming and tends to result in quite a lot of typos and bad language...

(and i don't really understand tablets so offering tech support when it does something weird is less easy.  broadly speaking, i try and keep us both on matching software so it's easier to talk her through something from home)


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Oct 4, 2021)

Chromebook innit.

I loved both of mine.


----------



## maomao (Oct 4, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> s-mode windoze 10.


Don't worry about this as it can easily be changed to the normal version on set up.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 4, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> mum-tat is contemplating a lap-top as a second device (she has a full PC, but tends to use something else when she is downstairs, and going up / down stairs a few times a day is getting more difficult) - it's going to be mainly internetting and e-mails, nothing too drastic.
> 
> she has seen a couple of things that argos do for about 200 quid - i've looked at them, and they appear to be 'cloudbooks' with this s-mode windoze 10.
> 
> ...



Avoid. They are awful. I'm not the biggest fan of chromebooks (owned one for a few years) but seems perfect here.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 4, 2021)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Avoid. They are awful. I'm not the biggest fan of chromebooks (owned one for a few years) but seems perfect here.



sorry, which is awful?  cloudbook, chromebook, or refurbished laptop?

i'm on my 3rd refurbished laptop in probably 15 years or more and never really had difficulty with them other than one of them the battery got knackered but it still worked fine on the mains, which will be what mum-tat does.

(actually, second one was just second paw not refurbished and was given to me - it still works but runs on vista so is obsolete.  there's one obscure thing i keep it for, as the software in question can't be loaded to a 64 bit computer)

i'd prefer to have something that's on windows 10 so that i have a reasonable idea what to do if something goes wrong, rather than it all being completely different to anything i'm used to like the tablet thing...


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Oct 4, 2021)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Avoid. They are awful. I'm not the biggest fan of chromebooks (owned one for a few years) but seems perfect here.


Seconded. Underpowered crap cloudbooks.

Lil'Angel had an early version of one called an HP stream.  Utter shit from day one. Best avoided.

I bought her a £200 refurb ThinkPad months later.  100x better


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Oct 4, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> sorry, which is awful?  cloudbook, chromebook, or refurbished laptop?
> 
> i'm on my 3rd refurbished laptop in probably 15 years or more and never really had difficulty with them other than one of them the battery got knackered but it still worked fine on the mains, which will be what mum-tat does.
> 
> ...




Sorry I meant cloudbooks/underpowered windows laptops are awful. One joy of Chromebooks is that there is nothing to go wrong. My Dad who was terrible with computers coped great with his.  

You can get Win10 in 32bit if you could be bothered.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 4, 2021)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Sorry I meant cloudbooks/underpowered windows laptops are awful.



thanks - that's what i thought you meant.  will try and suggest the refurbished laptop option



UnderAnOpenSky said:


> One joy of Chromebooks is that there is nothing to go wrong.



hmm - that might be seen as a challenge 



UnderAnOpenSky said:


> You can get Win10 in 32bit if you could be bothered.



thanks - realise there are ways round it, at the moment, the simplest is to keep this vista thing going for that one purpose and keep it in a dark corner the rest of the time.  doing it better with newer software would be a better answer but there's a committee involved in the decision...


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## Throbbing Angel (May 24, 2022)

oi oi - laptop for a new student (A Levels) needed

The college website states:
*IT & Laptop Advice*
The College has a large number of desktop and laptop computers for you to use on campus. For some courses, it may be beneficial to also have your own laptop. Below is some advice on what to look for when purchasing a laptop.

What laptop to choose from?

Our recommendation is to buy a laptop with the following specifications:

Intel i3/i5/i7 or AMD Ryzen 3/5/7 CPU
4/8GB of RAM   120GB SSD   13”/15” screen
We do not make official recommendations on the specific make of laptops. When choosing your laptop processing power is less important than weight (light) and battery life (long). The more RAM you have the better. An SSD hard drive can speed up some processes but is not essential. A touch screen can be useful for annotating notes but is also not essential.

An iPad or tablet could also be used, but we would recommend a keyboard attachment to aid in typing.
I'm looking at this at the moment on eBay: Acer 14" Laptop 8 GB RAM 512GB Intel® Core™ i5 Windows 11 - Silver 4710886793311 | eBay

Much as I despise AO (due to a number of fuck ups they have made with household appliances we've had from them) the price is right thanks to there already being 24%off and now a further 20% off thanks to ebay, bringing it down to £440 ish from £729.

