So, I have a SLOW desktop upstairs that rarely gets used as it takes an age to chug into life & do anything. It must be 6yrs old now.
I also find that it is quite anti-social to have to go upstairs to use it, so tend not to bother that often.

I think I want a laptop. I can then mess about with photos etc. while still in the same room as my other half & be semi-sociable.
I want something that will not be totally outdated in a year or two, can handle the usual internet surfing but also deal with editing photos and doing some simple Solidworks stuff. Having recently got a little camcorder for on-the-bike action, it would be good if it could handle a bit os 640×480 video editing….
I was looking initially to spend £500, but have upped this to £600 based on what is about. I figured I’d need (like) an i5 processor, 6Gb ram or more, 500gb HDD or more & a dedicated graphics card. Don’t know if that is sufficient or overkill?? If it’s overkill, what would you suggest?

I have found this Acer on the John Lewis website:
http://www.johnlewis.com/231395777/Product.aspx

i5 2.4GHz
8GB RAM
750GB HDD
nVidia GeForce GT540M graphics card

anything better value out there? Do I need such a high spec?

Once i get a new laptop sorted, what should I do to it? Is Norton considered a no-no? I can just install it straight on there from my current licence. If it’s gonna make things all slow and rubbish, what should I get instead that will be as tech-free as possible and simple to keep up to date and running. Do I need internet security & some kind of separate firewall? How about Spy/malware?

I don’t want to bloat my new laptop out as soon as I get it!

Thanks in advance!

I know it’s not a question about Macs, but this didn’t go as well as I’d hoped……! 😆

Hmmmm, seeing as it took me ages to write this on Fri afternoon, I thought I’d give it one last go for the fresh Monday Morning eyes before it fades into sad, depressed obscurity…..

Anyone?

First of all, I appreciate the “anti-social” argument 🙂

While not really answering your question, I’ve decided to invest in an Android Tablet of some sort for those social reasons. The desktop PC upstairs will still be used for anything more meaty.

As for your Laptop – avoid putting Norton on it. In fact, try taking it off your PC and see if that improves it any. You might even find that a complete “refresh” of your PC, with a clean install of Windows will work wonders.

Stumpy, I’m a long way from a computer expert but we got the Acer below that one and it’s proved really good for general internet, Word stuff etc. I don’t do video editing but it’s fast (we had a glacial speed desk top like yourself) and I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t cope well enough.
The only negative is that the speaker isn’t very good but I have external ones connected anyway.
I was initially looking at one for your budget but was well advised that for general ‘stuff’ you don’t need half of what they offer. Eventually spent £350 and am glad I didn’t splash the extra.
Hope this is of help.

It seems like a pretty fair spec for what you have in mind, certainly cheaper than a similar spec Mac…

AV is a must for a Windows laptop and it will make it run more slowly. How much more will depend on what it is doing at the time. My last Windows laptop was a pretty decent spec, but used to grind to a halt when it was scanning large numbers of files. That’s the reason I went for a MacBook Pro, even with the extra costs involved.

One other point to note, any laptop you buy will almost certainly be loaded with junk trial software. Getting rid of this after the even may not be possible in all cases, and this _will_ slow you down. I’ve said in the past that the best way to get some performance back is to rebuild the machine from a vanilla OS (i.e. not the recovery disk with the rubbish still on).

AV is a must for a Windows laptop and it will make it run more slowly. How much more will depend on what it is doing at the time. My last Windows laptop was a pretty decent spec, but used to grind to a halt when it was scanning large numbers of files. That’s the reason I went for a MacBook Pro, even with the extra costs involved

If your AV is doing a full disk analysis it will indeed rapidly grind to a halt – but then you should never need to do one. Just configure it not to, or to only do so when you know you’re not going to be using the machine. All my Windows boxes have AV installed and it’s unnoticeable in day-to-day use. I use AVG but apparently the Microsoft stuff is pretty good (and free!) too.

Fully agree with the junk trial software point, though – if you can make sure you get a copy of Windows with the computer, and do a clean install before you do anything else to the machine.

Thanks for the replies.

druidh – yeah, I suspect that Norton isn’t doing my current desktop any favours. Especially as Norton will presumably be a lot more ‘bloaty’ than it was when I first got the PC all those years ago.
I did consider a fresh install, but it’s one of those things I never seem to find time for and there are drivers for stuff that I can’t find; the wi-fi dongle being the obvious one that springs to mind.
I am sure I could get it back up & running, but it seems like a lot of effort and I suspect it still won’t be particularly quick.

