Taking the plunge: laptops

[margotmetroland]

I'm looking at a laptop for my birthday, and I'm down to a choice of two

Comments

[daveon]

We hates Dells we do.

We have an Acer but we're on the 3rd one in 2 years - so the build quality isn't great.

I just got a HP and I'm reasonably happy with it.

Vista? 7 is basically shipping now, and that solves all the problems.

[margotmetroland]

I looked at the new HPs and basically hated them! No earthly reason other than cosmetic, they just didn't make me go "ooh". Whereas the Acer did.

Being a non-techie, what's good about HP?

[jozafeen]

I have an Acer and I've got to say it's been absolutely brilliant so I'd recommend them as a brand.

As for Vista, I know Currys are selling laptops with a free upgrade to Windows 7 included.

My birthday present arrived today - a shiny new graphics tablet! I couldn't wait until the weekend so buggered off to set it up before SJ had a chance to wrap it up! :-)

[margotmetroland]

Thank you dearest!

We went and looked in various shops and the Acer was the only one to really catch my eye, even above all the Dells with their shiny colours and fancy designs. But I always thought Acer was a cheap brand to be avoided.

I bet you are a nightmare at Christmas aren't you??

[moral_vacuum]

Leave it until October and get one with Windows 7.

Failing that, I have an unused edition of XP if you want it.

[margotmetroland]

I use Vista at the Bunker and it's not the front end which bothers me, but the apparent general crapness of the OS itself.

Most laptops are coming with free upgrade to 7 when it's available, but if I don't get that, I may come and trade with you for your XP

[despina]

You can download the windows 7 release candidate from the website apparently. Jamie just did so so I guess it works?

[margotmetroland]

I don't know what a release candidate is! To my shame I leave most of that stuff to drpete... I'll certainly try and swing a free upgrade to W7 as part of the package

[ccomley]

RC means "final beta version" - i.e. "this is what the version that goes on sale will look like... unless we find something *really* bad in it".

[steer]

If Vista bothers you so much then wait and get Windows seven in October. There are the free upgrade packages that people mention but by the time you've got stuff installed it might be hassle (I've no faith in in place upgrades of MS products without buggering the system up

[margotmetroland]

That's a very comprehensive answer, thank you!

I am vaguely bothered about Vista due to comments from other people about how useless it is - I use it at the Bunker (client site) and it's mostly ok, though their system does seem to unnecessarily suffer from unexplained bugs and glitches.

Possibly I need to revisit the Dell option, the Acer was the only one which "spoke" to me when we went laptop sightseeing recently.

[steer]

OK -- windows seven things may be an issue so I would be even more wary of "upgrade packages". If vista bothers you it's probably better to wait (assuming the glitches are not the product of a botched site install).

[silenttex]

There won't be any free in place upgrades for Win7 in the UK. Microsoft have been forced to only offer a full install option in the EU, which a number of manufacturers say they won't support.