*Any glaring problems with this laptop?   Any other/better suggestions?

My* main concerns for the said student are weight and battery life. (based on my own lugging around of laptops).


​


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## Throbbing Angel (May 25, 2022)

Anyone?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (May 25, 2022)

It looks good for a machine in its price range. 14" makes a big difference in terms of how portable a machine is.

Still frustrates me that 8gb is the standard until you spend a lot more. My work laptop often craps out mid afternoon when there is a lot going on, but I'm probably pushing it a bit harder then she will.


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## Throbbing Angel (May 25, 2022)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> It looks good for a machine in its price range. 14" makes a big difference in terms of how portable a machine is.
> 
> Still frustrates me that 8gb is the standard until you spend a lot more. My work laptop often craps out mid afternoon when there is a lot going on, but I'm probably pushing it a bit harder then she will.



RE:14" - too big or too small - or are you on about weight?

This is 1.2kg according to the specs on eBay - so a little lighter than a MacBook Air


8gb will be fine for her use/needs - but I know what you mean


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## UnderAnOpenSky (May 25, 2022)

Throbbing Angel said:


> RE:14" - too big or too small - or are you on about weight?
> 
> This is 1.2kg according to the specs on eBay - so a little lighter than a MacBook Air
> 
> ...



No screen size. 14" seems optimal for a portable machine. Any smaller and they are a pain to work on, but unless it's super expensive, most 15" ones are quite bulky.


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## Chz (May 25, 2022)

14" is "just right" to me.
Think it's on the pricey side for 8GB and last generation CPU, but it is quite light. Something that I don't particularly value, but you might.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (May 25, 2022)

Chz said:


> 14" is "just right" to me.
> Think it's on the pricey side for 8GB and last generation CPU, but it is quite light. Something that I don't particularly value, but you might.


 
Still a decent chip. We're still ordering them at work for clients. Obviously the Dell ones are a fair bit more expensive.


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## 8ball (May 25, 2022)

Chz said:


> 14" is "just right" to me.



😳


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## Chz (Jun 1, 2022)

If you or someone you know has a Costco membership, this is a pretty good spec (and a 2 year warranty) for the price:




__





						ASUS VivoBook K513EA OLED Laptop - 15.6", Intel Core i3-1115G4 , 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 2 Year Warranty - £349.99 (Members Only) @ Costco | hotukdeals
					






					www.hotukdeals.com


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 1, 2022)

Chz said:


> If you or someone you know has a Costco membership, this is a pretty good spec (and a 2 year warranty) for the price:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I didn't know that OLEDs on laptops was wide spread, especially at that price!


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## Miss-Shelf (Jun 1, 2022)

What is OLED and what is CPU 

how light is light ?

What is the next GB after 8 and what price range would it take it into?

(looking for new laptop)


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 1, 2022)

Miss-Shelf said:


> What is OLED and what is CPU
> 
> how light is light ?
> 
> ...



OLED stands for Organic LED and is the technology found on posh TVs.

CPU is the part of the computer that does most of the work It's one of the parts that governs how fast it is.

16Gb would be next. Typically they are much more expensive, although you may find cheaper machines with 16gb. They are often compromised in other ways.

What's your budget and what do you want to use it for?


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## Chz (Jun 1, 2022)

Miss-Shelf said:


> What is OLED and what is CPU
> 
> how light is light ?
> 
> ...


OLED is a more vivid screen, with zero backlight bleed. Usually there's a tradeoff of a lower maximum brightness, but vs other laptops in this price range this screen actually has _better _peak brightness.

CPU is 2 cores/4 threads, but a proper Core i3. I'd call it a minimum, but perfectly acceptable for most usage. Despite the core count, faster than a 4 core Celeron.

Seems to be 1.8kg, so light-ish for a 15" but not ultralight.

From what I'm googling, there is a slot to upgrade the RAM. They aren't selling a 16GB variant, so you'd have to DIY or find a techie. What it doesn't say is if it's 4 soldered, 4 in the slot, or just 8 soldered (which would be better). It's standard laptop memory, so not pricey. Worst case it's 2x4GB so you either upgrade to 12 or 20.

For the price, I think it's quite good. It's not a heavyweight, but you're not getting that in this price range - the same laptop with an 8 core CPU and 16GB rolls in at £650.


