Markus

I'll get a (virtual) punch in the ribs for the "Little Brother" comment, but pffft, he's the younger brother so has to put up with that kind of comment.

Anyway, he's emailed me to say he needs a new laptop, and he fully admits he knows next to nothing about computers, and also knows that I know a bit, thus he's seeking advice on what to get.

His requirements are that it's a laptop, and he wants it for surfing, email and playing music, so we're not talking a brand new high spec ultra rig.

I'm a little out of touch with the UK laptop market and thus I'm turning to the masses for a little help here as to what and where he can get a decent laptop that meets his needs.

The first thought that pops into my head is *shudder* PC World. There is one fairly close to him, and he probably has had a look there, but knows well enough they shaft people and he doesn't want his leg pulled, hence why he's asking me for advice.

Now I *know* I'm a Mac fanboy and should tempt him to the white side, but it would mean him having to learn OS X (If I were in the UK he would be getting a mac and would have it dual booted with XP, but I'm not and so he won't) and easy as it is, he wants a very hassle free experience, and I can't blame him for that. Of course, if the prices of Macbooks are close to a PC then we might go the Mac route, but let us stick with the windows world for now.

So, suggestions of machines/brands and where to get them (online should be fine) and of course the all important prices, are all appreciated.

staffs Mike

What sort of money are you thinking.

I mean these can be fully customised on the dell site from a basic integrated graphics jobby to pretty decent decicated graphics, blu ray or normal dvd etc..
Dell Studio 15 Laptop Deal and Evalue Code Comparison, Dell Discounts and Coupons

Built very nicely and have a great feel. Bit chunky and heavy though, is this supposed to be very portable or just around the house?

Markus

Good point about the money aspect of things. Truthfully, not sure how much, but lets say an absolute max of £700, preferably between £300 - £700.

I would say it's probably just for around the house, or maybe occasionally taking it over to a mates place.

HankScorpio

I'm on my 2nd HP laptop, never going to set the world on fire with performance but solid workers and good prices if you stay away from top end specs.

It was between one of these and Dell after a lot of looking. HP won because I'd already had one and it had extra memory over the similar priced Dell.

Markus

Thank you for the replies. I've spoken to lil bro and he said his budget it up to £500, so I'll do some searching

hodgy0_2

i use HP for work, no complaints

but imo Toshiba are the best (and have been for the last 25 years)

Markus

I don't suppose one could specify Blu-ray for the optical drive in a sub £500 laptop? He mentioned he was also getting a big screen TV and wanted Blu-ray, and was thinking of hooking up the lappy to the TV and playing Blu-ray through it. Personally I think a dedicated BR player would be best for that job.

ScoobyDoo555

Mac Book (dual-boot with XP)

Markus

I did look at that, but he really doesn't want to spend over £500 (I am looking into NHS Discount, - thanks Ron for the tip - as Mum works for the local hospital and I believe she therefore works for the NHS and might qualify), plus he's not the most tech savvy person in the world and I don't fancy walking him through the BC install over the phone, mainly as he does not have an appropriate XP/Vista install disk and purchasing it would put the cost up more, plus I'm not going the hooky route with him, again as I don't want to do it over the phone.

If the NHS direct thing gives a decent discount then I might consider the Mac, otherwise it'll be a PC.

HankScorpio

Ta-daaaaa.....
dabs.com - Acer AS6530G Turion X2 2GHz 4GB 250GB BluRay/DVD±RW Vista Home Premium (LX.AUS0X.142)

Markus

oooh, thank you

HankScorpio

NP

Dabs doesn't always have the best prices but the way the catalogue works is great for nailing down specs.
(got my last laptop from them too)

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

I work for the NHS and AFAIK the only thing they do which is cheaper is a "home" based Microsoft Word / Outlook / Powerpoint / Access / etc software package.

Shaun

BlkKnight

Just picked up a Studio 17 (core duo) for £400 off ebay through a reseller of cancelled (dell) orders.

Tidy little machine.

Markus

Thought I'd bump this back up.

Thanks for all the replies. He decided on Hank's suggested Acer machine and is apparently rather happy with it. Ordered it from Amazon rather than Dabs, price was about the same all in including shipping.

I've not actually spoken to him about how he's getting on, but there have been no emails/phone calls saying he has problems, so I can only assume it's working for him.

Once again, thank you

555-Shaggy

Can you let me know the ebay user name please mate.. don't want to trawl through all the carp if someone already has a good lead.

Cheers.

michaelro

I'd be interested in this ebay seller as well - Need a laptop soon