I always end up leaving weeks and weeks of photo’s on my cameras rather than stick them onto the computer, as it seems like a real ball ache (45 mins to download a 2Gb card last time I did it (from initial start-up to shutting down), whereas having a laptop means I could do it while sat in the living room…..

Gunz – I am thinking that the lower-priced laptops might be OK to start with, but would be outdated more quickly. Not sure if this is actually the case or not, hence my question about whether my proposed spec is overkill. I do edit some quite large photos though and want to try HDR photography and stuff, which I think uses quite a lot of computer processing to merge the images.
I don’t wanna get something that isn’t gonna cut the mustard, but with regards to your suggestion, I’d rather spend £350 than £600 if it will do the job adequately.

willard – yeah, I generally have scheduled scans turned off and just have the AV running real-time scanning. I also set the updates so it checks whether there are updates available, but then notifies me before downloading & installing so it doesn’t interrupt what I am doing.

Yeah, probably true that re-loading a PC with a bare bones OS will get me the fastest performance, but realistically I can’t see myself bothering with the effort that takes. I would like something reasonably quick, and reasonably future-proof that works off the shelf (and no, I don’t intend to stretch to a Mac 🙂 )

edit – mogrim – I was thinking along the lines of AVG and I think Cougar mentioned another one recently that he reckons is more effective (I think that’s what he said…). Most PCs come with a recovery disk, but I think that will have any other bloatware on it, rather than just the OS.

Microsoft Security Essentials is good enough security solution for most home uses (semi-professional anatomy students might need more robust solution) especially with Win7 and does not use slow down the computer.

I haven’t tried the linked machine but I’m very suspicious of consumer grade laptops in general (most of the so called professional / enterprise / business models are not that great either).
Try to get something with three year warranty, do regular backups and do not carry the computer from single corner.

stumpy01 – Member
(45 mins to download a 2Gb card last time I did it (from initial start-up to shutting down), whereas having a laptop means I could do it while sat in the living room…..

You could still do it while sat in the living room 🙂

Have you had a look on the usual sites like saveonlaptops and laptopsdirect?

I probably just format it straight away and re-install everything, olny takes a couple of hours really. Not to much hardwork.

As for the AV – Microsoft Security Essentials seems pretty good.

Windows Security Essentials is a good and unobtrusive AV package and it’s free. Personally I wouldn’t bother with anything else.

I would be cautious about trying to go too cheap AND want to be able to edit video. I don’t think there’s anything more intensive than video editing so if this is important to you look at the £600 side of your budget.

Also, are Acer actually any good? I’ve read bad stuff about them, my mates missus has an Acer and it was shit.

I think Lenovo, HP or Dell are fairly reliable.

Sounds like looking into Microsoft Security Essentials is worthwhile then…..

mmannerr – Member
…do not carry the computer from single corner.

Erm…..what does this mean? Do you mean don’t move the laptop around much (as it won’t be particularly durable?)?

druidh – Member
You could still do it while sat in the living room

It has been decreed that the desktop & associated cabinet is not allowed in the living room. It’s currently upstairs in the smallest bedroom with bookshelves and other stuff.

davidtaylforth – Member
Have you had a look on the usual sites like saveonlaptops and laptopsdirect?

I’ve looked on loads of different sites (not sure about those two in particular), but nowhere seems to be much, if any cheaper than John Lewis for a similar spec. And I have always had good customer service from John Lewis so I like the idea of being able to take it back in should I have any problems with it. I will have a quick look on those sites though….

davidtaylforth – Member
Also, are Acer actually any good? I’ve read bad stuff about them, my mates missus has an Acer and it was shit.

I think Lenovo, HP or Dell are fairly reliable.

Dunno, to be honest. My parents have got an Acer and it’s done them well for about 3 years. That was another thing in favour of John Lewis – I could go & have a fiddle with it and see what the build quality is like…

Acers are fine. I’d say they were a tier below Dell, Lenovo and HP, but then that’s already reflected in the price.

