Which Laptop Should I buy ; Which should I avoid

[james]

Hello,

I am looking for a laptop [it is not for me so Mac or Linux is not an option] ...

spec is as follows ..

Must be windows PC
Size 13/14 inch
Good battery life
Not too heavy
Good build quality and reliability [and sturdy]
Not madly expensive
Want it for internet and word processings [NOT games]
Decent spec [but not cutting edge]

On above list the really important factors are screen size, weight and battery life.

Suggestions ?

Thanks

James

[Ivor]

I've found ACER to be pretty good value for money machines. Beyond2000 in Chatham Street seem to be the main distributors and seem to have the best deals.

[k99_64]

Would you have a price in mind?

Ps: NEVER BUY SONY.

[halvis]

I have always rated the Lenovo Thinkpad's, especially the T Series. They do not have the brightest screens, but they are very sturdy, have a great keyboard and should last for years. I have one that is still perfect from 2004. Might not be the lightest though, which I know you did say was an important factor.

They can be purchased quite reasonably off of eBay, alternatively, they are one of the only laptops I would consider buying 2nd hand, as if it looks okay, it probably is.

BTW I second the above - NEVER BUY SONY. Had one prior to the first Thinkpad, it didn't last 12 months, build quality was shocking and it didn't address half the RAM.

[james]

Thanks to everyone for the advice ... [the machine is not for me -- but for a friend -- and it should ideally be light and have a long battery life] ...

We am looking at various stuff [Samsung Q330 and Toshiba R630] .. but the big issue now is windows-home-32 versus windows-home-64 [the samsung comes with 32 ; the toshiba 64 -- upgrade to windows 7 professional is another additional cost and more effort -- we would have to insatall it from scratch] ..

How much of the stuff my friend already has will run on windows-home-64 [it does not have the win-pro xp mode] ..

This is a sample ...
nero [various versions] -- came with CD/DVD drives
powerdvd -- came with DVD drives
various norton untilites / norton restore -- came with Norton anti-virus
video editing software -- came with a DVD drive
lots of audio software -- came with vrious soundcards
etc ....

All help appreciated ..

james

[Adrian]

Hi James,

That is a pretty tough question, I am not too up to date on computers, however my understanding is 32 bit programs will work o.k. in a 64 bit environment.

16 bit programs will work o.k. in a 32 bit environment.

I believe problems can be encountered when running 16 bit programs in a 64 bit environment. Hence the XP mode feature in Windows 7 64 bit.

Trying to run legacy software on modern fast computers can be difficult, but there is normally a way around most of these problems. The trouble is that it takes time and if you are not a geek then you have to find a understanding one who is sympathetic to your plight.

Most of the software on your list already has modern day upgrades, ie Norton Utilities, Nero, Power DVD, so dumping your old editions and buying new versions is dead easy, and can be done for not too much cost. Some of the software can even be downloaded for free from the www.

However your audio software, I am not too sure about that one, you may have trouble running in a new environment, but if your old audio data files are already on disc, and in a standard format then it should be possible to upload it into the data files ( old recordings, music compilations etc) into a new software program.

Modern software programs usually are able to load legacy file formats and work on them.

One of the most important features of a computer I think is the quality of the screen, as this is the feature which you use the most, but again it depends on the application etc etc.

You mentioned audio cards in your post, I am not sure if these will work in a laptop, you may require a desktop, and if the audio cards are old then you may require a motherboard which has legacy expansion slots, ie PCI, PCI X, or even VESA local bus or 16 bit ISA slots. As a legacy slot, I think it is only possible to get PCI and PCI X slots now, all motherboards have moved onto PCI Express slots.

It's not easy when trying to upgrade, have you looked at any of the Apple computers? They can be expensive, but it could be possible to buy a second hand one, in addition the software might suit as well.

Adrian.

[james]

Dear Adrian,

Thanks for the response. I did not look at Apple since my friend must have a windows PC for his particular application.

I agree that most of the software I have can be bought again but I am trying to avoid having to do so. I have a number of versions of Nero and I think they lost their way after Nero-6 which was the last one with a proper interface -- I do not like the latest versions at all. Unfortunately Nero-6 will not run with Vista [and so -- I presume -- will not work with Win-7].

I looked at the possibility of the windows-xp option with windows-7 but it only exists with the professional version.

James

[DaveF]

Another vote here against Sony. Less than a year after my parents bought one, it would not boot up for whatever reason. Shop would not replace it so instead Sony sent someone out to courier it back for repair. Got the laptop back after about 2 weeks. Expected everything to be fine but this time the screen had all these lines across it so bad that you couldnt use it. The repair report said that all they did was replaced the wireless adaptor with a different one. Morons.
Eventually the shop agreed to replace it with a different branded laptop.