View Full Version : Best laptop for £450 Max
Right so my mate is after a new laptop and he has a Maximum of £450 to spend.
So whats good at the moment, the faster the better
What will he be using it for?
Ideally he just wants the bst Spec he can get, fastest Processer, most ram etc.
Used moslty for internet, music but he will be doing some Video Editing on it so must be able to run Fast. Also he will be running his new online shop from it if taht makes andy difference?
Sideways14a
30-12-2009, 15:51
Video editing...? Must be fast???
BUY A DESKTOP...
Worded that wrong, he wont be doing alot of editing, Just light stuff when we are in Morzine and doing our webisodes.
ferretca18
30-12-2009, 17:10
if any of his footage is HD he will need a dedicated graphics card. i got mine for a bit of editing and its useless, spazzes right out. its fine for everything else but lots of video or pictures and it either stops or slows down to a crawl.
Have a look on the dell site, you can customise, the 1500 series inspiron is supposed to be good. i have a 1700 (larger screen) but if i was to get a new laptop i would look at smaller screen but with better processing and graphics or a macbook!:thumbs:
roscopervis
30-12-2009, 20:51
Acer 5738 range from Play/simplyacer seems to be the bnest bang for the buck.
Acer 5738 range from Play/simplyacer seems to be the bnest bang for the buck.I can't argue with that except to say "good luck if it goes wrong" ;)
I belong to an IT buying group whose members (50+ independents with a combined spend of 'a lot' ;)) are all questioning the sale of Acer kit. Acer's support is, to put it bluntly, fcuking **** :indiff: . Forget Sony, forget Dell, forget HP's consumer division, Acer makes them all look like fcuking saints. I used to sell Acer over any other brand until 2 years ago (I had dealt with Acer's PCs and laptops for 13 years up to that point). That was when the support took a nose dive and it has only got worse since. Honestly, if you care about the after-sales service, don't touch Acer or HP's consumer stuff (Pavilion range mostly) with a 200 mile long bargepole. They both have a near-30% 1st-year failure rate and they both have lousy after-sales support when it does go wrong. Acer have thrown away everything that made them a saleable product in the pursuit of becoming "number 1". They are now number 1 in the category of "unreliable product" and "lousy after-sales service". And yes, I have told them this and, yes, they agreed that their service was shit but it was an acceptable price to become a household name :rolleyes: . Wish I'd recorded that call now :o
Caveat emptor has never been more applicable as when applied to buying PCs or laptops from Acer, Sony, Dell or HP*
* consumer division, not business
Sideways14a
30-12-2009, 23:09
Acer's support is teh ****y.... its true...
BreadBin
31-12-2009, 10:04
HP business laptops are the shiznit :nod:
Is that mac still for sale in the sales section? ;)
if any of his footage is HD he will need a dedicated graphics card. i got mine for a bit of editing and its useless, spazzes right out. its fine for everything else but lots of video or pictures and it either stops or slows down to a crawl.
Have a look on the dell site, you can customise, the 1500 series inspiron is supposed to be good. i have a 1700 (larger screen) but if i was to get a new laptop i would look at smaller screen but with better processing and graphics or a macbook!:thumbs:
I'd never buy anything from Dell again!
We've had a few laptops from them, and they are a big old pile of crap!
I'd never buy anything from Dell again!
We've had a few laptops from them, and they are a big old pile of crap!I've got an image in my head of you sitting there throwing a strop whilst saying that :D
I've got an image in my head of you sitting there throwing a strop whilst saying that :D
Not far off :wack:
I think we've had 3 laptops off them now.. they all had overheating issues.. new ones as well.
I've now got an old second hand IBM ThinkPad, and it's awesome :D I only really use it for the net / MSN.. occasionally Excel & P'shop but thats about it.
roscopervis
31-12-2009, 14:47
I can't argue with that except to say "good luck if it goes wrong" ;)
I belong to an IT buying group whose members (50+ independents with a combined spend of 'a lot' ;)) are all questioning the sale of Acer kit. Acer's support is, to put it bluntly, fcuking **** :indiff: . Forget Sony, forget Dell, forget HP's consumer division, Acer makes them all look like fcuking saints. I used to sell Acer over any other brand until 2 years ago (I had dealt with Acer's PCs and laptops for 13 years up to that point). That was when the support took a nose dive and it has only got worse since. Honestly, if you care about the after-sales service, don't touch Acer or HP's consumer stuff (Pavilion range mostly) with a 200 mile long bargepole. They both have a near-30% 1st-year failure rate and they both have lousy after-sales support when it does go wrong. Acer have thrown away everything that made them a saleable product in the pursuit of becoming "number 1". They are now number 1 in the category of "unreliable product" and "lousy after-sales service". And yes, I have told them this and, yes, they agreed that their service was shit but it was an acceptable price to become a household name :rolleyes: . Wish I'd recorded that call now :o
Caveat emptor has never been more applicable as when applied to buying PCs or laptops from Acer, Sony, Dell or HP*
* consumer division, not business
I can't argue with that either! But it would be the best bang for buck.
