Page 1 of A good value laptop???? Any suggestions????

:/ I would like to buy my wife a decent laptop but only have about £600 to spend. She`s doing a teaching degree and needs a reasonable spec. I`ve never bought a laptop and am not sure what is good or naff. Any help would be gratefully recieved. :D :D :D

There are quita a few around at the moment for around that price, even with DVD writers. I would wait (if poss) until the real sales after Christmas.

Staples/Office world are doing an Acer centrino notebook right now for £699 you also get a camera with it I think.
The notebook is a cracker. almost identical to the one I use which I am very very happy with.

I used to have a Compaq laptop which was fine for a couple of months then it starting crashing and developed long start up times.

Then I bought an iBook..Fantastic! I will never ever go back to peecee. The operating system is OSX, it is easy, smooth and rock solid. It has not crashed so far...Set up is easy...It looks damn sexy..!!??** At work I used to work on a Mac on OS9 ... a bit iffy..but it still beat the peecee I also used on Windows NT....but OS X ...the dogs danglies!! XP just is not up there...Of course it means you will probably have to change over...

One of this sites, unknowledgeable persons has dumbly asked in the past:

"If Mac users are "more intelligent than the average computer user," why do they need an operating system designed for complete idiots?"

The answer is:

To let peecee users try out the OS X operating system and see what they are missing..

You do not know what you are missing..jealousy always brings out the "smart arse" comments.

The BIG BIG question is ....have you the bottle or the cash or even the inclination to change over from the copy cat system designed by idiots for idiots and go up to the next level, I did it and did not regret it ..wish I gone over sooner

..Technomatic have a good selection :


Here

Here

or Here

Also try John Lewis they do internet price match and have returns at reduced prices with nothing wrong with the returned item plus good warrantys

Sorry for the Mac versus peecee rant and the extremely lengthy response..its Saturday and I been on a works doo..

Happy Christmas Everyone...xx

This item was edited on Saturday, 11th December 2004, 22:54

Clearly the issue with your Compaq was not a hardware issue, but a Windows install issue. Likely to have been caused by installing naff software (bargin buddy fan `eh?).

Mac`s are great, I have a powerbook, but the OS is more for an idiot than Windows, it`s very very dumb user based generally (until you start coding etc. or using the advanced features of the Unix system).

Personally speaking it depends what you want to do with the machine. OSX runs like a pile of dogs in terms of speed vs Windows for standard navigation through the OS but OSX does tend to look nicer. The claim that OSX doesn`t crash isn`t true, I have the screen shots to prove it can and does!

What I really hate is Mac (and windows - though to a lesser extent) users trying to convert everyone by going `nar nar nar this is better than that in everyway. It isn`t the case, play with both OS`s and see what suits you best!

Regards

One of this sites, unknowledgeable persons has dumbly asked in the past:

"If Mac users are "more intelligent than the average computer user," why do they need an operating system designed for complete idiots?"

Erm, it`s actually rassilions sig, and it`s supposed to be a joke :/ tbh anyone that took it seriously must be a bit dense ;)

Totally agree with you Maxknight007 ..

..`but on the other side of the coin`, some fellow mac users get fed up with peecee users pooh poohing a OS used by a minority ..like you I have used both, and although inintailly I thought NT & XP were good, I found OS X smoother and more robust especially using when using Photoshop and Illustrator ..It`s all about personal preference really, each to his/her own .....
..
.You canna beat a bit of computer banter!


...but he started it...na na na na na..

A bit dense??!!**

....well I am a mac/peecee user...does that mean dense/clever or the other way round

:D either way really :D i`m only avin a larf ;)

well to go back to and answer the original poster` question, i would go for something like the dell inspiron 1000.

ive had 2 previous dell desktops, no hardware probs (plenty of OS probs).

the highest in the inspiron range was £633 with 3yr warranty, but after a bit of haggling i got it down to £603 and with an upgrade to the li-ion battery