Help - I'm so lost and just want a laptop

[harryserjeant]

Hello,
I'm terrible with technology and just want a nice light laptop that I can work on at home, use for the internet and watch 4od. I'm so lost in all the jargon. I had a mac which I stupidly bought 4years ago after the advice of a boyfriend but I'm hopeless and couldn't use it. Sorry to lower the tone of the forum.

Harriet

 

[frozenlead]

Please fill out the FAQ. If you don't know what something means, we'll be more than happy to help - but there are still many basic questions you can answer, like your budget, how long you want the battery to last, etc.

 

[harryserjeant]

Hello, Yes sorry, please find my answers below. I'd so appreciate your help!

1_What is your budget? Up to about £800

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? Small but I don't need to carry it around too much

3_What screen resolution do you want? Normal

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? I need it at home and won't take it around with me too much. Just from my room to the kitchen and sometimes to my work but not too often

5_How much battery life do you need? Up to 3 hours but I know this is a problem for a lot of laptops

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? No games!

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.) Just to easily access the internet, watch tv on the internet like 4od or Youtube, work from home on microsoft word, access my itunes, upload a few photos (no more than 200)

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need? Not too much, I don't have lots of videos

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop? 5years

11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? I'd like to be able to watch dvds on my laptop

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
I have had a Mac which was reliable but totally wasted on me and it was annoying because I'm so used to microsoft office

13_What country do you live in? UK

14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I really need a simple laptop that's reliable because I'm terrible when things go wrong because I'll have no idea how to fix it. Also I'd be prepared to pay more for it to be faster because I do watch a lot of things via on demand on my laptop.

Thank you so much in advance,

Harriet

 

[frozenlead]

This guy seems a good fit:
http/www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-1545?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&~oid=uk~en~20211~laptop-inspiron-1545_n0054515~~

It's far under your budget - consider upgrading the warranty on it seeing that you don't have good luck with technology. I would go for a 2-3 year plan.

 

[harryserjeant]

Great thank you! Though people keep telling me not to get a Dell. Are Toshibas good?

 

[megamanx00]

Toshibas are among the best as far as quality and customer support, but they are a real pain to fix. As long as you don't abuse it though I'm sure you would be happy with it. Dells aren't too bad themselves.

If you need something that can take alot of abuse I'd say go with an HP since they hold up well enough while parts for them are relatively cheap and they are relatively easy enough to fix compared to other brands.

 

[frozenlead]

Toshibas are also reliable machines, and, in my experience, are a breeze to repair, but you won't be doing any of that. Dell has gotten a lot better lately since they lost the majority to HP, whose quality seems to have dropped.

 

[Guest]

You'll want to look for a laptop with one of the new core i3 or i5 processors. The i3 would be fine now, but I'd recommend the core i5, since you want it to hold up a long time. That dell uses technology from 2007, so it's already outdated.

Asus, Toshiba and Lenovo are considered most reliable, while Acer and Hp are more likely to breakdown (which is why they're cheaper).

Try Toshiba Satellite L500 for £749 http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Tosh...dows_7_Laptop_PSLSAE-00R00DEN/version.asp#top

You can also go into you local electronics superstore like BestBuy in the US.

 

[frozenlead]

You'll want to look for a laptop with one of the new core i3 or i5 processors. The i3 would be fine now, but I'd recommend the core i5, since you want it to hold up a long time. That dell uses technology from 2007, so it's already outdated.

The site went down after I replied, so this might double post.

Anyway, as I was saying before Tom's died, the i5, i3 would be a better choice in the case of the user needing more computing power. That's not the case here - so price wins the war, and the older technology (which isn't incapable by any means) is the better option.

 

[harryserjeant]

You have all been so helpful thank you! I feel much more ready to face the laptop world now