What laptop (or desktop) should I choose?

[brockenspectre]

How do I choose a new laptop or desktop pc?

I have a 2008 laptop that I love dearly but its graphic spec/RAM etc means that when I am virtually sailing on Sailonline.org - Online Sailing (http://www.sailonline.org) its wee brain gets overfull and so runs horribly slowly if I also want to check/write emails, check other sites, run YouTube videos, draft documents in Word etc etc.

There is a possibility that I can get a new laptop (preference) or desktop pc, and I just wondered if you could recommend a good mid-pricerange laptop or desktop for my needs. A Windoze one. I would be wanting to buy online as I don't manage store-shopping too well these days due parky bo11ox.

I have been browsing the internet as January sales is an ideal time to buy but... am going crosseyed with all the info.

My wireless router is a Netgear DC834G (vintage 2008) which works just fine.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice/help here!

P.S. my preference for a laptop is due to space constraints but obviously if a light years better (performance/graphics) desktop can be bought for the same price then I guess I'd be daft to push for the laptop :ok:

[txdmy1]

Overclockers UK (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/)
but decide wether you want a lappie or a box first, then get the best spec you can afford. I do boxes as I can upgrade monitors, graphics, ram, motherboards etc. (I get hand me downs from my son ;))

[vulcanised]

Morgan Computers were/are having a sale that looked quite substantial with quite a variety on offer.

[Mr Optimistic]

If its graphics power then 'game capable' laptops are expensive (>£800). You sure more ram can't help ? If you have been using sailingonline since you got the laptop and its only now getting clunky then graphics must be up to par. If it has always been slow however........Adding ram or bigger hard disk is usually straightforward.

[brockenspectre]

Thank you for the replies thus far... any particular brands I should avoid? I love the light feel of thekeyboard on my aged HP Compaq so that will also be a factor.. no clonky keyboards hehehe

From browsing the 'net it would appear that I should be thinking of the following spec:

CPU: Intel i5/i7 (min2.0Ghz)

Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD5850 / NVidia GEForce330m (separate graphics as opposed to "built in"??)

RAM: Min 4G

Networking: 802.11n and.. Ethernet jack

Storage: Min 500GB

Anyything else? Is this too optimistic for mid-range price? Which brand might be a "best fit"? Which brand has best after-sales service (given that vendors these days always refer one back to a manufacturer)!!

[vulcanised]

Just had another look at the email Morgan sent me.

The sale ends on Sunday, and an extra 10% discount can be obtained by entering NEWYEAR in the code box when ordering.

[Ancient Observer]

Before you go much further, I would suggest that you need to crack the laptop vs desktop issue. What you can get for the money you are prepared to pay is very different. I went through this a few months ago, and as I'm thick I had to pedantically list the pros and cons of each. Convenience, screen size and so on. Did I really need a mobile pc? really? Er, not really.
In the end, I could not convince myself that the extra cost of a lappy was worth it. However, we all need to make that choice.
Once you've made that choice, the sort of spec you describe is about where I got to. Everyone said pile on more RAM, so I got 8. I'm not a gamer, so I went for a cheapish, but seperate graphics card. The pc I chose came with 1 tb.
Have a look at the Intel site - it lists the chips. I went for an i5 2500 3.3 ghz. Seems fine for a non-gamer.
I was worried about 7/64, but folk on here said 64 is fine. It is. It won't work my ageing all-in-one HP printer etc. very well, - the scanner is dead cos HP are mean and lazy and have not updated the software beyond XP. Not windoze fault.
I bought from Chillblast on a value for money basis. (and good reviews of their cheaper pcs.)
It is a joy once you've got it, but a pain to get to the decision.

[11Fan]

Hey brockenspectre, hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

I bought mine new a couple of years ago but here's a good deal on a refurbished one. Pretty close to what you were looking for.

http://images.highspeedbackbone.net/skuimages/large/T87-170011-main02-ar02.jpg

Dell Studio 1737 Refurbished Notebook PC - Intel Pentium T4200 2GHz, 4GB DDR2, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 17 WXGA+, Vista Home Premium 64-bit at TigerDirect.com (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5556333&CatId=4948)

I use it as a desktop mostly, but it travels OK. A little on the heavy side, but it's a big laptop. That said, I usually travel with the Company furnished laptop though; a Dell Latitude E6410.

Cheers for the New Year.
11Fan

[green granite]

Brockie have a look here (http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/box_opened_laptops/prod.asp?page=1), I brought a refurbished one with a 17" screen from Acer for SWMBO 3 years ago and it's been fine.

[Mr Optimistic]

Find a laptop which you think may do the job (but I think you need a practical demonstration if it's game smoothness you are after), then compare what you could get by way of a PC for the money. Allow for a 'mid-range' graphics card (say £140 assuming you are NOT buying it in somewhere like PCW..). PC's are really only essential if your are into games or video editing and the like.

[Ancient Observer]

So, Mr/s Spectre, what did you buy?