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Hi my geeky friends. The last time I bought a laptop, as long as you bought a pentium you were on the right track.

I have been looking for my daughter and have quickly become confused. I don't even recognise half if the brands.

Please help me spend not more than £450 on a new machine. To be used for Microsoft office, web etc. nothing too arduous.

I could do with this machine lasting for 4 to 5 years if possible to see her until the end of uni. Prefer new.

I look forward to your suggestions.

Toshiba, Lenovo would be my first choice at that price range.

I think at that price - the first thing that takes a hit, is battery quality.

I would recommend getting one with Windows 7, rather than the universally-hated "8".

Al

I had heard that windows 8 was not popular. All the machines I have looked at so far seem to come with it pre-installed, I will have to look to see what Windows 7 options are available.

I agree with Blackal, Toshiba do seem to be a lot more reliable than most, steer well clear of HP/Compaq. You will struggle to get a new one with W7 installed, but it would be preferable. If you do end up with W8 make sure it is Windows 8.1, still horrible but at least a little improvement over w8.

just my 2Ps worth
(I fix them for a living)

Steve

Dell still offer Windows 7 on their business laptops, we've had 20 of such recently at work and they're nice machines to be honest

http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/latit ... -laptop/pd

I have had real problems with the last couple of Dell machines. It is a Dell my daughter is replacing.

As Blackal states, Lenovo seem to have a good reputation so that could be a good starting point. There are still options with Windows 7, but the spec is slightly lower at the same price point.

Opinions on ACER? They seem to be of a reasonable spec and get good reviews?

Acer - yes, I forgot about them.

For a budget (under £500) laptop - Acer might make a good buy.

Al

I just bought an HP Pavilion 15-e021sa for £399, Seems to be a general £100 discount for them from a number of suppliers.

I know nothing about computers generally, so I hope you knowledgable types aren't going to say I've bought a dud Ok, it's Windows 8, but I'm not paying out for a Mac again as it's not lasted near long enough to justify the price

Bikerhoss wrote:I just bought an HP Pavilion 15-e021sa for £399, Seems to be a general £100 discount for them from a number of suppliers.

I know nothing about computers generally, so I hope you knowledgable types aren't going to say I've bought a dud Ok, it's Windows 8, but I'm not paying out for a Mac again as it's not lasted near long enough to justify the price

My daughter asked for a Mac. How much money do you have? £400. Then, no, you can't have a Mac then can you.

I've used Dells fairly consistently for employers for the last 18 years I guess, I find their support (admittedly business support) to be good, and when I've bought for personal use I've always used the small business process to buy them.

For instance we've had two laptops go down this morning at work, one failed motherboard the other a failed NIC, called Dell, 5 minutes explaining issue, engineer booked for tomorrow to replace the parts on both

I liked Lenovo when they were IBM but now they've moved over to Chinese ownership I've found the build and support not as good. Support especially is clunky and a bit disorganised.

HP's support sucks IMHO with very poor build especially of late with some hideous issues with graphics chips needing reflows. Their server offerings are very good their client offerings less good.

I had some limited contact with Toshibas (and Sonys) but found them overburdened with OEM fiddly applications.

Not really had much contact with Acers as they always seem geared to home rather than business use.

If you need it PM me for the email address of my contact at Dell, he'll quote you (often the same price as the website but with free delivery and it ensures you're on the business track)

To be honest I really don't think it matters what you buy. The real differences are when you look at the different categories (domestic, enterprise etc). The internals are all from the same couple of suppliers and even the casework seems similar in a lot of cases.

I bought the Mrs a HP Ultrabook thingy, Its a cheap one so a plastic body. Coped perfectly well with the rigours of life in our house, including some droppage onto hard floor.

The best bit of the design for me is the power socket, these are a bugger on inexpensive laptops, the one on this is nicely stress relieved.

acer get my vote, but then i used to work for them, so i do have a slight bias

I had a Dell in my last job.

Correction, I had 3 in 4 years, because they were regularly breaking.

The job before that gave me a T42 Thinkpad, which would survive a nuclear blast and I currently have an HP Elitebook.

I know you prefer new, but I'd look at a refurb Lenovo Thinkpad myself.

I've always felt that at the entry level (£350 - £500) the manufacturers build to a price-point.

There may not be a whole lot of difference in the quality/spec/reliability.

Sometimes there is a benefit in going into your local JLewis, or even PCWorld - as it allows you to take a failed machine back in and raise hell (if required).

Al

Herb wrote:Hi my geeky friends. The last time I bought a laptop, as long as you bought a pentium you were on the right track.

I have been looking for my daughter and have quickly become confused. I don't even recognise half if the brands.

Please help me spend not more than £450 on a new machine. To be used for Microsoft office, web etc. nothing too arduous.

I could do with this machine lasting for 4 to 5 years if possible to see her until the end of uni. Prefer new.

I look forward to your suggestions.

BTW Jim, one of our suppliers has just sent this over as discounted refurbed laptops if it's any help to you. Some seem good value

http://www.misco.co.uk/Cat/Refurb/Laptops