Buying a laptop tomorrow?

[Northy]

OK, so I need to buy (and physically have - i.e. no web shop) a laptop tomorrow, so where would you get it from and what spec? Doesn't need to be anything that stunning, just for Office stuff, 'tinternet etc, no gaming. Needs a built in webcam though.

Ta,

G

[Dudders]

Originally Posted by Northy

OK, so I need to buy (and physically have - i.e. no web shop) a laptop tomorrow, so where would you get it from and what spec? Doesn't need to be anything that stunning, just for Office stuff, 'tinternet etc, no gaming. Needs a built in webcam though.

Ta,

G

Ditto!

[Chris Green]

I bought this Lenovo on the weekend:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo...06307-pdt.html

8gb ram, dedicated graphics card, and 750gb hard drive. Seems to be a very good spec for the price. Lenovo own IBM (so I was told). It has a great brushed alluminium finish too. Mine is a deep browny / aubergine sort of colour, not gun metal.

Cant fault it so far.

[MatJohnson]

As daft as it sounds, PC world reserve and collect does have some great bargains sometimes

[Northy]

What sort of resolution web cam is actually any good?

[Chris Green]

Originally Posted by Northy

What sort of resolution web cam is actually any good?

Not a clue to be honest. I'll have a look at it later, and let you know.

[jim76]

1.3megapixel or more should be fine. depends what you want it for. even a lower rating can be fine for basic Skype etc

[Northy]

Thanks for the info so far.

i3 or i5 processor?

G

[jim76]

depends on your budget. if you just want it for basic office, internet and Skype then a core i3 will be plenty. 4gb ram, hard disk depends on the volume of photo storage etc you anticipate needing, but i would look for 500gb minimum.

You should be able to get all that for £400 easy. I got my folks an i3 Dell inspiron 15R for under £400 and that had dedicated ATI graphics chip too. It zips along a damn site faster than my old core 2 duo, and the webcam it good

[Northy]

Not too arsed about HD size as everything will be stored on a NAS drive.

Is cache important? How much is a sensible amount?

[/tobys]

Originally Posted by Chris Green

Lenovo own IBM (so I was told).

Lenovo don't own IBM. IBM sold their desktop business to Lenovo in order to concentrate on high margin areas, such as mainframe, software and services. Looks to have been a good move for both parties too...

[emzy]

I have the same model Lenovo laptop but with the i5 processor and less ram (and mine's bright turquoise) and it's been great since I got it. The keyboard is nice to type on and the webcam is pretty good too - better than my past Dell, which was good as well.

I had a Dell 1545 before this, and the Lenovo is slightly heavier and thicker than that was.

PC World seem to do some awesome bargains sometimes - mine was reduced from either £700 or £800 to £480-ish, and then agreed to honour an internet discount code I had too.

[bodgit]

I bought this one recently For £270. Although its a refurb frrom tesco, apart from two very small scratches on the lid you would think it was new. Its got 2md of cache which Im told from another member for the price is better than some more expensive laptops which only have 1mb of cache.
You would have to load your own office on but for the price it does everthing I need it to do very well.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2906227253...fvi%3D1&_rdc=1

[dmsykes]

Hi Graham,
Go for the deals they are advertising some good ones at present. PC world & Currys are both doing some. I have used DABS in the past and got some good deals. Some of the refurbs can also be good.
Software wise I am using OPEN OFFICE instead of Microsoft. It's free to download and works well, just be careful how you save any work as it can be a problem to view on other computers after.

Good hunting

[jaywestwood]

Novatech in Portsmouth are a Bespoke IT hardware specialist and can build any pc/laptop to your requirements meaning you dont have to pay for what you dont want... I am an account manager there and can hook anyone up with the latest equipment at excellent prices