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Laptops
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
in General Chat
Yes there have been a million and one other threads on the subject but I don't care. I want personal advice tailored just to me 
Want to buy my fella a laptop for Christmas, he's a freelance writer and a teacher so it's important to have the basic writing stuff (I guess that's standard?) and probably the other important thing is memory. He doesn't play games or download stuff (not on my watch :razz:) so gadgety stuff isn't all that essential.
Anyway, I am a bit stuck in the dark ages and have never purchased such a thing (though I am typing on one at the moment so I'm not a complete stranger to them and their functions) so I want some advice. What do I need to look for? What are the most important qualities and functions? What will they try to sell to me as the newest life essential/next big thing that I should actually completely ignore? Help me.
Want to spend 500 quid at the absolute maximum, though obviously the cheaper the better!
Want to buy my fella a laptop for Christmas, he's a freelance writer and a teacher so it's important to have the basic writing stuff (I guess that's standard?) and probably the other important thing is memory. He doesn't play games or download stuff (not on my watch :razz:) so gadgety stuff isn't all that essential.
Anyway, I am a bit stuck in the dark ages and have never purchased such a thing (though I am typing on one at the moment so I'm not a complete stranger to them and their functions) so I want some advice. What do I need to look for? What are the most important qualities and functions? What will they try to sell to me as the newest life essential/next big thing that I should actually completely ignore? Help me.
Want to spend 500 quid at the absolute maximum, though obviously the cheaper the better!
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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Comments
The Dell InspironTM 6400 is selling at £399 at the mo,
PC world have a smiliar deals with ADVENT 8215P LAPTOP at £399.
I personally would recommend spending a bit extra and buy a Macbook. Since I got mine this summer I have never looked back, they are fantastic computers and look great too. Cheapest Macbook at the mo is £699.
Hope this helps.
Saying that all branded computers come shipped with the "standard writing stuff" doesn't neccessarily mean that it will be MS Word. I've seen most brand new computers to come shipped with MS Works. It may be similar, but the WPS/WKS cannot be ported to computers that have Word installed!
One other word of warning: Do not, I and repeat do not install Star Office on a computer that already has MS Office. They conflict horrendously. Not just within the two packages themselves, but in Windows too. Any one here from the Open University? Then I know your pain already. Purple disc they use to install their crap these days is it?
Is a Macbook better? I just remember the days when people used to talk constant shite about Macs and all their problems, can't get past that and accept them as fully-functional computers that people would actually prefer to have/buy
I do think they look nice but in all honesty that's not a factor. Something that can get the job done and isn't a ton-weight. If I go into PC World or similar are they going to eat me alive/sell me loads of unnecessary extras? Maybe I should try and hunt down a computer-expert friend, I must have one... somewhere!
They'll bug you to buy an extended warrenty and INSIST that you buy norton with it (as that's where they make their money) aslong as you refuse those you should be ok.
And, yes, mac's are good computers too, but why do Mac people always have to brag about their precious mac when someone is asking for a PC? :P
In my experience, Mac's are ok, but tends to be more expensive than a PC with similar specs.
Moreover, if her fellas work stick to pc's you might have more compatibility issues if buying a mac. (Although i.e. MS office documents should be compatible between pc and mac in theory I know that's not always the case)
I think a PC Has nothing to do with the orginal post :P
Go for a Dell Maybe? They do fab laptops for basics, or if you want theres a good one in staples @ 299 Vista Basic, comes with some goodies too
Well i switched last year & have yet to find something that I can't do on my mac just as well or better than my PC. I also had the OS installed for nearly a year, and it was running just as fast as the day i got it out the box (Something I struggle with on a PC, as I have a tendancy to install alot of applications) And compatibility is a non-issue really.. PDF and word/excel are no problems, And if i really really need to run a windows app I can always boot windows from it, or run vmware fusion and load it that way.
it's down to choice really, But personally I'd rather spend £600 on a machine which will easily last 3+ years without a system reinstall, than pay £299 - £499 and have a machine which will come to a crawl after i've installed all the applications that I rely on.
I dont paticularly think mac's are overpriced either, Sure they dont really make budget pc's , but their laptop prices are in-line with other high end manufacturers such as sony, and rightly so.
The first PC has a smaller hard drive, but the rest of it is a bit better (including a 2 year warranty rather than 1 year).
Well, ok since she asked for a laptop that could be pc or mac.
But I still have experienced several people at my work having compatibility issues, especially with the office 2007 package. And althought you can virtualise and run windows on a mac, that's an option many "office" users don't have the knowledge or interest to do.
By all means, it's a personal choice, both PC's and mac's are good computers, but good to be aware of difficulties.
No its not?
If he's a teacher, then he will want something that he can use on the go where ever.
A small light simple notebook (Thats a laptop by the way, not a PC) with the office package on it will be fine for him. Go with Office 2003, but if office 2007 is pushed onto you, make sure you set the default saving option in it to be Office 2003 documents.