Lap Top died !! Need a new one but what ?!

[tigler]

My laptop has died, looks like it's probably the graphics section which effectively makes it uneconomic to repair.
I don't keep up with whats good and great in the computer market so face a dilemma with what to buy as a replacement !
Would any kind IT professionals care to offer their recommendations please ?

Don't need anything too elaborate, I don't game, do big spreadsheets, excel, or anything like that. Does have to be a windows type, so no Macs. I have too much data in Windows format to make Mac viable now.
Mainly interent, music, etc, I would like good video playback though and probably a 17" screen. Wi-Fi and blue tooth are essential.
Although I use a laptop it does tend to used in one place as a desk top but occasionally I use it in other rooms so I can surf and do other stuff. So good battery life would be good.

So far I've had recommendations for Lenovo, HP and Toshiba.

One thing I definitely would appreciate is reliability, the last three laptops I've had have all caused problems and have ultimately failed prematurely.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I have an Acer 17.3" model 7736G, and find it brilliant. No b/tooth onboard, but a cheap dongle ex eBay sorted that.

Got it from www.loptopsdirect.co.uk - they were very helpful when I called with pre-purchase queries. Model has probably been superseded now, what with the pace of development. Cost £489 + £10 delivery early 2010.

 

[stucktoweld]

look on ebuyer I recently bought an acer i3 core for a very good price (£329) delivered next day
well pleased

 

[Shox Dr]

Lenova are who used to build Laptops for IBM. I'm using a well spec'd 9yr old R51 , the battery is shot, but other than that it does the job faultlessly.

I would have another at the drop of a hat. However they are very expensive even with my connections, Especially when the cost of a machine that is more than capable of day to day tasks, can be had for 300quid.

Tuff choice, glad it's not me

 

[Furry Freak]

What you need IS a Mac. All those features, totally reliable, works like new every single day you use it. And completely compatible with Microsoft stuff you describe. Not sure what you meant by being in Windows format. I have Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc on all three of my Macs. I also have a PC notebook and it's the only one I have trouble with.

OK OK, I appreciate you want to go PC but just had to pick up on the fact that for some reason you don't think that you can display MS stuff on a Mac. There is almost no difference between running a Mac and a PC - visually. The Mac is simply less prone to the usual foibles associated with PCs. They don't do anything really different or better - they just happen to do it all of the time.

You mention music. Mac and music made for each other. I have all my collection on the desk top hard drive but can stream it round the house to all the others and my iphone with nothing more than what came with it. No software needed. I always weld to something loud.

Best of luck

FF

 

[mike os]

Any "brand name" will be fine ime

My last 2 are asus & acer both less than 400 notes

Any core2 duo, quad or i3, i5, 4 gb ram will do. Most seem to have hdmi these days tho bt is rare

 

[tigler]

What you need IS a Mac. All those features, totally reliable, works like new every single day you use it. And completely compatible with Microsoft stuff you describe. Not sure what you meant by being in Windows format. I have Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc on all three of my Macs. I also have a PC notebook and it's the only one I have trouble with.

OK OK, I appreciate you want to go PC but just had to pick up on the fact that for some reason you don't think that you can display MS stuff on a Mac. There is almost no difference between running a Mac and a PC - visually. The Mac is simply less prone to the usual foibles associated with PCs. They don't do anything really different or better - they just happen to do it all of the time.

You mention music. Mac and music made for each other. I have all my collection on the desk top hard drive but can stream it round the house to all the others and my iphone with nothing more than what came with it. No software needed. I always weld to something loud.

Best of luck

FF

So there would be no compatibility problems with transfering my outlook express info, images, music and document files to a Mac ? Please excuse my skepticism but I would struggle to accept that.

 

[tigler]

Any "brand name" will be fine ime

My last 2 are asus & acer both less than 400 notes

Any core2 duo, quad or i3, i5, 4 gb ram will do. Most seem to have hdmi these days tho bt is rare

I thought that with the one thats just died, so I bought Philips ! Only to find that it's just a generic laptop with a Philips badge.
Will be checking the next one to ensure it's been made by a large, recognised company.

 

[mike os]

ah,.... that well known computer manufacturer

acer, asus, dell, hp leonovo would be my choice, sony & toshiba are supposed to be ok too but never owned.

MAC.. Monopoly, Apple, Chuckles, if you gave me one I would sell it.....

 

[cumbriasteve]

One thing to remebmer is a large number of the laptops don't actually like being on a lap, the cooling intake is on the base and if restricted by a cushion or clothing can cause problems and an earlier demise than expected..use a tray, hardback book or a simple bit of ply the same size.
Regarding which model, all I can mention is er indoors has punished an Acer for 2 years and it's still going strong, was a cheapie from Curry's at the time.

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

Are you sure its the screen not in external monitor mode?

The lappys have a key mode incorporated in the 'F' keys with another key held down to operate the functions.

You can still use the Lappy with an external monitor.

