Searching For New Laptop

kah22

Having recently bought a Sony Television I am now in the market for a new laptop and I was wondering if there is any great benefit in opting for a Sony laptop as well as the telly on the grounds that it might be easier to get them to talk to each other.

While it is a bit pricey I like the look of the Vaio VPCF11M1E. As I'm not a gamer the Vaio VGN-NW20EF holds out some hope especially since the screen is a decent size. It should let me watch the odd movie.

As a Which best buy the AcerAspire 7740 at £570 is also worth looking at. It has been suggested to me, however, that as blu-ray is becoming more popular that it might be a good idea to look at the Sony E and F series. Desirable yes but is the price worth it, at present I'm not to sure

I'm buying because my old Inspiron 510m is really feeling the strain, originally bought it in 2005, so it doesn't owe me much.

At the moment my main use would be for internet access, been able to connect to the television,watch the odd dvd, and word-processing ability. Photoshop would be something I'd use on a less regular basis, I also fiddle about a bit with Wordpress and Dreamweaver.

Budget somewhere in the region of £650. As it is specifically for personal use I would have to be getting real good value to go beyond the £700 mark. Suggestions and links appreciated

As money savers riddle me this: is there a best time of year to buy a new computer.

Kevin

The_Grandmaster

Making PC and laptop talk shouldn't be a problem whatever the laptop is provided the right plugs(?) are present.

Probably biased opinions but I have a similar one to the first Vaio you mentioned. The reason I bought it was due to the big screen size - allowing me to work on two things side by side (eg. two word documents etc.)

However, if we're being moneysavers, you could do various things to your computer which may speed up computer: HOW TO SPEED UP A SLOW PC OR INFECTED PC. (a mini guide)

I recommend running a malwarebytes scan, hijack this log (post a log here or on a new thread) and running the clean up memory programme. Then you could think about upgrading memory etc (although I have no clue about that side of things).

kah22

Thanks for the link Grandmaster. Will try some of the suggestions just to see what happens. As I recently bought an external hard drive should be able to save all my info to it.

Answer me this though, the programs I have, like Office or Dreamweaver, Photoshop, that I have on my laptop at the moment can I copy them lock, stock and barrel to an external hard drive, do a factory reset and then copy them back again? As a matter of interest it's a 1T external hard drive.

My reason for asking is that some of the software or registration numbers have been misplace/lost since first installed five years ago. Will I need the actual software that I installed years ago or am I ok to go without them?

The_Grandmaster

How can I transfer programs to a new comp please ? - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums
Might help you - although I try, I'm not really clued up on technology myself!

totalsolutions

>copy them back again?
A) copying programs over - no a reinstall is required.
Ghosting full hard drive image backup is ok but why would you, ending up in the same spot where you started, slow, with all the same problems back again.
C) a clean install is the way forward.

Will I need the actual software that I installed years ago or am I ok to go without them?

Try going without them first.

weegie.geek

kah22 wrote: »

Thanks for the link Grandmaster. Will try some of the suggestions just to see what happens. As I recently bought an external hard drive should be able to save all my info to it.

Answer me this though, the programs I have, like Office or Dreamweaver, Photoshop, that I have on my laptop at the moment can I copy them lock, stock and barrel to an external hard drive, do a factory reset and then copy them back again? As a matter of interest it's a 1T external hard drive.

My reason for asking is that some of the software or registration numbers have been misplace/lost since first installed five years ago. Will I need the actual software that I installed years ago or am I ok to go without them?

Dreamweaver, Office and Photoshop aren't cheap bits of software, if I'd paid that much for them I'd probably have kept the keys safe...

http://download.cnet.com/Keyfinder-Thing/3000-2094_4-10491989.html

A tool like this should get you your keys back. I'm sure there are a few like it so no matter the app you should be able to find one to do it.

Hammyman

All laptops will work with all TVs providing the connections are there, i.e VGA or HDMI.

No point getting Blu-Ray unless you plan on watching blu-ray movies either on the laptop or on the TV via the laptop.

Other than that, as you're not a gamer and I doubt you're into 3D rendering, heavy movie editing or commercial photoshopping, even the lowest spec laptop will be more than sufficient.

kah22

weegie.geek wrote: »

Dreamweaver, Office and Photoshop aren't cheap bits of software, if I'd paid that much for them I'd probably have kept the keys safe... .

They came with student licences over the years. My nephew use to do some homework from my house, and installed them on the laptop. He used the house to get a bit of peace and quiet, especially coming up to exam time. They were used by him for his studies so I guess they are there legitimately

Hammyman

kah22 wrote: »

They came with student licences over the years. My nephew use to do some homework from my house, and installed them on the laptop. He used the house to get a bit of peace and quiet, especially coming up to exam time. They were used by him for his studies so I guess they are there legitimately

..only if they're either multiple use licences or uninstalled on the computer they were originally installed on if not.