On 26/04/2015 16:22, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 26/04/2015 16:08, newshound wrote:
On 26/04/2015 13:21, Ronnie wrote:
On 26/04/2015 12:43, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 26/04/2015 12:22, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Time has come to replace the tower PC with a laptop, so I'm after some
advice from the learned people here, since I'm a computer numpty.

I'm looking for something around 16". I don't play games (only
solitaire) I don't watch films or download music. Don't want a
touchscreen, much prefer keyboard/mouse.

I use Word & Excel frequently, sometime quite big documents. I surf
the
net often & use e-mail a lot. We have 4G WiFi at home, probably won't
ever take it out, but will use upstairs in the office, on the deck &
downstairs in the lounge.

Reluctant to change from MS Windows simply because I know how to use
it.

Any advice on processor type, memory, make, supplier much appreciated.

Sorry, should have said, budget around the £500 mark.


This laptop is a beast for the price. I've used this firm for years,
they are very good.
Have a peek, this one is very good value for money and within your
budget.

http://www.cclonline.com/product/155...400-/NOT00530/




One question is whether it's going to be basically a desktop
replacement, except that you can take it into the lounge, kitchen,
bedroom or whatever.

That's exactly what it is.

If you are taking it "on the road" and potentially
rattling around in your van then as others have suggested it might be
worth considering something like a Dell business model. A bit more
robust and "modular" with more replaceable bits.

That said I have a couple of Acer "consumer" models which I use for
consultancy in retirement, and one or other of them has been travelling
with me to sites and client offices for the past year without mechanical
problems. These have 15.6 inch screens: small enough to fit in a
briefcase, big enough for visibility, separate numeric pad, and DVD
drive. If I were shopping for a "home" laptop I might get the next
screen size up. Although you can always hook it up to a bigger monitor.

Good idea, I have a bigger monitor. Ta.



Of course (just to stick an oar in), an alternative strategy is to have
a smaller laptop (which is more portable) and a larger monitor with full
size keyboard on a desk, for when you need to do something more serious
than you might in front of the telly.

About 6 months ago, I got my external monitor at the same time as I
bought a tablet and the laptop now hardly leaves the desk, unless I'm
travelling for work and want to write in transit etc. The tablet is
just fine for all the web-based, email, etc (ie non-work) things. Apart
from coming here, as there's no decent news reader app.

Plugging it all up takes about 10 seconds (I just tried), so it's hardly
complex to remove or replace the laptop.