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Help with choosing laptop please!

I have a budget of about £1000 although I would prefer to spend less.


I've been told that Macbooks are the best but, could I get a higher spec Windows laptop for that price?


I'm a bit baffled by the sheer amount of choice!


I want fast internet surfing, word processing, and to be able to watch TV and films without buffering. A touch screen is not essential.


I would appreciate any help!
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Comments

  • Quiet_Spark
    Quiet_Spark Posts: 1,093 Forumite
    Fast internet surfing and watching TV/movies without buffering have nothing to do with the machine, that will be dictated by the speed of your internet connection.

    For word processing, you'll have to install the appropriate software yourself. Don't know if there is any free word processing software for Apple products, but there is for Windows based machines.
    Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
    Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
    Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
    Torque is how far your car sends the wall across the field once you've hit it
  • chib
    chib Posts: 537 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Home Insurance Hacker!
    A budget laptop would do what you are looking for, even a Chromebook.

    Very fast for web browsing, you can do word processing for free using Microsoft Office Online or Google Documents. Watching TV (iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD) is done within browser and so is Netflix for movies.

    You could spend £200 and have everything you need. If status is important to you, a £750 MacBook Air will do all the above and look nicer.
  • Anne_Marie_2
    Anne_Marie_2 Posts: 2,123 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Fast internet surfing and streaming tv and films without buffering, is mostly down to your internet service. No laptop, no matter how good it is, will do any better, if your internet service is bad.

    Can you give a little bit more info on what you have at the moment please?
  • Maureen43
    Maureen43 Posts: 518 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    I have nothing at the moment!


    Before I had a really bad Dell machine.
  • Quiet_Spark
    Quiet_Spark Posts: 1,093 Forumite
    Maureen43 wrote: »
    Before I had a really bad Dell machine.
    You mean it was fine until it got to the stage where it was filled with crap like toolbars and malware and then it slowed to a crawl.
    Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
    Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
    Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
    Torque is how far your car sends the wall across the field once you've hit it
  • Cycrow
    Cycrow Posts: 2,639 Forumite
    You mean it was fine until it got to the stage where it was filled with crap like toolbars and malware and then it slowed to a crawl.

    Most Dell's come with that as standard :P
  • Maureen43
    Maureen43 Posts: 518 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    No, I had removed all that stuff. It was a poor quality machine.
  • chib
    chib Posts: 537 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Home Insurance Hacker!
    Maureen43 wrote: »
    No, I had removed all that stuff. It was a poor quality machine.

    I think Quiet Spark is correct here, it's important to understand this as poor maintenance of your new computer will result in a similar experience.
  • Anne_Marie_2
    Anne_Marie_2 Posts: 2,123 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    So what are you using now to use the internet?

    What internet package are you on?

    Do you still have the Dell? If so, what model is it?
  • Maureen43
    Maureen43 Posts: 518 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    The service tag is 4JP6LT1, if that helps.


    I've stripped it down to the essentials with no improvement on performance.
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