Best laptop for £800?

seanygee

Please can someone advise me of the best laptop for £800? Obviously I would like the best spec available. I don't care too much about the make as long as they are a reliable and don't have huge service issues in case somthing does go wrong with the laptop?

Any good deals out there??

Your help would be much appreciated as I know very little about computers! lol

Thanks

Sean

stanleyunwin

Obvious question, but if you don't know much about computers, why do you need an £800 one?

seanygee

Hi,

Many thanks for your reply. Basically the query is for a friend who has a budget of £800 and wants to get the best one available for her boyfriend as a surprise!

Don't you just wish all girlfriends were as generous as that??

:-)

DCodd

"Best one" is purely subjective. Any ideas what he will be using it for?

Will he want blu-ray, dedicated graphics card? etc With each "extra" the price goes up or the specs of the rest of the laptop goes down

seanygee

There may be some aspects of web design involved. Software bundle would have to include permanent office bundle and not one of those damn 30 day trials!

mid range graphics card, standard dvd rw, more focus on the speed and memory. hopefully would be able to get a decent enough sound card? Basically more about punch and power than flashness I think?

Sorry I can't be any more help! I think the above shows how clueless I am about all things IT!!!!

Regards

Sean

seadee

Hard to go wrong with a Macbook

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MjA

Patrick20

I had the same budget for christmas. My laptop is for various aspects programming and graphic design so i needed something that could multitask with photoshop etc. I went and bought a dell studio 15. It can be configured to the individuals needs. I've got 4gb memory, 250gb hdd 7200rpm, snazzy backlit keys, 1920x1200 resolution screen 4year warranty. It looks great too. It is much cheaper than a comparable mac.

DCodd

OK as for the sotware you will probably have to buy that separately, but if your friend or his girlfriend etc is a student then Software4students gets you MS Office pro plus for under £50.

I personally would look at Acer, Sony,Toshiba but look for a spec with dedicated graphics card (I have heard ATI Radeon best ones for laptops as NVIDIA run too hot???), 3-4 gb Ram 15"+ screen. All this easily available for less than £800.00

I seem to remember somewhere on here someone saying Mac Books available to students for under £800.00? anyone know about this??

seanygee

I saw this earlier on today on the acer website. A friend said they tend to be good laptops and good value for money but he's not that technically minded either! :-)
Think he just said it because he bought a £400 one 6 months ago at a decent spec.
If's an Acer Travelmate 7730G and is £769inc vat
Features:

• Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo T6570 / 2.1 GHz ( Dual-Core )
• RAM - 3 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM ( 1 x 1 GB + 1 x 2 GB )
• Hard Drive - 250 GB - Serial ATA-150
• Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
• Screen - 17' TFT 1440 x 900 ( WXGA+ ) - 24-bit (16.7 million colours) - CrystalBrite
• Optical Drive - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM / BD-ROM - integrated
• Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - 512 MB
• Bluetooth - Yes
• Notebook Camera - Integrated - 0.3 Megapixel
• Warranty - 1 year warranty

What do you think?
Have just been told that microsoft office is not that important to the user apparently
Regards

Sean

DCodd

That is a big laptop, more desktop replacement. it will be heavy so does he want to carry it around?

i have had an Acer for 3 years, using it every day with absolutely no probs, but I may have just been lucky, I like them. would look at maybe the 6930 though.

austin

seanygee wrote: »

Please can someone advise me of the best laptop for £800? Obviously I would like the best spec available. I don't care too much about the make as long as they are a reliable and don't have huge service issues in case somthing does go wrong with the laptop?

Any good deals out there??

Your help would be much appreciated as I know very little about computers! lol

Thanks

Sean

£800 is SONY VAIO territory. mine cost exactly that & i never looked back!
http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProductCategory.action?site=voe_en_GB_cons&pageType=Models&category=VN+CS+Series

ignore sony's prices too, do a bit shopping and you'll find them cheaper.

as for the software, do you know a student or tutor...someone in education? then they can get you office '07 pro for under fifty quid..
http://www.software4students.co.uk/