Which laptop?

[Tefler]

I want to buy a laptop and know nothing about them. My research seems simply to have muddied the waters even further! I would like to be able to

• use the Internet both with a normal telephone connection and wire-lessly (how does that work?)


• play the odd not-too-involved game


• save stuff onto disc


• read things on the screen reasonably easily

I'd like the thing to work relatively quickly and it would be nice if it were possible to attach a traditional mouse to it for ease of use. Oh, and I'd rather not pay the earth!

Can anybody give me advice of what to look for, make recommendations of where to buy from and/or recommend a machine that they use?

[fo3nix]

Pretty much all of that is standard to just about every laptop you can possibly find. What you need to think about is what sort of work you're gonna be doing on it.

http://www.dell.co.uk

Give them a look at, or call them if you like. I am assuming that by you not including any specifics, you are just wanting to do basic things like browse the net, type letters, that sort of thing. In which case, you could go for a pretty basic laptop.

Something like
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=& amp;c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N11226&rbc=N1 1226&s=dhs&sbc=ukdhsrsinspn_2200_2

Laptops can have wireless internet capability built-in, often you'll see Centrino processors that do this. Or you can go for a cheaper option with no built-in wireless, and just get a cheap dongle for �20 at your local computer store. The only downside is that you'll have something sticking out of the laptop. But what does that matter? (It might to you, it might not).

[twiglet4frog]

cant recommend a laptop as there are so many out there but i can offer advice to your points:

Internet: Most laptops have either a telephone line connection or Ethernet connection to go online, some have the wireless option but if it hasnt then u will need a Wireless Router (plug the internet conection into the router) and a Wireless Network card that u plug into the Card slot on your laptop (Wireless Cards are about �20 now) The Router sends the internet to the Wireless Card on your laptop through radiowaves (Imagine an invisible cable connecting them)

Games: If u want simple games with low level of graphics just about any computer will do but if u are looking to purchase most games that have been sold at retail in the last couple of years then Centrino computers are going to find it a struggle running them and u really need to go Pentium 4 Proccessor for that extra bit of power. Depends what games and how important u need this but Pentium 4 generally costs a little more than centrino.

Saving : Laptops will allow u to save things onto the in built hardrive or via either a CD or DVD burner that is built in, almost all new laptops have one or the other but if not then CD burners are relativly chep to buy these days.

Reading Things : Most screens are the same and there are things that u can do to maximise the words so that u can read them bigger (All through Windows or Internet Explorer depending on the text your reading)

Mouse: You can happily plug mice into a USB socket and most laptops have at least a couple if not more of these sockets on it already. Most of the time u dont have to do anything else but literally plug the mouse into the hole and away u go, USB can also be used for keyboards, printers, scanners and all other attachements u may want.

Hope that helps?

[massbags]

As the first answer says you really only need a basic laptop for what you want. Be careful over going to places like PC World or Currys as they don't really know that much and will try and sell you a higher spec (thus more costly) than you need. dabs.co.uk is good, also www.thepcbusiness.co.uk based in Birmingham are both knowledgable and value for money. Phone them and they will recommend a good laptop and they don't work on commision so won't rip you off. I buy my work machines there. Haggle a little and they'll throw in a free case.

Acer machines at the moment are very good value but steadily the best are IBM or Toshiba. My father in law has bought and sold many on e-bay but if you don't know anything about them at all phone thepcbusiness.com.

[massbags]

Another thing, saving onto disk is standard as long as you request a cd re-writer. Saving onto hard drive is standard on everything. Try getting a flash disk or memory stick (same thing), Even a low end 128 mb one will save loads of documents and fits on your key ring to take and plug into any machine. These are cheapest on e-bay �10 tops. You can even get one that doubles as a watch.