Ive been asked to find a new laptop for a friend who works in HR consultancy. The back light on his current Sony Vaio laptop has failed after 3+ years of daily use, hes been quoted repair prices of around £160 - £200 mark. Ive recommended that he puts that towards a new laptop.
Most of his work is office application based but is also carried out on the move; he frequently flies around the world !
His requirements are pretty basic:
Light ! Lighter the better !
14" Screen (can be bigger if it doesnt add too much weight)
Wifi (ideally UK/USA compatible ??)
Rock solid stable
Normally Id have just recommended a Dell but recently Ive been reading about a lot of people having issues with them. This puts me off :/
His last couple of laptops have been Sony Vaios and with the exception of the psu brick and the back light failing after a couple of years, hes had no problems with them until now.
What/where would you look ? Or should I just find whatever Vaio replaces his current one ?
Whats his budget?
Still need a price on this: http://www.tekforum.co.uk/posts/list/16999.page
:)
If he wants light then you are limited to 2 brands imo, Sony or Dell. Sony you will be paying over £1K for any of their light machines.
I recently supplied a Dell Lattitude 13, awesome machine. But you pay for the weight and size.
Sorry Eagle but since Germany knocked out England I cannot bring myself to respond to you ;)
(Or it could be that hes only interested in buying brand new w/ extended warranty) :)
Budget is a funny one. Im going to say around the £750 w/o warranty options.
Cypher are you still happy supplying Dell kit given the recent media coverage of all the problems theyve been having with ropey components and recalls ?
This because my acer travelmate 5330 works so well with Ubuntu :) 2.2 kg
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=597131
or this a bit smaller but same weight and like geforce
also very quiet
http://cdon.se/hemelektronik/samsung_q320_13.4_500gb_hdd_4gb_ram-8366286
Im a great fan of the Dell machines, but dont know about recent issues, I got my other half one a few months ago and havent had any problems with it.
As for other brands I like, although not bought either in ages... IBM/Lenovo (Although not sure they are as good now since Lenovo) or HP (But the business ones not the cheap plastic ones)
Personally I dislike the Vaio range, but one of the S-Series would probably suit him if he likes Vaio machines.
My dell worked fine for about 3 years and then suddenly started to die. To me though 3 years should be about what to expect of a laptop, max.
Quote from: bearThis because my acer travelmate 5330 works so well with Ubuntu :) 2.2 kg
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=597131
or this a bit smaller but same weight and like geforce
also very quiet
http://cdon.se/hemelektronik/samsung_q320_13.4_500gb_hdd_4gb_ram-8366286
Youre not the first person to mention Samsung. Ill have a look at them.
This Laptop will be 100% Windows 7 with no hint of anything non-Microsoft ;)
Ive just reviewed the Ibm / Lenovo / HP / Compaq / Fujitsu Semeins offerings but (I think) theyre too expensive for what they are !
Going to look into Samsung, Acer and Asus next.
Quote from: zpyderMy dell worked fine for about 3 years and then suddenly started to die. To me though 3 years should be about what to expect of a laptop, max.
Laptops do this.
Forget brand and just look at cost/features.
Found a range of laptops on ebuyer (of all places) that fit the bill. Theres even a couple of Vaios in the mix, so I think Ill show him them and see.
If the next day on site extended warranty thing is uber important then he will have to accept that its going to be either a Dell or a very over priced HP / IBM.
Quote from: NimrodSorry Eagle but since Germany knocked out England I cannot bring myself to respond to you ;)
:P
Quote(Or it could be that hes only interested in buying brand new w/ extended warranty) :)
NP. :)
Quote from: NimrodSorry Eagle but since Germany knocked out England I cannot bring myself to respond to you ;)
(Or it could be that hes only interested in buying brand new w/ extended warranty) :)
Budget is a funny one. Im going to say around the £750 w/o warranty options.
Cypher are you still happy supplying Dell kit given the recent media coverage of all the problems theyve been having with ropey components and recalls ?
