Help choosing laptop

PurpleSkies

I'm desperately in need of help choosing a new laptop!
With so much choice out there I'm quite confused as to which one to go for. I've been looking at Toshiba or Dell (had a Toshiba before and it was very reliable, hence why I'm looking at those again) but I am open to other suggestions.

I've been researching a few features that I'm looking for so I'd quite like my new laptop to have the following:

15.4" screen (would be ok with a larger one but no smaller than this)
160GB Hard Disk (minimum)
2.16GHz minimum clock speed
3GB memory (would be ok with 2GB as long as there is room for expansion)

I have no idea about processors so any advice about that would be useful!

Other desirable (but not essential) features are:

Built in webcam/microphone
Bluetooth

The list above is flexible as I'm looking for the best deal possible so willing to compromise but don't mind spending a bit more on a decent one as I'm hoping to have it for as long as my last one (5 years!!!)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

4743hudsonj

PurpleSkies wrote: »

I'm desperately in need of help choosing a new laptop!
With so much choice out there I'm quite confused as to which one to go for. I've been looking at Toshiba or Dell (had a Toshiba before and it was very reliable, hence why I'm looking at those again) but I am open to other suggestions.

I've been researching a few features that I'm looking for so I'd quite like my new laptop to have the following:

15.4" screen (would be ok with a larger one but no smaller than this)
160GB Hard Disk (minimum)
2.16GHz minimum clock speed
3GB memory (would be ok with 2GB as long as there is room for expansion)

I have no idea about processors so any advice about that would be useful!

Other desirable (but not essential) features are:

Built in webcam/microphone
Bluetooth

The list above is flexible as I'm looking for the best deal possible so willing to compromise but don't mind spending a bit more on a decent one as I'm hoping to have it for as long as my last one (5 years!!!)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

whats your budget?

ABH_3

What are you doing with your laptop? By that I mean are you travelling, if you're moving it would need to be light unless you're going to be driving around in a car, whipping it out now and then from hotel room to hotel room.

If you're not going to be near to an electrical source, then you need to have an extended battery capacity and consider weight.

Of course if you're going to stick it downstairs on the sofa at home, and only going to pull it out to vote on some online competition or to check out whatever you fancy, then none of that applies and you just need something comfortable to put back on your knee. In which case, get a netbook

HTH

£$&*"($£&(

PurpleSkies wrote: »

2.16GHz minimum clock speed

I have no idea about processors so any advice about that would be useful!

You need to be less concerned about clock speed. My old laptop has a processor with a clock speed of 2.8ghz but the processor is still very poor and much slower than the 1.6ghz processor in the laptop that replaced it.. You should look for dual core and core 2 duo processors and probably avoid single core Celerons - Celeron 550 and 585 and Semprons - Sempron SI40 and SI42, unless you have minimal needs and a low budget.

jaydeeuk1

Something like this is pretty good.

https://www.simplyacer.com/Acer_Aspire_5536_625136.html

Athlon Dual Core CPU 2.1ghz
15.6" display (1366x768)
3gb Ram
250gb HD
Wireless N
Radeon 3200 w/ 256mb dedicated ram

£348 with free next day delivery.

Don't think it has a built in webcam / mic though or bluetooth.

There are core 2 duos in the same price range but usually coupled with the awful Intel 3100GMA or marginally better Intel 4500. I was looking at purchasing this one originally (but went for a more expensive model!). If the radeon card would make a difference for you, I'd go for this one. Otherwise if an intel GMA chipset would suffice, check out the HP range on ebuyer.

PurpleSkies

I think I'll have to go look up some of the stuff in the end part of your post but thanks for the info!

Thanks to all for the input. I'm going to be travelling a little with it but not too bothered about the weight and battery capacity (although the longer the better of course!)

My budget is around £500 but I'm flexible.

jaydeeuk1

£500 will offer a lot more choice. What use would you be putting your lappy to? If its just webbrowsing, maybe posting a few webcam videos, bit of photo/video editing etc, then I wouldn't pay much attention to the graphics card.

PurpleSkies

Not too fussed about the graphics card as I probably won't be using it for gaming.

It's mostly going to be for web browsing, so want something that will be good for iplayer, skye, music downloads, possibly movies as well.

I will be using it for work but probably nothing much more complicated than using office and a bit of photo editing.

Also need to be able to burn cds and dvds but not really fussed about blue ray.

prowla

Second such thread to the day.
Apple or Dell for me, and I avoid Acer.

PurpleSkies

Have just been chatting to a friend who has just bought a dell and says it's really terrible for overheating!
I had heard this was a problem for dell in the past but thought it had been fixed. Anyone else hear about recently problems with this?

Also another of my friends has an Acer and he says it's very reliable but normally I've not heard much good things about Acer.

This is where my confusion stems from! How do you know which one is going to last?!

£$&*"($£&(

PurpleSkies wrote: »

This is where my confusion stems from! How do you know which one is going to last?!

You never do know. You'll find bad stuff about all manufacturers. Someone will say their Toshiba broke after a month and someone will say their Toshiba is going strong after five years despite using it as frisbee. I'd be happy to choose Toshiba, Lenovo (we had one at work that developed a fault after six months), HP (I have one now, very happy), Samsung or Asus (and probably Dell). I had an Acer which lasted two and half years and would probably avoid them but that's no reason for anyone else not to get one. I would avoid the Dixons Group cheap brands (Advent and Ei Systems) and Acer's cheap brands (Emachines and Packard Bell).

It really is a case of you pays your money and you takes your choice.