 

[Furry Freak]

Mike, if you had one, I'd buy it. So that would be a good solution wouldn't it.
I don't like Apple's monopoly and odd tactics either. Trust me. But I am not going to cut my nose off to spite my face. The Mac is a truly great device. The one I am typing on now is approaching 7 years old. Every bit as good as the day it came out of the box. It's on all day every single day. it records all my telly via a freeview device, has all my music collection, thousands of pictures etc - just like a PC. But it has never gone wrong. any glitch it has ever had has been fixed by putting the original disc back in. Yes - with a Mac you get EVERYTHING on disc. No partition nonsense. Any way this is turning into a Mac V PC thread, which I am concious that it shouldn't be; this is about a chap needing a new 'pooter. But I need to explain a bit about Macs so that the OP can understand the difference. I suspect the price will dictate the outcome.

Any file that has an extension such as .jpg or .doc, .pdf or .mpg is completely universal and can be opened by many applications. I don't live in some isolated world where I can't open documents and files because I have a Mac. I have Microsoft Office on my Mac. But I also have things like Neo Office which is freeware. Macs used to be a bit weird and deff only for spods to use in their cardigans, but for about the last 10 years they have been a normal as fish on a Friday and a roast on a Sunday. No odd stuff at all. I have to use PCs too (to do with work, not trying to be tricky) and I have got through more of those than I can remember. Macs don't get slow and forget things - I have no idea why and I am not interested frankly.

Look in my view, Macs are a bit like Toyota Landcruisers and PCs a bit like Landrovers. No I am not trying to start a fight so calm down everyone.
Toyotas are expensive but they don't do anything different or better than a Landrover. In fact if you look underneath you could practically swap the parts over. But Landcruisers just keep going, reliably. Sure you can break them, don't confuse that with reliability. But in terms of dependability the Toyota is frankly without equal. So what do you want to pay for? If you are a good mechanic (or PC doctor) buy a Green Oval (or PC). If you know nothing and just want a car that goes (Toyota / Mac) then the choice is clear. You won't appreciate it until you realise that you didn't get one.

You can get a package called 'move2mac' or something but when I moved to a Mac, I transferred all my mail etc no problem. I don't really know what Outlook is to be fair. I don't use it. Or MS Explorer either. Through choice not because I can't.

So, not pushing you into a Mac - no Sir, just clearing up any misunderstanding that they are odd things that you can't open the worlds most common files on. Music? Absolutely. itunes is a Mac application after all.

If you do have any Mac specific questions then I am happy to answer - but I really don't wish to get into a war over the two platforms. I'm simply not interested. I have three, they work flawlessy. I bought one for the wife and one for the kids to keep them off mine in the knowledge that WHEN they they stuffed them up I could fix them and they couldn't get to mine. And in nearly 5 years they haven't managed to upset them at all!!!! Still working perfectly. No. I can scarcely believe it either.

PM me some obscure file if you like. I'll open it and tell you what it is! Can't say fairer than that.

Regards all.

Hope I didn't upset anyone. Some of my best friends have Landrovers. I know, I give them lifts to the dealers all the time

FF

 

[tigler]

One thing to remebmer is a large number of the laptops don't actually like being on a lap, the cooling intake is on the base and if restricted by a cushion or clothing can cause problems and an earlier demise than expected..use a tray, hardback book or a simple bit of ply the same size.
Regarding which model, all I can mention is er indoors has punished an Acer for 2 years and it's still going strong, was a cheapie from Curry's at the time.

I'm conscious of that issue, any time I do use lap tops in portable mode a hard rest is used but most of the time it's on a desk and I even raise it from the surface on spacers !

Are you sure its the screen not in external monitor mode?

The lappys have a key mode incorporated in the 'F' keys with another key held down to operate the functions.

You can still use the Lappy with an external monitor.

It won't be that, I had the blue screen of death !! I managed to get an MS diagnosis message that mentioned the Nvidia graphics system.
Now all that happens when turned on is a blank white screen followed after a long delay by a scrambled screen that advises an unexpected windows shut down and the option to start windows in safe or whatever.

 

[Chickenjohn]

What you need IS a Mac. All those features, totally reliable, works like new every single day you use it. And completely compatible with Microsoft stuff you describe. Not sure what you meant by being in Windows format. I have Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc on all three of my Macs. I also have a PC notebook and it's the only one I have trouble with.

OK OK, I appreciate you want to go PC but just had to pick up on the fact that for some reason you don't think that you can display MS stuff on a Mac. There is almost no difference between running a Mac and a PC - visually. The Mac is simply less prone to the usual foibles associated with PCs. They don't do anything really different or better - they just happen to do it all of the time.

You mention music. Mac and music made for each other. I have all my collection on the desk top hard drive but can stream it round the house to all the others and my iphone with nothing more than what came with it. No software needed. I always weld to something loud.

Best of luck

FF

It sounds like an advert, but being a long term Mac user myself, I have to totally agree! Yes, they are more expensive, but like spending extra on a good tool over a cheap one, the extra outlay is more than worth it!

