Laptop on a budget

ilikepears

Hi, I need a laptop for around the 400 mark. I will just be using it for internet browsing, watching youtube, movies etc and college work. I do use my laptop alot so will need one that will have a long life. If I need a bigger budget I will wait a few months and save a bit more money
In college we use microsoft office 2010. I currently have the 2007 version. Is there a big difference between the two? Is it worth the e60 to buy the new version?

Hal Emmerich

I don't care what anyone says I wouldn't buy anything under an i3 (AMD Athlon, maybe) with 3 or 4GB RAM, you're only wasting your money on a soon to be out of date briquette otherwise.

Toshiba €421ish delivered
Lenovo €438ish delivered
Asus 456ish delivered

Pains me to recommend them but if you don't want to buy Online...
Lenovo €470



You'll get better answers to your Office question if you start a new Thread here.

Organic Pears in Lidl are lovely.

Timmaay

And no, not enough of a diff between office 07 and 10 to waste 60quid. If you are in UCD, you can download office 10 and install on your laptop for free though!

Tango One

Toshiba C660 @ €379.99 in Argos comes with a Intel Core i3 380M.

Hal Emmerich

Tango One wrote: »

Toshiba C660 @ €379.99 in Argos comes with a Intel Core i3 380M.

Good find.

Only 2GB RAM though, fine if you can add a 1-2GB stick yourself.

Fluffy88

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

I don't care what anyone says I wouldn't buy anything under an i3 ...

Lenovo €438ish delivered

I would completely agree with what Hal said here, and I would go a little further and say anything below a second gen i3 is a waste of money.

We just got the Lenovo Z570 for my brother for Christmas and it arrived last night.
If the G570 is anything like the Z570(and I think it is) it's a great laptop.
Lid and area under the lid(not sure what you call it, the palm rest and keyboard area) are made from aluminium which is lovely.
Nice keyboard, big sensitive touchpad. It's a lovely laptop all round.

No1J

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

I don't care what anyone says I wouldn't buy anything under an i3 (AMD Athlon, maybe) with 3 or 4GB RAM, you're only wasting your money on a soon to be out of date briquette otherwise.

Toshiba €421ish delivered
Lenovo €438ish delivered
Asus 456ish delivered

Pains me to recommend them but if you don't want to buy Online...
Lenovo €470



You'll get better answers to your Office question if you start a new Thread here.

Organic Pears in Lidl are lovely.

Hay Hal

If you had to chose between the Sat Pro and the G570 which would you go for and briefly why?
Looking for Laptop that will be good for about 5 years or more for a teen.
Delivery for Christmas is an issue also.
Thanks.

Hal Emmerich

No1J wrote: »

Hay Hal

If you had to chose between the Sat Pro and the G570 which would you go for and briefly why?
Looking for Laptop that will be good for about 5 years or more for a teen.
Delivery for Christmas is an issue also.
Thanks.

I'd go for the Lenovo, on spec alone it has a newer Processor, better integrated Graphics and bigger Harddrive.

It's a good brand aswell even though you may not have heard of it.

3 good reviews on Amazon.

Edit:Integrated graphics are fine for HD Video but won't perform well with games, if buying for this purpose you'll have to go for something with a dedicated graphics Card.

No1J

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

I'd go for the Lenovo, on spec alone it has a newer Processor, better integrated Graphics and bigger Harddrive.

It's a good brand aswell even though you may not have heard of it.

3 good reviews on Amazon.

Edit:Integrated graphics are fine for HD Video but won't perform well with games, if buying for this purpose you'll have to go for something with a dedicated graphics Card.

Thanks for getting back, I know the lenovo brand but have never used one.
The Tos has a LED backlight, does the Lenovo? I like this in tv's, this was just one of the things I was weighing up, every thing else lean's me towards the Len.
Any thoughts.

Hal Emmerich

Review sites say yes....I hate these professional reveiw sites....I'm looking for a new TV this last 6 months, they run down everything.

Vid on youtube, different spec but I assume same Chassis. Double click vid to go to youtube, there's other vids down the side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsHcuCcnGaQ

Hal Emmerich

Harvey Norman have a variant of the Toshiba (C660-21Z) for €427 aswell.

No1J

Went for the Lenovo i3.
Cheers.

macfhinn

This looks like a great bargain at 349 + 10 for delivery

Acer Aspire One 722
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/11222740/art/acer/aspire-one-722-red.html#pix-review

Jarren

macfhinn wrote: »

This looks like a great bargain at 349 + 10 for delivery

Acer Aspire One 722
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/11222740/art/acer/aspire-one-722-red.html#pix-review

Are you asking for an opinion or just recommending?

