A useful laptop...?

David333

Could anyone give me some advice with laptops please...? I was looking at getting a fairly cheap one for general Internet browsing, maybe Skype, downloading music, streaming films, etc. I won't be playing games on it. It'll be used as a desktop replacement with a little travelling, mainly for holidays, etc, so although lighter is obviously better, the weight isn't the most important thing. Budget is around £300-£400ish.

I saw an Acer Aspire 5051 on ebuyer for £350: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132487

Processor: Powerful AMD Turion 64 MK-36 - 2.0GHz (whatever that means!)
Hard Drive: 120GB
RAM: 1GB Memory
Screen: 14.1" TFT Widescreen
Optical Drive: DVD Re-writer (DVD±RW Super Multi Double Layer)
Graphics: ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 integrated 3D graphics
Wireless LAN: 802.11b/g
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Basic
3 x USB 2.0 Ports .


Can anyone give me any advice as to how good this would be...? Also, I have no idea how processors differ; an idiot-proof guide to what processor does what (and what would be best for me) would be great please. Thank you...!

gremlin666_2

Processor Type is down to personal preference. AMD Turion don't seem to be as quick as an Intel or Pentium and you really should be looking for a Duel Core Processor rather than a stand alone one. Duel Core are better when you are running more than one application at a time as it is two Processors instead of one in theory.

Windows Vista Basic is good but if you intend to watch films then Windows Vista Premium would be a better bet.

3 USB port's is ok but if you use a Camcorder or Digital Camera a FireWire Port would be better as its alot quicker when transfering large files.

You might want to check what the battery life is too if you intend to carry it about with you there is nothing worse than a dead battery after an hour .

Everything else seems fine and it will do what you want it for and for £350 is a good buy Acer stuff tends to be good quality and they've been around for years so know what they are doing.