help choosing between 2 laptops for daughter!

bob_a_builder

Yes you're right - They referred to it as Laptop but closer inspection showed it to be a netbook - THIS - hence the edit

and the first is a bit far from a MacBook.

and the price reflects that

danthemoneysavingman

you could say if she wants the macbook, ok, give me the £1000 difference and you'll get one!

Neil49

Argos have a few laptops on promotion at the moment.

Here is a possibility

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1386307.htm

happymummy24-7

The sales guys make me nervous...I really don't know what's decent and what's rubbish so I'm a soft target for them!
I thought the dell perhaps comes with Microsoft word but in...but I want sure if that's what it ment on the specs,they have a couple in store and it has a nice look to it.
If I was to give you £400 and forced you to buy a laptop what would you pick? Argos are have the £10 voucher too so a little bonus that could go towards another gift!

penrhyn

It probably has a 30 or 60 day trial, doesn't really matter 'cos you can always use something like Apache Open Office for free.
Are you averse to buying on line? eg..

http://www.dmxdimension.com/dell-uk/inspiron-15-deals-codes-coupons/

Ignore the poster who said they smell of cat pee.

Neil49

If they are going to be carrying the laptop around then a 15.6 inch one could be a bit heavy although weights can vary. If it is to be used at home then the larger screen is much better.

If you go for something with a smaller (14") screen then although the weight will be lower you may need to get an external dvd drive (about £20 for a Samsung one). You just need to consider how much the drive will be used as nowadays backing up onto cheap usb sticks or the cloud is an alternative.

Processor wise look for an Intel Core i3 (or AMD A6) and at least 4 g/b of ram (memory). An hdmi output will enable connection to a tv. A 500 g/b hard drive is sufficient for most purposes. Windows 8 will be on most pc's you will find but don't go for a Chromebook as it uses a different operating system and virtually everything is web based including word processing.

Penrhyn is quite right when he says Open Office is a good, and free, alternative to Microsoft Word (which will almost certainly be a limited period trial offer). I use Libre Office and find it very good and is also free as a download. As a student it may be possible to purchase a full version of Microsoft Office at a substantial discount.

Hope this helps.

happymummy24-7

Very helpful indeed thank you- I would also happily buy online
She uses a lot of power points-if we install the likes of open office could she make these then transer to her memory stick to take to school as she does from our home pc?
She won't be carrying it about too much so the bigger screen won't be a problem
I am ignoring dell cats pee lol

Alye16

We have just brought this one from Argos
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1087039.htm
for our sons 18th birthday. We took the specs into PC world to compare and couldn't see anything with a similar spec for a similar price. The man in PC world told us it was a good buy and they use to stock this particularly model. Some good link deals if you need office or security takes £20 off. Also got a £10 voucher which we used to get a wireless mouse. One happy 18 year old.

grumpycrab

Alye16 wrote: »

Some good link deals if you need office or security takes £20 off.

No comment on the laptop (it would be unkind after you've bought it) but you don't have to pay for (legal) office and security software.

penrhyn

Windows 8 has windows defender antivirus built in.