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I am looking for a new laptop as my 6 year old Sony Vaio running Windows Vista is very close to giving up the ghost.
The trouble is I've no idea where to start. If I could describe my requirements:
- 13-15" screen size
- up to £500ish? Could go higher for the right thing
- Will be used for web browsing, listening to music, office tasks - nothing technical or high-performance
- Must have nice keyboard as I do a lot of typing
- Must not have that awful shiny plastic exterior that gets greasy fingerprint marks all over it
- Ideally not Windows 10 as I can't stand it, though I realise I may not find one running a different/older Windows OS.
I would be grateful for any suggestions/brands that the STW masses can recommend. Ideally I'd like to try it out in a store before buying.
Mac .... anything you go to will be a change of perception anyway
Anything you want to do on a PC can be done on a Mac
Windows 8 is utter, utter cack
Windows 10 is as well from what I have heard - havent used it myself , puttting off upgrading until I have to for my windows 7 machine.
They do 15% discount if you know a student
[quote=Alejandro ]- Will be used for web browsing, listening to music, office tasks - nothing technical or high-performance
What exactly is wrong with your current one? For those demanding requirements, if you can't fix yours with a clean W7 install, then a refurb W7 machine from one of many outlets and 100 pints of beer with the change (you won't get much coke and hookers on that budget).
How much have you used W10 though? Nothing much at all wrong with it.
I'm a Mac user, but I could live with Windows 10. It's way better and cleaner to use than Windows 8.
Your best chance of getting a laptop with Win7 on is to go to an independent computer shop. None of the high street retailers will do one now.
Ebuyer seem to offer Win 7 on a fair few of their machines though.
I have an old Vaio E series which was upgraded with an SSD drive and recently to Windows 10 and it runs very well. Boot up from cold is around 10 secs and performance more than up to what you require. For the price of an SSD drive and free Windows 10 it's well worth trying before getting a new laptop. If it's still not up to what you want then you can use the SSD in your new laptop.
Refurbished or new old stock Lenovo Thinkpad, probably T series for the screen size you want.
You don't need to spend £500. Half that will get a reasonable laptop. But you need to go to a shop to play with the keyboard if it's important. Maybe John Lewis if you have one close.
[quote=richmars ]But you need to go to a shop to play with the keyboard if it's important.
Or just get a Lenovo as recommended above - there's a reason they get recommended when people want good keyboards. Personally I'm still suspecting that reinstalling his current one (maybe with an SSD) is the best option though.
Another vote for a refurb Lenovo T series (and pocketing a wodge of spare cash).
I got one about a year ago (typing on it now) and have been very pleased with it.
No problem with Lenovo here, that's what I'm using (but tower not laptop).
Step 1 get a Chromebook, one with a HD screen and ssd HD. Same dimensions as an idiot book but quarter the price.
Step 2 use cloud services for docs, photos, music, storage. There is even online video editing.
Step 3 spend the cash you saved on a new phone and tablet.
Step 4 sit back and enjoy accessing all your data, files, movies and music where ever you go.
I'd concur with all the advice proffered thus far, bar the previous evangelist (not because he's wrong but because it's outside my field of knowledge).
verses - Member
Another vote for a refurb Lenovo T series (and pocketing a wodge of spare cash).I got one about a year ago (typing on it now) and have been very pleased with it.
That not basically recommending upgrading his 6 year old laptop, with a 4 year laptop, seems a bit nuts. It's an i5 aye, 1st gen, but the one I'm typing this on is almost twice as powerful, 4th gen.
3GB of ram is a bit tight as well.
eaxmple
1st gen score(2443)
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5+540M+%40+2.53GHz
v
4th gen score(4448)
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-4288U+%40+2.60GHz
v
scpre (1393)
a 2009 sony vaio core 2 duo (I'm having a guess this is his laptop)
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+T6600+%40+2.20GHz
OP what's the actual model of the laptop you have sony vaio what?
I'm guessing this is the laptop. http://www.cnet.com/products/sony-vaio-vgn-nw270f-s/
But he doesn't need a powerful laptop for what he wants to do - even that one is overkill for his requirements. The only apparent reason for replacing his current one is that it isn't working - otherwise as I keep suggesting, his best option is the one he already has. No point spending lots of money on a computer for what most people do with them (I'm typing on a 4yo i3 Lenovo, £100 on ebay which is fine for my slightly more demanding requirements).
aracer - Member
But he doesn't need a powerful laptop for what he wants to do - even that one is overkill for his requirements. The only apparent reason for replacing his current one is that it isn't working - otherwise as I keep suggesting, his best option is the one he already has. No point spending lots of money on a computer for what most people do with them (I'm typing on a 4yo i3 Lenovo, £100 on ebay which is fine for my slightly more demanding requirements).
I agree the best course of action is to fix his current computer.
But if he's going to buy one, an incremental improvement, isn't going to make him happy.
btw w10 is fine, nothing to fear there.
[quote=seosamh77 ]But if he's going to buy one, an incremental improvement, isn't going to make him happy.
Only if having a more whizzy computer excites him. It's not going to make a noticeable difference to the experience he has with his planned use. Personally I'd rather have all that beer (or maybe a nice weekend away somewhere).
btw w10 is fine, nothing to fear there.
Agreed. Just updated nervously from W7 and I prefer it - mainly for aesthetics. One issue where I had to update the video card driver, but these things don't apply from new.
Windows 8 it ain't. It's decent.
I do agree, I'm really just putting the processor stats up to give him information.aracer - Member
seosamh77 » But if he's going to buy one, an incremental improvement, isn't going to make him happy.
Only if having a more whizzy computer excites him. It's not going to make a noticeable difference to the experience he has with his planned use. Personally I'd rather have all that beer (or maybe a nice weekend away somewhere).