Lobster wrote in
Apologies for the OT post but I know there are a lot of folk here who
are highly knowledgable on matters IT, and whose advice I trust...
SWMBO's been dropping birthday hints, and I'm looking for a
subnotebook computer, or whatever you call them. This is for use
outside the home; I suppose the main use will be internet/email
(mainly wifi, maybe very occasionally GSM via a mobile phone) and the
odd DVD and storing digital photos. Major criteria are bulk and
weight; she's not interested in the techie stuff (but of course she
will be when it doesn't work as fast or efficiently as she thinks it
should!). Definitely needs wifi, preferably DVD drive (even if as an
add-on).
To give you the idea - we currently have an elderly Dell whose
performance is probably acceptable, other than it weighs in at 3.4kg
and has a 34cm x 27cm footprint. I know she's seen dinky 1.2 kg one
like this "which looks like the sort of thing":
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Fujit..._GPJ:GBR-20220
0-002/version.asp?refsource=ldadwords&gclid=COalvbaa5ZMC FQLBsgodWHobZA
That particular model's about 800 quid. I suppose that would be OK if
need be; but just been doing a bit of googling, and find a massive
range in price and presumably specs for similar kit, and realise that
I don't really know what I should be looking for.
For example - dabs.com have a little HP machine at only 328 quid,
which seems way cheaper than everything else:
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=53DD Only has 1Gb
RAM and costs another 100 quid for an add-on DVD drive, which takes
it to, what, 450? but other than that it am I missing anything?
Any advice on this from you experts much appreciated.
An expert will be along soon but, in the meantime...
Acer Extensa 4220-101G08Mi
Celeron M 540 / 1.86 GHz
RAM 1 GB
HDD 80 GB
DVD±RW (+R double layer) / DVD-RAM
Gigabit Ethernet - WLAN : 802.11b/g
Win XP Pro
14.1" Widescreen TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )
£281.99 inc VAT
http://tinyurl.com/5tbpcz
Acer seem to have a good rep at the budget end and we've had no problems
with one that was bought a year ago. Alternatively, and probably a step up
in quality and features, we've got several Toshibas that have been very
satisfactory. Worth a look round the Insight site.
http://tinyurl.com/yvqdge
I won't pretend that the above are the laptops that you've dreamt about but,
for the money, I have no complaints. We use half a dozen Toshibas for
working away from the office and have never been let down.
--
PeterMcC
If you feel that any of the above is incorrect,
inappropriate or offensive in any way,
please ignore it and accept my apologies.