Laptop died ! Need a new one but what ?

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 01 Aug 2011, 14:19

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.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 01 Aug 2011, 15:05

What's your budget?

I'd go to PC World/John Lewis/Office World/Tescos and check out what is on offer, find a few which you're happy with, then look them up online for user reviews and potential issues.
Make sure you test everything including the speakers! I was in a bind and needed a laptop quick about 8 years ago, bought one with good CPU/Mem/HDD and at a reasonable price. Had the most awful speakers ever, had to buy a powered external speaker unit.

My last two laptops have been Toshibas, and I only got the second one because the ex's cat dropped a bed on the first breaking it's screen.

That was about 4 years ago, the new laptop is still going strong, while the older broken laptop spent a year running constantly on top of our sky+ box as a media pc until it finally started getting too hot to run reliably. It's hard drive has been donated to a colleague's HP laptop who's original hard drive died.
So the first one technically lasted 6 years, although 4 of them were sans screen and the final year was in extreme conditions.

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 01 Aug 2011, 15:56

Budget is £500 max.
I am drawn to Toshiba, they seem to get decent reports. Hear what you say about speakers, I wouldn't rely on a laptops internal speakers if I ever need reasonable sound reproduction though, I have modest little Medion 2.1 system which sounds really good for the money.

droylsden dave · Post by **droylsden dave** » 01 Aug 2011, 17:39

Do a search on which, i think you can see their reviews without becoming a member. Although you can do a trial for a pound.
I got a toshiba 3 or 4 years ago, thats still working ok. Currently using an hp thats okay although i have read about reliability issues

Post by **myglaren** » 01 Aug 2011, 18:02

Check in the "For Sale" forum, Will (KP) may still have some for sale - send him a PM and he may be able to sort you out.

HDI wrote:Budget is £500 max.
I am drawn to Toshiba, they seem to get decent reports. Hear what you say about speakers, I wouldn't rely on a laptops internal speakers if I ever need reasonable sound reproduction though, I have modest little Medion 2.1 system which sounds really good for the money.

I bought four Toshiba Equuiums from PC world five years ago and they are still going strong, all used daily, two for business purposes.

Deanxm · Post by **Deanxm** » 01 Aug 2011, 18:27

Ciaran who deals with computers professionaly and owns the club xm forum recomended Toshiba as a good reliable laptop, mine gets used everyday and has been faultless over the last 4 years.

D

rabenson · Post by **rabenson** » 02 Aug 2011, 13:25

Toshiba - not the cheapest but well built and VERY reliable!

R9UKE · Post by **R9UKE** » 02 Aug 2011, 14:45

Again - Toshiba.

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 02 Aug 2011, 15:18

Dell..

£500

Mind you, does depend what you do.. I bought an 80 quid Dell off KP (I think) on this fourm, done me 2 years, but I only use internet, email, youtube and thats about it...

for 80 quid and two years thats well worth it!

But, however, this is also dieing slowly, I think the USB ports have packed up, which is slowing the Video down, and the whole machine...

Paul

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 04 Aug 2011, 16:18

First time I've been online since Monday !! As I needed a new laptop by tomorrow I just ordered a Lenovo off Amazon, they were the only company I could find in the time I had that had the model I wanted and would guarantee next day delivery.
Thanks for all the help guys.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 04 Aug 2011, 16:20

Ah, a StinkPad

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 04 Aug 2011, 18:15

Not even that, it's a lowly B series ! The reviews I could find all rated it highly though so fingers X'd !! Looking at it rationally, it HAS to be better than my expired Philips X57, in fact as far as performance is concerned it definitely will be ! The Philips was doing everything I needed when it was working so should be fine.
It also has Windows 7, which has to be a good thing compared to the Vista I had been using !
Long term reliability is the thing I really want though and Lenovo would seem to have a good record there.

SaabC5 · Post by **SaabC5** » 05 Aug 2011, 16:49

Don't go Dell cos their customer services suck when they do go wrong. Would recommend a Sony Vaio as well as Toshiba's.

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 05 Aug 2011, 20:41

My Lenovo arrived this morning and is now up and running. First impressions are very favourable, it's quicker, quieter, runs much cooler and has several good features.
Was also very satisfied, as always, with Amazons service and price. They are becoming my default go to place for this sort of thing. I have bought books from them for years though.
Windows 7 is looking good too !
BTW, I did look at Mac books but they are beyond what I'm prepared to pay.

addo · Post by **addo** » 28 Aug 2011, 09:36

This being the most current thread for "Help!" type laptop issues, here's a poser from my old man.

He wishes to upgrade the memory in his ancient Toshiba - apparently fine otherwise. Spec calls for PC-2100 / 266MHz notebook DDR RAM cards. While he can buy 2 cards of 512MB each, I looked and the 1GB units of PC-2700 spec RAM are generally cheaper.

I understand that 333MHz PC-2700 cards almost always work as a pair in these applications, but will they be compromised in terms of how usable their nominally doubled memory is?

Thanks, Adam.