Laptop / Notebook advice sought
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Laptop / Notebook advice sought
I have decided to take the plunge and finally get round to getting a laptop / notebook, I have normally preferred desktop computers.
A has recommended that I go for one of these Acer laptops from Tesco site.
Would people who use laptops agree with this? Is Acer a reliable brand? Are they 'powerful' machines?
A has recommended that I go for one of these Acer laptops from Tesco site.
Would people who use laptops agree with this? Is Acer a reliable brand? Are they 'powerful' machines?
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: southeast of the black stump
Age: 78
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I bought my compaq from john lewis,you get a 3 year warrenty with them,
I find it more than adequate,I would also highly reccomend ESET anti virus, hope this gives you some idea
I find it more than adequate,I would also highly reccomend ESET anti virus, hope this gives you some idea
More bang for your buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: land of the clanger
Age: 82
Posts: 3,512
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My wife has an Acer laptop with a 17" screen which she brought to replace her desktop so that she had more space, now we've got rid of Vista and replaced it with W7 when it was in beta it's never any bother.
For good value I Suggest you look at: Acer Laptops | Buy Acer Aspire Laptops, Acer Netbooks, Acer Notebooks from Acer Direct .
For good value I Suggest you look at: Acer Laptops | Buy Acer Aspire Laptops, Acer Netbooks, Acer Notebooks from Acer Direct .
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Cambridge, England, EU
Posts: 3,443
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Would people who use laptops agree with this?
The first problem with laptops is inadequacy of the various pointing devices. My current laptop has several, but they're all crap, so I carry a mouse around with me. No big deal that, doesn't take up much more room in by briefcase. If I'm asked to use a laptop that doesn't have a real mouse I find myself trying to remember how to drive Windows from the keyboard. (Of course this won't worry you if you use Linux, as that's all keyboard driven anyway.)
The next problem is that you get a crappy little screen, unless you want to spend lots of money on your laptop. Still, if you only want it for emails and web browsing I guess that might be tolerable, but that doesn't suit me for software development. You could just plug in a proper monitor, but you're not going to carry that around with you so what you end up with this way is just a small slow expensive desktop.
The next problem is that you get a crappy little keyboard on which I find typing impractical. If you're a hunt-and-peck two-finger merchant that may not bother you, but as a properly trained touch typist it does bother me. One solution is to carry a proper keyboard around with me, but actually I don't bother - instead I don't do any serious typing on the laptop, if I've got some typing to do I use a desktop.
Finally, for the same price a laptop is small and slow compared to a desktop. Again if you only want it for email and web browsing that may not be a big deal, but there's really nothing at all you can do about how slow laptop disks are if you need to do any disk intensive work.
I used to use my laptop largely as a portable hard disk, to move stuff from one desktop to another when it was a bit big to email. These days USB memory sticks meet that requirement so I use the laptop less and less. Just email whilst travelling mostly.
More bang for your buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: land of the clanger
Age: 82
Posts: 3,512
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Agree with the mouse thingy much better than the touch pad, the other thing is to turn the touch pad off otherwise it bu**ers you about when you're typing.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Bracknell, Berks, UK
Age: 52
Posts: 1,133
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
First rule of IT purchasing: When asked for opinions, people will try and justify their own purchasing decisions to drag others into their clique. Therefore, selectively ignore replies in this case where people are only 'users' of laptops as the sample size is too small.
So, answering the OP's question from a standpoint of having hundreds of laptops under support, Acer is a reputable budget brand and I would consider ASUS laptops as well if your budget is tight. In the sub £400 range however, there's very little to distinguish one make from another, so choose on level of available support from the manuf. and whether recent driver updates are available readily from the website. Sony are ****e in this regard btw.
So, answering the OP's question from a standpoint of having hundreds of laptops under support, Acer is a reputable budget brand and I would consider ASUS laptops as well if your budget is tight. In the sub £400 range however, there's very little to distinguish one make from another, so choose on level of available support from the manuf. and whether recent driver updates are available readily from the website. Sony are ****e in this regard btw.
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Earth
Posts: 366
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The one question...
... that no-one has asked; What do you want to use it for?
Database admin, large spreadsheets, games, photo manipulation, music, video...et al.