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## Miss-Shelf (Jun 1, 2022)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> OLED stands for Organic LED and is the technology found on posh TVs.
> 
> CPU is the part of the computer that does most of the work It's one of the parts that governs how fast it is.
> 
> ...


budget ideally under 600 but might go to 800 if that was going to be a better experienced

i don't game.  Will watch some tv/films

mainly work needs - I move it around a lot so weight and hardiness are important


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## Miss-Shelf (Jun 1, 2022)

Chz said:


> OLED is a more vivid screen, with zero backlight bleed. Usually there's a tradeoff of a lower maximum brightness, but vs other laptops in this price range this screen actually has _better _peak brightness.
> 
> CPU is 2 cores/4 threads, but a proper Core i3. I'd call it a minimum, but perfectly acceptable for most usage. Despite the core count, faster than a 4 core Celeron.
> 
> ...


thank you that's helpful


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## Chz (Jun 1, 2022)

Those are the things you really pay extra for, though. Business laptops are lighter and more durable than most consumer machines, but they *start* at the top end of your budget. Latitudes and Thinkpads are great, but you'd probably want to look at used ones.

No shame in that - a good many people would prefer a used business laptop to a brand new consumer level one.


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## 8ball (Jun 1, 2022)

Chz said:


> Those are the things you really pay extra for, though. Business laptops are lighter and more durable than most consumer machines, but they *start* at the top end of your budget. Latitudes and Thinkpads are great, but you'd probably want to look at used ones.



Was not aware of this.

I'm also in the market for a new PC (prob laptop) at the moment.
Not sure I know anyone with Costco membership, though...


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 1, 2022)

Chz said:


> Those are the things you really pay extra for, though. Business laptops are lighter and more durable than most consumer machines, but they *start* at the top end of your budget. Latitudes and Thinkpads are great, but you'd probably want to look at used ones.
> 
> No shame in that - a good many people would prefer a used business laptop to a brand new consumer level one.



My worry would be batteries don't hold charge quite so well, so you loose some of that portability. I've recommended recon before to people but I think that budget can go new, even if not a latitude. Much as I like mine, I'm not sure I'd buy one with my own money.

Miss-Shelf Do you know what screen size you'd like? 14" is a good all rounder for portability, obviously smaller makes more so.


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## Chz (Jun 2, 2022)

If you need the extra CPU oomph, this is pretty decent, too. Possibly the cheapest i7 I've seen, and I know there's a free RAM slot.




__





						ASUS X415EA-EB384T Laptop, Intel Core i7 Processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14" Full HD, Silver
					

Buy ASUS X415EA-EB384T Laptop, Intel Core i7 Processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14" Full HD, Silver from our View All Laptops & MacBooks range at John Lewis & Partners. Free Delivery on orders over £50.



					www.johnlewis.com
				




I think there's a lot of inventory clearing going on as the 12th gen stuff rolls out.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 2, 2022)

Chz said:


> If you need the extra CPU oomph, this is pretty decent, too. Possibly the cheapest i7 I've seen, and I know there's a free RAM slot.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That's a bargain for a machine its size, and an extra 8gb if RAM is cheap.


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## Throbbing Angel (Sep 9, 2022)

Hello,

This laptop has been reduced by £200 to £499. So just over the maximum for this thread really, however, I'd like thoughts on it from the hive mind.

My main question is about the AMD Ryzen 5 5500U Processor. How good, fast, etc is that? What's the Intel equivalent, for example?

I'm googling for reviews as one does but I trust you lot more.

It is for lil'Angel (not so lil' now as she's started her A levels this week) and it will be for her college work (see below).  So it will be rucksacked via bus to college and back 4 or 5 days a week. Light and long battery life are important for her IMHO. She won't be using much beyond web, Office and probably Blendr on it. It needs to last 2-3 years.

e2a: 
LENOVO Yoga 6 13.3" 2 in 1 Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5, 256 GB SSD, Abyss Blue
https://www.currys.co.uk/products/l...d-ryzen-5-256-gb-ssd-abyss-blue-10225082.html

Thanks in advance



Throbbing Angel said:


> The college website states (below) - no mention of the OS
> _*IT & Laptop Advice*
> The College has a large number of desktop and laptop computers for you to use on campus. For some courses, it may be beneficial to also have your own laptop. Below is some advice on what to look for when purchasing a laptop.
> 
> ...


