Laptop help - novice!

cakesq

Hi all, thanks in advance for any replies. I'm looking for a laptop and will be using it for mainly internet browsing, email, photo storage and editing, music, word documents, excel etc and possibly streaming to tv but no gaming

My current desktop is a Dell and (i think this is right from what i could find out) 0.99GB of RAM, Intel R Pentium R4 CPU 2.80ghz if that means anything?? It runs well and does what we need it to but we're wanting to move to a laptop for portability and space saving and also its likely we'll be using it more and more with the kids doing work on it etc as they get a bit older.

I've looked at lots of threads on here and done some googling and they're all really helpful but the more I look into it the more confused i get! I read somewhere that you should get an i3 processor rather than a celeron but there seems to be about £100 difference in the price and I'm not sure if I need the extra power for what I'll be using it for?

My top budget is £400 but if I can get a decent laptop that does what i need for the £300 mark then that would be great, I'm just after a bit of advice whether I need to be spending the £400?

Also i've picked up generally that Asus, Toshiba and Samsung are good and Acer and HP not so good is that right? Also have seen some on ebuyer.com, is this an ok site?

Thanks again for any advice, its a lot of money and as we're likely to have it for quite a while I don't want to make a mistake and pay more for what we don't need/not enough and don't get the right thing!

m5rcc

I think this would be suitable for your needs

robmar0se

cakesq wrote: »

Hi all, thanks in advance for any replies. I'm looking for a laptop and will be using it for mainly internet browsing, email, photo storage and editing, music, word documents, excel etc and possibly streaming to tv but no gaming

My current desktop is a Dell and (i think this is right from what i could find out) 0.99GB of RAM, Intel R Pentium R4 CPU 2.80ghz if that means anything?? It runs well and does what we need it to but we're wanting to move to a laptop for portability and space saving and also its likely we'll be using it more and more with the kids doing work on it etc as they get a bit older.

I've looked at lots of threads on here and done some googling and they're all really helpful but the more I look into it the more confused i get! I read somewhere that you should get an i3 processor rather than a celeron but there seems to be about £100 difference in the price and I'm not sure if I need the extra power for what I'll be using it for?

My top budget is £400 but if I can get a decent laptop that does what i need for the £300 mark then that would be great, I'm just after a bit of advice whether I need to be spending the £400?

Also i've picked up generally that Asus, Toshiba and Samsung are good and Acer and HP not so good is that right? Also have seen some on ebuyer.com, is this an ok site?

Thanks again for any advice, its a lot of money and as we're likely to have it for quite a while I don't want to make a mistake and pay more for what we don't need/not enough and don't get the right thing!

You've obviously done yr homework!!

As systems/software always develops at a faster pace its best if you can get something that gives you more protection against things overtaking you - hence maybe you don't need the i series right now, but I bet you would be better off down the road?

Have a look at this i3 (1stGen) these systems are being sold off as the 2nd Gen is now available, so these are excess to requirements - the price is ex VAT but delivery is included - I've seen a couple of these and they really appear to be tremendous value.

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?rn=7716&c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&PLikeId=1_290181_1_442188_1_144178_1_148200_1_127152_1_291202_1_501301_1_194290_1_762185_1_534196_1_565196_1_261298_&Flag=1

Neil49

I've purchased from ebuyer many times and had no problems.

They have a couple of i3 laptops with the latest Sandybridge processors and the Fujitsu AH531 looks quite good as it has 3 usb2 ports and Bluetooth should you wish to connect a phone etc wirelessly. The Asus has only 2 usb ports but one is the latest (and faster) usb3 type. Whether you would need this is up to you.

http://www.ebuyer.com/285944-fujitsu-ah531-laptop-vfy-ah531mrsc2gb

cakesq

Thanks for your replies, I'll have a look at those

gonzo127

m5rcc wrote: »

I think this would be suitable for your needs

i dont think this would be suitable as it is only a 11.6 inch screen so is very small, especially if one of the requirements is likely to be a lot of typing or excel, so i think a 15.6 inch one would be best in this situation - not only that but it does have a underpowered processor as the e300 is closer to a atom than a core i3

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-SATELLITE-L755-LAPTOP-500GB-15-6-PENTIUM-B940-4GB-RAM-SILVER-REFURB-/360423651026?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item53eaec76d2 could be interesting with the B940 cpu which is a sandybridge based CPU, yes its refurb but it saves money

or even this one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-C660-320GB-15-6IN-LAPTOP-/330693920768?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4cfee4c800
although this one is a little light on ram this is a very cheap upgrade as a 2gb stick on ebuyer is less than £10 and a 4gb set less than £20

TakeThis

gonzo127 wrote: »

i dont think this would be suitable as it is only a 11.6 inch screen so is very small, especially if one of the requirements is likely to be a lot of typing or excel, so i think a 15.6 inch one would be best in this situation - not only that but it does have a underpowered processor as the e300 is closer to a atom than a core i3

Not only that, but no optical disc drive.

grumpycrab

gonzo127 wrote: »

...
or even this one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-C660-320GB-15-6IN-LAPTOP-/330693920768?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4cfee4c800
although this one is a little light on ram this is a very cheap upgrade as a 2gb stick on ebuyer is less than £10 and a 4gb set less than £20

That was a great deal. Even for a refurb.

gonzo127

grumpycrab wrote: »

That was a great deal. Even for a refurb.

oh well guess thats the problem with refurbs, very limited stock.

!!!! the other one has gone now as well anyways -

interesting if you are really hard up for money as this is just over £200 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MSI-A6300-250GB-15-6-INCH-LAPTOP-2GB-RAM-REFURB-/330694821774?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4cfef2878e will do everything you have requested only thing to note is as above little light on RAM but once again £10-20 upgrade

cakesq

thanks everyone, didn't think of ebay/argos outlet will keep my eye on it, they seem to go fast! Thanks again

spud17

cakesq wrote: »

thanks everyone, didn't think of ebay/argos outlet will keep my eye on it, they seem to go fast! Thanks again

They go quickly because forumites know that generally they are good value.