Laptop specs...

I don't want to get stuck with another dud - it would be nice to have a computer that I didn't realise a few months down the line isn't what I wanted.

I have been told I must have dual-core something because it's quicker...what about the rest?

It is not for playing any games whatsoever, it’s to process & possibly store (although they are always backed up & we have survived with the 30gig memory our current computer have because of it) pictures, downloaded music (iTunes& Limewire) & the internet. In the future we might watch DVD’s on it & possibly TV…& there’s a chance we might get a camera & want to edit the films we make…

Do (any) computers come with Word & Excel as standard? Someone recommended some other (free) program that is virtually identical to them (apparently) – could you tell me if I use that software – will my Word & Excel documents open up in it?

What are the minimum specs you think a laptop should have?

& what brand would you recommend the most?

A Core2Duo would be the best option, but from your requirements you don't need the top model. As for the rest, 2Gb RAM would be nice. A reasonable graphics card would be recommended if you plan to use Vista at some point (try for 256Mb of graphics memory). Most models start with an 80Gb hard disk or so, but always chose one with a larger cache if offered (16Mb+). Built-in Firewire would be a recommendation for video editing. A DVD writer would be useful too.

The main thing you need to decide is how large you want the screen to be?

P.S. The program you're thinking of is OpenOffice, which may or may not be sufficient - if you're doing simpler stuff, then it should be adequately compatible with MSoffice - if it's complex, you'd probably be better off with the real thing. Dell bundle the full product as an optional extra, I think others do too - if not, you can always buy it seperately.

OpenOffice.org will open your Word and Excel documents. You can also create Word and Excel documents with it.

It will do just about everything that Word and Excel do unless you need an obscure feature, or you program in VBA (although OOo has it's own scripting language). I use OpenOffice professionally, not just for simple tasks. The US State of Massachusetts may be switching to OpenOffice soon, as are many governments -- The French Parliment is the latest.

More comparisons here....

It's all bloody incomprehensible to me. Even trying to read up about it I'm still clueless about which to pick??? - I just don't know what's 'good' or not...

I'll repeat the pertinent question: What size screen/laptop did you want? That determines which laptop you get.

If you want something that'll fit in your pocket, you clearly don't choose the 21" Dell monster. Similarly, if you want something with the performance of a desktop, you don't choose the Vaio UX that fits in your pocket ;)

What about this one? Got anything to say about it?

If you like the 9400 range, choose one of the ones with the Core2 processor - so not the low end one. Also choose one with a standalone graphics chipset - again not the low end one. The middle one, upgraded to 2Gb RAM would be my choice of that bunch - you don't need the performance of the top one, but the low end one is just too low end.

Note the configuration tool defaults to three-years at home warranty - it's much cheaper with a one year return to base warranty, if that doesn't worry you too much.

Remember to read the reviews, and make up your own mind. At the end of the day, it's your money, and it'll be your computer.

Personally I'd have a look at the Sony Vaio range, they're nicely put together, and look far better - have a look at the AR series. They're more expensive though.

In the U.S., the single most popular laptop model is HP's DV6000; it's the most popular size (15.4" screen), can be configured any which way, looks decent, and in the States at least, is value-priced. Really screams "consumer friendly" and has been a big hit for the company. Dell, on the other hand, seems to be on a bit of a death spiral of late and is urgently in need of some new models...HP has been kicking Dell's sales butt for some quarters now.

...and no, if they do offer Word/Excel, it will generally be a "free trial"...Microsoft Works is the standard freebie "productivity" (ahem) software you can expect from a laptop manufacturer.

Lan - sorry missed your question. I guess between 15 inches & upwards for screen size.

Also - we're looking at under £700 if possible (preferably less).

We won't be dragging it around a lot so we don't want a tiny one...

Hm - as much to pick from with Sony Vaio - which one of them fits my description then? They all look good to me...

Well of those Vaio families only four (of nine) fit the screen size requirements. Three are widescreen, one isn't - so that should narrow it down a bit further. I'll guess that pricing will eliminate a few more - you should be down to a couple. Go to a store and look at the shortlistee's - and see which you prefer.

Agree with chengdude that Dells laptop range is uninspired at best - well the Latitude's not bad, but you're not looking for that type of system. The Despairons just look fugly IMO.

Boo Sony Vaio AR range is so expensive :-(

Your questions:
1) Yes.
2) No, but it's probably a budget brand. You really ought to thoroughly research budget brands/models (true for all laptops, really), be able to ask hard questions of the seller, and poke around before buying. The less information (reviews, user's opinons, support forums, etc.) you find for a brand, the more likely you want to ignore it.
3) Just do the math: how many USB devices do you envision plugged in simultaneously? If it's a keyboard & mouse to make it like a home PC, then there's your 2 ports used up right there. Where are you going to plug in the camera? On the other hand, if you're out on the road all the time and using your laptop for mobile productivity, tons of USB ports aren't going to be as big a priority.

