what Laptop?

[disco1]

Hi guys,
I'm on the look out for a laptop and have around 500 bucks to spend, any tips on whats brands to look out for?

I have seen these Sony ones for good money
www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Sony_Vaio_N10_Laptops/prod.asp

[timmy33]

I have a 'Levono' one, which I think is IBM's laptop division sold to some Chinese company.

It's shit.

[racefan_uk]

I wouldn't buy a Sony Vaio if you paid me to! I've had three colleagues that have had them and they've all had problems with them slowing down and crashing within the first year of use.

For some reason they seem to be more temperamental than other machines. one colleague's is now so slow that it takes her almost an hour to be able to work on it. Ad it's bee to two specialists that reckon there's nothing wrong with it...

I've had Samsung and Compaq laptops and both are still going strong after four and three years respectively.

[Tuna]

We've got three Acers, which are well specced for the money - try here for prices www.shopacer.co.uk

Amusingly Tescos have some 'special purchase' Acers available, for only a hundred quid more than the online price from most other dealers.

Remember you can't upgrade much about a laptop, and the screen is usually where companies try and save the pennies, so don't go for one with a low resolution or small hard drive because you'll be stuck with them for the lifetime of the laptop.

[jamieboy]

racefan_uk said:

I wouldn't buy a Sony Vaio if you paid me to! I've had three colleagues that have had them and they've all had problems with them slowing down and crashing within the first year of use.

On the other hand, I bought a VAIO Z1-XSP in March 04 and used it pretty much every day for eighteen months travelling throughout the UK and Europe, and it never missed a beat. It still gets used a couple of times a week, and is still in perfect nick - nothing has broken, nothing has fallen off, nothing has worn out, and there's no indication that it's likely to.

I've previously had Dells and IBMs, two of each, and I'd rate the VAIO on a par with IBM (now Lenovo) and well above Dell in terms of durability.

[mxdi]

I have had a Toshiba satellite pro since 2003, needed new battery this year and a new cord, but apart from that its served me very well, never broke and used every day at length since I bought it.

[Ubertractor]

I've just bought a Toshiba L30 from PC World - just under £400 and does everything I need.

Has XP Home rather than Office but other than that hunky dory. Donwload open office too as it's free

[john_r]

Mesh or Acer... got both and both are excellent.

[futie]

jamieboy said:

racefan_uk said:

I wouldn't buy a Sony Vaio if you paid me to! I've had three colleagues that have had them and they've all had problems with them slowing down and crashing within the first year of use.

On the other hand, I bought a VAIO Z1-XSP in March 04 and used it pretty much every day for eighteen months travelling throughout the UK and Europe, and it never missed a beat. It still gets used a couple of times a week, and is still in perfect nick - nothing has broken, nothing has fallen off, nothing has worn out, and there's no indication that it's likely to.

I've previously had Dells and IBMs, two of each, and I'd rate the VAIO on a par with IBM (now Lenovo) and well above Dell in terms of durability.

Yep, have bought Sony now for the last 3 years and have had no reliability issues whatsoever. If they are 'going slow' this is more likely to be the OS/software than the laptops themselves ..

[tinman0]

We're a Toshiba camp here. 3 Toshibas and they do what they say on the box, although my Portege 3500 eats a hard drive once a year.

Wouldn't touch Sony with a barge pole. My old business partner swore they were the best but his 3 were forever being repaired. To me they always felt a bit fragile.

[alpha1]

[url]www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5103WLMi_Laptop_LX.AG20J.051/version-1.asp[/url]

[pAntscat]

timmy33 said:

I have a 'Levono' one, which I think is IBM's laptop division sold to some Chinese company.

It's shit.

What sort?
I've got a T60... and I find it be pretty good. Apart from the fact that ThinkPads look exactly the same as they did when they were launched back in 1864.

A

[speedchick]

I got bought an Acer Aspire 5003WLMi last week, 512 RAM and 60GB hard drive, 15.4" CrystalBrite TFT LCD and its got a Turion processor. It also writes to DVD (apparently!) it says... DVD-Dual (support DVD+R Double Layer/DVD+/-RW) whatever that means.

Cost £459 from P3 computers in Burnley, and it's great, I love it. (so much so that we have ordered the kids one each for xmas... but don't tell them!!)

Part of the deal to get my other half to buy it was for him be given my Fujitsu/Seimans... another cracking little lappy that every now and then throws a wobbly with the battery (take batt out for 24 hours, put back and she's happy)

[ThePassenger]

To be honest, as a lot of others have said, it really doesn't matter which one you buy... you are far more likely to get a problem with software than you are the hardware (the number of software related issues reported here verses hardware is pretty much a normal thing).

Having said that, the one thing I do always mention is getting the waranty options. I know, everyone thinks their a rip off. But it's much better to have the spud arrive at your house the next day to repair something than it is shipping the laptop off and waiting a month!

[hiens1]

I would Reccomend a Compaq V3000Z. I got one for 739 USD (about 373.86 GBP)with 2Gb of ram, 100 GB hard drive and 1.8 GHZ processer. It starts out at 400 USD though, so you can do what you want with it.

Edit: Just realized you are in uk. If you know of someone going to the USA or coming just get em to pick it up for you. I might be able to help you out. E-mail me if you are interested.

[e-mail]

Edited by hiens1 on Monday 4th December 12:54

Edited by hiens1 on Monday 4th December 12:57

[cjm]

I got one a ACER AS5633WLMI from comet for £569, seemed like the best spec for the money? Its £599 in the shop but you can reserve it online then go in and collect it at the online price!!?

Processor speed: 1.67 GHz
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
Screen size: 15.4 inches
Storage (hard drive): 120 GB
Memory (RAM): 1024 MB
Shared graphics: 224MB

[url]www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=362964[/url]

[deva link]

pAntscat said:

timmy33 said:

I have a 'Levono' one, which I think is IBM's laptop division sold to some Chinese company.

It's shit.

What sort?
I've got a T60... and I find it be pretty good. Apart from the fact that ThinkPads look exactly the same as they did when they were launched back in 1864.

A

I have a T43 which is just wonderful (in as much as a laptop can be wonderful) but, like your T60, it's not a £500 machine, the Thinkpads are more like £1000++.

Lenovo do cheaper ranges now - maybe they're not so hot?

[pAntscat]

deva link said:

I have a T43 which is just wonderful (in as much as a laptop can be wonderful) but, like your T60, it's not a £500 machine, the Thinkpads are more like £1000++.

Lenovo do cheaper ranges now - maybe they're not so hot?

I like the T43s... we use a lot of them here. I've had a look at the cheapy Lenovos and they seem to be pretty good - as good as anything else for the same sort of money anyway...