Recommend me a decent laptop

[PokerSensation]

This is a gift for somebody who basically will just use it for the internet and watching films.

I was thinking I could get something appropriate for ~ £500 but don't know that much about laptops.

Thanks.

[DCSW7]

For the price, you can't really go wrong with something like this...

http://www.johnlewis.com/231539818/Product.aspx

Only thing is, cheap laptops generally have crappy battery lives (couple of hours), so more for home use rather than out and about.

Edit: I know that one claims 6 hours, but no fecking chance if you're watching movies on it
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Not surprised Xavi's been replaced. His pass completion rate was only 89%. Useless.

[PokerSensation]

[PokerSensation]

Thoughts on this laptop:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung...11296544-pdt.html

Or could I get something better?

[oneshotbob]

FWIW we just got this one: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavi...11884755-pdt.html and it is great. very fast, loads of memeory for photos and itunes and streams from Lovefilm very easily.

Seems to be me you might be overpaying for what you need this for...

[PokerSensation]

[Bogus]

ACER. I3 or I5 processor. Buy it. Smiles.
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Update TBC

[curnow]

[PokerSensation]

[Grumbledook]

nah macs are really expensive and can hardly play anything on them ;]

[DCSW7]

[pembo]

[RobGibraltar]

Always liked Sony Vaios. There are also some pretty good acers around for that price. I'd still consider a secondhand early 2011 macbook pro though. Get one with the i7 sandbybridge quadcore 2.2 or 2.3.
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Si Hoc Legere Scis Nimium Eruditionis Habes

[Freddy Flares]

Trying to find a decent cheap laptop with an solid state drive SSD built in and it's proving quite hard. The only ones I can find tend to be 13 inch ultrabooks in the +£800 and upwards range or expensive gaming laptops.

Why is it so hard? SSD prices aren't that high any more but laptop specs seem to be at least 6 months behind desktops in terms of specs and there's hardly any leeway in terms of customization.

[pembo]

Just get a cheaper lappy without a SSD and swap the stock HDD with a SSD? I know you are blowing your warranty, but it saves you buying these expensive machines.

I think the major problem is, to your everyday man, using an SSD over a HDD has no real bearing. They will barely tell the difference in speeds, it's only when you get to high end users (designers/gamers) that they start to notice the difference. This, of course, means the computers have the expensive parts in them.

The problem with the desktop/laptop disparity is due to the bespoke nature of laptops. Many parts are made especially for a certain companies (especially motherboards, due to the compactness of laptops and how strange shape they need to be), so they charge that much extra for them. By also making it difficult to get in and change parts (whether through design or necessity (and also blowing your warranty by taking a screw out)), the companies can rake it in further, by charging a fortune for new parts, or making it impossible to do, hence people needing to buy new laptops.

Unless you have some very specific reason to want a SSD, either build a desktop with one in, or just bite the bullet and pay the money. Or, just not bother with one, I'd opt for this.