Laptop advice please

taliwillow

Hello,

I work from home and need to get a new laptop that will be reliable, ideally quite fast so I am not wasting time waiting for documents to open and hopefully long lasting as I find the whole choosing a laptop thing really stressful and don't want to have to get another one for a long time. It will also be an absolute pain getting all of my different e-mail accounts (I work for 5 companies) and PAYE systems set up on a new laptop so I really want one to last.
I spend most of my time using Word, Excel and e-mails.
I don't want to spend loads but on the other hand I would rather spend a bit more to get one that will last. Having done a bit of research and not being at all technically minded I was thinking of getting this one:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/toshiba-satellite-s50-b-15n-15-6-laptop-silver-10108635-pdt.html#cat-0

Does this seem like a good option or are there better options out there for a similar or lower price?

Thanks

Taliwillow

gjchester

taliwillow wrote: »

Hello,

I work from home and need to get a new laptop that will be reliable, ideally quite fast so I am not wasting time waiting for documents to open and hopefully long lasting as I find the whole choosing a laptop thing really stressful and don't want to have to get another one for a long time.

If you need it to be reliable look at the Dell Lattitude or HP Elitebook series. They are not cheap but they are built more for business with focus on reliablility than entertainment options. They may also not have as much "valuable" bloatware installed off the bat that may slow it down the device.

Dell and HP also offer better next day and on site support packages that may be better if you have limited IT skills if you have problems.

I'd also advise as soon as you get whatever you choose you wipe the system and do a factory restore, this typically will remove any factory installed software and leave you with a simple Windows machine.

Remember you may need to factor in the cost of office, depending on what the licence that you already have covers you for.

Cisco001

You don't need machine with dedicated graphic card.

All you need is fast CPU, enough RAM and fast HDD.
If battery life not important.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/lenovo-z50-15-6-laptop-white-10107242-pdt.html#cat-0


However, you should also look at dell outlet business laptop due to the warranty they offer.

grumpycrab

Yep, have a look at Dell outlet, esp with 3 year warranty. Goto
http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=3&c=uk&cs=ukdfb1&l=en&s=dfb
Select options on the left, e.g. Windows7, optical drive,...15.6",...

bsod

Address why the machine you use now doesn't meet your needs instead, no machine should be stressed at opening a document

taliwillow

Hi bsod,

The slow document opening isn't my reason for changing my laptop but is just something that I would quite like to improve if I am spending on a better one. Its probably not the slowest laptop in the world. I am looking at changing it because there is now a strange black expanding mark in the middle of my screen (my husband says its something to do with pixels but I don't really know what that is) and the laptop has had a few problems since I bought it 14 months ago including it having to go for repair taking about 1 week during its warranty and I just don't have faith in it lasting much longer (a friend got the same laptop for her birthday last August and had to put it in for repair over Christmas). When I bought it I wasn't working at home so it was for personal use but now it is being used for around 8-10 hours per day and I really don't have the time for everything to break at the moment.

Taliwillow

mgfvvc

The best thing for speed is to get a machine with an SSD (Solid state disk) in place of a hard disk. I would recommend 8GB RAM as well.

You can probably get a business machine with Windows 7 on, but not from the high street shops. I personally would not buy a mouse from PC World.

Something in the Dell Latitude series is probably the way to go.

bsod

I was expecting it to be nearer 14 years old, than 14 months. Brand/model?

If you haven't damaged the screen physically, by shutting the lid with something underneath for example, it would financially make more sense to pursue the retailer for a free repair, and consider contingency steps to access your data whilst they do - (your first post hints at an inadequate backup strategy). 8-10 hours a day use is nothing.

Plugging it into an external screen will aid diagnosis of the fault. A pixel is the coloured dot that makes up the picture.

Londoner_1

NO NO NO.

Buy one from John Lewis online, you get standard 2 year warranty.

Dell Latitude series are business machines designed to last, adding a SSD drive will drive up the cost, do you really need the speed?

Gavin78

pc specialists as well they custom build laptops/desktops and you can go online and choose what you want in it