Use the dell website, www.dell.co.uk, its cheaper than most, if not all, local shops you may find.
Laptop advice please
- Thread starter thecannibal
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I used to repair/ rebuild some 5 - 10 laptops a day.
I personally recommend
Asus
Toshiba
HP
Gits to work with were:
Samsung
Compaq
IBM
Fujistu Siemens.
Apple have the looks hands down but tended to GLUE stuff together which made repair damned dificult.
Reliability seems to be down to:
third party HDD failure
buggered power sockets/ supplies
liquid ingress
screen backlight failure (inverter)
Dive failure (DVD/CD etc)
My own HP Pavillion has only suffered a HDD failure in 4 years of constant use.
There are loads of brands out there, some are expensive some are cheap.
You takes your choice and cross your fingers....
I personally recommend
Asus
Toshiba
HP
Gits to work with were:
Samsung
Compaq
IBM
Fujistu Siemens.
Apple have the looks hands down but tended to GLUE stuff together which made repair damned dificult.
Reliability seems to be down to:
third party HDD failure
buggered power sockets/ supplies
liquid ingress
screen backlight failure (inverter)
Dive failure (DVD/CD etc)
My own HP Pavillion has only suffered a HDD failure in 4 years of constant use.
There are loads of brands out there, some are expensive some are cheap.
You takes your choice and cross your fingers....
computerbitz
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Skip king, HP and Compaq = same manufacturer these days lol
Dell do have some pretty decent offers but i am not a big fan of the after sales service although if you go down that road try to get from dell buisness and not home user will get a better deal
Main point
"I'll be using it for word processing, interweb use, playing music, doing stuff with photos and watching movies. Don't need it for games or anything"
Watching movies on a 8" 10" and 12" screen will give you headaches so would make sure you look at min 15" screen and the larget screen will aid you in whatever you are using to mess around on photies WP and Internet dont need anything special.
IBM also dont make computers anymore they sold that side the company to lenovo and concentrated on Server Markets
I wouldnt buy from any supermarket "Tescos" and the likes PC World has some reasonable deals at the mo nothing fantastic though, if look at Dell Look at buisness range Vostro is a decent laptop for the prices they offer but after sales is questionable.
Dell do have some pretty decent offers but i am not a big fan of the after sales service although if you go down that road try to get from dell buisness and not home user will get a better deal
Main point
"I'll be using it for word processing, interweb use, playing music, doing stuff with photos and watching movies. Don't need it for games or anything"
Watching movies on a 8" 10" and 12" screen will give you headaches so would make sure you look at min 15" screen and the larget screen will aid you in whatever you are using to mess around on photies WP and Internet dont need anything special.
IBM also dont make computers anymore they sold that side the company to lenovo and concentrated on Server Markets
I wouldnt buy from any supermarket "Tescos" and the likes PC World has some reasonable deals at the mo nothing fantastic though, if look at Dell Look at buisness range Vostro is a decent laptop for the prices they offer but after sales is questionable.
dirtjumper_dmr
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gibbleking":53sicmjz said:
got my Acer laptop in Tesco in december last year, faultless @ £299... not a comp geek in any way so don't do alot apart from faffing on the net
gibbleking
Old School Grand Master
i would have got mine at tescos but pc world got a better offer so i went there ..i did read that the computer that tesco sell won a best in its range awardin pc world tho ....now running an acer aspire 9301wsmi with 160 gig hd,2 gig ram,athalon 64 bit dual core processor and nvid 7300 graphics card 128 meg ram...17 inch wide screen vista ultimate .cost 600 quid.it actually cost me nothing as it was part of a 1600 quid grant i got when i started working for myself....i also got some really cool power tools as well... 
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I would rather buy from Tesco than PC World.
PC World/Currys is for looking at things, then buy elsewhere.
Tesco is the same, look then buy elsewhere. Tesco's customer service has always been far better than any PC World. Though I've never bought anything computer related form Tesco.. never would, well apart form CD's, lol.
PC World/Currys is for looking at things, then buy elsewhere.