I can't argue with that either! But it would be the best bang for buck.Indeed and I appreciate that my post wasn't actually that helpful to the OP :wack: . However, sometimes people do need to be aware of what the company is like when they are buying one of their products :)
ferretca18
31-12-2009, 15:48
I'd never buy anything from Dell again!
We've had a few laptops from them, and they are a big old pile of crap!
LOL, they're cheap tho:wack:
I have decided im gonna get a mac next, they always work and run HD and editing stuff without fault, unlike this microshaft stuff...:smash:
Sideways14a
31-12-2009, 15:55
I still dont think the user should be getting a laptop to do this on, but hey every person i have spoke to in the last 24 months that wanted a laptop got one as they cant see past the "bling" of it.
If he goes Mac you have to make him aware that 95% of software wont work on it, unless windows goes on it. Which is pointless buying a mac then....
ferretca18
31-12-2009, 16:09
thats true......
If it was me (but it isnt but this is what i want to do, and at the moment I have nothing better to do except for writing this lol)
Get a nice desktop setup for all the media and game type stuff. A netbook type thing for mobile netting. possibly a decent ish laptop (probably a mac) for editing hd vids while on holiday:):nod:
I still dont think the user should be getting a laptop to do this on, but hey every person i have spoke to in the last 24 months that wanted a laptop got one as they cant see past the "bling" of it.
If he goes Mac you have to make him aware that 95% of software wont work on it, unless windows goes on it. Which is pointless buying a mac then....
Well he did say he would be using it in France in one of his posts.
I've gone off desktops, I would probably only get one for gaming.
Sideways14a
31-12-2009, 16:24
Put it this way for doing video editing or requiring some speed a laptop is ****
Also if he is intending to run his online shop from it you want it to be reliable... Laptops are NOT, unless he is going to religiously back up everything very regularly which 99% of users dont bother there arses to do then he will end up one day with a broken laptop and a lot of data on it needing recovered.
At least a desktop unit is more secure and reliable in that way.
Honestly i hate laptops, they are awful mainly because folk buy them for uses that they are not best suited for.
Honestly i hate laptopsReally? I hadn't noticed :wack: :D :wave:
Put it this way for doing video editing or requiring some speed a laptop is ****
Also if he is intending to run his online shop from it you want it to be reliable... Laptops are NOT, unless he is going to religiously back up everything very regularly which 99% of users dont bother there arses to do then he will end up one day with a broken laptop and a lot of data on it needing recovered.
At least a desktop unit is more secure and reliable in that way.
Honestly i hate laptops, they are awful mainly because folk buy them for uses that they are not best suited for.
LOL, it will only be used for the shop when he isn't at home on his desktop, As to the Video Editing i have seen a few people use it, I know it isnt ideal but it is what he wants :nod:
So c'mon only had around 2 suggestions so far :wack:
Egon- Would take it but he wants brand new :rolleyes:
lol at this thread, page two and no recommendation LOL
Shame, that powerbook has me itching to buy it for the wife, but i cant justify it!! :(
Video editing would be a piece of pish as it looks to have ilife and would be reliable (unlike all laptops in sideways world...;)) too.
