New laptop - any suggestions?

[g4ry13]

My Dad's after a laptop, he'll be doing travelling & i'm not so familiar with it all as I haven't really kept up to date with the laptop market. All I know is reasonable brands are Apple/Dell/Samsung? (I have netbook and very happy with it)/Acer/Toshiba.

Apple's a bit out of the question as he'll be wanting to use programs which require windows rather than the Apple OS so it's a bit of a waste. I know Sony is ok but they're over-priced for what they are. There is no budget per se. The criteria is:

- 15 inch screen, nothing smaller. Needs to have a good clear screen.
- Not too heavy as he'll be travelling with it.
- Good battery life.
- Reasonable spec, he's not a hardcore gamer so he doesn't need any Alienware super machines.
- Good keyboard with easy to use keys.
- Running Windows OS (I guess 7 will be the standard now)

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Paul Drawmer]

Only got experience of Dell (I've bought about 20 over 15 years).

I keep buying them - very few problems out of the box, when there is a problem (I've had about 3 problems) it gets fixed fast, and all of them have just kept running once fixed.

What I would advise for the best deal, is to select the one that does the job from their website (get 4Gb ram).

Then either buy direct off the web page (if you use the phone line, you'll end up with a pushy Indian call centre which I find difficult, and are awful if there's an order problem).

Or, select the model you want and print off the spec. Then go onto Dell Direct which is their factory outlet and look for a comparable model there. You will need to click on the item number to see the full spec of each machine, and don't forget to add delivery and VAT to the price to compare with the new price. The Dell Outlet stuff comes looking like new and with 1 year warranty. You have to buy when you see, 'cos the stuff doesn't stay in stock for long - each offering is an actual machine, some come with software some don't. But with Open Office who cares?

[Clivey]

g4ry13 said:

My Dad's after a laptop, he'll be doing travelling & i'm not so familiar with it all as I haven't really kept up to date with the laptop market. All I know is reasonable brands are Apple/Dell/Samsung? (I have netbook and very happy with it)/Acer/Toshiba.

Apple's a bit out of the question as he'll be wanting to use programs which require windows rather than the Apple OS so it's a bit of a waste. I know Sony is ok but they're over-priced for what they are. There is no budget per se. The criteria is:

- 15 inch screen, nothing smaller. Needs to have a good clear screen.
- Not too heavy as he'll be travelling with it.
- Good battery life.
- Reasonable spec, he's not a hardcore gamer so he doesn't need any Alienware super machines.
- Good keyboard with easy to use keys.
- Running Windows OS (I guess 7 will be the standard now)

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks

When you say he'll be travelling, what specifically will he be using the laptop for? Horses for courses and all...

[g4ry13]

Apart from my Samsung, all the computers in our house are Dell so we have experience with them. He mentioned in his office they had a few Dell laptops and had some issues with them so he's thinking of something different to Dell.

I imagine he'll just be using the computer for looking on internet, checking emails, using excel and maybe some accounting software. Nothing too intensive. When I say travelling, I just mean going on a plane and staying in another country for a few days. Just something which isn't too heavy to carry around airports over the shoulder. We have a Dell 17' and it weighs over 3kg so that's on the heavy side of things.

[Clivey]

g4ry13 said:

I imagine he'll just be using the computer for looking on internet, checking emails, using excel and maybe some accounting software. Nothing too intensive. When I say travelling, I just mean going on a plane and staying in another country for a few days. Just something which isn't too heavy to carry around airports over the shoulder. We have a Dell 17' and it weighs over 3kg so that's on the heavy side of things.

In that case, it sounds like outright power can play second fiddle to mobility and battery life (as none of those things require masses of processing power or high-end graphics).

I know you said your father wants a 15" screen, but if he were willing to accept a 13" widescreen, the bulk of the laptop would come down significantly. Also, some of the newer machines use a 16:9 aspect ratio for their screens, meaning that they're about the same width as a 15" 4:3 screen (and they don't seem "too small" when you're using them). Just a thought.

Another thing to be wary of is the bulk of the charger; I'm working on a 13" Sony Vaio at the moment - a very compact unit with a good screen, but the charger is big enough to use as a cosh! It would add around another kilo to the weight of your computer bag.

One more question: Is the accounting software you mentioned 'Sage Line 50' by any chance?