Define a use, and make the purchase.
Database admin, large spreadsheets, games, photo manipulation, music, video...et al.
Define a use, and make the purchase.
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: East Ecosse
Age: 71
Posts: 453
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
GG, agree, Acer fine, put some decent memory (3GB) into this 17" Aspire 3 yrs ago, still going strong. The new ones look good as standard.
Now Macs, well the imac is going strong after 2 yrs, but a friend's Macbook air has just expired (battery, HD and charging circuit) after 2 years, and I still have his broken G3 powerbook from 1999 (£2200 new!)
Moral of the story, don't be an early adopter with portable Macs, if you still like the brand have deep pockets.
Asus worth a look for windows portables, Toshiba also ..
Now Macs, well the imac is going strong after 2 yrs, but a friend's Macbook air has just expired (battery, HD and charging circuit) after 2 years, and I still have his broken G3 powerbook from 1999 (£2200 new!)
Moral of the story, don't be an early adopter with portable Macs, if you still like the brand have deep pockets.
Asus worth a look for windows portables, Toshiba also ..
Psychophysiological entity
I left an American Logitech keyb. in the UK so I've got the same both sides. Near to flat as a Laptop. But, I did have one of the first Vaio which had a super little keyb. When I got the new one, the keyb is all spongy. Horrible...it bends as one types!
What's more, the batteries run out at 5 - 10 % a day, as per design. I bitched like billio and got a spare battery, but I still have to take it out to lesson the cycles which of course are recorded.
Other than that, it is very good. Drives a Hi Def screen well, showing Net flix and the like with no problem. Spectacular for photos. $640 less $50 for catching a thief in Best Buy. Actually, twas my son's eagle eye that got them.
What I hate is a small Enter or Shift keys. Backspace as well has to be double or it's a non-starter.
Last week I wrote and phoned HP at 'Executive level.' I wanted a laptop, but not all the tat they put on a drive. None of it...just the OS. I was asked to write in, but so far no reply. If I can't have C D and E as drives, I don't want to know. I do not want D tied immovably to Restore which HP seems to do.
As an aside, the first one was an insurance write-off. Sony in Belgium wanted 1,300 Quid for the part. The whole shebang was 999!!!!! The man there tells me that if they find a fingerprint in it, the guarantee is finished. Yes, they 'dust' it for fingerprints.
I managed to fix that one with a bit of MB micro surgery and used it for years.
What's more, the batteries run out at 5 - 10 % a day, as per design. I bitched like billio and got a spare battery, but I still have to take it out to lesson the cycles which of course are recorded.
Other than that, it is very good. Drives a Hi Def screen well, showing Net flix and the like with no problem. Spectacular for photos. $640 less $50 for catching a thief in Best Buy. Actually, twas my son's eagle eye that got them.
What I hate is a small Enter or Shift keys. Backspace as well has to be double or it's a non-starter.
Last week I wrote and phoned HP at 'Executive level.' I wanted a laptop, but not all the tat they put on a drive. None of it...just the OS. I was asked to write in, but so far no reply. If I can't have C D and E as drives, I don't want to know. I do not want D tied immovably to Restore which HP seems to do.
As an aside, the first one was an insurance write-off. Sony in Belgium wanted 1,300 Quid for the part. The whole shebang was 999!!!!! The man there tells me that if they find a fingerprint in it, the guarantee is finished. Yes, they 'dust' it for fingerprints.
I managed to fix that one with a bit of MB micro surgery and used it for years.
Don't get a HP, they're rubbish. We have three Toshiba laptops and a netbook in this house, no problems with any of them, nice build quality and very reliable.
I had an Acer desk top many years ago - had no complaints.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: The Land of Beer and Chocolate
Age: 56
Posts: 798
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Personally, I would always go Acer or Asus.
The PYT is sitting across the room with her Acer laptop (can't remember the model but the specs of the OP's option sound familiar). As usual, the amount of USB ports is too small but a cheap hub is always an option. The machine runs like a dream, same as the one I got my stepkids a few years back, never any problems apart from the usual things that people do to computers (lack of updates to AV, etc).
As far as Asus goes, never heard a bad word about them either.