Im going to stand by PCBuyit as im about to buy another Dell monitor soon and dont care about faulty bits or recalls cus it comes with a most excellent 3 year zero defect warranty :P
Brief explanation of my laptop recommendations to other people:
Try to stick to a major brand where possible
As pointed out, buy for the specs and try to find a competitive price
Once the warranty has run out, Ebay said laptop and upgrade to a new one with new warranty :D
Quote from: NimrodThe back light on his current Sony Vaio laptop has failed after 3+ years of daily use, hes been quoted repair prices of around £160 - £200 mark.
Lamp should cost max £30, inverter, about a tenner on a 15.4" model. Check the model and see if the bits are available on fleabay, if you can get them then getting someone to install shouldnt be that expensive.
Its a nice idea and one Id suggest if the laptop wasnt his main go to every day machine. Its gotta be right. Im getting away with this delay as he is working from his office for a couple of days on a monitor.
Ive got to get something ordered at lunch today so that I have time on Thursday (night) to get it setup for Friday; when he flies out for a couple of days.
Im thinking perhaps a trip to Comet, spend around £400 and lower his expectations to something thatll last no more than a year before probably having to replace. At least thatll give me time to get it sorted and data ported and should anything be wrong with it I can get it returned and replaced quickly.
I think you will struggle in comet to get your moneys worth..
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/product/Lenovo-NTD6LUK-Intel-Dual-Core-T4400-22GHz-3GB-RAM-250GB-HDD-156in-Webcam-Windows-7-HP_33268.html
Not bad spec for under £400... But Im guessing he needs win 7 pro?
Thats not bad Ed and I will stick that in as an option :)
Quote from: NimrodCypher are you still happy supplying Dell kit given the recent media coverage of all the problems theyve been having with ropey components and recalls ?
I see all kinds of kit come through these doors, from cheap Acers to high end sonys, I havent seen one brand yet turn up that hasnt been DOA or having problems after a few weeks. Ultimately dell in good time resolve any issue I have and that what makes the difference. Try to get an on site 3 year warranty.
Oh if we are talking £400 laptops well, you can totally get Pentium Dual Core laptop with Win 7 for around £375, i know this because its what i just researched and bought for someone else not long ago :D
IBM Lenovo G550 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lenovo-Ideapad-G550-Laptop-Dual-Core-T4400-2-2GHz-250GB-/270603560582?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item3f013aa686)
Asus X5DIJ (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Asus-X5DIJ-Laptop-Intel-Pentium-Dual-Core-T4400-2-2GHz-/280515721888?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item41500a3aa0)
Acer Aspire 5732Z 3GB / 250GB (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199170)
Acer Aspire 5732Z 4GB / 500GB (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-5732Z-Value-Laptop-Intel-Pentium-Dual-Core-/270553129941?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item3efe3923d5)
Compaq Presario CQ61-424SA (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/186604)
The ones at Ebay are on Ebuyer site to. If you shop around you can shave upto £25 off and get some for £375 ish for the same spec, + you have sites like Scan Today Only etc, and whatever Tekheads have in stock providing its Pentium Dual Core and Windows 7.
Argos Clearance Bargains (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Clearance-Bargains_Office-PCs-Phones_W0QQLHQ5fTitleDescZ1QQ_dmdZ1QQ_fsubZ1683033016QQ_sasiZ1QQ_sidZ66512606QQ_sopZ2QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em14QQ_vcZ1) are also good on prices, they offer 12 months with New or Refurb products.
One specific cheapo lappy for under £290 inc is Here (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MEDION-AKOYA-E5411-15-4IN-LAPTOP-DUAL-CORE-DEAL-NEW-/330447571399?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4cf035c9c7)
Had a long discussion with him and hes opting for the sub £500 throw away option w/ a decent data backup plan.
Ive found a few Core i3 based systems for sub £500, so I think thatll be where the money goes.
What Ive told him to do is to go into Currys (etc) and try some keyboards out, find which make/model of keyboards he likes ! (Fussy eh !)
Quote from: NimrodIve got to get something ordered at lunch today so that I have time on Thursday (night) to get it setup for Friday; when he flies out for a couple of days.
Also have a look at PC World, if you live close enough to one. My bro bought a very nice Sony for under £700 on special there.
I like my Dell Inspiron 1764! But comes with Home Premium x64