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Recommend a laptop for my daughter please.

rruwalton

ISP Rep
Hello, we'd (my wife & I) would like to buy our 12yr old daughter a laptop for Christmas / well done for doing so well at school.

As these things are expensive we're limiting the budget to £330 and we've seen this one
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenov...358336-pdt.html?intcmpid=display~RR~~11358336
It has a good spec and priced well. What puts me off is it'll be from PC World. When we visited there last week the sales guy pushed the £8 per mth care package. It seems pcs /laptops are not covered for software issues just hardware i.e if we installed something on the laptop which conflicted with the pre installed system and the laptop went pair-shaped it wouldn't be covered under warranty! I'd do a system restore before paying PC World £8 a mth or taking it back!

We would really appreciate any recommendations. We would rather buy from a store as if there were any issues we could take it back. The idea of posting it back to an online company and all the waiting etc is not agreeable.

Thank you in anticipation.

Seasons greetings
Richard
 
Honestly I think your budget is a tad low for a decent laptop these days... a few months ago there were some cracking deals for around the £330-350 mark on i3 machines. Just now it seems the price is going more towards the £350-380 mark. The one you've seen is AMD and that puts it out of consideration for me. I'm deffo on the intel side of the fence and don't see me jumping over.

That said, nobody is going to give you software support unless you pay for it. Most companies will want a reinstall to prove it isn't software before they consider hardware. (Unless it's blatently obvious).

It's worth taking into consideration.

Only other advice is to scour online for those who offer in home warranty. A few like ASUS do on certain machines.
Cheapest i3 I found was the ACER 5733 but it's £349. Tesco have it available. (PC World listing better spec but currently not in stock)

Sorry if that's not what you wanna hear but really not easy on a sub £330 budget.
 
...... We would rather buy from a store as if there were any issues we could take it back. The idea of posting it back to an online company and all the waiting etc is not agreeable.

Thank you in anticipation.

Seasons greetings
Richard

Dont bother with PC World or anywhere highstreet or online then as if there is a bad hardware failure thats exactly what they do........ Send it away for repair. About all PCWorld fix in house or at your home is simple software issues (Windows mess ups, re-installs, that type of thing). If the screen for example fails thats an off site job, and from many accounts of reading around not a pleasent experience waiting time wise or quality wise when you get it back from PCWorld.

Id use stores like PCWorld etc to try before i buy and then save a bigger chunk ordering the same model from Amazon or similar personally.
 
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Thanks for your comments.

Entityonline, the laptop is for a 12yr old and she's not after a hi spec games machine. We just don't need a 'carlos fandango' machine. Even a Celeron would be more than enough. There are plenty of laptop £330 or below.

truth4free, I suppose I want good service, something that is thin on the ground nowadays. I know that if I buy from PC World and anything goes wrong the service will be rubbish. However, unless I buy online there's little real choice. Dixons, Currys and PC World are all under the same umbrella. Comet is having real problems having being sold for £2 recently
 
I suggest this is a very good offer at the moment but you must get very soon as TCB cashback of 10.1% expires in one day. This deal is a decent spec for small very portable laptop for 10 year old. It's more that ideal for her since it's not a high powered games machines but you can play the latest games but at the lowest settings.

Check the deal below then follow my instructions.

New lower price! HP Pavilion dm1-4004sa 4GB AMD Radeon HD 6320M graphics £254.15 + 10.1% cashback

Featuring Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium for a superior digital entertainment experience
An AMD Dual-Core E-450 processor
4GB memory for top system performance
320 GB Hard Drive for storing all your digital files
29.4 cm (11.6") High-Definition LED HP BrightView Display
AMD Radeon HD 6320M graphics
Finished in Charcoal Grey
1 year, pick-up and return, warranty. Optional upgrade to 3 years accidental damage cover for peace of mind
Featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Integrated Webcam & Microphone
Energy Efficiency Compliance ENERGY STAR® qualified configuration, EPEAT® Silver registered

First sign up with TCB via here then search for HP Store where you will be directed to Hewlett Packard Cashback page offering 10.1%.

It is here that you click through to "Laptops for home" 10.1% off button that takes you straight to the HP Store where you following the order in to your basket then click the link to the actual laptop in question but remember to go through TCB otherwise you will the extra 10.1% off cashback if you do not follow. The actual 10.1% cashback of the order will be paid to you after several weeks but you can always claim it back. Been a member for several years & been doing my shopping through TCB site ever since.

