Chicken bald back

[Redwing]

Its been a year since my laptop was broken by the dog its limped on since then but needs replacing as half of the keys are missing and the screen only works on a day with T in it and only then if the sun is in the right place in the sky

 

I am bewildered at the array of machines on offer now, ours cost £800 new but it looks like we can get something with a similar spec for a couple of hundred now, how times change..

 

I want to surf the net, have iTunes and store pictures, thats about it - I am unsure whether a netbook will do the same job as a laptop

 

Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated - our budget is £350

[The Dogmother]

I have an Asus netbook - great little thing although you are a little limited by the size of the screen. I use it with a small laptop mouse as I hate the touch pads on laptops, and really love it to bits.

 

If you're looking at laptops then try Dell, they will customise the software for you if you buy direct and are always good quality.

[Sam]

I'm no expert or anything..! but I wouldn't go for a Netbook just because they can be quite slow when you're running a few programs at once. I'd go for something like this, infact I nearly did, but I thought I'd wait until I go back to school. My Nan recently bought that laptop and she loves it, although she has only just mastered how to use facebook 320gb is plenty for pictures and music, my laptop is only 140gb and I've only just filled that... and mine cost double the price a few years ago!!

[rachel19]

Mmm be wary of dell, I've had nothing but trouble from them and would never have another one. Their customer service is awful too. We got a Compaq for about £300 and it's really good, not problems at all. Laptops are a bit more flexible and you can do more with them so I'd always go for one over a netbook.

[Daphne]

As a balancing story I have a Dell PC which went very wrong very early on (hard disk broke) and I also thought, never again. However their tech support was excellent, they shipped a replacement immediately, talked me through an install, and its been great ever since - ie 5 years. I now need a new machine as this one is out of date and slow, but I would definitely buy another Dell if they have what I need. I also have an Advent laptop from PC World (think) which is 3 years old, its fast and with stacks of memory but has a tendency to go wrong (we've had to reinstall all the software)and I wouldn't recommend it.

[PurpleTree]

iPad?

[Jools]

When my last laptop was on its last legs, I went to one of the big PC stores (can't remember which as they all blur into one eventually) as they had a decent range of product and price. I bought a Toshiba which had all the whizzbanggizmosandgadgets I needed and which happened to be reduced, less than £300 if I remember correctly.

 

My OH bought a netbook at the same time and regrets it.

[Geoid]

It depends, you say you want to use if for photos and itunes, but do you move about a lot, a netbook is perfect if you need to take a computer places.

[Tweety]

My OH said he would get me a laptop/net book for my birthday this year. After doing loads of research, and talking to everyone I know who is more computer literate than I am (ie everyone I know), I was persuaded to get an iPad. I can't recommend it enough - it is so fast, light and easy to use.

I got it from Orange, and it cost about £200 plus £25 per month for 2 years - expensive, I know, but worth every penny!

[Tutti Frutti]

I'm on my 2nd Acer netbook - not that my first one broke as such but it was Linux and the battery wasn't holding charge so I upgraded to one with Windows 7 and a 10.1 inch screen. I love it! I don't have iTunes on it so can't say whether that would be a problem or not - but it takes everything else in its stride.

 

My MIL, on the other hand, bought an HP netbook and it's slow to start up and get connected and she hates it and I thought it was just her being divvy - but when I popped round to look, I just couldn't believe how awful it is

 

My advice would be - go try them out. Here's a Compaq for £179.

 

DH spent £500+ on a Toshiba with an i5 processor - he doesn't do anything on that that I can't do on my netbook

 

The only major thing missing with a netbook is a CD/DVD drive so can't install software or watch films from physical media. I installed office by just typing in my user code from the physical software package into the 60-day-trial version that came pre-installed and it works a treat

 

ETA Compaq and HP are the same company so I'd definitely want to try this one out before buying! But it's the latest processor and a year newer than MIL's so you'd hope they'd improved it by now

Edited June 14, 2011 by Guest

[scarlettohara]

I know nothing But have an Acer - £350 from John Lewis and get on fine

[bigmommasally]

I love my Dell Laptop, have had it a couple of years now and love love love it.

