Advice required on purchasing first laptop

ads2608

Hi

I'm looking to buy my first laptop. I have alot of experience using PCs at work, but unfortunately I have no idea what specs I should be looking for in a laptop in order to get value for money.

I have a budget of £400 to include some s/w and anti-virus.

What type of processor, memory and hard drive should be a minumum?

The laptop would be for home use for the following:

-Web browsing & e-mail (wireless connection)
-Using Microsoft Excel & Access (s/w to be purchased from budget)
-Storing my music collection
-Transfering camcorder footage, so firewire port is a necessity.
-Photo editing
-Burning CDs and DVDs
-Connecting to my HD LCD TV

The laptop isn't going to be used for gaming and size/weight is not a major issue.

I have only used Windows XP, so am unsure whether I should stick with XP or
go for Vista since I have read about problems with Vista.

I would prefer a brand new laptop, but would be interested in refurbished provided there was significant warranty.

Any pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Red_Rose_Exile

-Web browsing & e-mail (wireless connection)

-Using Microsoft Excel & Access (s/w to be purchased from budget)
Does it HAVE to be M$ office, open office is fully compatible with M$ office, and is free

-Storing my music collection
Make sure you have a reasonably sized hard drive

-Transfering camcorder footage, so firewire port is a necessity.
-Photo editing
The gimp is free and is not too dissimilar to Photoshop

-Burning CDs and DVDs
Deepburner can burn cds and dvds and is free

-Connecting to my HD LCD TV
You'll need a DVI output for best output, but s-video may do the job

The biggest stumbling block is going to be your last requirement if it is to remain in budget, and you will possibly have to do with S-video

Based on this, the maybe the Dell inspiron 1520 may be a reasonable choice at £399

BTW there are plenty of good free AV and firewall applications available, see this page for a non exhaustive, but pretty comprehensive list

motorguy

Or a Dell Vostro 1000. Check out www.dmxdimension.com for the offers on it.

Also www.filehippo.com for free software.

rightz

if you are not gaming or storing loads of music etc you could probably just get the cheapest one possible.

most will be wireless enabled (if they arent you will need to buy a seperate adaptor)

to get XP you will need to get refurbished - which I did and am very pleased with results. most big names sell refurbished still with one year guarentee.

you will get xp with pretty much every new laptop these days.

i've seen new and refurbished laptops online for as little as £189 so you could buy the best software and antivirus with that.

motorguy

rightz wrote: »

if you are not gaming or storing loads of music etc you could probably just get the cheapest one possible.

most will be wireless enabled (if they arent you will need to buy a seperate adaptor)

to get XP you will need to get refurbished - which I did and am very pleased with results. most big names sell refurbished still with one year guarentee.

you will get xp with pretty much every new laptop these days.

i've seen new and refurbished laptops online for as little as £189 so you could buy the best software and antivirus with that.

Dell will sell you a Vostro 1000 with XP and thats a brand new machine. Also, i'd always take a step up from the very entry machines, processors tend to be just ok at that level. An extra £30 can make a big difference to the power of the processor.

I'd be interested in where you're seeing new laptops for £189?

rightz

I looked for that link and they have sold out now. Cheapest one I could see is now about £300. I think the cheaper ones were old stock they try to get rid of.

Poppycat

If you get a laptop try and get one with XP not always easy, But Dell do supply them. I had Vista business on my Dell and with 6 cells. It didnt last much more than 75 - 90 minutes just on surfing. The dual core processor was running even on idle at over 10% that eats into your battery all the time. With XP it now runs idle on about 1-2% and the laptop now can work on full charge about 2 1/2 to 3 hours tops, just a thought but it makes a big difference and laptop runs so much smoother than with Vista and I had 2GB ram on board and dedicated graphics card

ads2608

Is this a good deal from Dell, Vostro 1700 - £363?

Intel® Celeron® Processor 550 (2.00 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2-cache)
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic - English
17.0" Widescreen WXGA+ (1440x900) TFT Display
Colour Choice Matte Jet Black without Camera
Memory 1024MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512]
Hard Drive 160 GB (7.200rpm) SATA Hard Drive with Free Fall Protection ™
Video Card Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Optical Devices Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
Primary Battery Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)

epz_2

unless you are going opensource i doubt £400 would cover the cost of the software you are requesting, last i looked office with access was like £270 alone.

that said i would look at the vostro 1700 as well, theres a LOT of room for upgradeing in that platform if youn need more performance later. i saw a dented on with 1920x1200 screen, core duo and 8600gt gpu go for £530 on dells ebay store.

ads2608

Yes, I think I'm going to exclude Access from my budget at the moment.

Otherwise, I think the Vostro will do the job.