I was suggesting that you retain the “big” PC for doing stuff like loading your photos and use something smaller, more portable for browsing in the living room. Once you kicked off the “copy” function, there’s no need to sit and watch them being loaded.

druidh – Member

I was suggesting that you retain the “big” PC for doing stuff like loading your photos and use something smaller, more portable for browsing in the living room. Once you kicked off the “copy” function, there’s no need to sit and watch them being loaded.

True. But….it’s mainly the time to start-up that is slowing me down. That can sometimes be 30mins before it allows me to do anything useful. So I have to keep popping upstairs to see if it’s ready to accept my commands or not…..

I probably should do a refresh on that computer really, but……

It is worth getting a 1080P display – most lappys are 720P by default now and that is a pretty useless resolution for anything other than watching movies.

TurnerGuy – Member
It is worth getting a 1080P display – most lappys are 720P by default now and that is a pretty useless resolution for anything other than watching movies.

Why is that a useless resolution? As you say, most laptops I have been looking at appear to be 720p. What disadvantage is it, aside from being able to fit less on the screen?

I’ve been looking on saveonlaptops (thanks davidtaylforth) and there seems to be some good deals on there.

Just wondering whether the integrated Intel HD3000 graphics is any good compared to what is described as dedicated graphics. It is described as having up to 1274MB Shared Memory – presumably, this means it takes memory from the overall RAM, whereas a dedicated graphics card will use it’s own memory?

But….it’s mainly the time to start-up that is slowing me down. That can sometimes be 30mins before it allows me to do anything useful. So I have to keep popping upstairs to see if it’s ready to accept my commands or not…..

I probably should do a refresh on that computer really, but……

Re-install, don’t put Norton on (I say that rather than get rid off, as these things tend to leave their claws in things). Will take less time to do that than the amount you waste in a couple of weeks with it at the moment.

As for the lappy, personally I reckon you can spend rather less than £600 for your needs – a cheaper lappy won’t date any quicker than a more expensive one, but will depreciate less (given something you had to pay £600 for last year is now only £400).

Computers themselves don’t get slow – it’s the stuff we unwittingly install that makes them so. You could get your old PC to run as fast as it did when it was new if you do a little research and fixing.

720p is fine, don’t listen to them.

Re-install, don’t put Norton on (I say that rather than get rid off, as these things tend to leave their claws in things). Will take less time to do that than the amount you waste in a couple of weeks with it at the moment.

I wouldnt bother. I have an old PC (probably a similar age to yours) and I reformat it fairly regularly. It makes it run smoother, but its still shite. Watching Vimeo videos makes it lag

Thanks for all of the advice….

Looking on saveonlaptops I have found this:

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS_K53SC-SX307V_1156069.html

Intel® Core™ i5-2430M Dual Core
RAM 8GB
Hard Drive 500GB
Graphics Dedicated (NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520MX with 1GB DDR Dedicated Memory)

which is looking like a winner at the moment for £530.
Plus I’ve found it on the Debenhams Plus website for £508!

Rightly or wrongly, the desktop upstairs probably won’t ever get formatted & put back to it’s former erm, glory. I think it still has a USB 1 port on the front of it, to give it some indicator of it’s age….

I’m giving this one serious thought
http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=K73E-TY210V
A lad at work has the 15.3 version and he’s really pleased with it, no dramas a couple of months in.

I’m looking for something to replace my aging Dell Inspiron

Also meant to say he spent ages researching laptops prices etc etc and buying direct from these guys was cheapest. In my brief time looking for myself I’ve not seen it cheaper.

I shall be watching this with interest as it seems we have similar requirements. Just got to prize my credit card out of its hiding place and blow the cobwebs off now!

What disadvantage is it, aside from being able to fit less on the screen?

Precisely – you can’t get as much on screen.

Each edition of Windows seems to add larger icons, more toolbars, tabbed windows, which all take vertical space.

Editing photographs, movies, writing emails, manipulating spreadhseets, etc – you can get away doing it on less resolution displays but it is a lot nicer and more practical on a screen with more resolution.

You can go into the settings and make all the icons and menus/fonts smaller to compensate, or you can have a 1080P screen and make the adjustments and have an even more useful display.

Some lappys are 1440×960, which would be another option.

Also look at how glossy the screen is – if you will be using it where you will be picking up light sources from behind then a glossier screen might result in more eyestrain.

If you will be composing your next novel on it then you may be better off with a matt screen, as seen on more business orientated screens. Look on http://www.europc.co.uk for a Dell Vostro, Latitude or Precision, although I am not sure that they are as good a bargain as they used to be.

