A 200 year-old laptop will be running Windows XP (I think it came out around the time of Waterloo). Don't you want Vista?
Here's your problem. At the cheap end a laptop will be heavy and fragile (so not very portable). But second hand laptops, even "reconditioned" ones, may have had quite a life and may not be a good long-term bet (I assume this is heirloom material). My personal feeling is that I'd marginally favour cheap and new over cheap and reconditioned when it comes to laptops. But then my cast-offs are very beaten up and pretty much worthless when I've finished with them.
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This is a VERY bad time to buy a NEW computer. MS is pushing vista (in reality this means MS is offering Vista to computer makers cheaper than XP and providng incentives for units shipped)
This means
1/ Hardware that is NOT suitable for VIsta, is having Vista pre loaded on it
2/ VIsta is bug ridden and an age away from the rock steady reliability of XP-SP2
My advice?
Buy second hand or hunt down old stock preloaded with XP. The secret of life the universe and everything is that stuff written for a 32 bit version of Visa will work on XP! The other way round is not guaranteed! This means that XP is future proof for the next 7 years.,
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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This is a VERY bad time to buy a NEW computer. MS is pushing vista (in reality this means MS is offering Vista to computer makers cheaper than XP and providng incentives for units shipped)
It's worse than you thought. Ubuntu 7.04 won't be out until April and Mac OSX 10.5 may well not appear until June. What's a girl to do?
I agree though about Vista. A relative of mine went ahead against my advice and is having a nightmare with a custom-built machine. The builder (well known, good reputation) didn't understand Vista it seems.
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£500 will buy a good spec laptop that is compact and robust, with a widescreen display if you want it, with a "crystalbrite" display if you want it (I dont like them personally though good for watching DVDs) and with high spec basic components like Intel an 945 chipset, a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB memory, a DVD+RW drive and an approx 80GB hard drive (you dont want more than 80GB data on a portable computer.
Only pay more if you must have Bluetooth, 3G, 17" display, the very fastest Core 2 Duo processor, a 250GB hard drive etc.
Look at Acer, an Aspire is more for home use, multimedia etc, has the crystalbrite screen, a Travelmate more business orientated though specs are similar:
www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Laptops/cat.asp?PT_Ma...y
www.ebuyer.com/UK/store/45/cat/Notebooks/Laptops
www.dabs.com/productlist.aspx?&CategorySelectedId=...1
www.simplyacer.com/
Comet had an Acer Aspire 5634 for £650 recently, very good spec for the price, 2Gb memory etc.
In a way it would have been better to buy a few weeks ago, PCs bought with XP before 15th March came with free Vista upgrade. I would still stick with XP currently, there are issues with Vista not least of which drivers for preipherals you might have such as router.modem. printer, scanner, camera etc. If Vista go for Home Premium or Business rather than Home Basic.
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Scuse spellin!
Also further to TVM's point most retailers have good deals on very good spec latest model machines on XP MCE or XP Pro for around £500 or less, it just that two weeks ago you would have got a Vista upgrade thrown in.
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>>In a way it would have been better to buy a few weeks ago, PCs bought with XP before 15th March came with free Vista upgrade. I would still stick with XP currently,
So better; or worse....??? ;)
So I sticks with me boat anchor. Will a splodge of WD40 on the HDD stop the awful whirring that happens increasingly frequently on start up - particularly if the computer has been unattended for a week or so. When it does this, a reboot quietens it.
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So better; or worse....??? ;) So I sticks with me boat anchor. Will a splodge of WD40 on the HDD stop the awful whirring that happens increasingly frequently on start up - particularly if the computer has been unattended for a week or so. When it does this, a reboot quietens it.
The noise is either the fan or the HDD. If it shte fan WD40 will fix it, if its the disk it wont, and the disk will fail and you will have a genuine boat anchor when it goes.
