Suggestions for a laptop

BusyLizzy

Hi all

My son is off to uni in September and I have agreed to buy him a laptop. I am overwhelmed by different types so would appreciate some guidance. I am willing to spend about £600, he would use it for internet, typing essays, playing DVDs and watching a bit of iPlayer and that kind of thing. He won't be using it for gaming.

Any ideas?
Thanks

atypical

You can spend a lot less than £600, based on what you say he will be using it for. There's a good thread here you should take a look at/keep an eye on:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1147017&page=127

BusyLizzy

Thanks for your help. My son said I wouldn't be able to get anything for less than £600. I guess he is pulling a fast one!

AnnBar

I would say that £400 would get him a decent quality laptop that will do all of those things and have a decent memory.

atypical

This looks to be good value (at a third of your original budget!):
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200791468766&clk_rvr_id=369358894230

zkellerman

You can easily find one for less than £600... my high end gaming laptop was about £650. If he wants one for University he's much better off with a Netbook. Much better battery life (which really is a must for University!) portable, not so weighty and if it gets nicked and damaged its not so expensive to replace. You can get a dual core, 8hour battery life netbook which can do all the things you mentioned from the Argos ebay outlet for less than 200 quid... which is what I'm planning to do in a few weeks' time.

Cpfoxhunt

Having just finished university myself, I wouldn't recommend a netbook - typing for any great length of time on them gets a bit miserable.

Have a look at the argos outlet store on ebay. You should be able to get something usable for between 2 and 3 hundred quid, and something excellent for about £400. I can't post links, but google 'ebay argos outlet' and go from there. The fact that they are refurbished machines gives you a much better computer for your money than buying new.

Do bear in mind that your son will be using this every day for hours at a time to do almost all of his work - do talk it through with him rather than just buying the cheapest one on the list. Features that might seem pointless or 'merely aesthetic' to you might make quite a lot of difference to someone who is going to be using it a lot over the next three years!

Alisha2008

A netbook is useful ONLY if he has a decent keyboard and screen at home. I have one that I take to Spain and it's useful to travel, but not really comfortable to work long hours on it.

It really depends if he's going to take it everywhere or leave it more at home, the weight is something to consider too.

We have DELL in my office and they are good, but not cheap. And I still have my first ACER that i bought 6 years ago and apart from the screen breaking (my fault), it has always worked well.

JimmyJar

Remember to do it via a cashback site like https://www.topcashback.co.uk or https://www.quidco.co.uk

atypical

Alisha2008 wrote: »

A netbook is useful ONLY if he has a decent keyboard and screen at home. I have one that I take to Spain and it's useful to travel, but not really comfortable to work long hours on it.

I'd echo this.

BusyLizzy

Thanks for all your ideas.
I didn't realise that there was so much to consider!
My son has made a casual remark about fancying an Apple Mac book. Any comments?