Please advise on buying a 13/14 inch windows laptop

Posted by: JamH on 12 October 2010

Hello,

I am looking for a laptop [it is not for me so Mac or Linux is not an option] ...

spec is as follows ..

Must be windows PC
Size 13/14 inch [anything bigger is too big; anything smaller too small]
Good battery life [want (say) 4-hours or so running Word and some Google]
Not too heavy
Good build quality and reliability [and sturdy]
Not madly expensive
Want it for internet and word processings [NOT games]
Decent spec [but not cutting edge]

On above list the really important factors are screen size, weight and battery life.

Suggestions ?

Especially, I welcome advice on which to buy and which to avoid ...

Thanks

James H

PS I am in Europe and am happy buying on the internet -- max price is about Euro 800 ; absolute is probably Euro 1K

ends==

Posted on: 13 October 2010 by Skip

Buy a plastic MacBook and run it as a PC if you must.

Posted on: 14 October 2010 by Absolute

Lenovo do a couple of good ones, with the ThinkPad Edge standing out. They do a 13" AMD/Intel version if you have a processor preference. Very good build quality and aesthetics.

Posted on: 14 October 2010 by count.d

"Buy a plastic MacBook and run it as a PC if you must"

I agree, but for £150 more, I'd get the aluminium Macbook Pro. Everything about the Macbook is far superior than other laptops I've looked at. The screen, touchpad, keypad, cursor performance, stiffness are all in a different league, not to mention the operating system. If I hadn't spent so much ridiculous money on a new Macpro 6 core 3.33ghz a few weeks ago, I'd treat myself to a Macbook Pro, but I'm now poor again.

Posted on: 15 October 2010 by Svetty

Given that the OP has stated the machine is for someone else, not for him - so must be Windows O/S why have 2 replies advised a Mac?

MSI do some fairly priced machines - available through Mesh....

Posted on: 15 October 2010 by Peter Dinh

quote:
Originally posted by Svetty:
Given that the OP has stated the machine is for someone else, not for him - so must be Windows O/S why have 2 replies advised a Mac?

The reason is that a Macbook can be configured to run entirely Windows XP/Vista/7 if you do not want to use MacOS. It is just a (flexible Windows) laptop.

Posted on: 15 October 2010 by garyi

To be fair its a f**king expensive windows machine. If someone only wants windows, purchase a windows machine at around half the price*

*Yes half the quality, but the point remains

Posted on: 15 October 2010 by Peter Dinh

Agreed, but you get what you pay for. I personally would spend more for better quality.

Posted on: 15 October 2010 by TomK

Is it going to be used as a real portable i.e. carried around, bashed about, subjected to antisocial conditions and behaviour? If so there's an argument for a solid aluminium body etc. If not then somebody please tell me what this "you get what you pay for" stuff is all about. Perhaps I'm influenced by the job I do i.e. IT Manager, and as such have to be much more conscious of budget and value for money than some of the experts on this board, but we've found that Acer and Asus kit performs at least as well as, and generally at much lower cost than the fancy badge stuff. And we've had hundreds of laptops from various manufacturers through our systems. A fancy badge is no guarantee of quality I assure you.

Posted on: 15 October 2010 by Peter Dinh

A MacBook is not a fancy badge, TomK, and I stand firn on what I said. Having said that, it is the OP's choice because it is his money.

Most of the cheapie laptops do not last very long and believe me, nearly all of them will develop some kind of problems after a year or so.

Posted on: 16 October 2010 by JamH

Thanks for all the advice so far .. the friend I am advising must have windows [for a course] and wants something sturdy with a long battery life and not too big or heavy .. CPU performance is not too important.

The MAC option is too expensive since it would mean buying a MAC + windows [additional cost]

We are looking at Samsung-Q330 and Toshiba-R630

Problem now is 32 versus 64 bit windows-7. How much of my friends old stuff will run ?

Stuff such as ..
Nero
PowerDVD
Various audio programs that came with coundcards
etc ..

I understand that windows-7 pro has xp mode that will run old 32-bit programs but that is an extra cost if we get the Toshiba ...

james

Posted on: 16 October 2010 by TomK

quote:
Originally posted by Peter Dinh:
Most of the cheapie laptops do not last very long and believe me, nearly all of them will develop some kind of problems after a year or so.