Read my last post, now is a good time to find the last of those machines with XP. NO wants wants them now tho the poor saps know no better.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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This is an excellent company to deal with for sales and special offers:
www.itcsales.co.uk/acatalog/New_Dell_Laptops.html
You'll find other marques on the home page.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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.. PCs bought with XP before 15th March came with free Vista upgrade. I would still stick with XP currently, So better; or worse....??? ;)
mapmaker:
i am not hearing too many (not anything of significance to speak of really) problems with vista, and certainly for what you want, it should be no problem at all preinstalled on a new laptop.
in which case, look at these two dell offers from this week:
www.hotukdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?p=429871
www.hotukdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?p=429848
or if you want the dell product with xp instead of vista, look here:
www.hotukdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?p=424112
also look at the advice given here a few days ago to " m.m "
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Re the Vista upgrade "thrown in", this may be of interest:
tinyurl.com/ypcpod
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I'm with everyone on Vista. I'm running it on my MBP under Parallels and without Aero, I can't really see what it does better than XP. Take advantage and get a decent XP box while they're going cheap. Just ordered a Vaio B series through work, it's the last XP box Sony are selling with XP as standard.
You'll not go too far wrong with Dell, but try and get it with XP, you'd be better off.
That said, if you've got safe copies of your important data away from the anchor, running with that for a bit longer will mean you'll get more for your £££ when you decide to swap.
-- He\'s a cheeky wind-up scamster and he\'s on the radio....
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>>I can't really see what it does better than XP. >>
Personally I'll be sticking with XP for as long as possible - it;s proved the most stable and reliable OS I've ever used over the past 25 years or more.
This may prove of interest, although I haven't had much personal involvement with Vista so far:
www.cnet.com/4520-13111_1-6687520-1.html
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I'm with everyone on Vista. I'm running it on my MBP under Parallels
That's like being married to a supermodel with an IQ of 180 and then going out and paying for hookers. Don't you feel dirty?
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>> I'm with everyone on Vista. I'm running it on my >> MBP under Parallels That's like being married to a supermodel with an IQ of 180 and then going out and paying for hookers. Don't you feel dirty?
Mind linux is like getting a porny book and playing with yourself.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Mind linux is like getting a porny book and playing with yourself.
I swear I'm only reading it for the articles. And I keep it hidden inside a copy of "Unix Command Line For Dummies."
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{snip } ...IQ of 180... {snip}
Laughing..yes, you're right. I need XP for work so its a necessary evil. Had to use Boot camp as well as, since Parallels USB support isn't great as yet. Coherence is though, like that a lot.
I'm telling anyone who'll listen that Macboks are top drawer, I'm writing this on SWMBO's Macbook, loving them. Don't want to start another religious war on Mac/PC lines, but anyone looking for a computer domestically should really look at the Apples - given the discounts they do on the Apple Store refub section, you get as much power (if not more than a PC) for the same money, with the bonus of OS X & iLife. And if you hate it, use boot camp and get a lightning fast Windows machine.
A Macbook could be as little as £549 if you catch it right, more than we're thinking of spending here, but it's a lot of bang for the buck
(and BV, thanks for the help/advice in my early Apple days, you were right!)
-- He\'s a cheeky wind-up scamster and he\'s on the radio....
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Mapmaker,
I was given loads of help by the guys here when I asked about buying a laptop a few weeks ago. Similar to you much of our stuff at home is older/used but after looking about I decided the most likely satisfaction would be from a new laptop. Oddly I found many of the refurbished and similar sourced machines were often very poor value compared with the current low new prices.
There is currently a Dell at £329 delivered that would suit you....and I watched similar spec 1yr old machines go for more than that on EBay!
Two weeks on I can report that following (mostly) the advice given on HJ I'm more than happy.
I have Vista (Home Premium) but would have been quite happy to take XP it it had been available.... but all the new machines I looked at were Vista loaded. I have found it stable and to be honest have not seen any of the reported bugs.
I have a glossy or crystalbright screen which is brilliant for images and movies but I would prefer the older matt screen for Word/Excel and outdoor use.
Mine is a larger heavy machine because that is what felt best for our use around the house. We will not be carrying it on travels apart from in the car so weight not an issue.
The icing on the cake was getting a wi-fi modem a couple of days after the laptop. Making the laptop wireless has doubled its use within the family... great success.
DW
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