You will also see a promotional box on the HP Store where you also paste in "NEXTJXMAS15" code to also give you another 15% off.

Total cost £227 after 10.1% cashback & 15% HP discount! So potentially 25.1% off. Now that is an absolute bargain.

Hope this help you & your daughter. I also recommend HUKD site for bargains & deals.

veedubjai.
 
Last edited:
Assuming that your 12 year old is not a serious gamer, or that you don't want her to be, there is no need to spend anything like that much money.
I bought secondhand Dell 8200 / Dell M50 15" Hi Res. P4 laptops (basically the same) for my daughters 4 years ago from eBay, assuming that they will brake or be broken, but it didn't happen !
More then year ago I fitted them with 2GB Ram and Installed Win 7 and Office 2007. They still work fine, my daughters are now 14.5 and 17, the laptops are used and abused daily.
It's possible to buy one like that for ~£100.

I would suggest a good secondhand one for £150 - 200 would be more then sufficient. You can get a well specified 17" Dell 9400 for that sort of money.
 
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Thanks veedubjai but the screen on the HP is too small.

Too small? :rolleyes: You sure this laptop is for your daughter or for the grown up? Early Xmas treat?

OK, anyways but be advised that laptops at this size can weigh anything 2.5KG+ so not ideally for carry around all the time. Don't get me wrong they're still portable but not ideal to be moved around alot & your daughter will soon to learn when it will be a pain after a while. You'll know when your daughter starts complaining.

I've had a look of the link that you posted for the Lenovo G575 15.6" but you can find much better laptops around that price region for around the same price if you look around online. I found that the specification of the Lenovo is quite poor compare to the HP that I've looked for you again but with a bigger screen.

If you are not willing to budge on price but only up to £330 & nothing more then what I recommend you is this HP Pavilion g6-1253sa Notebook PC (QG840EA).

It's priced at £389.00 but if you apply this discount code "NEXTJXMAS15" then this will bring it down to £330.65 knocking off -£58.35 & if you do go through TCB first via here, search for HP Store which tranfers you direct to the HP Store by end of tonight 11/12/12 (must complete purchase by 11:59pm) then you get another further 10.1% off the total price from HP Store on top.

Take a look & see what you think.

Hope this helps.
 
Too small? :rolleyes: You sure this laptop is for your daughter or for the grown up? Early Xmas treat?

OK, anyways but be advised that laptops at this size can weigh anything 2.5KG+ so not ideally for carry around all the time. Don't get me wrong they're still portable but not ideal to be moved around alot & your daughter will soon to learn when it will be a pain after a while. You'll know when your daughter starts complaining.

I've had a look of the link that you posted for the Lenovo G575 15.6" but you can find much better laptops around that price region for around the same price if you look around online. I found that the specification of the Lenovo is quite poor compare to the HP that I've looked for you again but with a bigger screen.

If you are not willing to budge on price but only up to £330 & nothing more then what I recommend you is this HP Pavilion g6-1253sa Notebook PC (QG840EA).

It's priced at £389.00 but if you apply this discount code "NEXTJXMAS15" then this will bring it down to £330.65 knocking off -£58.35 & if you do go through TCB first via here, search for HP Store which tranfers you direct to the HP Store by end of tonight 11/12/12 (must complete purchase by 11:59pm) then you get another further 10.1% off the total price from HP Store on top.

Take a look & see what you think.

Hope this helps.

Great spec. I called HP and they were very good.

So I bought one using veedubjai's links and saved a chunk of money. :D
 
For the spec (good HDD size and processor for the cash) and with that discount that deal from veedubjai is a bargain IMO, you and your daughter will not be disappointed.
:)
 
Important thing on netbooks/laptops is that the CPU/GFX are soldered & not upgradeable. You can always upgrade the hard drive & RAM later when prices have come down.

ATM, hard drive prices are riduculous high even on the 2nd hand market on eBay (never buy 2nd hand hard drives if you highly value your data - you won't know what you'll get = bad sectors, etc.) due to the floods in Thailand so hold out for longer but RAM prices right now have never been cheaper so if your need another 4GB then get them right now before prices do pick up.

Do You Really Need More Than 4GB of RAM?

