Laptop recommendations
Discussion
Need some recommendations from you guys
I’ve always either had work laptops (fine if something goes wrong) or I’ve bought cheapo 2nd hand ones (not so good if something goes wrong…
But this time I thought I’d treat myself to a new one. Have been looking on and off but haven’t got anywhere. Hopefully if I give you some idea of what Im looking for and/or what I’ll be using it for someone can point me in the right direction to help me make the correct choice.
I’ve got a budget of £500-£700. can you get ‘package deals’ ? if so i want to get as much accessories as possible (such as cameras/printers/storage devices, that sort of thing). IDEALY I would mind having a docking station with it as well.
so, i was thinking b=out of these:
Dell
IBM
Sony Vaio
anybody got anything good/bad to say about them? or any perticular models to go for?
It’s mainly going to be used for surfing, holding my music collection (although i could buy a auxillary storage devise for that...) and photos, watching DVDs (lots!) photoshop-ing, will also be frequently using most MS Office products (word/excel/access/powerpoint/publisher)
Nothing too strenuous as it’s a personal laptop and not a work one. Obviously I’v like it to be reliable and robust, but wouldn’t mind it looking a bit ‘funky’
Does anyone have any recommendations?
I’ve always either had work laptops (fine if something goes wrong) or I’ve bought cheapo 2nd hand ones (not so good if something goes wrong…
But this time I thought I’d treat myself to a new one. Have been looking on and off but haven’t got anywhere. Hopefully if I give you some idea of what Im looking for and/or what I’ll be using it for someone can point me in the right direction to help me make the correct choice.
I’ve got a budget of £500-£700. can you get ‘package deals’ ? if so i want to get as much accessories as possible (such as cameras/printers/storage devices, that sort of thing). IDEALY I would mind having a docking station with it as well.
so, i was thinking b=out of these:
Dell
IBM
Sony Vaio
anybody got anything good/bad to say about them? or any perticular models to go for?
It’s mainly going to be used for surfing, holding my music collection (although i could buy a auxillary storage devise for that...) and photos, watching DVDs (lots!) photoshop-ing, will also be frequently using most MS Office products (word/excel/access/powerpoint/publisher)
Nothing too strenuous as it’s a personal laptop and not a work one. Obviously I’v like it to be reliable and robust, but wouldn’t mind it looking a bit ‘funky’
Does anyone have any recommendations?
Edited by Umar B on Friday 9th February 11:20
The only thing I'd say about Toshibas is that they're not always 100% compatible with iPods, if that's a consideration. There's some incompatibility issue with the USB drivers for enhanced USB, or whatever it's called. (You can tell I'm no techie, can't you?!) I've also had a few issues with the "adapter tip" with my Toshiba Equium - I can bore you to death with tales of that if you're interested?
In any case, I'm just about to swap my Toshiba for a Lenovo Z61M. Which kind of says it all really. Lenovo have a very good reputation, and their machines seem to be reliable. I'll tell you next week if they're not.
In any case, I'm just about to swap my Toshiba for a Lenovo Z61M. Which kind of says it all really. Lenovo have a very good reputation, and their machines seem to be reliable. I'll tell you next week if they're not.
Over the last few years I have seen more Sony Vaio laptops sent back to Sony than I can remember. They seems to blow system boards quite alot and the backlight on the screens are prone to failure. That said, we have supplied quite a few to customers a few years back so they may have fixed these issues.
My personal experience says go for the Thinkpad (Lenovo) as they are robust and well laid out. Everything seems to work on them... Failing that, maybe a Dell.
I've had about 6-7 laptops over the last 14 years, They have included Thinkpad, Tosh, Sony and Dell. The longest was my A31p Thinkpad, had that about four years... Bulletproof basically...
t350chunder said:
My personal experience says go for the Thinkpad (Lenovo) as they are robust and well laid out. Everything seems to work on them...
I'm so glad you said that. Mine has just arrived.
ETA: My Compaq gave me nothing but trouble...
Edited by SGirl on Friday 9th February 14:16
Toshiba has got some great deals on at the moment on certain models. £100 cashback and if they fail in the first 12 months you get it either fixed or replaced PLUS your money back! You can extend the warranty to 3 years (£80) and this also extends the money back on fail offer too. 
I've just advised a school I deal with to order 10 of these :-
http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpre
Offer only on till 28th February.
