OT - notebook PC purchasing advice

[Lobster]

Apologies for the OT post but I know there are a lot of folk here who are highly knowledgable on matters IT, and whose advice I trust...

SWMBO's been dropping birthday hints, and I'm looking for a subnotebook computer, or whatever you call them. This is for use outside the home; I suppose the main use will be internet/email (mainly wifi, maybe very occasionally GSM via a mobile phone) and the odd DVD and storing digital photos. Major criteria are bulk and weight; she's not interested in the techie stuff (but of course she will be when it doesn't work as fast or efficiently as she thinks it should!). Definitely needs wifi, preferably DVD drive (even if as an add-on).

To give you the idea - we currently have an elderly Dell whose performance is probably acceptable, other than it weighs in at 3.4kg and has a 34cm x 27cm footprint. I know she's seen dinky 1.2 kg one like this "which looks like the sort of thing":

That particular model's about 800 quid. I suppose that would be OK if need be; but just been doing a bit of googling, and find a massive range in price and presumably specs for similar kit, and realise that I don't really know what I should be looking for.

For example - dabs.com have a little HP machine at only 328 quid, which seems way cheaper than everything else: Only has 1Gb RAM and costs another 100 quid for an add-on DVD drive, which takes it to, what, 450? but other than that it am I missing anything?

Any advice on this from you experts much appreciated.

David

[PeterMcC]

Lobster wrote in

An expert will be along soon but, in the meantime...

Acer Extensa 4220-101G08Mi Celeron M 540 / 1.86 GHz RAM 1 GB HDD 80 GB DVD±RW (+R double layer) / DVD-RAM Gigabit Ethernet - WLAN : 802.11b/g Win XP Pro

14.1" Widescreen TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ) £281.99 inc VAT seem to have a good rep at the budget end and we've had no problems with one that was bought a year ago. Alternatively, and probably a step up in quality and features, we've got several Toshibas that have been very satisfactory. Worth a look round the Insight site. won't pretend that the above are the laptops that you've dreamt about but, for the money, I have no complaints. We use half a dozen Toshibas for working away from the office and have never been let down.

[Peter Crosland]

Given that your wife is an adult would it not be a good idea to discuss what she wants in the computer line and get her that along with a surpise item?

Peter Crosland

[Paul Matthews]

I alwats start at

- they are dell systems that have been returned at the mo for under £300 delivered you can get:

INSPIRON 1525 (System Identifier. Z2CM52E0) Inspiron 1525 CORE 2 DUO T5450 1.66GHz

Operating System: English - Vista Home Basic Memory: 1024MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2x512) Hard Disk Drive: Hard Drive 80GB Serial ATA (5400 RPM) NoteBook Screen: 15.4 Widescreen WXGA (1280x800) with TrueLife CD Read-Write Drive: Optical Drive 8xDVD+/-RW Drive including SW MISC: Internal Keyboard Uk/Irish (QWERTY) 2.0 Mega pixel web camera Dell Wireless 1395 Mini-Card 802.11 Ship Accessories European Inspiron 1525

weight around 2.7Kg

[Lobster]

target 1.2kg-ish. Interestingly, if you filter the search criteria on the Insight site by weight, and select 1.2kg as the maximum, then apart from a few solid-state Linux internet-surfing devices etc, the cheapest 'proper' PC which comes up is actually the Fujitsu I mentioned in my OP, at ~800 quid.

Which makes me all the more curious about the far cheaper HP model I mentioned - I note that it's provided with "SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10" - does that mean it won't run Windows XP (whose cost would need to be factored in if so)?

David

[Rod]

MacBook Air (before AH suggests it)? OK, so it's 1.36 Kg...

[John Rumm]

An Asus Eee PC would seem to fit that spec spot on.

The newer bigger one looks like:

[Andy Hall]

They are nice, as long as one isn't a power user.

[Owain]

For some reason the ~12" screen ones are usually stupidly priced for what they offer in performance. If you want to run Vista or any full-fat version of Linux 2GB RAM is really a minimum, Linux of course can be made to run with a lot less if you sacrifice the eye candy.

Morgan have this one £199 + VAT

check the reviewers comments about the cost of upgrading the RAM and wifi. I was very tempted by it until I read them.