From that brief introduction, your mate sounds like an idiot...and not really your mate for confusing you even more. Frankly, a rule I use for myself is: If I start to write technogibberish like
<blockquote>Quote
<hr>you have to think about how far the memory chip is from (something) and what kind of cash you get (1g L2 cash is apparently nothing)<hr></blockquote>
then it's time to get back to reality and remember that I'm in control, not the technology.

So how about this:
1) Pick a screen size. 15.4" is the most popular these days and so there's going to be the most choices there. Then decide if you want a "super glossy" or a regular screen. It's important; you need to look at it every day. The glossy screens are the most popular, so there'll again be more choice there.
2) Set your budget.
3) Choose models made by known manufacturers that fit the above. Dell, HP, Acer, and Toshiba are the biggest brands pushing the widest array of models for the widest array of prices. That also gives you the best chance of seeing them in person and/or reading lots of reviews and user's opinions online...and fixing them if something goes wrong. Forget Sony, nice looking but overpriced. There are other great brands (I like Asus), so if you see a model and it fits your budget, research it.
4) Don't fall for all the technobabble; it's not worth the headache.
5) If the processor is an Intel and is numbered from: T2300-T2700 or T5500-T7600, it will be fine.
6) 1 GB of RAM is great, 2 GB is the very best...BUT companies love overcharging for RAM, so if you like a model of computer and it's in your budget, but only has 512 MB, don't worry. You can always add more RAM yourself later. It's easy, usually just a few screws.
7) Get a big hard drive (80GB/5400RPM should be the minimum), but again watch the numbers because manufacturers like to overcharge for bigger/faster drives...if it goes out of budget, step back...you can always buy an external hard drive for more storage. Don't fret about speeds of the drive...most these days will say "5400 RPM", which is fine. If you can afford a 7200, even better, but again, 120GB/5400 is better than 80GB/7200...more space in the former and who care if it take an extra 2 seconds to open your program?
8) If you want to make your own DVD's, make sure you get a DVD drive that says "super-multi" or "RW" or something like that. If you don't want to make DVD's, then a "combo" drive will be sufficient...you can play DVD's and make your own CD's, but cannot make your own DVD's.
9) Make sure it has enough USB ports for your needs.
10) Finally, the graphics. The base will be Intel GMA 950. That's enough for most things. However, if your budget alllows, you can get something with a separate graphics card. Don't be pushed into going overboard with huge amounts of graphics ("you really need this GeForce Go with 512 MB Turbocache...it rocks!!!!!!!). If you see something with 128MB of "dedicated graphics memory" and it's in the budget, that would be great...64MB is OK, too. 256MB-512MB is more for gaming, graphics & modelling applications, super heavy-duty photo/video processing, and bragging rights.

Good luck and have fun...shopping is supposed to be fun!

Dell: You've seen 'em
HP: dv6000 series
Toshiba: Satellite A100 series
Fujitsu Siemens: Amilo P series
Acer: Aspire 5000 series
Asus: A6 or F3 series

Wow thank you very much!

A friend of mine (not the same as above) says that those brands are not very good for reliability especially not Acer and Asus & I can't remember why but he hates Sony.

He said the best one is Lenovo for reliability & what you get for your money. He said it's the company that bought (I think) IBM thinkpad which was the best ever & wouldn't break unless you dropped it on concrete.

& he said that we should get XP instead of Vista (I don't care either way) as it take up 0.5gb of RAM & doesn't do anything that XP doesn't do.

& what about widescreen vs non-widescreen screens AND shiny vs non-shiny screens?

Widescreen: fits movies better, people like shiny things, cheaper because of popularity, more choice/availabilty
Standard screen: increasingly only found on business-range laptops, becoming a niche product in manufacturers' range
Glossy: photos/movies look more vibrant, people like shiny things, more choice/availability/better prices because of popularity
Matte: no annoying glare in brightly lit environments, can't do your make-up while surfing online

Lenovo is OK, too. Yes, they own the ThinkPad business in additon to building their own range of laptops. Sorry, I'll disagree with that view of Asus. Acer, on the other hand, does take some hits for quality, but the company has been growing at such a blistering pace I suppose that's inevitable.

