Looking for decent laptop in January sales

John_Gray

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Did you clean all of the the dust out that was inside the case of the PC?

Ah, now you're talking! Especially check round the fans...

Katherine.S

Thanks for the feedback.

The laptop was a Toshiba but I don't have it in my possession to check model number. My sister is a teacher and took it to show their IT guy who said it wasn't worth fixing and it is at her house still (I'm not sure how well she gets on with him so I'm not sure how much I value his third-hand advice).

My PC was from a company called overclockers and built to specification so no model number there either. I did clear out all the dust inside, it wasn't actually too bad. It does sit in a cupboard so I do worry it is an overheating issue but then surely it would deteriorate the longer it was on which isn't the case. It is very random and can restart within 10 minutes of being on, or can equally run for several hours without restarting.

As for the laptop purchase I went to have a look at both the ASUS and HP in PC World today. I did prefer the styling and keyboard of the HP and my husband agreed. I also think it makes sense to have the versatility of being able to run Photoshop for the extra £70 although we are still discussing it.

I hate buying off credit cards (having cleared about £10k of credit card debt a few years ago, we only use them and clear them in full each month now) so it is a big consideration.

closed

factory restore by holding down zero at boot will probably fix your laptop problem and it's speed problem in 10 minutes. backup first if you need any data - 5 year old machines are perfectly usable

the fact that safe mode works, clearly points to software.

machine's don't fade and die, they either work, or they don't, and most problems from branded machines are caused by software.

bod1467

DD #1 got a new laptop last month for her birthday. (I had a thread about it about 6 weeks ago - she wanted something lighter).

This reply is being posted using her old laptop (4 or 5 year old Compaq Presario CQ61) which I have just factory-restored then removed all the carp from. It runs perfectly well.

NiftyDigits

Katherine.S wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback.

The laptop was a Toshiba but I don't have it in my possession to check model number. My sister is a teacher and took it to show their IT guy who said it wasn't worth fixing and it is at her house still (I'm not sure how well she gets on with him so I'm not sure how much I value his third-hand advice).

My PC was from a company called overclockers and built to specification so no model number there either. I did clear out all the dust inside, it wasn't actually too bad. It does sit in a cupboard so I do worry it is an overheating issue but then surely it would deteriorate the longer it was on which isn't the case. It is very random and can restart within 10 minutes of being on, or can equally run for several hours without restarting.

As for the laptop purchase I went to have a look at both the ASUS and HP in PC World today. I did prefer the styling and keyboard of the HP and my husband agreed. I also think it makes sense to have the versatility of being able to run Photoshop for the extra £70 although we are still discussing it.

I hate buying off credit cards (having cleared about £10k of credit card debt a few years ago, we only use them and clear them in full each month now) so it is a big consideration.

IT guy...just reading that makes me smile.

So get the laptop back and let's see if we can get it up and running faster than ever before.

Katherine.S

Thanks everyone! I'm seeing her next week and will retrieve it then.

My PC has been remarkably stable today but I plan to pop the side off and have another poke about tomorrow. If I can avoid replacing that too it would be great.

I also have a three year old ASUS netbook which might act as an interim / emergency alternative but it takes about 30 mins to boot up so hardly gets used. I am going to try the factory restore on that.

NiftyDigits

Full model number of the ASUS too.

Couple of minutes to Boot should be as long as it takes.

Don't neglect to 'Disable Automatic Restart On System Failure' on the PC.

Katherine.S

The ASUS is Eee PC 1201N I see a product key for Windows 7 Home Premium on the back but as it has no optical drive I have no idea how to do a reinstall.

It hasn't been used a lot and doesn't have a lot on it. It even used to run Photoshop (CS3) slowly but well enough to do quick edits.

NiftyDigits

Katherine.S wrote: »

The ASUS is Eee PC 1201N I see a product key for Windows 7 Home Premium on the back but as it has no optical drive I have no idea how to do a reinstall.

It hasn't been used a lot and doesn't have a lot on it. It even used to run Photoshop (CS3) slowly but well enough to do quick edits.

Factory Restore

You can also 'up' the RAM to 4GB for £33.
That will smooth the performance out a bit. Though the Atom Processor isn't helpful.

Video guide

Katherine.S

Excellent advice thanks, will have a go at sorting it out either later this evening or tomorrow. Didn't realise I could up the RAM either!