Laptop recommendations?

[forthbridge]

Hey Guys

Wondering if anyone can advise on a laptop. I'm wanting it for a basic use (Internet - and most importantly to store my large collection of photographs, and do some editing on them).

It's not intended to run flight sim, so I'm not looking for a flying machine like Ian's - but what is important to me is that it is as fast as possible, with a minimum 15.5 inch screen of 'best' visual quality, and with a half decent battery life. Most important is that it is reasonably robust and has a decent keyboard.

Not running at high temperatures is also a consideration.

We have a Samsung laptop and Acer netbook - both run OK but are not what I would want to use myself (it will be going on holiday with me to!) - and the Keyboards leave something to be desired.

My first choice is a Sony Vaio i3 model, which just about ticks all the boxes. I'm afraid that I don't really know too much about laptops - I have always considered them inferior to a desktop, but now find I am needing one for (especially) my photography.

If anyone can give any 'quality' recommendations as in reliability etc etc - it would be mucho appreciated!

[Chris Sykes]

Sony are a very good brand, i have one, my work mate has a really high spec one from them too! Their keyboards are easy to use and are less tacky than some ive seen and heard! Sony also have a really good battery software that allows you to set how much the battery is charged when plugged in...

One brand to avoid are emachines, and any non-main brand you havent heard of! Some Toshiba's i know have loads of hidden issues and problems which suddely arrise after a few months which require a restore to fix...

[forthbridge]

Cheers Chris

I am a Sony fiend for Audio, DVD etc and everything still works after decades, so although I know that certain component's won't be their own in a laptop, it should hopefully be reliable....

[DarrenL]

I thought I posted a reply but I bet the "new post has been added" think appeared and I didn't spot it so lost it. I hate that.

Anyway, I had posted a very long and informative post over at least 6 pages explaining the pros and cons of Laptops......well a paragraph.

To cut it short I said I always start with Dell, I have an Inspiron 1546 bought last Summer.

This is the current base model laptop - http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-15-n5 ... n-15-n5030

They do many more with more and more upgrades.

[speedbird591]

Hi Jim.

Probably the best place to start is at PC Advisor. Here's a link to the laptop reviews. http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptops/5/

As there are about 6,000 reviews there you might want to use the filters! You can filter by budget/high-end/mid-range/price/rating/brand and all that sort of stuff. That should keep you out of trouble for most of the summer!

Laptops nowadays are pretty much of a muchness in that they're all just a bunch of Chinese mass-produced components in a pretty box. As long as you buy from a well-known company the after-sales will be the same as well. If something goes wrong they'll send a courier to collect it for repair and then send it back again. This servicing is usually done by a third-party company on behalf of the retailer.

So just pick the specs that you want from a company that you've heard of and flex your credit card. Don't forget to use a credit card as the card issuer is jointly responsible to you for the delivery and saleable quality of the machine.

EDIT: I've just remembered that I bought cyberbrat a nice Sony Vaio to take to Uni last year. I bought it online from John Lewis. The advantages being that they give you a free 2 year guarantee and have a no-quibble return or replacement policy but I can't remember how long that lasts. I remember being pleasantly surprised though! They've got a good selection of Sonys John Lewis Sony laptops

Ian

[forthbridge]

Cheers Guys, plenty to mull over there