Pat P Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 Hi all We are going to buy a laptop to go with us on our travels. We want one that we can use for emails mainly but him indoors wants an all singing all dancing one (boys toys) that we can watch the odd dvd on or tv if that is possible. A bit of net surfing too of course and to keep in touch with you lot. We have been told (by a salesman that the Toshiba Satellite M50 will do the job. A friend and computer buff told us to go for an IBM or Apple (had bad experience with Apple many years ago so that's a no-no) He says that you can bend the cases of some laptops but the IBM is very tough. When we surf to find out about IBM we cannot find many of the trustworthy names that stock them. He says to buy over the internet but we are not confident enough to do that - need the back up of a trusted retailer. Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated. We have been quoted £499 for the Toshiba. Enjoy the sunshine everyone!! Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 Hi Pat, You will always find stories good and bad about particular laptops, I have had numerous different laptops over the years, IBM as well as lesser known makes, all have given me some problems (including IBM) through their life but generally speaking good service too. Down time problems have always been CD and DVD drive related over an 8 year period, so failure rate is not that high. As an entertainment centre you need a good speed at least 1.5 Ghz and 400Mhz FSB, dual core out now would be an excellent buy. TV via a cheaper usb port requires around 2.4Ghz, TV using a pcmcia card can be okay with a slower processer but still need 1.5Ghz or greater. Navigation systems (like Autoroute) using a sat nav receiver on the laptop work okay at 1.5Ghz, DVD read/write is a must for storing those photographs. Wi Fi is now almost standard with laptops, 60 Gb hard drive is the min needed, 2Mb level 2 cache and at least 512 RAM is useful. Check out Hard disk recovery programs too, i.e. reinstall operating system and support programs without using distribution CD/DVD's is useful. Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 Toshiba has an excellent name but be aware that they now build budget as well as upmarket laptops. IBM personal computers are no longer IBM - the pc bit was sold to a Chinese company over a year ago and they are now all chinese. Not necessarily any the worse for that. If you are new to this, buy from a store such a John Lewis, PC World or Staples. Because they are the sum of so many different components from different manufacturers, PCs and laptops are inevitably more likely to go wrong and it's much easier to take it back to a shop than it is to an online provider. But probably don't bother with the maintenance contract as you're not going to be here when it does go wrong. And there are plenty of local places that will repair laptops (see your local paper for ads) once it is out of warranty. Now on my third laptop in 12 years and so far all of them are still working. By the way, you can now also get TV via a USB plu-in 'pen' type device. Tried one on mine and it works wonderfully (though the one I tried was digital only). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsandywhite Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 :-D I bought a Dell some months ago at £399. They have them with different specs at different times for more or less:- http://tinyurl.com/bos6y It will do all your require and I have had no problems with mine. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 We have used Toshiba for many years at work for use as diagnostic bits of kit for service technicians. I have three Toshib,s of my own of various vintages. None have ever gone wrong. But they are all from the "Professional" range. This means that they have things like conventional serial ports on the back etc and are built a bit more robustly. A lot depends on how you look after them though. Most today will do TV, DVD,s games, Email and Internet via WiFi etc. It all pretty well comes as standard. In the end you get what you pay for. But one thing to be sure about, within 1 year it will be out of date! Good luck C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 In general I agree with clive about Tosh reliability, i have to disagree about it being out of date in a year though. Any computer system is only out of date (or obsolete if you prefer) when it no longer performs the tasks you want it to. My Tosh laptop is a couple of years old now and still going strong, I use it for writing articles, surfing the web, photograph editing, e-mail, TV (with a cardbus card) and DVD playback when we're in the 'van. It does everything I ask of it so it's not out of date! D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 To put things in perspective I have two Tosh Sattelite 320 CDT models and one Sattelite Pro 4600 (650 meg CPU) into which I have put 1 gig of RAM. One of the 320 models came from the local re-cycling centre for free. It had some security software on it which rendered it a house brick, but No 1 son sorted this within half an hour. I bought the other for fifty quid from the firm when I retired. It was mine previously so effectively I have had it from new. The 320 models came with Windows 95 when new, the 4600 with Windows 98 but now runs XP. All are used for Ham Radio contest logging. The 4600 for most everything else when we are away from home. But all are very elderley with small hard drives and no DVD writers. The 320 Laptops are physically smaller than most available today. If I were tempted to part with some cash then I would be looking for something size wise between a Pocket PC and a laptop. JUST big enough to have a full size keyboard. Dave,s Laptop is brand new by comparison. But none of these Tosh units have ever gone wrong since I have had them, and two were with me from new. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 "Dave,s Laptop is brand new by comparison." Well not quite Clive, it's at least two years old, probably three (if I could be bothered to find the receipt)! and for the first 14 months of my business operation it was used daily for accounts work, advertising material generation and many other things. "But one thing to be sure about, within 1 year it will be out of date!" so how do you work that out Clive? if your Tosh's are so old and still doing what you need them to do then they're not "out of date" as you put it! As I said earlier, if any computer does what you ned it to do then it's not "out of date". D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Compaq, every time. Or Dell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Pat Try studentlaptops.co.uk very good cheap IBM plus many others I bought my IBM from them £300 its got TV DVD now with Sat NAV also does all my photos when travelling. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Take note of what the professionals use based on cost and reliability - both my company and my client (a well know high street bank) use Dell computers exclcusively. I have used Dell laptops for some years on my professional and leisure travels without any concern,HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat P Posted September 11, 2006 Author Share Posted September 11, 2006 Gee thanks guys. I am still working out some of the technical stuff but as no bad reports of a Toshiba have come through it looks like the favourite. We saw it in John Lewis and in our local shop. "Which?" says that both John Lewis and local independent retailers come out as the best in terms of after sales service so we may return to good old John Lewis for another look and to see whether the case is indeed flimsy. ;-) Will let you know how we get on. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Hi Pat P This is our first laptop and have to say we are delighted with it - does everything we need and is reliable, sturdy too. It is a Dell Inspiron 2200 (small by comparison to many referred to on here) but Dell as a product has to be a serious contender. They have been the main supplier to the public sector for many years. You cannot buy them in the high street but they now sell direct to the domestic customer either via the internet or phone. I was advised to pick the one I wanted from the website then telephone the order through - and haggle! I did and the end result was that I got an all in one printer/scanner/photocopier/fax thrown in along with a flash memory card. Not too many high street shops where you can drive that sort of bargain. Good luck with whatever you choose. Regards, david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Dave, Oh yes you can - I've done arab souk bargaining at both Dixons and PC World. You just need to be sure you're talking to at least an assistant manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 [QUOTE]Mel E - 2006-09-11 5:57 PM Dave, Oh yes you can - I've done arab souk bargaining at both Dixons and PC World. You just need to be sure you're talking to at least an assistant manager.[/QUOTE] Hi Mel E I stand corrected - must get me a fez and have a go when we next need electronics!! Regards, david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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