This one is actually better

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Notebook-Windows-Premium/dp/B005COIV5A/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1323447654&sr=1-2

macfhinn

^^^ Thats a bit more dearer at 349 sterling

ilikepears

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

I don't care what anyone says I wouldn't buy anything under an i3 (AMD Athlon, maybe) with 3 or 4GB RAM, you're only wasting your money on a soon to be out of date briquette otherwise.

Toshiba €421ish delivered
Lenovo €438ish delivered
Asus 456ish delivered

Pains me to recommend them but if you don't want to buy Online...
Lenovo €470



You'll get better answers to your Office question if you start a new Thread here.

Organic Pears in Lidl are lovely.

hi thanks for all the recommendations lads. A friend also said this laptop looks good http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005UWRQYQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_g147_i2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1GT9PS6JDGCBEX85CVRM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128473&pf_rd_i=468294
what do ye think? it can charge mp3 n other gadgets even when turned off which is pretty cool
would this or the lenovo be better? i really want a laptop which has a long life and also a long battery life.

Fluffy88

I would pick the Lenovo still.
The Toshiba has a first gen i3 CPU which won't be as good as the second gen i3 in the Lenovo.
I can't say for certain but the Lenovo should support that powersaving USB charging thing too since it's a newer machine, you might want to do a little googling into it's motherboard to find out.

And since the Lenovo will arrive before Christmas and the Toshiba won't you'll probably prefer the Lenovo

Hal Emmerich

ilikepears wrote: »

hi thanks for all the recommendations lads. A friend also said this laptop looks good http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005UWRQYQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_g147_i2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1GT9PS6JDGCBEX85CVRM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128473&pf_rd_i=468294
what do ye think? it can charge mp3 n other gadgets even when turned off which is pretty cool
would this or the lenovo be better? i really want a laptop which has a long life and also a long battery life.

The newer i3s (Lenovo) generally have better power management, it's usually an hour more in the quoted battery life.

A Laptop battery has a certain amount of charge cycles before it can no longer handle a charge, that "novelty" gadget charging feature...

Sleep n' charge USB

There's no need to carry around multiple charging accessories when you have your L750. With the Sleep N Charge USB port you can charge your mobile phone, MP3 player and other digital gadgets even while your laptop is switched off. Now you can charge your gadgets overnight and wake up to a fully-charged battery.

will end up just shortening the time before you have to go looking for a new one.

There's only £10 in the price difference, still the Lenovo for me.

I had a look around their now, can't better it yet.

arfheabhas

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

I don't care what anyone says I wouldn't buy anything under an i3 (AMD Athlon, maybe) with 3 or 4GB RAM, you're only wasting your money on a soon to be out of date briquette otherwise.

Toshiba €421ish delivered
Lenovo €438ish delivered
Asus 456ish delivered

Pains me to recommend them but if you don't want to buy Online...
Lenovo €470

What do you think of the currys deal? When I priced the other Z570's they were more expensive than that deal and it's I take a slightly better model (maybe just cosmetically?) than the G570. Thinking of getting it this week. I don't do any gaming, just office/internet use really but I want one that won't go out of date for a few years. I don't have loads to spend and 470 is the top end of my budget. I'm moving to dublin so it will be my main computer so storage is important.

Thanks!

Fluffy88

The Currys deal is okay, nothing great. Pixmania were offering the Z570 for €409 a few weeks ago, that offer is gone now though, sorry.

I would go into Currys and try bargain them down to around €420 if you can, it would be a good deal at that price. Otherwise just get the G570 on amazon.

Hal Emmerich

Fluffy88 wrote: »

I would go into Currys and try bargain them down to around €420 if you can, it would be a good deal at that price. Otherwise just get the G570 on amazon.

+1, try and get the price down abit.

Stock levels are probably going to be against you though, ask Declan in this Thread and see if he can find one for you.

Hal Emmerich

Acer 5749 in Argos if buying online is not an option --->€450

i3 2330
4GB RAM

I don't have time to check reviews on it now. I use an Acer 7741 every now and then and find it great though so...worth a look.

ilikepears

.

arfheabhas

If I were to stretch my budget a bit, what do you think of this one, a good deal?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-G570-15-6-inch-Notebook/dp/B005TPRVQM/ref=pd_ts_zgc_computers_429886031_6?ie=UTF8&s=computers&pf_rd_p=230304647&pf_rd_s=right-5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=340831031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0MCYRVT2G1FJWW3ASTB8

Thanks for all of your help, it's much appreciated. I think I'm suffering from information overload.

Fluffy88

That's a great deal and one I would recommend.
Lenovo are lovely laptops and at €508 that i5 is a deal.

Hal Emmerich

Yup, go for it.





Here's an i5 aswell, €463 after cashback, which is available in Ireland, if someone wants to try for it. Only 2 USBs though.