Chromebook, Tablet or Laptop?

[Mr Burns]

My laptop will soon be eight years old and has served me very well, but it's fair to say it has seen better days! When it comes to technology I know absolutely nothing so I've no idea what to replace it with!

All I use my laptop for is the usual web browsing with a little bit of photo/video editing and storage for my iTunes library. I want something as fast as my budget will allow, preferably with a nice big clear screen.

Budget is around the £300-£400 mark but I can stretch it for an amazing bargain.

Would you go for a cheap and cheerful Chromebook or tablet, or replace it with another laptop??

 

[MatthewR]

Check out videos of the Chromebook OS before considering them properly. Its all run from the Chrome browser and any desktop icons just opens up chrome and takes you to a relevant page.

 

[Tom]

if you put all your music on Google music you'd be halfway there.

Chromebooks fail at video editing, well anything other than web browsing.

 

[Darren S]

Until you said photo/video editing, I would have considered a tablet or Chromebook.

In that case, I would still go for a full blown laptop - ideally nab one that has a Windows 7 downgrade path (while they are still available) as you WILL smash your new device to pieces in total frustration with Windows 8.

​D.

 

[Dan519]

I Still can't do without a laptop. I've tried to find a suitable tablet or even convertible laptop but they're a hell of a lot of extra money for something which is essentially just the same with a touchscreen. Closest I've come is the HP Envy which seems pretty trick

 

[Mr Burns]

I've decided to go for a laptop, but after having a look around I'm overwhelmed by choice!

I'm looking at PC World and suchlike, are they any good price-wise?

 

[banther]

Message Phuzion on here mate.

​He builds them at a v good price.

 

[DrR]

That guy mention above has some good ones for sale at the moment.

 

[Mr Burns]

I've just had a look and they're pretty much all sold, plus I could do with buying one this weekend.

 

[Sargara]

If you buy from a store you will generally get older hardware at a premium (due to being sat around for months as stock).
You'd be better off buying from Dell for the price range you are looking at.

 

[Mr Burns]

Are Dell buy online only?

 

[CrippsCorner]

Surface RT? Just been reduced to £279 (although you'd want more space on the hard drive probably) comes with Office installed as well...

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/productID.277940500

 

[Mr Burns]

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm going to stick to a laptop... Now I just need to decide which one!

 

[CrippsCorner]

This seems like a pretty good deal

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/HP_Pavilion_Ultrabook_14-b003SA_1299649.html

 

[Mr Burns]

Cheers Kayzee, I'll take a closer look

 

[James28]

Check hukd

 

[Mr Burns]

Check hukd

Looks good, just wish I knew what I was looking at! Laptops all look the same to me lol.

 

[Mr Burns]

Okay, I still haven't bought anything yet. I'm bored of looking, especially as laptops all seem pretty similar!

I'm going to PC World this week and I don't want to leave empty handed!

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...n-g6-2240sa-15-6-laptop-red-17056534-pdt.html

This seems pretty good for the money, no?

 

[.Adam.]

Seems a good spec from my limited knowledge, but I would never touch another HP laptop. My parents had one, girlfriend had one, and sister had one, and they were all built like s**t and ran like s**t.

My Dell has lasted me 4 years of abuse so far and still feels as good as the day I got it.

 

[Dan519]

Okay, I still haven't bought anything yet. I'm bored of looking, especially as laptops all seem pretty similar!

I'm going to PC World this week and I don't want to leave empty handed!

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...n-g6-2240sa-15-6-laptop-red-17056534-pdt.html

This seems pretty good for the money, no?

my parents bought one each of those. pretty nasty hardware IMO. even the track pad is crap

This is what i'd get (and have the older version of, still working fine after 3 years)
http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-15-3521/pd

 

[coolspot007007]

Have a look on the Dell outlet at around 2 and 3.30pm every day. If you have no choice with Windows 8 get a touchscreen, makes it so much more user friendly, still hate it though. I picked up a Core I5 Inspiron 15, 4GB RAM, 750GB HDD, 1GB GFX, with touch screen last week for £375.

 

[Mr Burns]

Thought this would do nicely until I realised it was out of stock.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...15r-5521-15-6-laptop-silver-21427855-pdt.html

Can't believe how hard it is to find a laptop from a high street store that people rate.

