Looking for new laptop

WolfSong2000

Alright...basically, my current Lenovo laptop, which I love, worship and adore is now over 5 years old, and while it still works (most of the time), it has had to undergo one expensive repair so far last year, plus it's slowing down and as I am in the middle of a postgraduate degree, I can't afford for it to suddenly die on me.

Sooo...I'm retiring this one, and looking for a new laptop. Ideally around the £400 mark, but could stretch to £600. Usage wise...with my current one, it's used mainly for work (essays, presentations, research, etc), watching DVD's (I don't have a TV), playing the odd game (got my eye on Sims 3, but not sure I'd get much work done if I owned the game. lol).

In other words, I want something with a good processor, that's going to be able to handle my needs, including surfing the net (often have a lot of tabs open to keep track of journals), be able to play games should I require it to and if it had good speakers, etc, to watch DVD's (the one thing this laptop lacks!) then that'd also be great .

My current laptop is a 17'', and I'm looking for a minimum of 15'6'' screen size...am actually considering getting an all-in-one desktop PC instead of a laptop and then using my current one for travel for as long as it holds out, so am open to suggestions.

Brand wise, ideally looking for another Lenovo, like the look of MSI, and will not touch Dell with a bargepole (parents bought me a Dell desktop many years ago and I hated the thing, passionately. Constantly had issues, never worked right and was just completely frustrating. Also looking to stay away from Phillips, as I know someone who had one of their laptops, and again, lots of problems.

So yeah...I'm basically looking for suggestions. I actually know very little about laptops, so no idea what processor, etc, I should be looking for. I really don't want to spend more than I have to on this!

Cheers guys

closed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

then backup, so in the unlikely event it does die, you still have your work

All in one's aren't as easy to fix as a normal pc if they go wrong

globalds

This looks nice.

http://www.it247.com/product/1/XXASUD58/LX-PE702-016-Acer-Aspire-Timeline-3810TG-944G50N-Core-2-Duo-SU9400-1-4-GHz-13-3-LED-TFT-4GB-RAM-500GB-HDD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4330-Win-7-Home.html

Bit small for you (screen size)

Offer found here:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/acer-timeline-3810tg-13-3-ultraport/831569#comments

AirCooledHeaven

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lenovo-IdeaPad-G560-Laptop-Pent-DC-P6100-2GHz-2GB-RAM-/280596710408?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4154de0408

TeacherWaves

I've had great experience buying my laptops from John Lewis. You get 2 years warranty included and the customer service is pretty good too. I've bought 2 from there - I wouldn't advise the HP though as I did have to return this a few times within the warranty period. I was later told that HP was the most common laptop to be returned for repair. Mine used to get very hot and even burn my fingers! I now use a Packard Bell easynote LJ75 and have had no problems. It's very fast - I frequently have Dreamweaver, Photoshop and other applications running simultaneously without any problems. It was about £700 but worth the extra for the dual processor and 500gb hard drive.

dhj

Currently on sale at Play for £570. Don't confuse this with the lower spec Z560 that you see around for £500. This one has an i5 chip (very fast), 4gb ram and 650gb hard drive. A massive spec for the money.

The Acer 5742 is also currently on sale at a number of places but beware, it only has one speaker !