Comments | vondage: Laptops

vondage

Laptops

May 04, 2008 17:35

It's time for me to buy a new laptop, ever since this one crashed last year it's been a little unpredictable, then it had another crash at Christmas since when we've been backing everything up daily! I've managed to get a partial grant from a lovely charity through this week (thank you so much ill_elle for giving me some of your jam!) so I've spent today ( Read more... )

Comments 23

littlemissalien May 4 2008, 22:56:32 UTC

I can say Toshiba is generally very good - my Dad had a few over the years from work which he never had problems with (they just replaced them for him whenever they upgraded). My sister has one now, and although she's had a couple of problems with hers it's been easily fixed both times and is no doubt due to her complete lack of safety measures - spyware/malware galore! If you're not the type to be downloading pirated stuff (unlike my sis) then you'll be fine ( ... )

vondage May 6 2008, 19:03:27 UTC

Thank you! I did actually look at a lot of HPs and was shocked by the run times, that's why I started noting them down along with other details. They were 1hr 33m, I mean I know in this price range they're not going to be long but that's appalling, considering the run time is never what the manufacturer says! I guess it's a symptom of laptops being smaller more convenient desktops rather than just for use on the move.

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vondage May 6 2008, 19:05:05 UTC

Thank you! But with the grant/voucher thing going with a big shop in this instance seems the easiest bet. Refurbed is always a good bet though, glad yours is going well!

doomed_angel_05 May 4 2008, 23:47:13 UTC

If your getting vista (which most computers come with now) I would reccomend at least 1.8 Ram, if not over 2 as vista really does take up a lot of memory to run. Although if you do end up with one lower, u can actually use a memory stick to enhance the Ram you already have. (I'm really not very technical but a basic computer shop would be able to point you towards a good one :) basically you just plug it in and it asks if you want to use it as memory for your computer ( ... )

vondage May 6 2008, 19:07:32 UTC

As below, while you may luck out and get a Curry's person who knows their stuff be very careful about taking their word for things! It is always good to see things in person though, I think I'm settled (for the next two hours at least) on an Acer now, having had good experience with the one I have now.

whoopdedoo May 5 2008, 10:37:43 UTC

I vaguely remember Al wittering about Toshibas having Acer insides, or the other way around. Or it could have been something else entirely. Not that I zone out when it comes to chatting about the insides of laptops... I'll (try to) remind Al to comment here.

My laptop is a Toshiba and it's good, although it is currently sitting somewhere in the university while they try to pretend they know about fixing computers. (Which they blatantly don't.) Before that, Al's always had Toshibas, an old one of which I'm using now, which I would take as a good sign. He has a Macbook Pro now though, because, you know, he needs it what with all that strenuous FTPing and browsing (not jealous at all!)

vondage May 6 2008, 19:10:27 UTC

Exactly, it seems ridiculous looking at (what to my out of date brain seem) such mad specs when all I do is pootle about! I'll have to start playing WoW or something to make it seem justified.

whoopdedoo May 6 2008, 21:15:50 UTC

I find that if you want to hammer the shit out of a laptop, running Photoshop, Lightroom, Word, FTP, email client, browser and maybe, just for fun, then trying to open a giant attachment, works excellently! I am the girl who got RAM for Valentines Day - my laptop is now at the top of what it can take at 1GB, so I'm sorely tempted with that Acer Al linked to! 2GB! Dual Core! I mean, £300 is, err, nothing, right? And it's a work/uni expense anyway, so umm, err... hey, wanna swap laptops?!

vondage May 7 2008, 13:55:46 UTC

Exactly, especially if you managed to wangle a £150 grant from someone! I realised that works out at, what, 50p a day that I'll be paying for it, so even if it dies right at the end of it's warranty that seems worth it to me!

I am definitely looking forward to the novelty of being able to open any other program at the same time as Photoshop. I mean, in theory I could now, but it wails, it wails. RAM for valentines day is so cute!

ramblings444 May 5 2008, 11:27:37 UTC

Urgh I've had a lot of 'doings' with laptops in the last year, so I know what it's like! I bought a Samsung, which I really liked, but it had to go off for repair 3 times in the first 4 months! The customer service wasn't very good, so I'd definitely steer clear of Samsung. Having said that, Ed's had a Samsung laptop for 2 years and it's been fine. Eventually they let me have a refund, so now I have a Dell one.

I'm a little snobby, in that I wanted a very light laptop (1.8kg) so unfortunately this reflected in the price. However, the Dell Inspiration laptops start off at £399 and you can customise them (add more ram etc). When I was doing my research, I too heard that it was better to have more ram cos of vista, but I don't know how true that is. I have had dealings with Dells customer support and have been impressed so far.

Good luck in your search for laptop :-)

vondage May 6 2008, 19:14:00 UTC

Eek, I hope that your Dell one stays a bit more reliable! I am (I think!) going with an Acer with more RAM, seeing as everyone seems to be confirming the Vista thing, so fingers crossed that will work out. The super light ones always look amazing but I'm so clumsy that I think a bit of heft is advisable to keep me from kicking it off the sofa accidentally!