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Girlfriend is thinking of turning freelance but her software only runs on windows so she'd need a cheapish laptop purely to work on. I've no idea what to look for or avoid really, as i've bought macs. Wouldn't need to be a powerhouse, 1/2gb ram and 120gb hard drive should be fine but im lost when it comes to whats included software wise and the windows OPs.
On a different note can anyone recommend a decent ipod speaker thing, tbh Id thought about a cheap seperates system but because of where we're living and hassle of moving stuff, a speaker stand thing is going to be much easier. Don't think speakers for the comp will be great as its a laptop and shifts about the flat. cheers muchly!
1/2 gb of ram might be a problem with a Vista laptop. To work on all day I guess you would want a 17 inch screen. In fact if portability isn't a must you would probably be better (in terms of value for money) with a desktop system.
I'm pretty happy with my HP Pavillion [Entertainment] laptop. Good speakers too. Worth a look.
sorry i was meaning 1 or 2gb of RAM, portability would prob be a factor because if she's working freelance she'll want to be able to work out of the house sometimes ad sit in the sun sometimes
I think i'd be tempted by a £350 dell laptop from Tesco. Good solid spec for the dosh. (The 1545 model has a widescreen errr screen, and the 1525 has a normal ratio 15")
http://direct.tesco.com/q/N.1999033$267.aspx
double post
anymore suggestions?
An idea of budget might help.
However for most people any laptop in the £300-400 range will be more than suitable for your needs. The larger the screen and the higher the screen resolution the better. Get her to check out the keyboard layout and make sure she likes it. And the more RAM the better. Again for most people CPU/Graphics card is irrelevant as they'll never use them much. Extended warranties aren't much cop in most instances, don't bother with them. Probably best to buy from a local shop as you can go there and whinge when/if it breaks.
When you get it uninstall *all* the shit that's installed on there, I'm yet to see anything worthwhile in the crap software bundles you get on most laptops/PCs.
Spend a decent amount if it's to be used all day. If it's going to be a true portable then I'd want a battery that lasts more than 60 minutes (actually I'd want a lot more). Battery life is a bigger problem on the bigger screens. Also check out the screen quality...using outside...how does it handle reflection. Also consider mouse and keyboard...lots of typing (?)..think about an separate keyboard and mouse (bluetooth devices work well for me...check the laptop has bluetooth).
Buying at John Lewis will get you an extra year warranty (and you can get them to price match local shops)
On the speaker/ipod terms of thing, I'd be really tempted to get Harman Kardon Sound Sticks linked up to an ipod dock....Would be better than alot of the ipod docks, and has the opportunity to be used with laptops etc...i know you said you didn't want that...but...you got it..
yeah the harmons do appeal, ill think about it.
as for the laptop yeah all that stuff applies to a mac too, i was more looking for a specific model folk would recommend, 400 or under prob 13 or 15" screen and 2gb of ram would be fine, its word documents etc she needs to use. possibly going to get a big monitor and keyboard etc for existing laptop so that would be transferred over