Add-on DVD drives via USB are pretty much universally compatable and cheaper elsewhere than buying the manufacturer's branded ones. Also budget for an extra battery (cost and weight) if you need freedom from mains power.

Check the box opened bargains at

got an Acer from them recently, 'minor scratches' - really not noticeable - and can recommend their service.

With the launch of the ASUS eee 9" the magazines are reviewing small subnotebooks at the moment and there are a few models launched / about to be launched recently.

Owain

[Lobster]

interested and have been clueing myself up on them.

One concern is the Linux o/s which neither SWMBO or me have ever used; if it were me I'm sure I'd be fine with it but knowing er indoors as I do I strongly suspect that would be an issue, so I'd only buy it on the proviso that I could swap to XP. I'm presuming that would mean buying a USB CD/DVD drive (which I suppose we'd probably want anyway) to be able to access an XP installation disk? or could it be done over my home network?

Also - despite already owning 3 copies of XP for the families' existing PCs, I assume I'd need to buy another one? Having just checked dabs, that costs an eye-watering and deal-breaking £191 though. I'd happily buy a cheap legit 2nd hand version off eg ebay but haven't MS tied XP license numbers tied to individual PCs now - ie, would an ebay version work? Or is there a more reasonable way forward?!

Thanks David

[John Rumm]

They do a version with XP preloaded as well. IIRC that has a hard drive as well though so battery life is not quite as good. There are also plenty of sites explaining how to add XP yourself.

You can legitimately move an install of XP only if it was bought as a retail version and not an OEM preloaded one.

Well if you want XP then get the Eee with XP, although it loses a little of its "turnkey" charm. (the Linux on it is setup such that it does everything you need from the outset - email, browsing, media playback, digital images etc. So you never need to get any closer to it than that).

[Lobster]

AFAICS you can buy a 12Gb or 20Gb version with Linux, but if you want XP you must get the 20Gb. Haven't come across any mention of a non-solid state hard drive though; and in fact haven't found anywhere flogging them preloaded with XP yet (haven't searched exhaustively yet though).

Ah - just been looking at ebay where in fact there are lots of shrunkwrapped copies of XP for around 60 quid, with the rider "this will be shipped with a non-peripheral component to meet Microsoft's OEM guidelines" which now makes more sense to me. Does that mean these copies are OK, and will work, and are kosher (if bending the rules?)

Not having found the two versions to compare for specs/price yet, I was thinking maybe get the Linux version to try out, and if SWMBO deems it unfit for purpose, then add in XP later: however I'd need to be sure that was definitely feasible from a practical and economic viewpoint.

Thanks again for your feedback.

David

[John Rumm]

state version)

If you buy a OEM one with a storage device then you are technically within the rules. In fact if you ordered one at the same time as the PC you would also be fine. Also have a look at the educational discount versions of XP - they can be equally cheap and it is hard *not* to meet the qualification criteria!

Sounds like a workable plan...

Lots of versions here:

[dorothybradbury]

Thinkpad T series are very good - but expensive.

Dell outlet as mentioned. Check warranty with them, they will offer 3yr at cost.

Also

who can have good prices. Refurbished 1yr, 3yr & Dell refurbished & new available.

What you have not mentioned is warranty. A laptop is pretty much a single point of failure with the mainboard cost nearly equal to the laptop. Realise Sony can be very difficult over parts, whereas Dell & Thinkpad service manuals are downloadable, parts sourceable.

Well worth considering a 3yr warranty on a laptop, unless the economics indicate self-insurace is better.

Extended warranty are rarely worth it, except for laptop, plasma especially and even LCD. In that vein take a look at John Lewis - I think their laptops have free 2yr warranty. That on balance might be a good economic balance.

-- Dorothy Bradbury

[Lobster]

Well - have gone for it and ordered the bigger version, ie with Linux you'll be pleased to hear! Will see how that goes first, and whether we can get away without XP.

Many thanks again for all the advice. David

[John Rumm]

Let us know how it goes...

[Andy Hall]

Of course you can. Just recite the mantra....

"My name's David and I'm an XP user"

"Hello David"

and so on......

The addiction will soon pass....