Laptop for my gf

dave_gill · 17 November 2005 at 11:20AM

Hi,

My gf is after a laptop for xmas, as I do not know the difference between the various specs and makes, could someone give me a pointer on the best makes and where to buy from for a decent price.

She is after one that is new & can access the internet anywhere.

Thanks in advance for the help

cheers
:-)

Malestrom · 17 November 2005 at 5:12PM

Thats a popular misconception thanks to misleading advertising by the likes of PC world i'm afraid. There is no such thing as a laptop that can access the internet 'anywhere'. You have to be in a WiFi zone and be an authorised user to be able to access the internet in that zone. Most colleges and Uni's have WiFi zones to allow this for students and you can set up a wireless connection at home using a wireless router but she won't be able to browse the net while sat on the bus or in the park for instance unless she uses her mobile phone to connect with.

To be able to recommend a laptop we need to know what it will be used for. Internet use obviously but what else?

headcovers · 17 November 2005 at 9:52PM

Not quite true actually. I have just bought a laptop from Laptops Direct. And they offer the following,and I quote:

"If you buy a laptop from [Laptops Direct and some other online PC retailers] with an Intel processor, you are eligible for a FREE 3G Vodafone card, worth £199!

By simply adding the Vodafone 3G card to the PCMCIA slot of your laptop, as long as you can get a mobile phone signal, you will be able to browse the internet wirelessly from your laptop! And in those areas with 3G availability, you will get lightning fast broadband speed wireless internet access (up to 384kbps)! So if you are in a park, airport, hotel room, the side of the road or any place where you can't use a fixed internet access, you can now benefit from wireless broadband on your laptop.

There are no strings attached and you don't have to take a contract with Vodafone to benefit. The card can be connected to the Vodafone Pay-As-You-Use tariff. It even comes with £20 of free credit - meaning this really is a totally free offer! After that it is £2 per MB or if you wish you may upgrade to a bundled MB tariff. "

So this is in fact (with some limitations admittedly) access to the Internet anywhere!

As to a recommedation, you don't mention your budget, but I have just bought the Acer Aspire 9502 WLMi for £959 (its gone up since I bought mine though to £1064) and it's the dog's whatnots.

Browntoa · 17 November 2005 at 10:18PM

staples are advertising a decent one for £699, 1gb ram, wi-fi, 100gb HD

cattie · 17 November 2005 at 10:39PM

Woolworths have a decent spec on offer at half price at the moment, £499. They are having quite a few 10% off days too lately ( there was another one just today) so if this item qualifies there is the opportunity to get it even cheaper.