New Laptop

stargazer 68

Hope you clever people can help with some suggestions.

My Toshiba laptop has finally given up the ghost. Burning smell now if I turn it on :eek:

So I need a new laptop. I want CHEAP and cheerful. I use it for browsing the internet - boards, facebook etc and upload pics from my camera. Thats really about it!

Also - how can I get the pics that I have saved off my old laptop?

Thanks folks.

Torqay

Dovies wrote: »

Also - how can I get the pics that I have saved off my old laptop?

Remove the hard drive, use a caddy or USB<>SATA adapter and connect it to another computer and salvage your files (should be no problem, unless it was damaged).

How much do you want to spend on a new laptop? Any preference regarding display size, brand, etc? Is mobility important (i.e. weight, battery life)?

stargazer 68

Torqay wrote: »

Remove the hard drive, use a caddy or USB<>SATA adapter and connect it to another computer and salvage your files (should be no problem, unless it was damaged).

How much do you want to spend on a new laptop? Any preference regarding display size, brand, etc? Is mobility important (i.e. weight, battery life)?

Thanks. No preference with brand etc really. I dont take it anywhere so weight wouldnt be that important. Don't really know how much I want to spend - 300??

uncle_sam_ie

Dovies wrote: »

Also - how can I get the pics that I have saved off my old laptop?

Thanks folks.

You're not backing up are you:p

stargazer 68

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

You're not backing up are you:p

Nope - not driving at all today! Came to work on the bus! :D

uncle_sam_ie

Dovies wrote: »

Nope - not driving at all today! Came to work on the bus! :D

Seriously though, back up your stuff. It's easy to set up on both Mac and Windows these days. At the very least back up the photos to a zip drive.

Torqay

Dovies wrote: »

Don't really know how much I want to spend - 300??

For 300 Euro you'll only get some AMD Fusion processor in a laptop, and believe me, you don't want that.

LD has a 15.6" Tosh for €327 and you'll get at least a Sandy Bridge Celeron B820 (CPU Mark score: 1484). Only 2 GB RAM, but upgrade to 4 GB is cheap and easy.

Consider stretching your budget and get a Core i3 (around 400 yoyos).

stargazer 68

Torqay wrote: »

For 300 Euro you'll only get some AMD Fusion processor in a laptop, and believe me, you don't want that.

LD has a 15.6" Tosh for €327 and you'll get at least a Sandy Bridge Celeron (CPU Mark score: 1484). Only 2 GB RAM, but upgrade to 4 GB is cheap and easy.

Consider stretching your budget and get a Core i3 (around 400 yoyos).

Thanks for that. Would ordering online with LD be okay? Never done that before for something like this.

Torqay

Dovies wrote: »

Would ordering online with LD be okay? Never done that before for something like this.

Like Dabs.ie they're based in the UK with an Irish registered web shop and according to the general consensus here, they're all OK to deal with.

If you prefer a brick and mortar store, at Argos, you'll get a 15.6" ASUS with a Celeron CPU (1.6 GHz = B815, I believe) and 4 GB RAM for €350. Probably a better deal, since you won't need to upgrade the memory.

stargazer 68

I was looking at these 2

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5087080/Trail/searchtext%3ETOSHIBA.htm

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5087097/Trail/searchtext%3ETOSHIBA.htm

Torqay

Both have a Celeron B800 (the slowest model of this family, CPU Mark score: 1144), one has only 1 GB RAM (now that's a big NO NO).

The ASUS I have linked above has a B815 processor (CPU Mark score: 1505) and is 10 Euro cheaper.

stargazer 68

Torqay wrote: »

Both have a Celeron B800 (the slowest model of this family, CPU Mark score: 1144), one has only 1 GB RAM (now that's a big NO NO).

The ASUS I have linked above has a B815 processor (CPU Mark score: 1505) and is 10 Euro cheaper.

Thanks. You see I knew the clever folks on here would know what I needed!

Torqay

Well, don't expect any of these to be a powerhouse. You buy cheap, you get cheap.

Personally I wouldn't settle for anything less than a Core i3 processor.

stargazer 68

Torqay wrote: »

Well, don't expect any of these to be a powerhouse. You buy cheap, you get cheap.

Personally I wouldn't settle for anything less than a Core i3 processor.

They are 100+ more expensive. What difference would it make?

Torqay

Faster and a little bit more future-proof. Web apps evolving fast these days and demand more and more processing power and system resources.

Cheapest one I find on the quick is a Fujitsu for 412 yoyos at LD (also boasts great battery life, CPU Mark score: 2327).

Jumpinj82

Hey, here, just reading this and thought i'd give my two cents.

I had same problem with burning smell coming from my laptop and I decided to have it checked out (places in Dublin do it for free).

It was just a faulty charger connection on the laptop side. Just cost me €100 to get fixed.

Might be worth while

mrqpr

Is there any value in custom building one online at that sort of price range?

rolexeagle1

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L850-1G8_Core_i3_Laptop_PSKDHE-00L004EN/version.asp

is this any use?

Torqay

mrqpr wrote: »

Is there any value in custom building one online at that sort of price range?

Not in this price range, PC Specialist offer customizable laptops from £395 (€493) + £19 for the delivery to Ireland.

Torqay

srumball wrote: »

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L850-1G8_Core_i3_Laptop_PSKDHE-00L004EN/version.asp

is this any use?

Pretty good price, around 380 yoyos, if you add the costs for delivery.

yoyo

Moved to Laptops.

green123

Torqay wrote: »

The ASUS I have linked above has a B815 processor (CPU Mark score: 1505) and is 10 Euro cheaper.

this has the same B815 processor and 2GB of ram.

for 299.99 how about this toshiba from argos ?

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5087712/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7C19780850%7CLaptops+and+netbooks%7C14419039/c_3/4%7Ccat_14419039%7CLaptops%7C14419040.htm

this is good value for 299

Torqay

Good price indeed, still need some extra RAM though.

green123

2GB is enough ram for what this laptop will be used for.

here is another one for 299.95 in power city, same proc again

http://www.powercity.ie/?action=laptopbacker&pcode=981456&par=10-30-981456

stargazer 68

The 3 argos stores beside me are sold out of a lot of the laptops recommended.

What about this one

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_C850-1C3_Windows_8_Laptop__PSCBXE-00F00EEN/version.asp

Spipov

green123 wrote: »

this has the same B815 processor and 2GB of ram.

for 299.99 how about this toshiba from argos ?

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5087712/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7C19780850%7CLaptops+and+netbooks%7C14419039/c_3/4%7Ccat_14419039%7CLaptops%7C14419040.htm

this is good value for 299

im assuming this offer is over?can only see it at 359 euros now