Laptop Recommendation for a Friend

[jeffg]

i used to know what was what but i am way out of touch now, my friend asked me to recommend her a new laptop, she's being hazy on budget, in the past i think my friends have had to spend £500 to get a decent laptop so i'll say that as a ballpark max but i know she doesn't want to spend that much.

she needs it for browsing, online banking checking email and for playing online poker, no gaming or anything like that so she doesn't need expensive graphics card or anything like that

she doesn't want any smaller than the usual 15 inch screen so 15 inch minimum please, i'm sure 17 or so would be fine as well, like i said she's hazy on what she wants she just wants something up t date and fast, her slow old pc is really getting her down

if any of you guys could tell me what's good these days and maybe recommend/warm me off some brands or models that would be great

many thanks guys

[supersonicdave]

given her list of wants, I would recommend just finding something on sale. I am pretty sure she will be able to do everything she wants with a low end laptop. just find the screen size you want and get the sale model with that screen size.

[jeffg]

given her list of wants, I would recommend just finding something on sale. I am pretty sure she will be able to do everything she wants with a low end laptop. just find the screen size you want and get the sale model with that screen size.

could you tell me which makes have good build quality please?

[supersonicdave]

At that price point most of the major-name brands are pretty much the same. I have a personal dislike for e-machines due to the REALLY POOR QUALITY PARTS they put in their motherboards. Otherwise you may wish for a second opinion because all the rest are pretty much the same in my eyes.

[jeffg]

what's asus like?

[jeffg]

hi could someone tell me how these 3 brands compare for build quality: asus, lenovo and sony vaio?

thanks a lot

[jeffg]

out of say these, which would have the best build quality/durability please?

Lenovo G570 15.6 inch Notebook (Core i5-2410M, RAM 4GB, HDD 500GB, DVDRW BT, Windows 7 Home Premium) - Black: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Process...4690998&sr=1-1

Asus K53E 15.6 inch Notebook (Intel Core i3 2330 2.2GHz, RAM 4GB, HDD 500GB, LAN, WLAN, Webcam, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit) - Red: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

[jeffg]

i've read a lot of good and bad things about them, a lot of differing opinions, some say sony is good, some lenovo, others say do not buy, can't find much about asus?

[alex]

You'll be lucky to see an I7 at that price point and if you find one I'm sure the rest of the spec will be heavily compromised in other areas. Funnily enough I'm also in the market for a new lappy and had a nosey at a few last week at PC World (Hell no, I'm not buying from them!) The Sony here is rather a good buy. Sony's are usually overpriced becaue of the brand but this ain't too bad pricing wise. Plus, from very they're showing 12 months free credit. Don't know if that is helpful but just incase she doesn't have the money to hand just after Christmas! I think you (and her) also need to take into account how comforable it is to use and the keypad, considering the stated usage. Sony laptops keypad's in my humble opinion are second to none. I have seen this cheaper elsewhere but not with the 12 months pay later scheme. For a more detailed look at it head on over here.

Hp lappy's might be a good option too and maybe Samsung. At that price point I'd stay away from Acer.

[jeffg]

You'll be lucky to see an I7 at that price point and if you find one I'm sure the rest of the spec will be heavily compromised in other areas. Funnily enough I'm also in the market for a new lappy and had a nosey at a few last week at PC World (Hell no, I'm not buying from them!) The Sony here is rather a good buy. Sony's are usually overpriced becaue of the brand but this ain't too bad pricing wise. Plus, from very they're showing 12 months free credit. Don't know if that is helpful but just incase she doesn't have the money to hand just after Christmas! I think you (and her) also need to take into account how comforable it is to use and the keypad, considering the stated usage. Sony laptops keypad's in my humble opinion are second to none. I have seen this cheaper elsewhere but not with the 12 months pay later scheme. For a more detailed look at it head on over here.

Hp lappy's might be a good option too and maybe Samsung. At that price point I'd stay away from Acer.

thanks alex, do you think that the sony you link is good build quality with a good screen? also do you reckon the one in your link and the sony in my link are the same screen and build quality?

do you rate these sony's over the lenovo's?

[alex]

The screen's are precisely the same. The build quality (plastic, but nice and thick) is exactly the same.

I'd rate the lower end Sony's (which these are) over the lower end Lenovo's. Had my hands on a Lenovo, I forget the model, that was priced at £400 and it felt just cheap and tacky and the keypad was downright awful.

That's just my thought's on it. I would recommend she go to a shop just to have a play for herself. But yeah, I stand by what I've typed above.

[jeffg]

The screen's are precisely the same. The build quality (plastic, but nice and thick) is exactly the same.

I'd rate the lower end Sony's (which these are) over the lower end Lenovo's. Had my hands on a Lenovo, I forget the model, that was priced at £400 and it felt just cheap and tacky and the keypad was downright awful.

That's just my thought's on it. I would recommend she go to a shop just to have a play for herself. But yeah, I stand by what I've typed above.

thanks a lot alex, i really appreciate your help

do you think the screens on the sony's are good screens, she had a fujitsu with an awful screen and wants something at least nice,

also how do the sony's compare to samsung and asus and in this price range would you go for one of these sony's or something else?

again, thanks a lot for the help man, much needed and appreciated

[alex]

No problem, Jeff. The Sony's I've looked at had a decent horizontal viewing angle but the vertical wasn't as good, but still ok. Nice and vibrant too (being gloss screens always helps in that regard).

I've always rated Samsung's but have never been a fan of the design aesthetics. But what I might hate she might like. So yeah, that is a thought but again, I'd recommend she go have a play in a shop.

Simply put though, at that price-point, you can't go wrong with that Sony.

[jeffg]

No problem, Jeff. The Sony's I've looked at had a decent horizontal viewing angle but the vertical wasn't as good, but still ok. Nice and vibrant too (being gloss screens always helps in that regard).

I've always rated Samsung's but have never been a fan of the design aesthetics. But what I might hate she might like. So yeah, that is a thought but again, I'd recommend she go have a play in a shop.

Simply put though, at that price-point, you can't go wrong with that Sony.

thanks alex, are all these configurable e series ones the same screen and keyboard etc from the link you gave me?E Series : VAIO & computing : Sony

and would you advise buying from that sony website?

thanks again

[jeffg]

alex on that sony website you can get a 17 inch one with this NVIDIA® GeForce® 410M GPU 1GB graphics card, it's a bit more money but is it worth it? will it eat up the battery life compared to the intel 3000 graphics on the 15.5 inch one?