Evidence please? Seriously, why do you say this? Have you ever compared the performance and reliability of several laptops before committing to a large purchase order of many thousands of pounds? I'd guess your answer is NO. I've done that.

I'll say that this is unequivocally complete and utter bollocks.

As far as I remember you're the expert who suggested it was a good idea to respond to unsolicited junk email with some sort of smart answer "to show them" when in fact that's the very worst advice you could give anybody.

Sorry if this seems harsh but I deal on a daily basis with people who think they're experts, or have expert friends and it invariably ends in tears.
By all means buy a fancy name but it will be no better than an Acer or Asus for example, and will cost much more.

Jeez I despair sometimes.

Posted on: 17 October 2010 by Peter Dinh

The mindset of some people about Mac vs. pc and about what they perceive as good value for money cannot be changed (, and the includes me). I am not saying anything anymore on this topic. Time will tell.

Btw, I guess that you must be a very serious person because you did not get my (strange) sense of humor about the "unsolicited junk emails".

Posted on: 17 October 2010 by ray davis

macbook.

Posted on: 17 October 2010 by Craig L

Posted on: 17 October 2010 by Peter Dinh

Posted on: 17 October 2010 by Stuart M

The market changes so fast for PC's this is a always a difficult question to answer. If your sure you only want it for internet and word processing then you only need an OK spec, any dual core shoud be fine and better to invest in less weight, build quality, battery life etc.

The Mac camp have a point if you want to go down the apple root, which has pros and cons but if just internet and WP then it can make for an easy life.

Posted on: 18 October 2010 by TomK

quote:
Originally posted by Peter Dinh:
The mindset of some people about Mac vs. pc and about what they perceive as good value for money cannot be changed (, and the includes me). I am not saying anything anymore on this topic. Time will tell.

Btw, I guess that you must be a very serious person because you did not get my (strange) sense of humor about the "unsolicited junk emails".

I take it seriously because people who know even less about the IT world than you appear to come here for advice and may be influenced by BS spouted by amateurs. A couple of years ago somebody here actually claimed antivirus/spyware was unnecessary as long as you were careful which sites you visited. A bit like saying a few years ago, "No I don't need that smallpox jab cos I'll make sure not to meet anybody with smallpox".
This is why I'm serious. It's because bad advice will inevitably lead to somebody spending far more than he needs to, or problems that require a punter at home rebuild his PC, or that an IT department somewhere will have to resolve. It may be nothing to do with them initially but rest assured they'll get the blame.
And too many times I've seen BS explained as "a joke" once it's exposed as BS. BS it was and BS it is.

I'd still like to see the evidence you have for your claim that

"Most of the cheapie laptops do not last very long and believe me, nearly all of them will develop some kind of problems after a year or so. "

Look forward to it.

Posted on: 18 October 2010 by Peter Dinh

quote:
Originally posted by TomK:
quote:
Originally posted by Peter Dinh:
The mindset of some people about Mac vs. pc and about what they perceive as good value for money cannot be changed (, and the includes me). I am not saying anything anymore on this topic. Time will tell.

Btw, I guess that you must be a very serious person because you did not get my (strange) sense of humor about the "unsolicited junk emails".

I take it seriously because people who know even less about the IT world than you appear to come here for advice and may be influenced by BS spouted by amateurs. A couple of years ago somebody here actually claimed antivirus/spyware was unnecessary as long as you were careful which sites you visited. A bit like saying a few years ago, "No I don't need that smallpox jab cos I'll make sure not to meet anybody with smallpox".
This is why I'm serious. It's because bad advice will inevitably lead to somebody spending far more than he needs to, or problems that require a punter at home rebuild his PC, or that an IT department somewhere will have to resolve. It may be nothing to do with them initially but rest assured they'll get the blame.
And too many times I've seen BS explained as "a joke" once it's exposed as BS. BS it was and BS it is.

I'd still like to see the evidence you have for your claim that

"Most of the cheapie laptops do not last very long and believe me, nearly all of them will develop some kind of problems after a year or so. "

Look forward to it.

Well TomK, the best evidence is you yourself. If you claim yourself to be the IT manager then surely you see lots of cheap and cheerful laptops in for service. Some of them may be new as well. In due respect, if you say it is not true than I don't believe you. I have seen enough!

BTW, Is life not kind to you? You seem to be unhappy about something all the time.

Cool down man!