 

[Shox Dr]

Mac's are good machines but the price, not so. I'm pretty sure you could buy 2 if not 3 Windows laptops for the same price 1 mac would cost you

 

[tigler]

I have used a Mac book and they are sexy little things but I'm still very wary of having to familiarise with yet another operating system and applications. Don't wish to appear a luddite here but really do need to take the path of least resistance. Also, would my 1TB external HD be compatible ? And all my other USB hardware ? What about Wi-Fi, bluetooth, router and it's software ?

 

[blenkie1]

Also got to say get a Mac. Used to run windows but got sick of the crashs and viruses. Had my powerbook for 8 years with no problems other than replacment batterys. Never had any anti-virus software for it and its on nearly 24/7. On the modern macs you can now run windows on it either on top of the mac os or by itself like a proper windows machine. Funny thing is its supposed to run faster on an Apple laptop than a dedicated Windows machine.

 

[Chickenjohn]

Mike, if you had one, I'd buy it. So that would be a good solution wouldn't it.
I don't like Apple's monopoly and odd tactics either. Trust me. But I am not going to cut my nose off to spite my face. The Mac is a truly great device. The one I am typing on now is approaching 7 years old. Every bit as good as the day it came out of the box. It's on all day every single day. it records all my telly via a freeview device, has all my music collection, thousands of pictures etc - just like a PC. But it has never gone wrong. any glitch it has ever had has been fixed by putting the original disc back in. Yes - with a Mac you get EVERYTHING on disc. No partition nonsense. Any way this is turning into a Mac V PC thread, which I am concious that it shouldn't be; this is about a chap needing a new 'pooter. But I need to explain a bit about Macs so that the OP can understand the difference. I suspect the price will dictate the outcome.

Any file that has an extension such as .jpg or .doc, .pdf or .mpg is completely universal and can be opened by many applications. I don't live in some isolated world where I can't open documents and files because I have a Mac. I have Microsoft Office on my Mac. But I also have things like Neo Office which is freeware. Macs used to be a bit weird and deff only for spods to use in their cardigans, but for about the last 10 years they have been a normal as fish on a Friday and a roast on a Sunday. No odd stuff at all. I have to use PCs too (to do with work, not trying to be tricky) and I have got through more of those than I can remember. Macs don't get slow and forget things - I have no idea why and I am not interested frankly.

Look in my view, Macs are a bit like Toyota Landcruisers and PCs a bit like Landrovers. No I am not trying to start a fight so calm down everyone.
Toyotas are expensive but they don't do anything different or better than a Landrover. In fact if you look underneath you could practically swap the parts over. But Landcruisers just keep going, reliably. Sure you can break them, don't confuse that with reliability. But in terms of dependability the Toyota is frankly without equal. So what do you want to pay for? If you are a good mechanic (or PC doctor) buy a Green Oval (or PC). If you know nothing and just want a car that goes (Toyota / Mac) then the choice is clear. You won't appreciate it until you realise that you didn't get one.

You can get a package called 'move2mac' or something but when I moved to a Mac, I transferred all my mail etc no problem. I don't really know what Outlook is to be fair. I don't use it. Or MS Explorer either. Through choice not because I can't.

So, not pushing you into a Mac - no Sir, just clearing up any misunderstanding that they are odd things that you can't open the worlds most common files on. Music? Absolutely. itunes is a Mac application after all.

If you do have any Mac specific questions then I am happy to answer - but I really don't wish to get into a war over the two platforms. I'm simply not interested. I have three, they work flawlessy. I bought one for the wife and one for the kids to keep them off mine in the knowledge that WHEN they they stuffed them up I could fix them and they couldn't get to mine. And in nearly 5 years they haven't managed to upset them at all!!!! Still working perfectly. No. I can scarcely believe it either.

PM me some obscure file if you like. I'll open it and tell you what it is! Can't say fairer than that.

Regards all.

Hope I didn't upset anyone. Some of my best friends have Landrovers. I know, I give them lifts to the dealers all the time

FF

In addition to all that the Mac operating system and included software is just so much nicer to use than Windows, and more advanced. Windows 7 has recently implemented features that were in the Mac OS nine years ago!

After using a Mac for a while though, go back to a PC and it will annoy you!

 

[knoba]

To add my 2 cents;

Laptops are notoriously extravagant & fickle machines.

Tech doesn’t scale well as an investment. Today's marvel is tomorrows brick. Unlike good tools they don't hold their value.

Get something that does the job for as cheap as possible and then keep renewing when things go wrong (or get out dated).

I shop here for cheap hardware (BigPockets). Been using them for over 10 years now. Mostly RTM (return to manufacturer) recon units. Returns... no problems. Cheap enough not to care.

 

[keith19]

As one who has worked full time, and now part time, in PC repairs for some years, I would class the Dell, after IBM/Lenovo, as being one of the most reliable. Iterestingly, Dell and IBM/Lenovo are two manufacturers that make all of their guides and manuals available for download. Manuals are even available for long-outdated laptops.
In business Dell and IBM/Lenovo are used extensively, mainly because of their reliabilty.
I would sooner own a second-hand Dell or IBM/Lenovo than a new other make, and do.