o/t New Laptop Advice (again)

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

I know where to get a cheap laptop (ebuyer) and I have a great netbook (samsung), but I need some actual advice about selecting a laptop for my 17 year old son. Does anyone here do this kind of thing or know someone?

I recall there is a laptop guy - but I think he specialises in reconditioned. I need advice on finding a specialist rather more than tips on which laptop everyone likes please. Can anyone help? Many thanks.

 

[Beach Hut]

My 18 year old just got a Toshiba for around £420 which is nice

 

[bhaexpress]

Tosh, Dell, HP, take your pick, I bought a very highly speced HP DV2000 recently on Ebay for £220. There's a couple of people on here who could do you a deal. Buying a new laptop is all well and good but it'll be obsolete in less than six months. You could get a Mac but you won't be able to use any PC software you may already have on it which may raise the cost somewhat.

 

[thejackal]

Unless you're a graphic design or music professional then don't be fooled by the gloss and high price of a Mac - you don't need one and it'll end up costing you much more money than a PC.

I'm an IT pro of 15 years and I still recommend either going to one of the big guys for a good deal on a durable, reliable machine, or going to a reputable dealer that's close to you - I currently have a Novatech laptop for software development, cost me about £500 with a bunch of extras. The one time I did have a problem I drove down to their offices in Portsmouth and they replaced the part within 15 minutes. Compare to weeks/months back-to-base turnaround with some of the big guys.

Also, be very careful buying from eBay or other less-well-known mail order people. They tend to abandon you as soon as they get their money. Fine if you never have a problem, but a pain in the arse if you do.

 

[Beach Hut]

Or try the reputable PC seller of old Tiny - Tough It's Now Yours

 

[Bozza]

You could get a Mac but you won't be able to use any PC software you may already have on it which may raise the cost somewhat.

Why not? All Intel Macs happily and natively run all PC software should the user so wish.

 

[clippedgull]

T You could get a Mac but you won't be able to use any PC software you may already have on it which may raise the cost somewhat.

erm, you can run PC software on an Intel Mac via Bootcamp or virtualisation programmes, such as Parallels.

edit: As Bozza has said!

 

[thejackal]

Or try the reputable PC seller of old Tiny - Tough It's Now Yours

Yeah exactly.

I probably should have qualified my advice a bit:

By 'the big guys' I mean Dell, Tosh etc. Buy direct and get a good deal, they often have offers on stuff.

'Reputable dealers' does not include the likes of PC World and Tiny. Their stuff is all low-end rubbish.

 

[Bozza]

PC World is not low end rubbish - they sell on all 'the big guys' you refer to such as Dell, Toshiba, Acer, HP and Apple etc. I'd have no hesitation in buying from PC World but only if they were the cheapest for a specific product I'd already decided on. Their 'order online, collect in store' deals can be pretty decent.

Best Buy have launched in the UK now and seem to be promoting heavily. They kept going on about a £299 Tosh on the radio earlier - this one I assume: Toshiba - Toshiba C650D 15.6" Laptop - AMD V Series, 250GB, 3GB Memory - PSC16E-00E007EN - Best Buy UK
- no idea if it's any good or a good price.

 

[thejackal]

PC World is not low end rubbish - they sell on all 'the big guys' you refer to such as Dell, Toshiba, Acer, HP and Apple etc. I'd have no hesitation in buying from PC World but only if they were the cheapest for a specific product I'd already decided on. Their 'order online, collect in store' deals can be pretty decent.

Best Buy have launched in the UK now and seem to be promoting heavily. They kept going on about a £299 Tosh on the radio earlier - this one I assume: Toshiba - Toshiba C650D 15.6" Laptop - AMD V Series, 250GB, 3GB Memory - PSC16E-00E007EN - Best Buy UK
- no idea if it's any good or a good price.

Fair enough, their stuff maybe isn't all low-end crap now (it certainly used to be) but a lot of it is, and what isn't tends to be on the pricey side. Never heard of anyone who's had much joy from them in 20 years - they were always just high-street tricksters but maybe things have changed.

Another important thing to note is to get a decent processor, and even more important than speed is the size of the processor's level 2 (L2) Cache. Celerons (and most cheap processors) are inherently flawed because of their tiny L2 Cache, so avoid those. You really want 1MB or up of L2 Cache.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Cheers guys. My problem however is deciding what is the right spec for a 17 year old with all his various needs. I will buy from ebuyer (as I always do) because the deals and aftersales are brilliant, but it's what spec to buy that is my problem.

Thanks for your input thus far - think I'll need to go and find an expert to talk this through with.

 

[thejackal]

The simple rule of thumb is never buy at the sharp end of the technology curve - wait until something has been out for a little while and its price has gone down. Companies rely on people rushing out and paying through the nose for the latest glitzy item - the overnight queues outside the Mac shop bear witness to that. After that, it's down to knowing what the machine is going to be used for, how much you want to spend and getting a little honest technical advice on performance.

 

[Beach Hut]

Cheers guys. My problem however is deciding what is the right spec for a 17 year old with all his various needs. I will buy from ebuyer (as I always do) because the deals and aftersales are brilliant, but it's what spec to buy that is my problem.

Thanks for your input thus far - think I'll need to go and find an expert to talk this through with.

My eldest plays football manger, does MSN and Facebook mainly no college work.

Oh I suspect a large amount of looking at porn as well.............

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

My eldest plays football manger, does MSN and Facebook mainly no college work.

Oh I suspect a large amount of looking at porn as well.............

I know Jnr does that - when the PC man came to sort out our home network he pissed himself looking at Jnr's history.

 

[bhaexpress]

Why not? All Intel Macs happily and natively run all PC software should the user so wish.

I wonder when you'd put your two penneth in. I'm well aware that you can run Windows on a Mac but what's the point of paying nearly twice as much to run Windows software on a Mac ? Still if you want to waste your money. Matter of fact I have a Hackintosh running under Windows 7 but it was just an exercise and I don't use it/

 

[Bozza]

I'm well aware that you can run Windows on a Mac

Then why on earth did you post this as 'fact' then you great buffoon!??

You could get a Mac but you won't be able to use any PC software you may already have on it which may raise the cost somewhat.

 

[bhaexpress]

Then why on earth did you post this as 'fact' then you great buffoon!??

Buffoon yourself, just pointing this out to people who aren't as 'educated' as you. Actually you seem to be stalking me on any thread where the word 'Mac' is used. I wouldn't mind but it's not as though I said anything derogatory about your beloved machines. I was looking at a Mac Book Air a few days ago, it's a great piece of kit but frankly, way too expensive for what it is.

 

[Willow]

it's what spec to buy that is my problem.

Thanks for your input thus far - think I'll need to go and find an expert to talk this through with.

I'm intrigued about this expert, what are you expecting to hear? It really isn't that complicated, you work out your budget and buy the highest spec machine by a reputable brand. If you walk into a shop, you will notice there is very little variation in laptops these days.

 

[Laptop Ell]

TRNK, PM sent to you.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Thing is Willow - you can get a load of stuff bundled in that you just down't need and that bumps up the price. That extra budget could then have been used to spec up where I need it and not on things we won't ever use. In this case, we'll need something to help with game play (I understand) so graphics card becomes an issue - which it has never been for me in the past. I'd like to spend my budget paying for the thinks we need and that will deliver performance where we need it - not on things that are useless (for us) and that just eat up budget. Will report back - maybe I'm making this too complex. Just don't want to get it worng. We'll see.