Anyway, go online to manufacturer's websites, find models with features you want and in your price range, use their "find a dealer" feature, go out to play with them, see which ones float your boat...then go back and check reviews/user's opinions. Buy the one that hits the best combination of notes.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>He said the best one is Lenovo for reliability & what you get for your money. He said it's the company that bought (I think) IBM thinkpad which was the best ever & wouldn't break unless you dropped it on concrete.

& he said that we should get XP instead of Vista (I don't care either way) as it take up 0.5gb of RAM & doesn't do anything that XP doesn't do.<hr></blockquote>

Lenovo ThinkPads are the best. They might not break even if you drop them on concrete. I know because I've dropped mine on concrete from waist level while running and the computer was fine (that was over a year ago). I have the T-43 and it's great. It was more expensive than other brands, but worth it. I bought the next-day, at-home service plan and when it recently had a problem they sent someone over the next day and he replaced the motherboard for free while I waited. No questions asked.

Definitely choose XP over Vista (if those are your only two choices).

Using Dell as an example:

How much difference would it make to have:
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5200 (1.60 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB) - free
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5600 (1.83 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB) - £94.00
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB) - £176.25

How much is extra RAM worth - if going from 1Gb to 2Gb costs £152.75 - is that a normal price & worth it?

What about size of hard drive. If both are the same size - what difference woudl 5,400rpm vs 7,200rpm be & is it worth £23.50?

Then comparing:
- Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Up to 256MB shared graphics memory
- 256MB ATI® Mobility™ Radeon® X1400 HyperMemory™ graphics card
For £70.50 - aparently it's needed for Vista (don't have XP as option).

Thanx again!

I would spend the money on the 7,200 hard drive and the graphics card. The RAM is insanely priced, but they're probably replacing 2 X 512 MB (rather than 1 X 1GB) for the 2 GB, so there's a bit of cost there in addition to the blatant profiteering. As long as it's a Core 2 Duo, I think you'll be happy...not a big deal for general computing tasks and certainly worth allocating that upgrade money for better graphics performance.

Thank you.

Yes I'm only looking at:
- Core 2 Duo
- 1Gb RAM
- 80Gb hard drive
- 128 or 258Mb graphics card
- XP
- Widescreen that is 15-17 inches
- CD writer and DVD player
- Wi-fi
- 9 cell battery
- Under £700

Still unsure of which brand to pick - so many different opinions...

Annoyingly Dell only come with Vista & they say the lower specs won't work so a machine that start at <600 ends up being closer to £900 when done.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr> but always chose one with a larger cache if offered (16Mb).<hr></blockquote> What's cache?

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>but they're probably replacing 2 X 512 MB (rather than 1 X 1GB) for the 2 GB<hr></blockquote> Yep that's it.

How important is the graphics card being more than 128? I found an older Dell model with great specs in my pricerange and only 6 cell battery seems to be the only bad things about it...

Don't give up on me now - we're almost there!

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Annoyingly Dell only come with Vista & they say the lower specs won't work<hr></blockquote>
Sounds like a good way to get you to spend more, doesn't it? Clever Dell. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence out there that Vista runs even with built-in graphics (Intel 950 GMA), so don't buy into the sales pitch. Of course, the more you add (RAM & graphics card), the better your 'Vista Experience' (TM) will be, but I'll never know because I won't be using it until I absolutely have to. Vista is also takes a sizable chunk out of your hard drive, so if you plan on Vista, get as big and fast a drive as your budget allows.
<blockquote>Quote
<hr>What's cache?<hr></blockquote>
Lan was speaking about cache on the hard drive, which is basically another measure of the HD's performance...the bigger the cache, the faster the drive will be able to access the stuff stored on it. For speed junkies/power users, it can be pretty important, but I'd just look at a large size spinning at least at 5400. Stay away from 4200 drives.
<blockquote>Quote
<hr>How important is the graphics card being more than 128?<hr></blockquote>
Not too important...128MB is fine, if it is indeed 128MB of dedicated RAM. These days you read a lot about 'turbocache' and hypermemory', which basically means manufactures can make it sound much better by quoting a number twice the size of the actual physical memory...the other half is pulled from the system. So just make sure if it says 128 that it's actually 128 dedicated RAM and not 64 dedicated + 64 'hypermemory' or what have you. Same for 256, just double the preceding numbers. Anyway, there are other factors affecting graphics card performance, but again, something with at least 128MB dedicated RAM is just fine for all-around use.

As for a battery...that depends on how much you're going to use your machine out and about. If the thing is going to sit on the desk most of the time, batter capacity isn't a priority as it'll be plugged in.

The last thing I'd consider is a DVD writer On most machines you're stuck with what you buy unless you're good at taking apart computers, so if you can, upgrade the CD/DVD combo to a DVD writer. One DVD holds about 6 CDs' worth of stuff...much more efficient (and it'll still burn a CD if you want).