 

[Darius]

If you don't mind the red, we only deal with HP laptops at work and the only problems we've ever had to my knowledge (2 years) is failed batteries which is extremely common for our fleet over 200+ laptops as they are in constant use. If I were you I'd stretch your budget and get an i5 over an i3 just for that extra

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...n-15-e078sa-15-6-laptop-red-21525511-pdt.html

 

[Darius]

I'm budget pushing again (whoops) this one has v good specs, 8gb ram, 1tb HDD will be plenty for photos and videos etc. The i5 will be handy for video and photo editing. And Lenovo is a good make.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/LENOVO-G580-MBB4HUK_1385696.html

Some friends have Asus and are happy with them, but they haven't had them long so I can't ask them for reliability, around 2 years old ATM. This is i3 and whilst i5 is better, if your photo and video editing is very light (or at least what your old laptop was capable of) the i3 will be okay for you. This is super cheap in that case.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS-X550-X550CA-XO266H_1401099.html

Hope It helped

 

[Mr Burns]

They seem fine to me dude, although somewhere else in the thread someone said HP laptops were cheap and unreliable. I always thought they were a decent brand. So you reckon i3 or i5 precessors are the only ones to consider?

 

[Darius]

They seem fine to me dude, although somewhere else in the thread someone said HP laptops were cheap and unreliable. I always thought they were a decent brand. So you reckon i3 or i5 precessors are the only ones to consider?

From my experience, I would say intel processors are far superior to AMD brand processors. AMD tend to generate more heat which isn't very good in a laptop as you can imagine. The i3/i5/i7 range of processors is pretty decent. Intel Celeron/Pentium/Core 2 Duo are getting on a bit now also.

I've owned a HP for 2 years (my mate now has it) and the only thing that ever went was the hinge cause I dropped it lol and they still fixed it within 5 days lol! Only sold it as I wanted to try a Mac.

anything else feel free to PM me. I've been working with computers for around 2 years so know a little bit and I also chose our works laptops - HP ProBook 6560b FYI. Pricey but solid.

 

[Darius]

Also, buy online! This way you have distance selling rights and can send back after 7 days even if you've opened it, however buy in store and you don't like it often you can't take it back unless it's faulty. Buy online send it back if you don't like it/it's s**t

That's what Currys say anyway - pretty sure it's the same everywhere

 

[Knuckles]

Chrome books are beyond s**t. You can literally only browse the web.

laptop or tablet would be so much more versatile

 

[Darius]

Chrome books are beyond s**t. You can literally only browse the web.

+1

 

[dmundy]

Asus Vivobook - i3, 4Gb, 500Gb HD, 14" Touch Screen. £389 http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_S400CA-CA071H_1_S400CA-CA071H/version.asp Downside no DVD drive. Not sure if you would need one or not.

If you do.
HP Pavilion - i3, 8Gb, 750Gb HD, DVD-RW 15.5" No Touch Screen http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/HP_P...indows_8_Laptop_in_Silver_E3Z88EA/version.asp

 

[Mr Burns]

They all look good, just need to choose one! Don't think I'll need a DVD drive but might come in handy!

So these HP/Acer/Asus/Lenovo laptops are okay then? Are there any brands that I should avoid?

i3, i5 or i7 processors... Got it!

Definitely won't be getting a chromebook or tablet, they're not useful enough!

 

[Darius]

Personally I wouldn't touch Acer, stick to Asus, HP, Samsung, Lenovo/IBM, Sony imo.

Get yourself an i3/i5/i7

4GB+ Ram

500GB + HDD

You'll be sorted.

Now you choose the style to what suits you

 

[Mr Burns]

Thanks, my new laptop is loooooong overdue!

 

[dmundy]

Agree with the Acer statement. I have never had one that hasn't died once the warranty is up. Stick to the brands JavvaCake has suggested.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

If you haven't found one yet, look on Dell but at their business section.

I got an i5, 500gb drive, 4gb ram for under 400 with delivery. I then bought another 4gb memory online and fitted it myself as it was much cheaper than upgrading through Dell.

Not had any problems with mine so far.

Windows 8 is a bit hit and miss though but you do get used to it eventually.

 

[Mr Burns]

Currys have this which seems pretty good...

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...r-aspire-e1-571-15-6-laptop-21286170-pdt.html

 

[The Fatty]

Chrome books are beyond s**t. You can literally only browse the web.

not strictly true. the new chrome os allows for applications that don't run in a web browsers and are more desktop like. i have only used one (a game, Murder files) and was presently surprised with the experience.

 

[Darius]

Currys have this which seems pretty good...

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...r-aspire-e1-571-15-6-laptop-21286170-pdt.html

Wouldn't touch Acer but I've said this previously.

 

[Mr Burns]

I thought it was an Asus! My bad.

 

[Mr Burns]

Well... I've bought an Asus laptop from Tesco Direct, and it's sh!t.

I haven't been able to connect to the WiFi for the last two days, and when I do it's slower than my eight year old Packard Bell with no free space. It can't cope with playing a video in 1080p either.

Here's the link, it seemed like a good buy...

http://www.tesco.com/direct/asus-x5...laptop/479-6682.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=479-6682

Surely there's something up with it? I can't believe an eight year old laptop can out perform it!