Hi,
I'm in the market for a new laptop, but every time I see what I consider a good deal I read reviews or forums where everyone disagrees and/or has the attitude that they know best. So I've come here, to a dedicated computer forum. My current (broken) laptop is a 4yr old packard bell which was a refurb when I got it in 2005. It cost me £600 at the time and I must've spent another £200 on it in the last 2 years on replacement batteries, AC adaptors and now the DC socket is broken as well. I've had enough and want a NEW new laptop - no refurbs this time.
I can't expect you to recommend a new laptop to me without knowing what I intend to use it for so here goes...
I will primarily be using it for recording my vinyl records, storing mp3s and using Cubase. A large HD isn't really necessary as I have a Seagate Freeagent 500GB external HD. 160-320GB will be plenty on the laptop itself.
My wife is on maternity with our baby and wants internet access, something I am clueless about (no, really, I've never had internet at home!). Nothing complicated, she only wants to use things like email and live messenger, but as she is juggling our 4 month old baby we are considering either wireless or mobile broadband so the laptop is practical & portable. Advice on the pros & cons of each would be appreciated, my brother has been telling me to avoid mobile as it costs a fortune (especially if you go over your monthly download allowance), and is unreliable - however, seeing how often his own wireless connection breaks when you put the kettle on I have no reason to believe wireless is reliable either.
Anyway, laptop spec,
Important:
Not important:
My budget: up to £350. Any help is really appreciated!!
I'm in the market for a new laptop, but every time I see what I consider a good deal I read reviews or forums where everyone disagrees and/or has the attitude that they know best. So I've come here, to a dedicated computer forum. My current (broken) laptop is a 4yr old packard bell which was a refurb when I got it in 2005. It cost me £600 at the time and I must've spent another £200 on it in the last 2 years on replacement batteries, AC adaptors and now the DC socket is broken as well. I've had enough and want a NEW new laptop - no refurbs this time.
I can't expect you to recommend a new laptop to me without knowing what I intend to use it for so here goes...
I will primarily be using it for recording my vinyl records, storing mp3s and using Cubase. A large HD isn't really necessary as I have a Seagate Freeagent 500GB external HD. 160-320GB will be plenty on the laptop itself.
My wife is on maternity with our baby and wants internet access, something I am clueless about (no, really, I've never had internet at home!). Nothing complicated, she only wants to use things like email and live messenger, but as she is juggling our 4 month old baby we are considering either wireless or mobile broadband so the laptop is practical & portable. Advice on the pros & cons of each would be appreciated, my brother has been telling me to avoid mobile as it costs a fortune (especially if you go over your monthly download allowance), and is unreliable - however, seeing how often his own wireless connection breaks when you put the kettle on I have no reason to believe wireless is reliable either.
Anyway, laptop spec,
Important:
- Battery life - Battery life!!! Can't emphasise this enough. My packard bell never lasted more than an hour even when I first got it (yes, I knew to prolong life by allowing it to fully decharge before plugging in). I have frequently read that the advertised battery life is often an ambitious figure.
- Wireless/Mobile broadband capability.
- Fast processor - I've seen people arguing on other forums about Celerons are crap, AMD Athlons are crap, this or that is crap and this has left me more confused than ever.
- Decent memory - I have thousands of hours of music and don't want it to run slow when I am using Cubase or any other music program.
- DVD-RW
Not important:
- Webcams, integrated or otherwise
- Graphics card - the only games I play are zx spectrum or amiga remakes. Don't need anything fancy.
- TV tuner
- Blu-ray
- Screen size (though pref over 12")
- No. of USB ports (2 or 3 preferred but it would pretty uncommon to find a laptop with only one I think)
My budget: up to £350. Any help is really appreciated!!