Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

crazygirl

Hello,

I'm looking for a new laptop for my brother. He would like at least a 17 inch screen, other specs are negotiable. He's willing to pay up to £400 but obviously less is better.
He was looking at the Toshiba L670 at Argos for £379 but it didn't look like a great deal to me. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

grizzly1911

atro1 wrote: »

Is VGA the same as HDMI?
It does not look as if this one has HDMI. But everything else seems good enough for £280 + Quidco.
http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/toshiba-satellite-c660d-155-15-6-refurbished-laptop-blue-09734801-pdt.html

VGA is the old standard connection to a PC monitor (most new TVs also have it on the flat screen type).

HDMI is th e newer format for HD offerings on most TVs/Recorders, Hard disc machines and TVs these days.

JDPower

aman5 wrote: »

(i) The C drive of the laptop is showing 261 of 284 GB free. Please could let anyone know where is the remaining 23 GB in C drive i.e. on what was this 23 GB used in a brand new, unused laptop?

You say unused but I'm presuming you are using it to have got those figures? Therefore not unused and that space is probably Windows, any extra crap installed along with windows (you can give PC Decrapifier a go to get rid of some of that), and probably mostly Windows restore points or shadow copies which can notoriously take up large amounts of space. You could run Windows in built disk cleanup to remove old restore points and see if free space shoots up (perhaps also CCleaner to clear up any temp files and junk from the initial Windows install). Then if your still not happy use one of the many drive explorer programs that will show what directories and files are taking up the most space. I personally prefer, and use, TreeView Free. There's also WinDirStat amongst others.

aman5 wrote: »

(ii) The laptop also shows recovery D 1.52 GB free of 13.6 GB. What is this 1.52 GB utilised for?

That is quite normal nowadays, it will be a recovery partition that can be used to restore Windows to factory default settings (rather than supply a Windows disc)

indprince2000

Indebted2u and aman5.

Even I have purchased the HP Pavillion G6-1195 from Tesco this week.

While using the laptop, while typing, the left side area of the laptop (where the left hand's palm rests while typing) is turning incredibly hot. Is this happening also with your laptops? If not, then perhaps this problem may be unique to my laptop. The body of the laptop is sort of plasticky metal and the left side is becoming so hot, I am finding it unbearable while typing anything on the laptop.

Please could you let me know whether this is also happening with your laptops? Could anyone else also please give a feedback whether this is common is most laptops?

Also, total HDD stated of the model claimed is 320 GB but on receiving the laptop, the C drive has a total of 280 GB and D drive 15 GB. So where is the remaining 25 GB (320 - 295)?

Thanks.

Kernel_Sanders

indprince2000 wrote: »

Indebted2u and aman5.

Even I have purchased the HP Pavillion G6-1195 from Tesco this week.

While using the laptop, while typing, the left side area of the laptop (where the left hand's palm rests while typing) is turning incredibly hot. Is this happening also with your laptops? If not, then perhaps this problem may be unique to my laptop. The body of the laptop is sort of plasticky metal and the left side is becoming so hot, I am finding it unbearable while typing anything on the laptop.

First of all, if it's unbearably hot then you must shut it down to cool otherwise components will get damaged (chips hate excessive heat).
Are you resting it on a soft surface, eg whilst in bed? There should be space for air to flow beneath its bottom.

InDebted2U_2

aman5 wrote: »

Hi

After reading indebted4u recent post, even I purchased HP pavillion G6-1195 from Tesco...

(i) The C drive of the laptop is showing 261 of 284 GB free. Please could let anyone know where is the remaining 23 GB in C drive i.e. on what was this 23 GB used in a brand new, unused laptop?

(ii) The laptop also shows recovery D 1.52 GB free of 13.6 GB. What is this 1.52 GB utilised for?

(iii) Anyone has been able to find a cheap 3 years warranty for this model G6-1195 (QC169EA)? If so, please could you post the necessary link(s)?

(iv) Please could someone post the customer support telephone number of HP?

Many Thanks.