Oh, obvious points. Get an external mouse (and keyboard if you're going to use the machine at home a lot). Them touchpads are a bugger, I HATE them!!
The PYT is sitting across the room with her Acer laptop (can't remember the model but the specs of the OP's option sound familiar). As usual, the amount of USB ports is too small but a cheap hub is always an option. The machine runs like a dream, same as the one I got my stepkids a few years back, never any problems apart from the usual things that people do to computers (lack of updates to AV, etc).
As far as Asus goes, never heard a bad word about them either.
Oh, obvious points. Get an external mouse (and keyboard if you're going to use the machine at home a lot). Them touchpads are a bugger, I HATE them!!
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: indianapolis, in, usa
Age: 64
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What do you want
Someone else asked, what do you want it for, and that is the most valid question. What do you want to spend is the second.
There are good brands. I am using my Lenovo (IBM) and I got it with a quad core I7 because I do video converting and editing with this laptop.
But, if your only using if for email, websurfing, word processing, spreadsheets, then you don't need a super powerful chip.
Sony is good but bells and whistles you might not want...and you do pay for it.
Lenovo (IBM) is good, and a fair price.
HP is good regardless of someone else said.
Acer is a price leader, it is not as rugged as some other brands.
You must also consider if some company has a sale, this often can make a fair buy into an excellent buy.
I got my Lenovo on sale before Christmas, I have been happy with it. My only complaint is I hit the mouse pad to easily and it causes me aggravation. Mine is the Ideapad series but the Thinkpad series does'nt use a pad, it uses a little button that you shove around,,,,,I had that before and it takes a little while to get used to but you never have problems with an overly sensative touch pad.
There are good brands. I am using my Lenovo (IBM) and I got it with a quad core I7 because I do video converting and editing with this laptop.
But, if your only using if for email, websurfing, word processing, spreadsheets, then you don't need a super powerful chip.
Sony is good but bells and whistles you might not want...and you do pay for it.
Lenovo (IBM) is good, and a fair price.
HP is good regardless of someone else said.
Acer is a price leader, it is not as rugged as some other brands.
You must also consider if some company has a sale, this often can make a fair buy into an excellent buy.
I got my Lenovo on sale before Christmas, I have been happy with it. My only complaint is I hit the mouse pad to easily and it causes me aggravation. Mine is the Ideapad series but the Thinkpad series does'nt use a pad, it uses a little button that you shove around,,,,,I had that before and it takes a little while to get used to but you never have problems with an overly sensative touch pad.
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Canada
Posts: 464
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Acer are OK, but they're not the best brand out there. I bought an Acer laptop in 2007 (primarily because it was the only one I could find with XP rather than Vista) and replaced it last year because the keys were falling off the keyboard and couldn't be put back.
The build quality on my new Toshiba laptop and the Asus netbook seems much better. Someone did a laptop reliability study a year or so back and AFAIR Asus, Toshiba and Apple were in the top three slots (not necessarily in that order).
The build quality on my new Toshiba laptop and the Asus netbook seems much better. Someone did a laptop reliability study a year or so back and AFAIR Asus, Toshiba and Apple were in the top three slots (not necessarily in that order).
Plastic PPRuNer
"Of course this won't worry you if you use Linux, as that's all keyboard driven anyway."
The same way that Windows 7 can't use more than 640k of RAM?
Predictable ol' Gertrude....
The same way that Windows 7 can't use more than 640k of RAM?
Predictable ol' Gertrude....
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Derbyshire, England.
Posts: 4,096
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Surprised no one has mentioned Dell, I swear by them, both laptop and desk top. I have bought three Dell refurbished laptop machines that had been out on lease, the most expensive was just under AUD$400.00, plus about another $50.00 for a wireless mouse. Good keyboard, large keys. Some of the leased machines will have been worked hard, others will have sat gathering dust! Luck of the draw.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Bracknell, Berks, UK
Age: 52
Posts: 1,133
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Surprised no one has mentioned Dell, I swear by them, both laptop and desk top. I have bought three Dell refurbished laptop machines that had been out on lease, the most expensive was just under AUD$400.00, plus about another $50.00 for a wireless mouse. Good keyboard, large keys. Some of the leased machines will have been worked hard, others will have sat gathering dust! Luck of the draw.