Travel Laptop

[Ron Gibson]

Missus needs a laptop as she is staring to travel a lot more with her job and spends up to 4 hours on the train. Nothing to fancy required but needs to be compact and light 12 inch screen maybe and decent battery life. Looking to connect to tinternet with 3 dongle (would 1gb-£10 a month package be enough for general surfing?)Any recommendations gratefully received,
ta,
Ron,
ps please keep it simple, computer numpty asking the question.

 

[Blackal]

I've always been a fan of IBM/Lenovo laptops, but when you get down to their 12" models - they don't include an optical drive.

If you have a look at their 14" models, and see if that is small enough - I still reckon they are the best, but only if you buy new off Ebay - where there are considerable savings to be made. You still get a full warranty.

The Samsung Q45 intel Core 2 duo T5450 1gb 160 gig 12.1" machine appears to get good write-ups and isn't a whole heap of money.........


If your wife does a lot of typing (and can touch-type), then it could be worthwhile going for the Lenovo - the keyboard is far superior to other machines. In any case - she should give any laptop a keyboard-test to see if she would be happy with it.

Check out the size/weight of the power adaptor - no point in getting a small/light laptop if the adaptor is like a house-brick!

Al

 

[Gonzo]

I've always been a fan of IBM/Lenovo laptops, but when you get down to their 12" models - they don't include an optical drive.

If you have a look at their 14" models, and see if that is small enough - I still reckon they are the best, but only if you buy new off Ebay - where there are considerable savings to be made. You still get a full warranty.

The Samsung Q45 intel Core 2 duo T5450 1gb 160 gig 12.1" machine appears to get good write-ups and isn't a whole heap of money.........


If your wife does a lot of typing (and can touch-type), then it could be worthwhile going for the Lenovo - the keyboard is far superior to other machines. In any case - she should give any laptop a keyboard-test to see if she would be happy with it.

Check out the size/weight of the power adaptor - no point in getting a small/light laptop if the adaptor is like a house-brick!

Al

Wot he sez.

I use a 15" Lenovo Thinkpad but with power adapter and all the sh!te I carry around, I wished I'd save a kg and gone for the smaller one, albeit with a smaller screen. Yes, the DVD drive isn't built in but you can have it back at base for when you need to play discs, install stuff - which is not very often for me.

Whichever size, these are marvellous machine, been using them for 10 years.

 

[silvermog]

Apple MacBook, 13in screen, light, easy to lug around, poly case stands up to abuse very well, power brick is small and can be used with fly-lead or direct plug in to socket.

Don't let the OS hold you back, I've got 3 friends now who are XP addicts, but bought MacBooks for travel, installed Windows under VMware for apps they absolutely must use, 2 now never fire up VMware (they've switched), one is happy to run VMware for some company apps, but generally runs OSX apps.

3G dongles work fine, WiFi locks on very strongly and just works fine (much better than most XP/Vista installs).

Wouldn't consider anything else these days, but a ThinkPad is a great solid laptop otherwise, would probably be my only other alternative.

 

[Ron Gibson]

Ta for the replies, Looks like it may come down to 'I like the look of that one' never mind what it can do, off to the shops/ebay for a looksee next week.

 

[Blackal]

Ta for the replies, Looks like it may come down to 'I like the look of that one' never mind what it can do, off to the shops/ebay for a looksee next week.

In that case......... The Samsung Q45 comes with a nice red lid

(good luck )


Al

 

[Gonzo]

Looks like a reasonable deal:

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4ZM0

 

[Blackal]

Looks like a reasonable deal:

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4ZM0

It is indeed If I was looking for a new 15" laptop - it'd be near the top of the list.

Just gone to a 11.1" widescreen Sony - struggling with the keyboard

Al

 

[Gonzo]

It is indeed If I was looking for a new 15" laptop - it'd be near the top of the list.

Just gone to a 11.1" widescreen Sony - struggling with the keyboard

Al

Well, anyone would tell you that its the last 4 inches that make all the difference.

 

[Yoda]

I'm after a laptop for my daughter as she's off to university this summer.

By choice, I'd prefer to avoid Mr Gates' Vista and stick to XP.

What would the wise world recommend?

 

[JohnnyOldBoy]

Why not Vista ?

I'm after a laptop for my daughter as she's off to university this summer.

By choice, I'd prefer to avoid Mr Gates' Vista and stick to XP.

What would the wise world recommend?

I just bought a Dell Laptop with Vista for my friends daughter who is off to University. I use XP at work and have XP on 3 PC's at home so this was my first experience with Vista.

I had heard all the doom and gloom stories about Vista and was sceptical that it would go smoothly.

It was installed on the Dell already, I used update to load and install Service Pack 1.

It worked fine, recognised our printers, wireless hub and digital cameras without having to load a single driver. Completely painless.

I prefer the interface and the kids picked it up quickly as well.

John

 

[SilverFish]

There is a good roundup of bargain laptop's at TechRadar.

There's different models and specs - including one Lenovo.

 

[Betty Swollocks]

Picked up a 2nd hand 12" Apple powerbook last year.... brilliant. Battery life is about 4 hours and I was later given a second battery from the original owner, who had found it lying in his desk. (Also about 4 hours life)

I use it mainly for surfing the net whilst at work, as I am not allowed access from the work's system.

I use a 3 internet dongle and opted for the 3 gig per month contract at £15. I consistently use only a third of a gig. Loads of surfing and a bit of youtube. So, The £10 per month ( 1 gig ) should be good enough for your use.

 

[brianmaslen]

We use Thinkpads at work and they are very good solid machines the T42 is excellent and light, unfortunately mine is due for an upgrade soon and the replacement machine is heavier and larger. But to be honest I bought my daughter a Samsung with 12inch screen as she wanted something smart, small and light and the power supply is small and light too, came with Vista which has proved to be stable to use. Fits the bill perfectly, remember if you go to a slightly larger screen then you will pay less and also the keyboard will be better for typing. My son has now purchased the next model up in the range which was a £100 less. I buy most of my electrical goods from John Lewis as you get a decent price and 2 year min warranty, and they do not quibble and offer a 28 day exchange and price match. The MS Office Student pack along with Norton is a great deal as you get licence for 3 computers for a great price, £90 I think.

 

[Yoda]

Ordered one of these over the weekend from Mr Dabs:-

http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...5&NavigationKey=11105&ExposedRefinement=11001

Looks decent value for money.