Laptop

[mumof2]

http://www.idealworld.tv/_189431.aspx

What do you think of this and the price? Can I get something just as good or better elsewhere or is this a good deal? Will it hold my gazillions of photos and craft software and pics?

thanks xx

[Keith]

it's not great to be honest... have a look at something like:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/toshib...86941-pdt.html

[mumof2]

Thanks Keith, if you wouldn't mind can you tell me what's not great so i know what not to look for!

The Toshiba, well i was hoping to steer clear. The 2 we bought (one in Dec 2009, the other Jan 2010)...not impressed! Bits falling off, mine doesn't work at all now, left click buttons keep falling into the casing, usb ports broken, grid on fan broken on Jamies one, chargers fell apart...REALLY not impressed at all!

The other thing that attracted me to this new one was the interest free flexi payments!

[Keith]

Thanks Keith, if you wouldn't mind can you tell me what's not great so i know what not to look for!

The Toshiba, well i was hoping to steer clear. The 2 we bought (one in Dec 2009, the other Jan 2010)...not impressed! Bits falling off, mine doesn't work at all now, left click buttons keep falling into the casing, usb ports broken, grid on fan broken on Jamies one, chargers fell apart...REALLY not impressed at all!

The other thing that attracted me to this new one was the interest free flexi payments!

oh my gosh really??? you had that with toshiba? :/ they're usually so reliable. ok well scratch that then because there's no point going back with a make you don't like

emachines is a known brand but it's not a top brand like toshiba and you're paying top brand pricing there for a moderately old spec. Far from the latest cpu, 2GB memory rather than 3 or 4 and a moderate 320GB drive although the tosh I mentioned only had 250 so fair enough.

Dell do some good ones too... Sony are nice and HP seem to last a long time too.

Not a huge fan, with apologies to those who have them and love them, of advent/acer/emachines

[Kate]

DH always says Dell when he is asked for his opinion

[Keith]

DH always says Dell when he is asked for his opinion

a few years ago Dell laptops were a bit creaky, literally the plastics felt cheap and creaked when picked up. Nowadays they're very well put together and we've had a lot in work with no problems whatsoever.

[mumof2]

Thank you Keith!

Of course I would love to buy the best out there but haven't got the budget for it, so I appreciate your advice, I know nothing so need all the help I can get!

[Keith]

Thank you Keith!

Of course I would love to buy the best out there but haven't got the budget for it, so I appreciate your advice, I know nothing so need all the help I can get!

Well you don't need the (b)leading edge ones to be honest! There's always a nice middle point but what you do need is one that's going to be reliable and without little annoyances. Laptops can be full of little things that just make you want to scream.

The other thing with laptops is, you REALLY need a good backup. It can be an external hard drive or something better but the hard drive WILL fail at some point.

If you wanted to let us know how much you wanted to spend and what features you REALLY want we could probably find a great one

[mumof2]

emachines is a known brand but it's not a top brand like toshiba and you're paying top brand pricing there for a moderately old spec. Far from the latest cpu, 2GB memory rather than 3 or 4 and a moderate 320GB drive although the tosh I mentioned only had 250 so fair enough.

Doesn't it have 3GB? O r am I looking at the wrong thing

[Keith]

Doesn't it have 3GB? O r am I looking at the wrong thing

It does, apologies

I've been looking around at the reviews for them and techies like me don't like them much but you know, the people who actually buy them seem to be fine with them. I think asda sell the emachines and people have been saying they're happy with them.

So to be honest, it may be one of those times when us techies are expecting too much