In your case for HP Pavilion g6-1253sa Notebook PC (QG840EA), you'll have 2 slots in total with 1x4GB taken up already.

Memory Type: DDR3 PC3-12800, DDR3 PC3-10600, DDR3 (non-ECC)
Maximum Memory: 8GB
Slots: 2
Each memory slot can hold DDR3 PC3-12800, DDR3 PC3-10600 with a maximum of 8GB Kit (4GBx2) per slot.


For those who don't know about cashback then please visit then click "Help" at top right of screen & click "Getting Started" under "Useful Links" at half the page. Been a member for years & got back some cashback myself. Simples.
 
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Think you've done really well with that purchase. The i3 should do all that's needed for a sizeble chunk of time.

Good solid workhorse. Can't for life of me understand how one could call any notebook in this range high spec gaming.
(nor would I suggest a gaming machine for a 12 year old btw)
 
HP - Good spec but...

the screen resolution is only 1366 x 678 pixels :-(

The Dell 8200 is nearly 10 years old, but the resolution is 1600 x 1200 on 15.1" screen, that is 83% more pixels !

So why have all the manufacturers gone down to less resolution ? (Other then the obvious..., price)

Also why the wide sceens ?
Yes, OK if you want to watch DVD's, but web pages and documents are typicaly 'paper' shape, narrow and long....

And for ~£330 you can have s/h 17" Dell XPS with 1920 x 1200 res., much more usable, if less portable.

Which brings me to another point, about 3 years ago all the schools made noises about laptops beeing compulsory.
My youngers daughter school even had a deal for parents to purchase some "No Name" 11.5" laptop for over £300.
I refused to buy it. The laptops were c**p and never worked properly and it all come to nothing !
My daughters never needed to take their laptops to school...., just memory sticks.
Regards,
Martin
 
Martin, this is via the Dell XPS link

Amazon " Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."

Only 1 review which contains "Then about 8 months after purchase i started getting random on screen issues, pixelation, lines down the middle of the screen, random crashes, boot failures. I put it down to Vista and the bloatware that Dell shovels on to their laptops. I did a full format of the hard drive removing everything including the backup partition as i had an OS retail disk anyway."
 
First of all, wide screen formats are becoming more and more popular and laptop resolutions are changing to reflect that, i.e., 4:3 --> 16:9. This can decrease resolution if the horizontal pixels are kept constant instead of vertical (not that it is vital to keep one set constant).

Second, it's untrue that laptop resolutions are decreasing. The older generation Lenovo X Series has a resolution of 1024x768, but today's comparable X Series has a resolution of 1280x768. It's a wider screen with a higher resolution.

We've found just one example, but it's most likely that you just happened to buy a laptop with a lower resolution. If someone dug through aggregate statistics, they would most likely find increasing laptop resolutions overall. You just really have to look harder & closer around to find better these days.

Bloatware is another gripe of mine with every new PC/laptop. Crappy PC No More! | The PC Decrapifier.

Decent replacement software instead of the bloatware you get via FileHippo.
 
Hello butler, how are you?

Thanks for the postive comment.

All being well the laptop will be delivered to my place of work tomorrow (Weds 14th). Just hope my daughter shows it some respect and that it lasts.

I'm a little over protecective and as she's only 12 I do wonder if I should try and limit what she accesses.

Anyway, have a Great Christmas butler :) That goes to any ispreview member reading this comment :)
 
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Received laptop - I mean Notebook today at work.

Booted up and stuck windows essentials AV - updated HP software :)

It has a real nice professional look and is very smooth running.
 
lol and heres me getting my system finally sorted today.. no end of problems yesterday.. looks like we both had something interesting to play with today, lm really impressed with this new SSD drive.
 
lve got an OCZ 60GB Agility 3 SSD - 2.5" SATA-III - Read 525MB/s Write 475MB/s 80,000 IOPS, was the cheapest l could get at the time tho l wish l had more space... only been installed for a couple of days and out of 55gb lve only got 23 left lol.. storing my desk top on the old OS drive tho since lve rebuilt my new system lm still left with some annoyances like the fact lm unable to use the same resolution as l used to be able to and every time l install my gfx drive it seems to cause my monitor to say its unsupported.. currently wondering where the problem could be as lm having to resort to windows drivers as they are the only ones that work.
 
Hope you guys have Windows 7 with those SSD's as Vista doesn't know how to handle them properly.
 
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