Recommend a laptop?

sali_mali

GunJack wrote: »

If you want durability, get an IBM Thinkpad refurb from here:-

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/cat.php?search=laptops&lang=

for around £170, bank the £530 for another one in 3-4 yrs time, and surf away.....Thinkpads are notoriously durable and well built...I got my kids one each for xmas....

Wow why is it so Cheap? And how do I know if it's Lenovo?

(Edit : Oh I see, they're used laptops! Surely they won't last as long?)

Thanks for all of the answers everyone, keep em Coming!

GunJack

m_13 wrote: »

IBM Thinkpads used to be very good but be careful you don't get a Lenovo which are pants. The hard disks fail at the drop of a hat and the motherboards like to go on the blink too.

The bigpockets ones if they advertise as IBM, they ARE IBM My kids are 10 and 7, and one of the deciding factors of the IBMs over the Dells they had when I bought them was the ruggedness of the Thinkpads:)

GunJack

sali_mali wrote: »

Wow why is it so Cheap? And how do I know if it's Lenovo?

(Edit : Oh I see, they're used laptops! Surely they won't last as long?)

Thanks for all of the answers everyone, keep em Coming!

See previous post for the Lenovo issue......

Yes, they're refurbs, but the build quality of the Thinkpads was top banana. That's why business used them so widely, even they were 2-3 times the cost of other lappys at the time. Again, see last post about ruggedness and kids

pandora205

I love my Dell and it is very well used (studying and surfing). Its an Inspiron 6400 and was about £450 I think, though the model has been discontinued now.

This contrasts with the Acers that my teenagers have had that have been nothing but trouble (hard drive failures in both, keys 'broken') so don't get one of those.

macman

If you want to spend under £500, get a Dell with extended warranty. If you can spend £700ish then you can get a MacBook which is better in every way.
But be 100% sure that you are happy running Mac OSX rather than Vista, as your existing software will not be compatible.

lr1277

I got a dell inspiron about 6 years ago from dell outlet with the extended warrranty. Only thing that needed replacing was the screen and that was done under warranty.
The fan is a bit noisy now, but it is still going. Touch wood.

As you are a student, are you sure your student mates/housemates/flatmates aren't messing with your laptop? Just a thought.

LisbonLaura

pandora205 wrote: »

I love my Dell and it is very well used (studying and surfing). Its an Inspiron 6400 and was about £450 I think, though the model has been discontinued now.

This contrasts with the Acers that my teenagers have had that have been nothing but trouble (hard drive failures in both, keys 'broken') so don't get one of those.

You can't win. I've had an Acer for three years & I was told that any Dell was a problem beast!

I thought they all came out of PRC so isn't the only difference the spec & luck?

................ she says just remembering a highpower laptop that melted part of its case!

Marty_J

macman wrote: »

But be 100% sure that you are happy running Mac OSX rather than Vista, as your existing software will not be compatible.

A MacBook can run both.

aurora_borealis_2

sali_mali wrote: »

Thanks for the answers.

The breakages vary. My laptop of the moment's disk drive broke a few months ago and then the bottom fell off for no reason (the srews just disappeared!) and now it won't stop typing the letter C whih is pretty annoying. My laptop before kept freezing on startup so wouldn't turn on. It's all stuff like that.

My budget's pretty flexible. I'd say probably max of £700, and that's really strething it. I'm a student so get a disount in most stores. What are your thoughts on Apple laptops? do they tend to be a bit sturdier?

Thanks for any help!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I 'C' your problem.

knowledgepower1

My dell vostro is fantastic,I can't remember how many times I have dropped it. I concur with IBM thinkpad...rugged.