Which laptop should I choose?

Question

Hello! I'd like to buy a laptop up to £1300. I will use it mainly for work (word, powerpoint...) but also to watch films, to listen to the music or to store my photos...
Which criteria you think I should look at before buying it? Which model would you buy? I quite fancy the Sony laptops, do you think they are good?
Finally, I am a foreigner and I don't really know where to go to buy it (in a department store, by internet...)? Which place is the best to have advises and to go back if there is any problem.
Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help

Thank you Sarah

£ is for pounds= United Kingdom currency

Answer 1

edited--- Try not to get windows vista. It will probably cause more problems then be helpful. It might be hard to avoid vista though thats something you should look into more. I know vista sucks for games big time thats why I am avoid it. But I also hear lots of other none game related issues.

I do not know that money currency? I am Canadian. Until I find out I cannot base anything on price but I can still look what needs are and give you some specs to look for. I will also try to find a currency translation website.

I will update my question soon.

Many people will say to buy it online. I hate getting stuff online and mail. You can find a Laptop that can handle that stuff easily and fairly cheap.

Sony laptops are good but I will give you some minimal specs to look at. First off laptops are not good for gaming so if your in to medium or highend gaming go for a desktop. But most laptops theses days can handle a fair bit of gaming.

Processor. Almost any processor in any new laptop should be good. AMD 4200+ dual cores and better should be more then enough. The processor is pretty easy.

Ram: You will probably only find 1-2GB model laptops. 1GB is enough for what you want but 2GB models wont be that much money.

Hard drive : Try to get at least 80GB I would go for 120GB plus. Thats all you need to worrie about there.

Dvd burner - Get a laptop with a dvd burner or at least a dvd player.

one of the most important things is your on board video or perhaps videocard. Most laptops with the above specs should already have a good video chipset for what you need. Try to get at least 128MB on board video memory.

As I said If your not a gamer and do not want to do anything special what I have posted above will be great and won't cost a whole lot.

edited-- sorry for the long post I have problems keeping things short. I would get the laptop at a store like staples or future shop. A bigger business so you can return it without worry if something goes wrong during your warranty period. Do not get a used laptop. I know less about laptops then desktops so I am not a pro when it comes to batteries and wireless internet. But nowadays most laptops are very similar when it comes to battery life and internet capability's. Speak with either a tech or store employees about anything your not sure of. And always get advice from at least two people.

I am now going to find out about the 1300 and see what that can get you.

----edited-------

I found a website that has money conversions but I do not know what country £ is for?

Answer 2

For $1850 USD, which should be right around E 1300 (+ shipping, which is paid for the actual shipping cost) i could get you an awesome laptop, which is really like a gamers laptop.

Heres its specs:

Asus Z84Jp ,17" WSXGA+

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 Merom 2.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache (others available, faster and slower CPUs)

2GB (2 x 1GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel

100GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
OR
160GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive

Built-in Bluetooth and a/b/g wireless

nVidia GO 7600 512mb

Windows XP Home or Vista Basic
add $65 for XP PRO or Vista Premium

4 Built-In Speakers w/Subwoofer

Built-in Camera (2.0MP)

Keyboard - Full-Size Keyboard 88-Key (CBB)


If you are interested, then please pm me. And remember, i am a custom builder, so i can change some specs on the laptop, and i can do any laptop screen size.

Thanks, and i am looking forward to hear from you soon.

Answer 3

With the applications you stated, I don't think you need a dual core. Just get a model w/ the fastest Inte Core Solo (T1400). Look for ATI or Nvidia integrated graphics, NOT Intel GMA;1Gb RAM, 80Gb hard drive, a DVD writer, and WiFi.
SONY is a good brand (except laptop batteries perhaps). SONY is just so fond of proprietary designs that they make interconnectivity w/ non-SONY products difficult if not impossible.
Just make sure there is in-country service center. The stores usually do not have any service capability.
But don't worry, most good brands are reliable unless you spill beer or soda on it. Most troubles will be software related. The geeks here can always help you on that. Just "harden" your laptop if you will be surfing a lot. Always have a good anti-virus, anti-spyware and a registry guard like WinPatrol.

Answer 4

Go to this website http://www.hardwarezone.com It will let you know the price and the specs. Personnally I like Sony too and the price is really cheap these days.

Go for one with a good graphic card(one with more memory) and a good CPU. The motherboard in it should be at least a 965 and not 945 and below. As for ram memory and harddisk, it can always be upgraded later for when u want it. Enjoy your new laptop soon. I know its so exciting. :)

The good sony dvd drive can read Blu-ray (high definition) Buy online is best after u compare and read specifications and prices.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start;sid=l012w-eZmAt0JKHJdiF8yKiJMTPz38EXYcY=?CategoryName=computers

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=cpu_VAIONotebookComputers_AR_Series&Dept=computers

Answer 5

I'd recommend that you buy an IBM
im a MSc student doing software engineering
a professor who teaches me told us that its the best brand out there
i bought it after he told us that in a lecture
now i can tell you its the best
but sony aint bad either
As for the speed i recomend u to get one with 1Gig of RAM
pc world has quite cheap ones that are quite fast as well
sony laptop with 1GB RAM and windows vista for £749.99