I've just advised a school I deal with to order 10 of these :-
http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpre
Offer only on till 28th February.
Edited by roy the boy on Friday 9th February 17:38
Might sound a strange recommendation, but have a look at Toys R Us - I bought a Gateway laptop from them in November and am very happy with it - at the time it was £799 but I think it is down to £699 now. Equivalent spec from PC world was at least £200 more - can't remember the make. Also, you can get 12months interest free with a 10% deposit which makes for a pretty good deal.
roy the boy said:
Toshiba has got some great deals on at the moment on certain models. £100 cashback and if they fail in the first 12 months you get it either fixed or replaced PLUS your money back! You can extend the warranty to 3 years (£80) and this also extends the money back on fail offer too.
I've just advised a school I deal with to order 10 of these :-
http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpre
Offer only on till 28th February.
I've just advised a school I deal with to order 10 of these :-
http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpre
Offer only on till 28th February.
After our current Dell has gone wrong 8 times in the last 3 years (all under warranty) that sounds fantastic.
This Inspiron has had 4 motherboards, 1 screen, 2 power supplies and a new case as the old one pressed on the cooling fan when you type..
mcflurry said:
After our current Dell has gone wrong 8 times in the last 3 years (all under warranty) that sounds fantastic.
This Inspiron has had 4 motherboards, 1 screen, 2 power supplies and a new case as the old one pressed on the cooling fan when you type..
This Inspiron has had 4 motherboards, 1 screen, 2 power supplies and a new case as the old one pressed on the cooling fan when you type..
Interesting, my Gen 2 died a slow death as well. Similar sort of thing, blown mobo's, blown gfx and it's to all intents and perposes the same base chassis as yours was/is. I couldn't get them to admit it on the phone but the inference I got from XPS support is that the Gen 2 was an utter disaster, kept going wrong and couldn't survive much past 12 months without a major overhaul. It also, as your Inspiron did, ate power bricks (which then sent nice chunky volts to the laptop thus killing the mobo).
With very little fuss I was able to get the M1710 out of them and a lot of people saying it was a lot more reliable... that remains to be seen however.
on my second vaio - the first one the kids now have about 18 months old and is till going despite their gaming abuse (only secoung vaio for business reasons not due to breakdown and the offer i got and the need for a computer for kids homework)
first lap top was an advent and that is very good despite not being up date in terms of hard drive and memory size nothing has gone wrong with it
To be honest, whenever you ask "Which <insert form factor of machine> should I buy for £xxx" you're going to encounter people who have good experiences of Manu X and people who have bad experiences of them.
Really, the most important choices you need to make in your investigation is:
1. Which ones looks nicest?
2. Which one of the supplers offers good technical support and after sales care?
3. Which one has the screen options you like?
Everything else is utterly irrelevant; their are only, really speaking, three or four actual manufacturers of core laptop components (i.e. mobo's, plastics, etc). Usually it'll also be a Hitatchi TravelStar HDD, a Sony, Mitsumi or TEAC optical and the RAM will usually be Samsung chips (which is fair enough).
True their is a price point aimed at and a whole range of low, middle and upper class parts to select from, however it's very rare to find any machine that's built wholly from high end parts, something has to give somewhere so that the OEM can make their price point for the final unit.
If you like the look of a Sony, get Sony, if you like the look of Dell, get Dell... once you strip the plastics away the two machines (of similar spec) will most likely be identical and both equally as likely as the other to fail.
Really, the most important choices you need to make in your investigation is:
1. Which ones looks nicest?
2. Which one of the supplers offers good technical support and after sales care?
3. Which one has the screen options you like?
Everything else is utterly irrelevant; their are only, really speaking, three or four actual manufacturers of core laptop components (i.e. mobo's, plastics, etc). Usually it'll also be a Hitatchi TravelStar HDD, a Sony, Mitsumi or TEAC optical and the RAM will usually be Samsung chips (which is fair enough).
True their is a price point aimed at and a whole range of low, middle and upper class parts to select from, however it's very rare to find any machine that's built wholly from high end parts, something has to give somewhere so that the OEM can make their price point for the final unit.
If you like the look of a Sony, get Sony, if you like the look of Dell, get Dell... once you strip the plastics away the two machines (of similar spec) will most likely be identical and both equally as likely as the other to fail.
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