Thank you you've been fab!

I still don't know what to get. Every time I almost make up my mind I read something that puts me off! Like this anti-Dell post...

What bout this laptop? - haven't heard of the brand but it got some award from a geek mag & channel 5 geek mag...

At this rate I'll just get a bloody Mac just because I can't pick from the others...

Don't really know what to tell you...

Dell takes hits because their consumer models haven't been updated in an eon and because you just can't build zillions of computers for McDonald's prices and expect perfection. Gateway has been around for a long time...they started off as the anti-Dell: good value + good customer service. They got beaten. Now they are coming back quietly and apparently have some very decent products. Yours looks OK...why not go play with it?

In the end, I suppose it's all about striking a balance...reading pro reviews, yes, reading peoples' stories, definitely, and then trying it out...can you live with the screen and the resolution? How does the keyboard feel when you type...does it sag when you press keys in the corners or the middle? Are your hands comfortable when using it? How does the plastic/metal feel? Does it creak when you pick it up...twist it...or lift it by a corner? Can you press on the lid and make ripples on the screen? Do the hinges feel/look solid? Does the fan make a lot of noise? Is it easy to access the upgradeable bits (RAM & hard drive)? Warranty? In the end, you do get what you pay for because margins are rock-bottom...from materials to components, there's nothing manufacturers don't consider when designing/building these things. Your Gateway looks pretty good, seems nicely designed, good price...but is missing a graphics card...and you can guess why (hint: "Let's build a laptop for under 500 Pounds").

I just bought a new Dell E1505.
Upgraded hard drive, video graphics card, N wireless card, Vista home premium. Next to best Core 2 duo processor.
Opted to not get the superbrite screen. I hate that reflectivity.
Nice notebook. Good sound and screen size. Too big and heavy to travel with though.

By the way, I don't like how Dell partitions +/- 20% of their hard drives for a recovery sector. Buy a large hard drive.

Thanx all - we are now almost at the stage where we can buy.

"Video card" is that the same as graphics card?

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Buy a large hard drive. <hr></blockquote> How big is big then?

Please?

Yes, a video card is another way to say graphics card. A big hard drive is anything 100GB or over. You really shouldn't look at anything less than 80GB these days...and again, at least 5400 RPM.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Video card" is that the same as graphics card?<hr></blockquote>

Is there some reason you could just not google this question?

She's Swedish.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>She's Swedish. <hr></blockquote>

And? Swedes can't google?

:)

Swedish Meatball

Ah !

I think I got it now ;)

Perhaps she's asking here because the folks who post on this site are usually nice and helpful.

Clearly there are exceptions....

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Perhaps she's asking here because the folks who post on this site are usually nice and helpful.<hr></blockquote><blockquote>Quote
<hr>Clearly there are exceptions....<hr></blockquote>

Perhaps the OP could have taken a bit of her own time to search for her answer; in the time it took her to post her query and repost again about it she could have found her answer. Is that too much to ask?

Is usually nice and helpful the same as usually helpful and nice? How helpful? Is there a difference? Please?

hehehe

I know this is an old thread, but it's been very helpful! I'm in pretty much the same boat as Ria was, my laptop is 1.5 yrs old and I bought it in about an hour when my old one crashed. I hate this one, I should have spent the time investigating more thoroughly. I will this time!

Just wanted to say thanks to all those who took the time to give advice! cheers

Well, if someone's still reading this, be aware that Intel's platform for laptop computers has just been refreshed. It's called "Santa Rosa" and the differences you'll see when shopping are:

The chipset/platform you'll see in manufacturers' listings is now called Intel 965GM versus the previous 945GM.

- A range of processors that are odd-numbered: T7100, 7300, 7500, 7700. Those are the new ones; a bit better performing with some other improvements that only geeks will get hot n' sweaty over.

- The new Intel integrated graphics is now called X3100 (previous: GMA950) and is supposed to be a big leap forward for this type of graphics solution. This is arguably bigger news for the average user as there should be much better graphics performance without having to pay extra for a graphics card.

- New wireless networking (not something the average user is going to necessarily notice or need).

- Advertised increase in battery life.

Early complaints about the new platform: runs warmer than the older one, which is not good when all that stuff is packed into a little box you can slip into a backpack or messenger bag.

I've thanked you all before in another post but it can't hurt to say it again. With your help I got a fantastic Lenovo that is exactly what I need & I am very very happy with it!

Ria, did you consider any other than the Lenovo? There aren't many places here that seem to sell them, and from first looks I think they may be out of my price range.