Laptop Buying Advice

[EBS1980]

Hi

I am looking to buy a new laptop and wondered if anyone had any recomendations?

 

I want to spend approx £350-£450 on it. It's used mainly for internet and excel, word and outlook.

 

Thanks

[EBS1980]

Is this any good?

http://www.bestbuy.co.uk/product/1000163630/Dell-Inspiron-Q17R-173-Laptop--Intel-Pentium-Dual-Core-500GB-4GB-Memory.aspx?ref=google&loc=Laptops&ci_src=18615224&ci_sku=1000163630

[Channon's Windmill]

This is a good deal IMO...

 

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-ideapad-z570-15-6-laptop-red-10746969-pdt.html

 

It has the Sandybridge core i5 processor which is excellent.

[OVER THE HILL]

Don't buy a Dell see my thread below.

[saint_stevo]

Nothing wrong with Dell

[EBS1980]

What are generally good brands and ones to avoid? Anything spec wise i should be looking for?

[SO16_Saint]

Don't go to best buy

[saint_stevo]

I got a massive spec dell (6Gb DDR3, i5 sandybridge, 750gb hdd, 1gb GPU) off dell outlet for under £400

 

I'd avoid packard bell and HP(terrible last few years, and crap after service)

 

Lenovo rock solid, Dell are good, as are Asus and to a lesser extent, Acer.

 

This is a general view, everyone will have had issues with certain brands

[hutch]

I've bought 5 in the last 2 years. Best brands IMO are Toshiba & Lenovo. Lenovo's touchpad/joystick thingy is a bit of a nuisance, but otherwise very solid machines, but my favourite is Toshiba.

 

But I don't choose a laptop as a desktop replacement, I go for portability (light weight) and battery life. I haven't bought a laptop with a CD/DVD drive for years. Makes them bulky, heavy and eats battery.

 

I avoid HP like the plague.

[James]

I've bought 5 in the last 2 years. Best brands IMO are Toshiba & Lenovo. Lenovo's touchpad/joystick thingy is a bit of a nuisance, but otherwise very solid machines, but my favourite is Toshiba.

 

But I don't choose a laptop as a desktop replacement, I go for portability (light weight) and battery life. I haven't bought a laptop with a CD/DVD drive for years. Makes them bulky, heavy and eats battery.

 

I avoid HP like the plague.

 

Just shows that laptop buying experience can be entirely different. In the last 2 years I've had 2 awful toshibas - both overheated and fried the motherboard within about 2 weeks of each other.

 

The HP I had as a rental in the meantime ran like a dream. Weird.

[saint_stevo]

I point u both at the final sentance in post8!