Laptop PC advice...

[nre]

My Dad is after a laptop to replace both his current desktop and ageing laptop.  It will be used for mainly office type stuff and storing digital photos and maybe a bit of DVD playback.  While I've built many a desktop, I don't know much about laptop PCs so I'm asking for your advice folks.

These are current thoughts:

-Don't want to spend more than about £750

-min 60gb hard drive

-min 512mb mem

-no need for a floppy drive

-DVD writing not really needed, just DVD-ROM / CDRW drive

...but, what about:

-processor options?

-widescreen or not?

-bigger than 15" screen?

-any brands to avoid?

-any brands recommended?

Just after a bit of friendly advice!

Thanks chaps,

Neil

[pete g]

Dell cheap as chips

[boris]

have a look at this laptop, if not then have a look at the others in there

HTH

[GuyH]

As to processor :

Celeron is slow but functional..

Pentium 4 and equivalent AMD chips are pretty big and need lots of cooling (a.k.a Fat laptop you can't carry)..

Pentium-M (centrino etc) chip is good (don't be put off by the slower clock speed. a 1.8 P-M is as fast as a 2.8 P4) and fit much better into laptop bodies.

Boris' recommendation looks good on price but it has a 64 bit processor, which is something you will pay for but don't need.

[boris]

have a go at this one. it seems to have everything you want and this time there is no un-necessary bits like my last suggestion  

[steve_m]

Dell everytime.  Not the fastest or the absolute best but as a rounded package for a workhorse they are hard to beat, especially for the price.

[Leon B]

Ive had bad experiences with Dell laptops, build quality is poor, we supply Fujitsu Siemens equipment and I can safley say they're excellent bits of kit.  Lots of variety in the range and reasonably priced too.  Other brand I'd recommend is HP Compaq.  Agree with Guy, centrino is a great processor, wouldnt go for a celeron or stretch to the extra price of a P4.

Edit to say, if you go for a widescreen your battery will suffer, very reduced life in comparison to a 15.4" standard.

[a4drk]

Check out laptopshop.co.uk

clink the link - here

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