Advice on buying a Laptop

Kashkai

My wife wants a laptop as I'm usually hogging the pc. It would be used for internet browsing, video chat and some word/excel. She had a look in pc world but the array of different laptops was confusing to say the least. It doesn't have to be too high end but nothing bog standard either. Finally what is the difference between a laptop and a notebook?

Thanks

Allyall

Have you tried Adverts.ie?

Some good prices there, also some to be (maybe) slightly wary of, but generally as a whole, fair, and honest.

Main differences between a laptop and a notebook are screen size.

A Netbook is generally less then 12" in screen size.
A notebook is generally 12" - 14" In screen size,
A Laptop is generally anything over that.

A notebook usually has a Low power consumption Celeron/Centrino or Sempron style processor.
A Laptop usually has Low power consumption, high performance Intel Centrino style processor.

A Notebook has a small keyboard usually as small as possible.
A Laptop usually has a Full size keyboard.

Some other things to look for
Notebooks are thinner, lighter and don't have as good graphics/audio as a laptop. As they are designed to be more portable.

A laptop can be upgradeable.

After saying all of that, it is worth mentioning that the both terms are used today to describe either one, and now there is only slighter differences between the two, especially a low end laptop and a good Notebook.
The real differences would be noticed when you have a high end laptop, e.g. for gaming or designing.

A good price to pay for what you seemed to describe, would be between €350 and €500 brand new, although it's getting harder and harder to find one for €350..

As i said, adverts might be a great place to look.

Kashkai

Thanks for that, very informative.

What would be a good make to buy though, Sony, Dell, Toshiba?????

Allyall

Everyone has their own preferences,
Some good ones that many agree on would be: Samsung, Toshiba, Compaq, Lenevo, Acer, Sony and others. (Not in any particular order)

I do know of some issues people have with Compaq and Sony laptops, but you could talk all day about reasons etc..

Here is a few worth looking at LINK they are sorted by price.

Horthy

I bought a Samsung R730 recently. I works perfectly for my moderate needs which overwhelmed my old Dell. Sound leaves something to be desired though.

Biggest processor and hard drive I could find for €650.