Tesco is the same, look then buy elsewhere. Tesco's customer service has always been far better than any PC World. Though I've never bought anything computer related form Tesco.. never would, well apart form CD's, lol.
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yes, comapq and HP are the same but HP machines are considerably easier to work on.
Can't recommend Dell laptops. I've had them at work for 10 years.
I've had one good one.
One: 3 fan failures plus a HDD fault.
Another: 4 motherboards died, Power supply recalled twice due to fire risk.
Next one: Crashed everytime it plugged into Dell projectors..good product validation that...not.
Latest: Case loose after 6 months.
They really are the McDonalds of PCs.
I've had one good one.
One: 3 fan failures plus a HDD fault.
Another: 4 motherboards died, Power supply recalled twice due to fire risk.
Next one: Crashed everytime it plugged into Dell projectors..good product validation that...not.
Latest: Case loose after 6 months.
They really are the McDonalds of PCs.
computerbitz
Senior Retro Guru
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The thing with computers in my experience is everyone has an opinion and at the end the day thats the way life is.
I have an an opinion that i wouldnt buy a laptop/computer from a supermarket (Tesco's) just the same as i wouldnt buy my groceries from PC World if they started doing them.
PCW has a history as poor but thats the staff not knowing enough of what they talk about, i know one my local stores employ people i would trust to fix a computer and advise on the purchase of one as i taught them what they know when they was students in the college i used to work at
I have had good and bad experiences with several makes and models of computers/laptops
Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Sony and Compaq
If i was going to buy the only things i would avoid at all cost is the likes of E-machine and relativly cheap brands
best advice is look around and read reviews place i have used and had no issues with aftersales are
www.dabs.com
www.rockdirect.com
www.meshcomputers.com
www.novatech.co.uk
www.ebuyer.com
www.overclockers.co.uk
www.misco.co.uk
and my local trade supplier there are a few more but i havent bought laptops/computers from them so not adding.
Dell again are mixed bag o reviews, but like anything they tend to be the really cheap machines that i have ever had issues with and not the decent machines.
I am selling one of the old ones that has been going for years only issue ever is the odd re-install of the operating system and more recently the need to add a new keyboard
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38947 and no i am not suggesting that before anyone says using as example of reliability
Go look at Dell but dont make it your only choice is what i was saying i know a few people who bought the vostro from them and are very happy with it.
read all the user reviews on what you pick before you buy though aswell
I have an an opinion that i wouldnt buy a laptop/computer from a supermarket (Tesco's) just the same as i wouldnt buy my groceries from PC World if they started doing them.
PCW has a history as poor but thats the staff not knowing enough of what they talk about, i know one my local stores employ people i would trust to fix a computer and advise on the purchase of one as i taught them what they know when they was students in the college i used to work at
I have had good and bad experiences with several makes and models of computers/laptops
Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Sony and Compaq
If i was going to buy the only things i would avoid at all cost is the likes of E-machine and relativly cheap brands
best advice is look around and read reviews place i have used and had no issues with aftersales are
www.dabs.com
www.rockdirect.com
www.meshcomputers.com
www.novatech.co.uk
www.ebuyer.com
www.overclockers.co.uk
www.misco.co.uk
and my local trade supplier there are a few more but i havent bought laptops/computers from them so not adding.
Dell again are mixed bag o reviews, but like anything they tend to be the really cheap machines that i have ever had issues with and not the decent machines.
I am selling one of the old ones that has been going for years only issue ever is the odd re-install of the operating system and more recently the need to add a new keyboard
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38947 and no i am not suggesting that before anyone says using as example of reliability
Go look at Dell but dont make it your only choice is what i was saying i know a few people who bought the vostro from them and are very happy with it.
read all the user reviews on what you pick before you buy though aswell
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Bought our Sony Vaio new off a trader on ebay who was 200quid cheaper than the cheapest shop (and nearly 300quid cheaper than RRP). Three years later still going like a trooper and its used daily. I would really recommend the extra expense of a Sony, but decide on a model and shop around to get the cheapest, see if the main stores will price match etc.