(i) Unfortunately PC manufacturers seem to get away with this. 1Gb should actually be 1024Mb, 1Mb=1024K, etc, but manufacturers round to 1,000, so in real terms you actually get less RAM than stated (1,000x1,000x1,000=1,000,000,000 'bytes' in a Gb instead of 1,024x1,024x1,024=1,073,741,824), plus you lose some of it to installed programs.

ii) I noticed the recovery section of the drive was almost full already. Windows 7 & supplied programs backup I assume.

iii) Haven't looked properly yet but must do so. Maybe worth an email to HP?

iv) Customer support numbers are here including a number to phone about care packs for this model. Perhaps anyone who contacts them about care packs can post back here with info.

indprince2000 wrote: »

Indebted2u and aman5.

Even I have purchased the HP Pavillion G6-1195 from Tesco this week...

While using the laptop, while typing, the left side area of the laptop (where the left hand's palm rests while typing) is turning incredibly hot. Is this happening also with your laptops?

...

Also, total HDD stated of the model claimed is 320 GB but on receiving the laptop, the C drive has a total of 280 GB and D drive 15 GB. So where is the remaining 25 GB (320 - 295)?

See answer to i) above. :mad:

Will ask DD about it running hot, as I haven't seen it since intitial setup. :rotfl: She is pleased with it though, including colour. Targus laptop bag and mini mouse purchased at same time look good too.

If anyone is still interested in the HP G6-1195 (other colours/options are available) then Tesco have extended the £50 off deal until 23rd August, on all laptops/netbooks over £200. :money:

AlfiestheCat

It seems to me that buying a laptop is a minefield!!!!!!!

My mother-in-law wants me to go out and buy one from a shop for her TODAY. That doesn't leave me much time to do any research!!!

Anyone got any ideas on a good mid-range sub £400 laptop on the high street just to be used for web, skype, photos etc.

I've been out of the loop for a while (as my compaq has been fab - 8 years no problems) and I'm not even sure what I should be looking for or what I should be avoiding re processors, brands etc.

My mum got a compaq recently for about £300 and its poo - slow, unresponsive, takes 20 mins to boot up and 10 mins to load a webpage it is virtually unusable. I just don't want to buy one and then find two months down the line its performance is a bag of pants.

Any advice greatly received but bearing in mind it must be high street accessible today. Thanks.

indprince2000

Kernel Sanders wrote:

'Are you resting it on a soft surface, e.g. whilst in bed'?

No, actually I rest it on a proper pc table, with a wooden plank to rest the laptop on....

The surface that gets heated on the laptop is the plasticky metallic surface on the left side of the keyboard that is near/just below the 'ctrl' and the 'fn' buttons etc.

This along with a very poor battery life (fully charged lasts slightly less than 2 hours) means I am slightly disappointed with this model....I am planning to return the laptop back sometime next week.

I now intend buying a laptop which is a slightly better brand (Toshiba or Asus etc) and a laptop with a good battery life. And, if possible, buy a laptop that has not been preferably mfg./assembled in China.

AlfiestheCat

Manage to persuade the in-laws to give me more time so at least I can do a bit of research.

The Tesco HP Pavilion G6-1195 mentioned above - sounds decent for their needs.

There was also a Compaq CQ56-111/204SA in Comet for £279.99 with HD 320GB and 3GB of RAM, Windows 7 and intel pentium dual core or

Toshiba Satellite L55D-128 in Currys which was reduced from £700 odd quid to £399.99 with HD 320GB and 6GB of RAM, Windows 7 and AMD A4 dual core processor. I was drawn because of the reduction in price- seems like quality for the price.

questions:
1. Does processor matter? If so, which one is best?

2. Any opinions on the above machines?

Ta.

grumpycrab

High spec (**) Toshiba £350 (or less) @John-Lewis. Includes 2 year gaurantee.
http://www.johnlewis.com/Shopping/Product.aspx?Type=SKU&Id=231297501

(**) i3-2310M CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB disk. But no HDMI.

EDIT: on the subject of warranties, there's still Acer laptop 3 year warranties for £30 on Ebay.
This includes accidental cover if registerd within 90 days of purchase.
E.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acer-Advantage-Notebook-Extended-Warranty-/130563181318
Product id is SV.WNBAF.E03 for you to check validity.