Laptops

nad1611

Hi All
Just wondering about Laptops for my daughters going to University this year. Basically they will need to store work, music, videos possibly play DVD'S but that's not essential. We don't have a lot of money to spend so would be really grateful for any advice about costs and where to get a good deal etc. Also what sort of memory capacity should we be looking for. Thanks

Mike1901

Hi,

Pretty much any modern laptop will do what you want - the main issue for you will probably the size of the hard disk - depending on the size and quality of the music and videos they can take up a fair bit of space. I'd look for a computer with at least 160GB hard disk space and 2gb RAM. A 17-inch screen might also be useful especially for watching videos and DVDs (as opposed to the standard 15 inch screens that a lot of laptops come with) - but it's probably not necessary if that's only a secondary usage of it and 15 inch will be more than comfortable.

Just had a quick scout around and one that might suit is:

http://h41306.www4.hp.com/section?SID=8cc389fbe53e35196aa8b2c2ff9004553cb:1223&secid=99908

In terms of where to get it, if you decide on a Dell or a HP laptop, direct prices tend to be just as good as getting it in a store (nearly always a better price direct in Dell's case, can vary with HP). Otherwise, I'd look for a reseller, but I would avoid PC World and Currys as their aftersales support is hopeless.

Hope that gives you a starting point,

Michael

atypical

I'd recommend 2GB of RAM too. How about this?:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150336

edit:
Or this I came across today:
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-3556.aspx

xelaine88x

I would recommend this laptop as ive got it!
Had it for a year now and use it to do all my essays for uni, play music and sometimes watch videos and ive never had a problem with it. Best thing is - its under £300

http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop/index.pl?origin=gbase31.3&prodID=1481822

justruth

I think it depends on what your daughter is planning on studying. Clearly some courses have different requirements.

I would suggest that she definately go for the DVD player with it though (most do these days) as she would not need a TV license unless she got a TV reciever so she could enjoy DVDs without having to buy a TV. (It saves me £120 a year) A lot of programes are available for post broadcast download as well so she wouldn't really miss out.

nad1611

Thanks everyone for those comments and we'll look at all of them . We also heard about Netbook anyone know of any advanages on these?:T

atypical

Netbooks are essentially uber-portable laptops, they're intended to supplement an existing laptop or desktop.

That's because they're really quite underpowered for anything other than the most basic of tasks (browsing the web, editing documents). Plus their small size means you sacrifice useability in the form of screen and keyboard size.

TDQO

Wait for PC world to do their "back to school" sale... you'll find massive reductions in laptop prices then....

01001011

atypical wrote: »

Netbooks are essentially uber-portable laptops, they're intended to supplement an existing laptop or desktop.

That's because they're really quite underpowered for anything other than the most basic of tasks (browsing the web, editing documents). Plus their small size means you sacrifice usebility in the form of screen and keyboard size.

Having used a netbook for a few months I can share some of my experience.

With my netbook, I have no problem running Photoshop (I use 7.0 though but others say CS3 runs smoothly) and watching HD videos. On the other hand, most people need no more than web browsers and document editors for their serious job.

As for the screen size, a 10" screen is as wide a an A4 paper so reading a notes would be a hard as reading a physical printout (I won't recommend a smaller screen). The keyboard is near full size and I just typed a 30 pages report using that with no problem. Again YMMV.

The portability cannot be underestimated. I often do editing work while traveling on the bus.

Rikki

atypical wrote: »

Netbooks are essentially uber-portable laptops, they're intended to supplement an existing laptop or desktop.

That's because they're really quite underpowered for anything other than the most basic of tasks (browsing the web, editing documents). Plus their small size means you sacrifice useability in the form of screen and keyboard size.

Just to add to the above...........they don't have a dvd player.

01001011

Use an external, USB DVD player if you need.