Another *please advise* laptop thread!

Giantsfan06

Hi folks,

I've come to the trusted board in search of advice.

Below are the details of my current HP laptop, which I bought three or four years ago (I think, I can't remember exactly when the laptop before that died).

System (Windows 7 Home Premium)

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Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
Model: HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook PC
Total amount of system memory 4.00 GB RAM
System type: 64-bit operating system
Number of processor cores: 2
Processor: AMD Turion(tm) II Dual-Core Mobile M520 2.30GHz


Storage

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Total size of hard disk(s) 298 GB
Disk partition (C:) 141 GB Free (284 GB Total)
Disk partition (D:) 2 GB Free (13 GB Total)
Media drive (E:) CD/DVD

Graphics

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Display adapter type ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 Series
Total available graphics memory 2302 MB
Dedicated graphics memory 512 MB
Dedicated system memory 0 MB
Shared system memory 1790 MB
Display adapter driver version 8.632.1.2000
Primary monitor resolution 1600x900
DirectX version DirectX 10

Network

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Network Adapter Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
Network Adapter Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Network Adapter Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter



Essentially, I just would like to purchase the 'next laptop up' as I think this one has run its course after some repairs, recurring problems and now external damage to the charging port. Repairs will soon enough outweigh the costs of a new laptop.

The new laptop would need to support Microsoft Office, general browsing and watching of videos, and, at a stretch, Football Manager games. There is no need for the greatest laptop since sliced-bread, but I don't want to go 'backwards' in terms of spec.

Basically, I'd just like any new laptop to be at least a marginal improvement on my current laptop - and I have no clue how good, or outdated, my current laptop really would be in the current market.

I don't have a set budget, but the lower the better given the comments above.


I have some links [edited, as not allowed to post links!] below covering a range of prices, but being somewhat clueless, I'm not sure how appropriate the following would be:

saveonlaptops. co. uk/59421803-Lenovo-G50-70_1641305.html

saveonlaptops. co. uk/59406066-Lenovo-G505s_1641303.html

laptopsdirect .co .uk/Lenovo_B5400-Intel_Core_i5-4200M_2.50GHz__3MB_Cache__1600MHz_4GB_1TB_DVD-RW_MB82HUK/version.asp

saveonlaptops. co. uk/CX61-2PC-685UK-MSI-CX61-Haswell_1620397.html

johnlewis. com/hp-envy-15-j140sa-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-ram-1tb-15-6-natural-silver/p1577431

pcspecialist. co. uk/notebooks/cosmosII/

Many thanks in advance for any comments.


*I know people are often helpful in attempting to fix current laptop issues when people ask for help purchasing a new one. However, I'd like to consider an upgrade in model if one falls within a reasonable price range.

grumpycrab

Giantsfan06 wrote: »

...*I know people are often helpful in attempting to fix current laptop issues when people ask for help purchasing a new one. However, I'd like to consider an upgrade in model if one falls within a reasonable price range.

Nifty will be unhappy to hear that;) However, I have to ask is the "external damage to the charging port" a laptop problem of is it solveable with a new charger? (and does charging work ok?)

That's the only question I'll ask before the new laptop advice comes flooding in...

Giantsfan06

grumpycrab wrote: »

Nifty will be unhappy to hear that;) However, I have to ask is the "external damage to the charging port" a laptop problem of is it solveable with a new charger? (and does charging work ok?)

That's the only question I'll ask before the new laptop advice comes flooding in...

It is a problem with the laptop and the charger. It was plugged in, balancing precariously on the chair...and then it was no longer balanced.

Laptop fell right on the plugged in charger, lots of cracking on both ends. Now the charger works but only if plugged in delicately at the correct angle, and is becoming less reliable. Having paid out for repairs to internal workings last year (that one wasn't my fault lol) I'm less inclined to save this.

Plus, I didn't mention, the screen is beginning to flicker more and more, and particularly seems to hate the colour black.

Jaffster

Do you have a budget?

Giantsfan06

Jaffster wrote: »

Do you have a budget?

Yes and no.

I'd be willing to pay for an upgrade if that costs, say £600, but if I didn't need to spend that much I wouldn't want to for the sake of a superior product (usual caveat, if absurdly future-proof etc).

If I said I had a budget of £500-£600 that might be a rough guide, but the cheaper the better, including below that £500 level.

Should add, can utilise any 'student/teacher discount' offers if any are relevant.

grumpycrab

Giantsfan06 wrote: »

http://laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenovo_B5400-Intel_Core_i5-4200M_2.50GHz__3MB_Cache__1600MHz_4GB_1TB_DVD-RW_MB82HUK/version.asp

I've had a quick look at 2 Lenovo laptops (reasonable quality at the lower end of the market). Here's the second one.
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenovo_G50-70_4th_Gen_Core_i5_8GB_1TB_Windows_8.1_Laptop_in_Black__59414062/version.asp

The best CPU is the first one i5-4200M (an i5 should be fine for your purposes). This also has Windows 7 Pro by default.
Cashback is a bit of a fiddle but is with Lenovo (not laptopsdirect) and you just need to follow the instructions carefully.
https://lenovo-offers.com/uk/en/pages/business/qualifying

EDIT: you can also buy the i5-4200M from Ebuyer here
http://www.ebuyer.com/633696-lenovo-thinkpad-b5400-laptop-mb82huk
and the 3 year onsite warranty (£40 - a requirement to get the £45 cashback if bought via Ebuyer) is here
http://www.ebuyer.com/658663-lenovo-3-year-onsite-nbd-5ws0g05633

I always recommend getting an extended warranty with (budget) laptops despite the theoretical SOGA protection.
Finally (!) don't worry too much about 4GB memory - that should be sufficient for your needs.

Giantsfan06

Thanks for the help.

Do you think it would be worth upgrading the RAM from 4GB?

I also notice that the laptop comes with Windows 8 to be loaded, as well as Windows 7 - but I sense the debating the advantage of this might take me down a lengthy garden path

grumpycrab

Windows 7 versus 8? Depends whether you want the lastest and have time to play. 7 is safest, 8 will take up time.
4GB should be enough. I think, unless anybody else can chip in, Football Manager should be fine despite lack of "dedicated graphics".
Memory is easy to upgrade any time.

Jaffster

Football manager is CPU intensive.

I bought an Asus laptop from PC World last year and it runs Football Manager fine. That's an i5 with 6GB RAM and a 635M graphics cards. That cost £550. This would do for you:

*can't post links!* - Search for Acer Aspire V3-572PG