OTish; Laptops

[The Medway Handyman]

Time has come to replace the tower PC with a laptop, so I'm after some advice from the learned people here, since I'm a computer numpty.

I'm looking for something around 16". I don't play games (only solitaire) I don't watch films or download music. Don't want a touchscreen, much prefer keyboard/mouse.

I use Word & Excel frequently, sometime quite big documents. I surf the net often & use e-mail a lot. We have 4G WiFi at home, probably won't ever take it out, but will use upstairs in the office, on the deck & downstairs in the lounge.

Reluctant to change from MS Windows simply because I know how to use it.

Any advice on processor type, memory, make, supplier much appreciated.

[Davey]

I am not up to date, but nearly four years ago, I bought a Samsung 15.6" i5 64-bit quad-core laptop, and the only thing I can find against it is that it has no indicator to tell me that NumLock is engaged. Otherwise, it's fine, and does WiFi if I ever need it, which is rarely. It also has Bluetooth, although I will never need that, and a built-in NVIDIA screen card. Unlike many laptops, it has a full number keypad built in, making spreadsheet use easy.

[The Medway Handyman]

Sorry, should have said, budget around the £500 mark.

[The Medway Handyman]

Ah! I hadn't thought of that. Good point.

[charles]

usually you get a full keyboard with a larger screen. have a look at what is available at:

[Andrew Mawson]

I've always used 'refurbished' ex corporate laptops as you get solid machines for not much money. My current one is a HP Elitebook 8440p which cost me well under £200 complete with a legal copy of Windows 7 and a 12 month guarantee. Perfectly adequate for my needs. I use it mainly as a portal to my desktop machine which is in my office on the other side of the farmyard, so can use it without going outside. Mind you it has a higher spec than the desktop !!!

Andrew

[Tim Watts]

I like my Dell.

In any case, choose the SSD option and >= 6GB RAM and it will fly.

Would also recommend looking for 802.11n + ac support if possible for WiFi

[Brian Gaff]

Dell do those as well, though of course the machine tends to be wider, or the keys smaller depending on your prefs. I'd probably suggest you try some of the keyboards, as if you are used to a normal keyboard, laptop ones do seem flimsy and or lacking in travel or positive feedback. Brian

[The Medway Handyman]

Thanks. Bit confused now. These three for example. Whats the difference between AMD Dual Core, Intel Core i3-4005U 1.7GHz and AMD A8-7100 Quad Core?

I know they are the processors but what does that mean?

AMD Dual Core E1-6010 1.35GHz

4GB RAM + 320GB HDD

Intel Core i3-4005U 1.7GHz

8GB RAM + 1TB HDD

AMD A8-7100 Quad Core

4GB RAM + 500GB HDD

Also, I assume the one with 8GB is better and that 1TB is better than 320GB?

[Ronnie]

This laptop is a beast for the price. I've used this firm for years, they are very good. Have a peek, this one is very good value for money and within your budget.

[The Medway Handyman]

Sorry, don't understand :-)

Could you repeat in English please?

:-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Thanks, I'll add to the list.

[John]

Not really much to help you except to say that Lenovo are a well-respected brand. Also, I'm sure that you've heard many people say over the years, "Pull the plug out, wait a minute or two and then plug it back in and boot it up" when troubleshooting.

For that reason, I'd make sure you get one where the battery can easily be removed. Some laptops (some Sony models I believe and maybe others) have to be stripped down to remove the battery - if you can't

*completely* remove the power you can't completely reset it when needed.

[Martin Brown]

You have left it a bit late to get a new portable with Windows 7 on it and I reckon you should look long and very hard at Windows 8 before contemplating using it without a touch screen (or using it at all).

You might find things in the refurbed corporate kit to suit.

Do you really mean 4G Wifi? That is wifi directly connected to the 4G mobile network via a dongle rather than via wired ADSL?

Samsung kit is quite good on the price performance scale I have their beefy 17" as my portable and a tiny ASUS T-100 as a go anywhere device.

If you are going to use it as a desktop replacement consider a docking station to go with it and if it isn't likely to spend too much time being hand carried then I reckon the extra inch of screen real estate is worth having for working large spreadsheets. YMMV

[The Medway Handyman]

It's Virgin Media broadband via a cable to a hub.

Never heard of a docking station, thanks, off to have a look.

[The Medway Handyman]

Even more confused now. What exactly is a docking station?

[Adrian]

They used to be IBM's personal computer brand, of course, before all that business was sold off to Lenovo (Chinese, 12% owned by a wing of the Chinese government), who'd been actually building the machines for IBM for a while.

I'd generally lean towards Dell as a first choice.

[Tim Watts]

Fast...

I'm afraid that there's no other way to say it - 802.11n and 802.11ac are standards - and you'll see them on the specification (or not).

802.11n is a decent standard, for anything bought now it would be wise to get 802.11ac as if your WIFI base station can do it (or you upgrade) you will get far greater wifi speeds which can match BT Infinity or VirginMedia internet speeds (whereas 802.11n will manage perhaps half and 802.11b or 802.11g will be woeful.

[Tim Watts]

Something like:

It generally adds convenience rather that functionality - though sometimes it gives you more ports (eg USB) than might be available on the laptop.

I could use one, using my laptop for work - but they are ofter very expensive to save me plugging 4 wires...

[Davey]

A docking station is a device that sits on the desk and provides all connections for the laptop, which slides into it. Most (all?) of my laptop's connections are on the sides, which would make it tricky to design one, though.