Gaming Need a laptop

[moozxy]

Hi my sister is going to need a laptop next month for school and I wanted to ask gbatemp for recommendations.
We're looking within the price range of up to around £350.
She's should only be using it for about 2years before she starts uni and will probably get a new one then, but if there is a really good deal out there for a good laptop that will last her well into uni please recommend those too.
For what she'll be using it for would be word processing, internet browsing (facebook etc.), youtube, listening to music etc. etc.

I was looking on the ebuyer site and found this and was thinking I could install an acquired version of windows on there, would that be simple enough to do?

 

[Tokiopop]

Go for a good make, you might get smaller numbers for your money but trust me, getting a cheap laptop that has high specs isn't a good idea. They don't last long at all.

I'd say go a little higher and get a Sony laptop, or if £350 is your limit, get a this

There are other makes than Sony, but the only things that have lasted me more than a few years are Apple and Sony products.

 

[Raki]

Don't get a Sony...they look nice but are crap because they are just not built for anything more than looking at them...and I don't know, how you're sister will treat it, but it might be better to last long

Look for Asus. They make good quality, but relativly cheap laptops...btw they sell some models with linux or no OS as well

 

[da_head]

have u considered a netbook?

 

[moozxy]

have u considered a netbook?

Yes but I've heard it's quite hard typing on the smaller keyboards? And since the main purpose will be word processing and facebook, the keyboard is a big factor.

 

[Raki]

have u considered a netbook?

Yes but I've heard it's quite hard typing on the smaller keyboards? And since the main purpose will be word processing and facebook, the keyboard is a big factor.

the 1005HA's keyboard is quite nice to touch type on it - but just consider a netbook if you need something portable + a long battery life

 

[UltraMagnus]

if you buy a sony, for they money you may as well buy a macbook...

Just stay away from the cheap generics and you will be fine, Dell, Toshiba, etc all tend to offer good value for money

 

[Fat D]

have u considered a netbook?

Yes but I've heard it's quite hard typing on the smaller keyboards? And since the main purpose will be word processing and facebook, the keyboard is a big factor.

Only if you take the small ones. The 10" ones like the 1000HE I use (and all of the 10##XXX Eees) have a keyboard whose size is more than 90% of a regular one, and while typing does take some getting used to, once you have adapted to it it works quite well, and the only difference becomes the weird layout of the additional keys (DEL, INS etc.), but you have that with every laptop. Especially the small RSHIFT makes things difficult, as you can easily hit Up or RFn. And the Fn keys themselves of course mix up the Alt and Win keys a little, but that is a minor inconvenience you also have with every laptop.

 

[moozxy]

I just asked the sister what she thinks of netbooks and she doesn't like them.

 

[Tokiopop]

Macbook Pro 17" it is!

 

[DSGamer64]

Go for a good make, you might get smaller numbers for your money but trust me, getting a cheap laptop that has high specs isn't a good idea. They don't last long at all.

I'd say go a little higher and get a Sony laptop, or if £350 is your limit, get a this

There are other makes than Sony, but the only things that have lasted me more than a few years are Apple and Sony products.

Sony make awful laptops, they die so damn easily. Netbooks are the way to go anyway, the Asus Eee PC 1005HA with the 10.5 hour battery is perfect for most students, I hope to get one after my birthday. Upgrading the RAM to a 2GB stick is better for performance and will take a little less strain off the processor when running a couple of programs. The battery life is the key thing though, 10.5 hours is insane, although apparently the MSI Wind U120 gets 14 hours but I dunno as it might have a bigger 9 cell battery as opposed to the 6 cell on the Eee PC 1005HA, both are great options.

 

[Fat D]

Battery life and compact size are the defining traits of a good laptop for me. A laptop needs to be portable, if I need power, thats what a desktop is for. That is why I like netbooks, and particularly the new ASUS Eees (1000HE, 1005HA-H etc.). I chose the HE for its non-glare display and because the HA-H was not out yet. And I prefer classic Eee over Seashell, anyway.

 

[Raki]

Battery life and compact size are the defining traits of a good laptop for me. A laptop needs to be portable, if I need power, thats what a desktop is for. That is why I like netbooks, and particularly the new ASUS Eees (1000HE, 1005HA-H etc.). I chose the HE for its non-glare display and because the HA-H was not out yet. And I prefer classic Eee over Seashell, anyway.

I am interested in the Acer 1810T/1410T which packs an intel core2solo SU3500, 4 GB RAM and the 4500MHD intel GMA, a 11,6" 1366*768 display with a quite good battery life for 499 Euro...not that expensive and still more powerful than normal atom netbooks but a little bit to big maybe

 

[Fat D]

I am interested in the Acer 1810T/1410T which packs an intel core2solo SU3500, 4 GB RAM and the 4500MHD intel GMA, a 11,6" 1366*768 display with a quite good battery life for 499 Euro...not that expensive and still more powerful than normal atom netbooks but a little bit to big maybe

Looks sweet. 8 hours battery life is not too bad, if you look at the crap that is getting dumped on the netbook market these days. Seriously, one of them standard Centrino Atom devices with a mere 3 hours? Do they power that thing with a cell phone battery? Those craplets are shit!

 

[em2241992]

Not bad, similar to mine, I got a Dell Inspiron 1545. If you want that, I'd recommend it, just get it refurbished, you won't be disappointed.