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## Crispy (Sep 9, 2022)

The newer Ryzens are good chips. The 5500 is comparable to an intel i5, but with much better graphics (which will matter for Blender)

What laptop model is it? (AMD comeback in laptops is relatively new and some manufacturers have botched it, which MAY explain the discount)


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## Throbbing Angel (Sep 9, 2022)

Crispy said:


> The newer Ryzens are good chips. The 5500 is comparable to an intel i5, but with much better graphics (which will matter for Blender)
> 
> What laptop model is it? (AMD comeback in laptops is relatively new and some manufacturers have botched it, which MAY explain the discount)




Yes, that would help.  Copied but didn't paste it in...



			https://www.currys.co.uk/products/lenovo-yoga-6-13.3-2-in-1-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-256-gb-ssd-abyss-blue-10225082.html


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## cybershot (Sep 9, 2022)

Looks decent on paper. Will no doubt have a load of pre-installed shite though, if you're able, wipe it and install vanilla Windows.


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## Crispy (Sep 9, 2022)

That's a great price, and the reviews are all very solid. Looks like a winner.
WRT to pre-installed stuff, that can be uninstalled these days. All the HP crap is gone off my laptop, just went into Apps & Features and uninstalled the lot.


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## 8ball (Sep 9, 2022)

Crispy said:


> That's a great price, and the reviews are all very solid. Looks like a winner.
> WRT to pre-installed stuff, that can be uninstalled these days. All the HP crap is gone off my laptop, just went into Apps & Features and uninstalled the lot.



I’ve had trouble getting rid of crapware in the past.  Is there a company that does “no shit” machines?


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## Chz (Sep 9, 2022)

5500U is the sweet spot, IMO. You get 6 cores, they're not as high powered as Zen 3 or Intel 12th gen, but they're more efficient. It's Zen 2 refined for laptop work. I'd wager it's still more powerful than a lot of peoples' desktops.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 20, 2022)

8ball said:


> I’ve had trouble getting rid of crapware in the past.  Is there a company that does “no shit” machines?



It's pretty inoffensive on the Dells we buy for work, but I wouldn't buy one as they are on the pricy side.

You can always just download windows from Microsoft and nuke whatever comes with from orbit, but generally it's far better then it used to be.


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## Riklet (Nov 24, 2022)

What do you guys think of a Thinkpad T480S? I'd heard good things so recommended it to a friend looking for an under £450 laptop as a backup for work conferences.. but which can also handle some lighter gaming and isnt too heavy.

Seen some for good prices online. Thinkpad fanboys seem to like them. Anyone got one?


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## Throbbing Angel (Nov 24, 2022)

2.9lbs isn't light in my book.

Does it have a 7th or 8th gen processor?

2018 model.

I've been very happy with my refurbed ThinkPads. They seem to go forever.

How's the battery? And what are you defining as light gaming?


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## Throbbing Angel (Dec 15, 2022)

Grade A Refurbished - Dell Latitude 7390 - i7-8650U / 16GB RAM / 256GB SSD / Backlit Keyboard / 1080p - £266.34 With Code @ Dell Refurbished | hotukdeals
					






					www.hotukdeals.com
				




Grade A Refurbished - Dell Latitude 7390 - i7-8650U / 16GB RAM / 256GB SSD / Backlit Keyboard / 1080p - £266.34 With Code @ Dell Refurbished​
Seems like a deal to me
Base specs

Grade A
13.3" FHD (1920 x 1080)
1x Intel Core i7-8650U (4-Core, 1.90 GHz)
16 GB (1x 16GB)
256 GB (1x 256 GB SSD)
Integrated Graphics
No Optical
Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T)
Wireless 802.11 ac
Webcam Included
UK Backlit Keyboard
64-bit Windows 10 Pro


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## Chz (Dec 16, 2022)

A bit old, but they're _solid. _It's what I had before they "upgraded" me to an HP that's 3 generations of CPU newer, and yet I still want my fucking Dell back. Also nice to have an actual ethernet port on it. 8th gen will run Windows 11 FWIW.

Edit: Looks like they sold out *fast*. I'd totally have considered it if I had needed a laptop. Honestly a great machine if they come up again.


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## Throbbing Angel (Dec 16, 2022)

Chz said:


> A bit old, but they're _solid. _It's what I had before they "upgraded" me to an HP that's 3 generations of CPU newer, and yet I still want my fucking Dell back. Also nice to have an actual ethernet port on it. 8th gen will run Windows 11 FWIW.
> 
> Edit: Looks like they sold out *fast*. I'd totally have considered it if I had needed a laptop. Honestly a great machine if they come up again.


Yeah - worth it to find out about the existence of www.dellrefurbished.co.uk if nowt else.


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