Sony NR21M Laptop - any good?

buyitall

Hi,
My inlaws (late 60's) are buying their first laptop (they have never owned a pc either but have decided on a laptop), and like the look of this laptop which is currently £499 at pc world:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/product.php?sku=685078&camp_id=ppc_Froogle_search#productInformationSection
I'd be grateful for your views on whether it's a decent buy. They'll be using it for surfing the net, researching family tree mainly, but generally like to buy well-known brands, and this is about the price the want to pay. Thanks in advance x

Norman-B

Anyone, please?

fwor

Maybe not what they want to hear, but the spec seems too good for their needs if they really are only going to be surfing and reading emails.

The obvious thing to state about buying a brand like Sony is that you are paying significant amounts purely for the name. The components are made by the same people as those that go into a Dell or an Advent or whatever. Ok, it may feel a bit more rugged, but as it's probably going to sit on a desk all its life, so what?

IMHO, a single-core CPU with an 80G hard disk, 1Gb RAM and XP would do just fine and save them £200.

Millionaire

As Fwor has mentioned you are paying more for the Sony name.

You can pick up a simliar spec laptop for around £100 cheaper which is a saving of 1/5.

Look at Toshiba or Asus as well. Asus actually make laptops for Sony and Toshiba

In regards to XP i wouldnt bother unless you can get the proffesional version as Microsoft is stopping support for XP home very soon AFAIK.

In actual fact I picked up this laptop

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/438561/TOSHIBA-SAT-L40-18Z

for £350. It will do everything they require and more. (I wouldnt buy from Comet though again)

buyitall

Thanks for the advice. I had been thinking of suggesting that they do a price-match promise with John Lewis (JL are selling it for £699, PC world £499), which would get them a 2 year warantee as well as a better retailer. would this sway you at all?? Thanks for the advice so far x

Norman-B

Please excuse me jumping in on this thread but I'm still looking to buy a laptop for my Dgtr. The Toshiba seems to be a good deal but my worry is the 1GB of memory. I keep reading that with Vista, it needs 2gb.

I have just looked on PC World's site and this has it at 512 memory?

Millionaire

buyitall wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I had been thinking of suggesting that they do a price-match promise with John Lewis (JL are selling it for £699, PC world £499), which would get them a 2 year warantee as well as a better retailer. would this sway you at all?? Thanks for the advice so far x

I still think your paying more for the name. I actually looked at that Sony when I was looking for a laptop a few weeks back (it was £549 then cheapest price).

Honestly I think your paying around at least £150 too much for a Laptop than what you need.

But if they are adament on the Sony name, Go for it, as it is the cheapest Sony Laptop and the spec is more than enough to what they require.

Millionaire

Norman-B wrote: »

Please excuse me jumping in on this thread but I'm still looking to buy a laptop for my Dgtr. The Toshiba seems to be a good deal but my worry is the 1GB of memory. I keep reading that with Vista, it needs 2gb.

I have just looked on PC World's site and this has it at 512 memory?

To run smoothly in my opinon, 1GB min as long as you fiddle around with startup entries and services etc.

2GB would be better if you you just want to run it out of the box. As there is alot of rubbish startingup and loaded via 3rd parties in most cases. Or if you are gonna run heavier programs like video editing etc.

libra10

As a Sony Vaio user I would thoroughly recommend their laptops. Have just purchased my third Vaio and find it excellent. The first one actually survived after almost bouncing on a marble fireplace hearth. Although the lid was slightly damaged the PC worked on for a year or so afterwards.

The second Sony is still in excellent shape. As I am the main computer user I donated that PC to my OH and decided to purchase new. If you have any problems the Sony forums are excellent and they can sort most problems.

My computer is used quite heavily and Sony is a brand I have come to rely on.

Good luck