Time for a new laptop

[fattony]

I need to get a new laptop but I cant decide and could do with some advice, I've got it in my head I want i5 processor, 1tb hdd and a minimum of 6gb ram and I want to spend a max of £500 inc vat.

I went to PC world to have a look and it seems they price match now so not as bad as they used to be, I saw this:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...r-aspire-e1-571-15-6-laptop-21286170-pdt.html

I quite liked it but 4gb ram seems low in this day and age? I googled the model and it seems the Amazon have the same model but with 8gb of ram here but a slightly slower processor i5 3210M compared to the i5 3230M in PC World

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-15-6-inch-Integrated-Graphics-Windows/dp/B00AYAZHUO


So would it be fair to assume that if I wanted to I should be able to upgrade the ram, would you expect it to have just 1 slot so I would need to buy an 8gb pcb or 2 slots with 4gb in each?

Thanks

 

[abbasmuraj]

Have a look at this

http://h20386.www2.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/SearchResults.aspx?stretchValue=H6Q67EA#ABU

In checkout use evoucher code 12BIZVC to get 12% off. Dont know when the code expires.

Great specs laptop. Client purchased 2 for their business.

 

[fattony]

Thanks, the model you linked to is i3 but I found a decent i5 on there for £499 inc vat, the voucher doesnt work so I'll look for that model online, thanks

 

[abbasmuraj]

I think the voucher code only applies to the business section on the HP' site. Client purchased this particular one as it has Win 7.

 

[Ian J]

Save On Laptops have the processor that you prefer plus 8Gb of ram

 

[Silk Media]

We use HP Envy 4's. Think they were around the £500 mark. Ours have i5's and came with 8GB RAM, although we have upped them to 16GB.

We like them because they're fairly slim and light(ish)

They feel quite well built and run pretty well. Think you can also get a downgrade (or upgrade, in my opinion) to win7 too.

 

HP Envy's are a nice laptop - but we've come across two which have problems where the hinges attach to the screen cover - mainly that the little nuts pull clean out of the plastic...making a whole mess of a lid.

This isn't the only 'slimline' model HP have that I've come across this, and they are the only brand I see any probs with.

Be careful with those hinges...HP don't seem to want you to open and close your laptop frequently

 

[Silk Media]

Blimey, a quick Google shows this is fairly common!!!

Apparently the hinge is absolute rubbish on these!

No problems with ours yet, but glad we went for the 3 year warranty...

Thanks for that Comspec, not sure I like these anymore :redface:

 

[DarrenMcCabe]

Top Tips:

1 - DONT buy Acer laptops - There is a reason they're a cheap, components are cheap, you may get a good one or a bad one, but why gamble? (also dont buy Packard Bell)
2 - DO by - Asus, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba - good quality brands with solid builds and easily accessible components.

After years in the IT profession Asus are my personal favourite followed by HP.

3 - Dont get swayed by "HUUUGE" 1TB hard disks. Do you need it really? Disk space is cheap, so you could get a 1TB USB hard disk for storage for £30 - £50

4 - As much RAM as possible is always good. 4GB as a minimum 8 or more for better performance

5 - Stick with the i series processors i3, i5 or i7 (or their AMD equivalents)

6 - If you can afford it get an SSD drive and stick it in your laptop. The difference it makes in performance is unbelievable. Boot up time of 5 secs, no delay in opening/switch apps.

I got an Asus S200E (touchscreen) recently, stuck an extra 4GB of RAM in and an SSD and this is like **** off a shovel.

7 - Stick with Windows 7 Pro (64bit) unless you're getting a touch screen. Windows 8 is fine and is entirely stable. However from a usability perspective it is completely designed for a touchscreen interface and is a little clunky to get round with mouse and keyboard.

Take a look here for one that suits: http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Laptops?sort=price+ascending&a00035=Intel+Core+i5&page=1

 

[digital way]

If you can afford it get an SSD drive and stick it in your laptop. The difference it makes in performance is unbelievable. Boot up time of 5 secs, no delay in opening/switch apps.

Plus 1 for that. In some cases this is all a user needs to actually do. I put a 500gb ssd drive in my Lenovo and for the first time ever I can open Photoshop, Outlook etc and they just open, like, instantly.

 

[DarrenMcCabe]

My Asus came with 500GB standard SATA disk, I replaced it with a 250GB SSD and have been running about 18 months and still have 100Gb free.

The whole 1TB disk in a PC/Laptop is a waste of time and a marketing ploy. If you need to 1TB of space it is most likely for Photos/Movies/Music etc. In which case do you want to rely on a single disk in your computer? No spend £300 - £400 on a Synology NAS with RAID 1 and stick it all on there.