I use it for work things too so love the fact that it has a big screen and a separate number pad.

 

[snowberry]

This might seem a really trivial detail...my daughters' acer notebook can't be personalised with her own homepage or screensaver; the capacity is obviously that low! These things matter to kids!

I have an HP Touch laptop that works brilliantly; though I never get to use it as Eldest has nicked it It's lighter than other models as it has an external hard-drive, that was barely used anyway.

[Tutti Frutti]

my daughters' acer notebook can't be personalised with her own homepage or screensaver; the capacity is obviously that low! These things matter to kids!

 

Oh yes, a very good point! It's because it's a cut-down version of Windows 7 ("Windows 7 Starter") - you can upgrade to get the full functionality of proper windows 7 but @£80+ IIRC, I didn't bother! Obviously too old

 

More info here - click the "Feature Comparison" tab and it'll show you some of the limitations... If you surf hard enough, you might find tricks to upgrade for free but don't know about the legality of it Official MS Upgrade info here.

[chickencam]

both my DS & YD have netbooks, DS uses his for most of his school work at the recommendation of his school. I have been very impressed with both of them, they are much better at internet surfing than my pc, which is about 5 years olf to be fair.

[Geoid]

What about the Toshiba Satellite L350 Nice big screen (17 inches), good amount of RAM (2GB), £300

[Shirl]

I love my Toshiba laptop, the OH bought a netbook and then after 6 months bought a laptop because the netbook was too small to be truly useful.

[snowberry]

Just as an aside here; does anyone have a tablet? If so, do you need a seperate contract sim card for the surfing n such? Thanks! Emma x

[The Dogmother]

I may be wrong, but my understanding from a chap at work who has a Samsung Galaxy Tab is that you can get a Wifi only or a Wifi and 3G version. He uses the SIM from his mobile phone in the tab to get on t'interweb when Wifi isn't available.

[snowberry]

So when I can't get a signal, I should whip the sim from my phone out? Would it register with the tablet? Sorry for the questions (& hijacking another persons thread!)

[The Dogmother]

I don't know, only repeating what I've been told, i don't have a tablet myself, but I guess there'd be no harm in you trying. A SIM is a SIM and if it doesn't work the you've lost nothing. Sorry, but that's the extent of my understanding

[Redwing]

Thank you all for your comments I'm taking stuff on board

[majorbloodnock]

A slot for a mobile SIM is a pretty common feature in many laptops, including plenty of tablets. If the computer has one, you're right that the SIM can be inserted and you can connect to the Internet via 3G courtesy of your mobile phone provider. It doesn't, of course, change the fact that you would need to be paying for a plan that includes data, and costs may vary dramatically. However, if your phone can browse the Internet using 3G, you could put the SIM in a 3G equipped laptop and connect using that instead.

 

I have mentioned this in previous threads about buying laptops, but it's worth remembering that whatever you buy, you'll still be using it (or wanting to) for quite a while hence. Product reliability varies both from model to model within a manufacturer's range and also from manufacturer. The most recent independent survey I can find is here, but that's November 2009, so it might be worth having a good hunt for something slightly more recent if one has been done.

 

The nub of it, though, is that netbooks, being a cheap option, understandably take a hit on reliability compared with laptops. That's not to say a netbook is likely to go wrong; just more likely than a laptop; as a broad generalisation, you get what you pay for.

[Geoid]

So when I can't get a signal, I should whip the sim from my phone out? Would it register with the tablet? Sorry for the questions (& hijacking another persons thread!)

I have a tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and you can use it as a phone too (I have a bluetooth headset and use that, you look a bit silly holding a tablet up to your ear!), but it is unlocked, so you can take your sim from your phone and put it in the tablet, and it will work. But, make sure you have a internet plan on your contract, otherwise it can be quite expensive.

[The Dogmother]

Don't forget that if you have an internet connection, you can save a fortune by using Skype for phone calls - I did this recently when Rosie and I were away with my folks. I chatted to Phil (who was house-sitting for me) nearly every night for free. I could use the webcam on the nettie to show him some views around the hotel too.