Other option is to get a lappy with a nice screen but not so exciting CPU/RAM/HD and use it to remote desktop to a decent spec desktop that is elsewhere in the house.

SOny F series Core i7 – £600

http://www.europc.co.uk/sony-vaio/sony-vaio-vpc-f13m0e-intel-core-i7-740qm-1-73-ghz-4-gb-500-gb-ms-windows-7-home-premium-x64-3.html

sturdylad – that ASUS looks interesting, as does that Sony, Turner Guy.

I see your point about viewing space on the screen…..at work I’ve got a hi-res 24″ wide screen Dell monitor & it’s great for the amount of things you can fit on the screen….

The ASUS screen does look good, but it’s an i3 processor, rather than an i5, with integrated graphics rather than a dedicated graphics card (but not sure whether that will matter) and only 4GB of ram…..

That Sony looks good for the money with that screen, i7 processor, dedicated graphics……but it’s refurbished.
What does that really mean? Off home now, but might get to have a look into it later……

Thanks chaps.

Both my last laptops have been refurbished from that site. With the first one I was, for some reason, able to buy an extra warranty for half price as well.

What it generally means is that they had a fault on delivery – or even just a scratch on the case, which has caused it to be returned – and the dead part replaced and tested.

The machine can then not be sold as new – so it is sold as refurbished.

It is the same deal as the Dell Outlet site – all the Dells returned either as doa or even just returned under the distance selling rules can then not be sold again as new – so they go on the outlet.

There are seveal companies now that take the Dell outlet stuff and resell it – the actual Dell Outlet is nowhere near as good as it used to be.

Some of the dells on that site come with the 3 year business warranty, which is nice. I am always wary of Sony stuff and want an extended warranty, but their professional F series stuff is suppossed to be better built than the cheaper E series stuff.

mmannerr
…do not carry the computer from single corner.

Erm…..what does this mean? Do you mean don’t move the laptop around much (as it won’t be particularly durable?)?

Carrying laptop from single corner will bend the chassis and more importantly the motherboard leading into problems later.
I know this sounds like old wives tales but I have had two Thinkpads suffer from this and this is laptop which has fairly advanced magnesium frame in it.
Feel free to carry it but do hold it from bottom when moving it.

The ASUS screen does look good, but it’s an i3 processor, rather than an i5

What are you planning on doing with it? It’s a bit like saying ‘well this car only has 350 bhp and this one 500bhp’

Other option is to get a lappy with a nice screen but not so exciting CPU/RAM/HD and use it to remote desktop to a decent spec desktop that is elsewhere in the house

Don’t – that will be rubbish. Not worth it unless you are processing HD video or something.

Each edition of Windows seems to add larger icons, more toolbars, tabbed windows, which all take vertical space

I am not sure they do actually – although I have noticed that W7 seems to default to a larger font (120%) which makes everything look a bit big and weird.

Personally, I like lots of screen space, but I have noticed that most people just surf the web and full screen their browser so all that lovely screen space is just white bars down the sides. If you are just surfing/emailing/writing docs then resolution is not that important. If you need the space, you’ll know you need it. If not, then you don’t.

Turnerguy – I did wonder if that was the case. Slight problems that have been rectified…..hmmmm. Something to bear in mind.

mmannerr – makes sense. Thanks for that. I wasn’t thinking of one corner when picking it up, but I guess that does stress it more than any other way of handling it.

molgrips – I have explained at the top what I’ll be using it for; general browsing, photo editing including HDR and stuff, some fairly straightforward Solidworks, perhaps some video editing (this won’t be primary use). From what I have read online i3 is considered fine for general browsing online, word processing etc. whereas i5 seems to be more suitable for higher intensity applications (Solidworks & large image editing??)

I think that I would like a higher-res screen but not if it’s at the consequence of a lot of performance. I’d consider a slight trade off….perhaps I should go to PC World or somewhere and see what the 15.6″ screens with a 768 (I think) resolution look like.
My desktop PC monitor isn’t that high res & it can be frustrating when editing images at 100%…..

Hmmmm, it’s all a compromise for a given price point I guess. Being a tight wad with other financial priorities doesn’t help! 🙂

Don’t – that will be rubbish. Not worth it unless you are processing HD video or something.

Why will it be rubbish?