New Laptop?

Youdontseeme

Hi I received the following email from my sister this morning

"could you have a look at lap tops from pc world to see if anything that would do me just want it for work and a bit of surfing and photos and music so nowt too complicated. will pay 500-600 if i need to but anything less would be good as long as its a decent one- failing that can you let me know what i shold be looking for cos me have no idea!!!! ta much xxxx"

Cause I use a computer everyday the whole family seems to think I can solve all thier issues and while I know a little bit I dont want to be responsible for her buying a dud :wall:

Personally for what she needs it for I think anything in the 500/600 range will be full of specs she doesn;t need and wont use, but I could be wrong.

I saw this

http://direct.asda.com/Hi-Grade-Notino-15.6%22-Silver-Laptop---1024MB-RAM---Vista/000594781,default,pd.html#BVRRWidgetID

she works for Asda so gets a discount too, but was would like a little advice from someone a bit more in the know.

Thanks
YDSM

Carrot007

HI,

Seems overpriced for what it is to me. Not enough ram and comes with vista.

Also the cheap makes really are, they can be ok, but expect no battery life (30 mins), and they are a poorer build.

If you go to Hp G62-A11Sa on the asda site, which is £397 (sorry cannopt post links yet). This would be well worth the extra, and would probably be good enough for most people.

macman

Firstly, £500-600 is way OTT for a basic 15 inch laptop, plenty of decent ones for £350-ish that would do the job for what she wants. Secondly, don't even consider buying a laptop (or indeed anything else) at PCW.
If she gets a worthwhile ADSA discount, then that is probably the best approach. But not that particular model, which is at least a year old, Vista Basic only, only 1GB RAM, tiny hard drive, and a Celeron processor. She needs Windows 7, min 2GB RAM, min 320GB hard drive, and a dual core processor.

penrhyn

Please don't buy anything from PC Dixons' Curry World, it only encourages them.

Tesco has some 15" Dell laptops at around £350 ish atm, not the best specs but adequate for the tasks outlined.
Or buy direct, check offers on.

https://www.dmxdimension.com

jayme1

something like this sould be more than enough will a little future proofing thrown in as well http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-aspire-5734z-06539249-pdt.html#tab-tech-specs

just be sure when she gets it to burn the system restore discs and keep them in a safe place (goes for any laptop that dont come with them in the box)
It's just a shame that it comes with acers bloatware, if she understands what she is doing she can uninstall some of this
Google Toolbar™
Norton™ Online Backup Security
McAfee® Internet Security Suite Trial
Oberon GameZone

then if she hasnt bought any antivirus download and install microsoft security essentials it is free and requires very little input after it has been installed and make sure microsoft auto update is turned on

Donnie

jayme1 wrote: »

something like this sould be more than enough will a little future proofing thrown in as well http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-aspire-5734z-06539249-pdt.html#tab-tech-specs

No no no no no no no.....

Youdontseeme

I am almost afraid to ask, but what is wrong with PC World??

Donnie

For something cheap and cheerful: MSI CR610 £274

Though perhaps it's better to wait for something more juicy to come along.

jayme1

yeah what's wrong with pc world? my laptop is from there I got it at a stupidly good price and it came with only what the manufacturer installs on the machine and because they had them is stock I walked away with it so didnt have to wait for delivery from unreliable parcel delivery companies.
so in essence it was exactly like buying online (the computer was exactly the same) just I bought it from a store

are your views about pcworld from personal experiance or just from hearsay? because people on the internet really will say anything.

I have since upgraded to win7 on the same computer and run an enthusiast install (bare minimum installed) and all is working 100% fine, both before win7 and after.

macman

Wait until something goes wrong with your PCW laptop, and then you will find out why they're not recommended on this board...

jayme1

why because the laptops they sell are unreliable or because they are difficult or won't fix them if they go wrong? my laptop is a reliable brand, is well out of warranty and still going strong so I dont really have any dependancy or expectation that pcworld can/will fix it.

I have heard their service is bad and they dont know what they are talking about but I always known what I want and the few I have spoken to have seemed pretty knowlagable and helpful.