[g4ry13]

Well I guess he's got to go check out the screen sizes and see what he thinks. Good point on charger, my Samsung one isn't bulkly at all, but the Dell XPS one weight about a kg at least. I don't really think he'll be doing much accountancy stuff, maybe have Pegasus - but most of it will just be MS office stuff.

[tinman0]

Acer - rubbish
Sony - rubbish
Toshiba - pretty good
HP - hair dryers

[anonymous-user]

Acer - You get what you pay for
Sony - Over priced pretty poor
Toshiba - pretty good
HP - Good laptops
Dell - Better to be used as a door stop
Samsung - Good laptops
Apple- Good if you want an apple i guess

I would say go HP/Samsung. HP have just released some nice laptops, pop to currys or something and have a browse then go and buy it on the net

[Man-At-Arms]

yammyfan said:

Acer - You get what you pay for
Sony - Over priced pretty poor
Toshiba - pretty good
HP - Good laptops
Dell - Better to be used as a door stop
Samsung - Good laptops
Apple- Good if you want an apple i guess

I would say go HP/Samsung. HP have just released some nice laptops, pop to currys or something and have a browse then go and buy it on the net

you missed Lenovo/IBM from your list

[cracked one off]

Man-At-Arms said:

yammyfan said:

Acer - You get what you pay for
Sony - Over priced pretty poor
Toshiba - pretty good
HP - Good laptops
Dell - Better to be used as a door stop
Samsung - Good laptops
Apple- Good if you want an apple i guess

I would say go HP/Samsung. HP have just released some nice laptops, pop to currys or something and have a browse then go and buy it on the net

you missed Lenovo/IBM from your list

and Packard bell

well mine has lasted 5 years.

[TotalControl]

Man-At-Arms said:

yammyfan said:

Acer - You get what you pay for
Sony - Over priced pretty poor
Toshiba - pretty good
HP - Good laptops
Dell - Better to be used as a door stop
Samsung - Good laptops
Apple- Good if you want an apple i guess

I would say go HP/Samsung. HP have just released some nice laptops, pop to currys or something and have a browse then go and buy it on the net

you missed Lenovo/IBM from your list

After all the Laptops I have used over the years, the only one I would buy again is a Lenovo (IBM).

[smack]

Thinkpads are the best business grade laptops I have had to use in the last 15 years.

[TheD]

Lenovo - excellent
Asus - reliable
Samsung - steady
Dell - usually works
HP - nice but blowy
Acer - mince
PB - mince

[Dupont666]

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Laptops/lapto...

Dell have knocked £200+ off their 1545 is it because 1546 is out or is this actually a really good deal?

[twinturboz]

Another company with very good build quality is Clevo.
Probably not that widely known but their products are usually re-branded by boutique brands.

[Clivey]

Dupont666 said:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Laptops/lapto...

Dell have knocked £200+ off their 1545 is it because 1546 is out or is this actually a really good deal?

We have one: It's a good laptop but not what I'd call "portable". If you want to have a browse at one, go to PC World (but I would never recommend buying from them lol!).

Some people in this thread have mentioned HPs. They used to (about 5 years ago) be built quite well, but since then they've been absolutely terrible in terms of build quality and lifespan. We have seen dozens in the shop that were 13/14 months old (just out of warranty) when they developed terminal motherboard faults.

Asus on the other hand provide a 2 year warranty and good customer service with their laptops, which are also usually very reliable.

[twinturboz]

Clivey said:

Asus on the other hand provide a 2 year warranty and good customer service with their laptops, which are also usually very reliable.

Agree they do offer 2 year global warranty but having had to deal with their customer service I can tell you they are one of the worst especially the European customer service.

Edited by twinturboz on Friday 26th March 10:31

[TankRizzo]

twinturboz said:

Another company with very good build quality is Clevo.
Probably not that widely known but their products are usually re-branded by boutique brands.

I've actually just bought a new budget laptop from Ebuyer which is made by Clevo, but rebadged as "Foehn and Hirsch" or something.

4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive. Processor is a T3000 which isn't the best but perfect for what I need. I don't game on it or use it for very much apart from email, internet and a bit of word processing. Under £300 and I'm pretty impressed. The only thing is it doesn't come with any OS, which was actually perfect for me as I can get my OS for free through MSDN.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/185894

[stemll]

Lenovo IdeaPad U550 if it really has to have a 15" screen or a U350 with a 13.3" screen and almost 2lb lighter

http://tinyurl.com/yk96h9t

[-Pete-]

I can recommend HP and Lenovo/IBM.