jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Been looking for a cheap laptop, mainly for internet use, nothing much else, i know other people who have dual core intel processors and there laptops run quite slow.

My pc is a Quadcore intel processor with 4gb harddrive and runs smoothly boots up in seconds.

Only looking to pay upto £250 tops. But can't be doing with slow running.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

For 250 you should be able to buy a nearly new decent laptop rather than a new poor spec one.
hp probook are pretty reliable, have bought around 40-50 and very few problems Bar a couple of batteries expiring well out of warranty. If you want speed though budget for a 128gb ssd drive too. It makes most machines quite noticeably sharper and more responsive.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Hi thanks i was looking at this one


http://www.ebuyer.com/667785-hp-250-...FdQZtAodNC4AZQ

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

Cheaper, slower and more plasticcy than the 450 range which isnt necessarily a deal breaker when you get a years warranty...but windows 8.... eurgh.

This fella would be better suited and slightly faster..http://www.ebuyer.com/660261-lenovo-...top-20dh000tuk
I would still recommend whacking in an ssd drive to replace the slow 500gb disk.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Ok cheers, but have been told to stay away from AMD processors as not as good as intel?

Ooooh thanks for info on SSD looks like that would help the speed of laptop no end.

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

As long as it isnt a budget intel celeron or budget A4 AMD, itll do the very best.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Ok, this one is a good spec for the price

http://www.ebuyer.com/665844-lenovo-...laptop-mca2wuk

I think the prices have come down for higher spec models aswell

http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer...rice+ascending

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

Second link doesnt doesn't work and to be honest yes that first laptop is cheap but it's specced about as low as possible.

beardo47

For £250 you're only going to get a dual core intel laptop, most likely pentium, i3's cost more. No chance you will get an SSD in that price range, a laptop + a £45 120GB SSD is possible but you would need to clone your existing drive or fresh install windows on the SSD.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

I've found a quad core for £250 and found a small SSD for cheap, as i don't need much space on harddrive, only use for storing photos and a small amount of music, barely use 60gb.

So was going to get a 120gb SSD and as you said clone it, with help from someone lol

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

What is is Jay? not all processors were created equally and an old core2quad cpu would be pish compared to newer processors. Dont be buying someones old dog!

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Intel Pentium Quad Core N3540 Processor

Its brand new laptop, ebuyer have remove them from website

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

Rock on mate, not the worst cpu out there! should be the equivalent to a reasonable core i3 in real world terms.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Nice one, has 4gb ram, just wanted something basic and quick, cheers for help

Littleted

as above SSD is a must, all Computers are slow due to mainly spinning drive of old. Even my fancy Retina MAC is slow on the windows bootcamp side as that's installed on the old world drive,

All my Pcs in the house have SSDs and it really does make a massive diff

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Nice, ebuyer sell a 120GB SDD for around £40, so might go down that route.

Did you upgrade all your computers to SSD, or did they come with this already fitted?

beardo47

I imagine upgrade. Whilst they are cheap to buy now the big computer manufacturers still use mechanical HDD's.

Every customers machine I build get's an SSD, if they need large amounts of storage they can have a normal HDD too. It's 2015, I refuse to send a machine out without an SSD in as they really transform the machine.

Littleted

westerndigital do the Hybrid drive but its 160 quid, 128 gb ssd and a 1tb spinner all in 1

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

How easy is it to clone a harddrive?

Just wondering if i could do it myself, i'm not experienced at all with computers. But i've done basic stuff, managed to sort out a few problems with pc's in the past

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

Cloning is easy when you have the software. if in doubt and your data is important to you, take it to someone.
I dont send pcs out to any of my users now without an SSD now, I have an ACER Aspire R7 sat here at the moment running windows 8.1pro (I know.... but W7 doesnt have all of the drivers) It boots to windows login in 5 seconds from totally off.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

It will be on a brand new laptop.

My all in one pc loads from off, to desktop screen in around the same time, only cost £250, not sure if it has SSD though. Old laptop took a life time.

beardo47

Where abouts are you in the UK, if near lancashire bring it to me and I'll clone it across and fit your ssd for nowt.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Cheers for offer bud, not that close I'm afraid.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

If you get any of the samsung SSD's they come with excellent cloning software. You plug it in over USB, clone your HDD onto it, swap it out with the old HDD. It really is that easy and doesn't take very long. Even easier with a laptop as the SSD is plug n play in the drive slot.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Nice where can i get these from? thanks

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Disclaimer, this is just my personal advice, i take no responsibility if you can't get it to work

Do some research on what is best for you first.

Amazon is your best bet on price, Sammy ones aren't the cheapest kits out there though, but worth it imo.

You will also need to buy a USB to SATA cable if you're going to clone your lappy over USB.

850 Pro available in 256GB, 512GB or 1TB.

Like this;

If it doesn't come with the cloning software you can dload it (Data Migration) for free from Samsung's website, here;
http://www.samsung.com/global/busine...downloads.html

And also get the Magician to run benchmarks and setup the SSD afterwards. You can also update the SSD's firmware using this. Although personally i've never needed to bother.

Now for the USB/SATA adapter cable what USB version do you have on your lappy 2 or 3?

If its USB3 then you will need something like this;

Be aware that these converter cables do NOT always work, so do your research before buying. If you are using USB2 then you will need a different cable to the one above. Something like this;

OR buy the components and let someone else (PC shop) do the cloning for you.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

And of course you will need to know how to remove the laptop's HDD and replace it with the SSD.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Ok cheers for help, removing the HDD looks the easy part lol

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Yea i guess really its not difficult, i managed it on a few desktops and an ancient old laptop.

You used to be able to buy the Sammy SSD's with their own supplied USB-SATA cable, which made it nice n simple, but i cant find those anymore on Amazon.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

On a desktop PC its really easy as you just plug the SSD into a spare SATA port, then either do a fresh install or clone a HDD.