Buying a laptop for my hubby

gjchester

On a different threat you do reasie Apple and Windows machines are compleyly different. Without additional software or modifying them to dual boot you will not be able to use your existing software on an Apple computer.

You pay a premium for an apple product and you will have to re-buy software you have (such as Office) You may find cheap / free alternatives but it is somethign to bear in mind.
In addition both Apples and Windows laptops are specialist devices, and not easily upgradeable byond the hard drive ane memory, however Apples are more expensive to repair if off warranty.

By all means look at an Apple but bear in mind the extra (almost hidden in some cases) costs of the move to Apple.

mrbirchwood

There are 100's exellent forums in the uk, for usefull advice from the guy's
that really do know their stuff, try posting a simlar question on
http://forums.computeractive.co.uk/ hope this helps..

John_Gray

ClareEmily wrote: »

at the moment he has a toshiba (cheapish) from PC world which is a complete load of rubbish, he is now getting the blue screen of death, freezing and generally being slow to start up.

Is there any chance that you know someone knowledgeable about computers, who could take on the cleaning up of his Toshiba as a project? There are many things which can be done to remove unwanted Stuff from the hard drive, clean up the startup lists, remove viruses (if any), update all the software (if needed) and so on. I have to do this both at work and for friends - and most of the time you can end up with a working and faster PC/laptop. It does take time doing scans, though...

If you are set on buying him a new laptop, remember to save all his data files, and ensure you can reinstall all his favourite programs onto the new laptop (from the original CDs with their product codes/serial numbers), presuming it doesn't come with them already!

cowbutt

ClareEmily wrote: »

It is my hubby's 40th in Aug and I have been thinking of getting him a decent laptop, at the moment he has a toshiba (cheapish) from PC world which is a complete load of rubbish, he is now getting the blue screen of death, freezing and generally being slow to start up, I have a feeling it is going to go sailing out of the window shortly.

He uses it mainly to download car pics, go on car forums, type some invoices for his taxi business etc, uses it on a daily basis.

To be honest, Toshiba laptops, even their cheaper models, are amongst the most reliable out there - moreso than Dell from what I've seen of employers' fleets, and personal experience.

If the current machine is halfway recent, it should still be able to run Windows XP acceptably well for the things he uses it for, though an upgrade to 512MB (or more), and a reinstall of the OS and applications may well be worthwhile.

As far as I can see, a current £200-300 netbook provides about the same level of performance as my 2002-vintage PIII 933/512MB/60GB HD machine. I'd expect to pay £400 to get something like an Acer with a better spec, or £700-ish for something from Toshiba, Apple or Dell.

I wouldn't consider Packard Bell, HP or Sony. I'd either buy from a box shifter, or John Lewis if I was restricted to high street shops.

rose10

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amcluesent

>type some invoices for his taxi business etc, uses it on a daily basis<

Err, in that case "the business" should buy it so can offset the cost against tax and reclaim VAT (if registered).

Don't buy an Apple Mac as it looks nice, the business may use Windows s/w which won't run (so well) on the Mac.