I can't argue with that except to say "good luck if it goes wrong" ;)
I belong to an IT buying group whose members (50+ independents with a combined spend of 'a lot' ;)) are all questioning the sale of Acer kit. Acer's support is, to put it bluntly, fcuking **** :indiff: . Forget Sony, forget Dell, forget HP's consumer division, Acer makes them all look like fcuking saints. I used to sell Acer over any other brand until 2 years ago (I had dealt with Acer's PCs and laptops for 13 years up to that point). That was when the support took a nose dive and it has only got worse since. Honestly, if you care about the after-sales service, don't touch Acer or HP's consumer stuff (Pavilion range mostly) with a 200 mile long bargepole. They both have a near-30% 1st-year failure rate and they both have lousy after-sales support when it does go wrong. Acer have thrown away everything that made them a saleable product in the pursuit of becoming "number 1". They are now number 1 in the category of "unreliable product" and "lousy after-sales service". And yes, I have told them this and, yes, they agreed that their service was shit but it was an acceptable price to become a household name :rolleyes: . Wish I'd recorded that call now :o
Caveat emptor has never been more applicable as when applied to buying PCs or laptops from Acer, Sony, Dell or HP*
* consumer division, not business
Glad I read that before we bought a new laptop. :wack::annoyed::D Can you guess what make it is? :wack:
I know this thread has a bit of Acer bashing, but I bought my £500 Acer about 5 years ago and it's stil going strong.
I saw this in the sales :
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1805967346.126234888 9@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdfadejfehfdkhcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=186575&category_oid=-36730
Seem's pretty good value for money to me. Only down side is it's only single core so may not be much cop for video editting etc.
I'm in a similar position as i'm after a new laptop but I'd like to be able to run CAD on it, not to actually do much in the way of work on it, but demo'ing models etc to a customer for a example. Ideally something with dedicated graphics.
Infinity
01-01-2010, 13:13
I've got an old HP Pavilion dv8000 series, that's still going strong. Although it cost a "little" bit more than £450 :wack:
Jut
I know this thread has a bit of Acer bashing, but I bought my £500 Acer about 5 years ago and it's stil going strongLike all things, if you get one that works then that's fine. We sold hundreds of Acer laptops and desktops at the shop over the years and the majority caused no problems at all. However, if it goes wrong then that's when you find out why they are so cheap :( . As soon as we took the decision to close the shop I vowed to never sell Acer again as I simply haven't got the energy in me now to fight the good fight on behalf of the customer.
Silane - I'm going to take a guess at, er, Acer :wack:
All I wanted to do was point out how poor their after-sales care is. If that type of thing doesn't bother people then there is no reason not to buy Acer or any other brand. Personally, I like a bit of backup behind a product and am usually prepared to pay that little extra to make sure I get it :)
Sideways14a
01-01-2010, 16:00
In the past 12 months i have purchased 47 laptops...
Not one has been an Acer :p, Dells and HPs only.
Silane - I'm going to take a guess at, er, Acer :wack:
Gold star to Cluck. (That's the only bit of shiny stuff your team well ever see :p)
Any recommendations on other brands? Please. :D
Gold star to Cluck. (That's the only bit of shiny stuff your team well ever see :p)
Any recommendations on other brands? Please. :DHonestly, if you get a reliable one then there is no reason not to have an Acer.
However, the 3 leading manufacturers at the moment are HP, Acer and Dell (not sure if that's the correct order). If I had to choose from those 3 then it would be HP, but I would make sure I spent the extra and got a business model rather than consumer, just for the extra quality of after-sales care. If price was my only concern then I'd go for Acer or Dell.
LOL, they're cheap tho:wack:
I have decided im gonna get a mac next, they always work and run HD and editing stuff without fault, unlike this microshaft stuff...:smash:
I'm on a mates mac now.. don't get on with them at all tbh!! It's just what you're used to though I guess :nod:
I used to have a pretty decent PC, but tbh these days as all I use mine for really is net (mostly) a laptop was better .. plus I can lug it about a bit easier than a PC :wack:
BreadBin
02-01-2010, 06:42
I've got an old HP Pavilion dv8000 series, that's still going strong. Although it cost a "little" bit more than £450 :wack:
Jut
Same here - over 1k new :eek:
Infinity
02-01-2010, 11:16
Same here - over 1k new :eek:
:nod:
Bloody great laptops :D
Jut
roscopervis
02-01-2010, 18:31
There's a £450 Asus in Argos at the moment which looks pretty good. Asus are more reliable than Acer. There's a Blue Ray Samsung there was well, but the other spec suffers a bit.
my laptop cost me £300... 3 YEARS AGO!!! :eek:
its some e-system EI3103... was the lowest of the lowest back then...
but last year gave it a revamp thanks to ebay i soon had it up to spec :smash:
pentium core dual processor chip T5300 @1.73 (£25 second hand)
1.5 gb of ram (added an extra stick of ram/ 1 gb) was about £15
360gb sata 2 hard drive about £40
then the best think i have ever done is got rid of bloody windows/ mircosoft all together!
linux ubuntu ftw :thumbs:
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