Laptop Choice?

My business spec. HP has been flawless since I bought it 6 years ago.
Same can be said for the many desktops of theirs I've used.

I've got a Macbook, but my kids are always hogging it and the keys and trackerpad always get smeared in sticky crap. I'm getting seriously fucked off with the situation, and as such I'm looking for a decent, durable laptop for under £300.

Your input would be appreciated.

I thank you.

Luci - buy a thinkpad from here - http://www.schtrade.co.uk/laptops/?sort=newest&page=1

If you only want it for web browsing you'll be laughing for the money - you could still buy an SSD or new HDD and have change left over.

Cheers Spenceey, but I was thinking of something new - it's going to be a joint birthday present, so I want it to be unused really. Saying that, I'm tempted to get one of those thinkpad units just as a backup for myself!

So am I. Chuck an SSD in and linux and you've got a great machine there.

My business spec. HP has been flawless since I bought it 6 years ago.
Same can be said for the many desktops of theirs I've used.

I can second this.. My usage of Compaq/HP stuff has been perfectly fine.

^good point - that never occurred to me.

Might be a 'challenge' for him though as I think he likes (and understands) Windows - but I'll run it by him. His son has one so I can get him to play with that first...

iPad with bluetooth keyboard - job done!

Or:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/tablets/3341809/asus-eee-pad-transformer-prime-review/

I'm far from an expert, but I wouldn't buy anything from HP. Out of the three people I know who have had them (inc me) there have always been issues.

I've used hp's in a professional environment for the last 6 years (both laptop and desktop) and their performance has been flawless. I also know a massive number of people who use them personally without issue as well.

Maybe you were just unlucky :)

my kids are always hogging it and the keys and trackerpad always get smeared in sticky crap..

thats a great excuse for why the computer is getting covered in a sticky mess!

^The day I start spunking Nutella is the day I start getting regular blowjobs.

Not from my kids, like, but you know what I mean.

Mmmm... nutella..

PM me.

Has anyone tried one of these yet?

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-IdeaPad-U300s-13-3-Laptop/dp/tech-data/B005TPRWMA/"]Lenovo IdeaPad U300s 13.3 inch Laptop - Grey (Intel Core i7 2677M 1.8GHz, RAM 4GB, 256GB SSD, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories[/ame]

Any good?

The price seems way excessive to me, but Felicity wants as small and light as possible. Big concern is whether the lack of SD card slot and ethernet is an issue or not.

Breathtakingly expensive, is she some sort of power user ?

SD and Ethernet to USB adaptors available cheaply if the need arises.

Actually it says it has wired 10/100.

Ah it's an SSD drive which will bang the price up a bit.

She lugs around 5KG of books and her gym stuff in addition to laptop and loose papers.

So she's looking for something stupidly small, with great battery life (so she doesn't have to carry a charger), and that can startup and quit really quickly so that she can do work whenever the mood takes her without being frustrated.

This looks good... but the low weight and size thing really inflate the price. Want to find other issues so I can suggest it's not ideal ;)

Oh, and it's the equivalent of a 13" Mac Air in many respects... hence similar price.

Noticeably better than this performance wise ? Has a 32GB SSD which is probably used for high speed boot up and apps on SATA.

£250 might buy you a couple of Rapha items.....

http://www.ebuyer.com/385780-lenovo-ideapad-u300-ultrabook-laptop-maf44uk

Really not convinced on those hybrid ones. Not least because surely I would now need to backup 2 disk images rather than one and to keep those very closely in sync due to the Windows registry having awareness of software state on the HDD.

Unless the SSD is just ReadyBoost, in which case you get the worst of both worlds rather than the best of both.

I only pushed for Lenovo because the warranty cover is insanely good with next-day on-site being available as an option. And they actually do it too.

Fair enough, if a decent warranty etc is important, then a price has to be paid, seen too many people fucked over with low-end £300 laptops too.

Time to dip back into my own thread.

I need to think about replacing my nearly 7 year old friend-built desktop.

I only use it for general office type stuff with a little sound/photo editing added in. So no great fancy needs.

Windows 7?
2-4gb of ram?
500gb hard drive?
£500?

I'm running on considerably less ATM but it'd be nice to have more space.

So any recommendations before I go ebuyer browsing? Help.

I would get a Lenovo X220.

I already have one, it's the best freaking laptop I've ever owned.

On eBay you could pick one up, roughly your spec (smaller hard drive) with money to spare that could pay for a SSD to make it really fly:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-12-5-320-GB-Intel-Core-i5-2-5-GHz-4-GB-Laptop-/130772072383?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item1e729f77bf#ht_526wt_1141

blimey that's cheap at the moment - would probably opt for one of them after my macbook.

I would get a Lenovo X220.

I already have one, it's the best freaking laptop I've ever owned.

On eBay you could pick one up, roughly your spec (smaller hard drive) with money to spare that could pay for a SSD to make it really fly:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-12-5-320-GB-Intel-Core-i5-2-5-GHz-4-GB-Laptop-/130772072383?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item1e729f77bf#ht_526wt_1141http://rover.ebay.com/roverimp/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?ff3=2&pub=5574889051&toolid=10001&campid=5336525415&item=130772072383&mpt=318962

Thanks DK, I'll look that up.

I'm really after a desktop though. Can you/anyone suggest any to check out?

PC Tech thread >>>> http://www.lfgss.com/thread83788-10.html