Sunday 4 May 2008

help needed


As I mentioned in yesterday's post I am considering buying a laptop, I can't afford to spend much on this especially after spending so much on a new bed. Obviously I will need to be able to blog on it and as you are aware I like to use pictures both my own and ones I find on the net. I also like to listen to my music. Sometimes I need to create word documents and excell spreadsheets. I shall need to use it on a wireless connection as I am most likely to use it in my bedroom more than anywhere else.


I have looked at laptops online, some at places like PC world, some at Novatech which is a local company that makes computers and equipment. I have even looked at Tesco online. Dell and a number of other sites. There are quite a few refurbished laptops on sale on some sites but would a refurbished laptop be reliable ? I don't want to spend more than I need to buying a laptop but I don't want to get a cheap one that I then end up spending loads on because it isn't reliable. I have worked out that I need at least 516MB but 1GB would be good 60GB to 120GB hard drive, DVD and wireless together with either windows XP or Vista



but my problem is where to get it for and how much to pay for it. which processor is best for my needs......and I am not thinking about my womanly needs this time.


I keep coming back to the Fujitsu Siemens so it is looking like it will be one of those. There is one at £299 but another for £379 but 2x as much memory.


decisions decisions...........



I also need help on how to fix a problem with my desk top it has decided that it nolonger recognises the wireless adaptor. It isn't the adaptor that is faulty as I ahve tried two and the same happens. It isn't the usb port as it is the same with all them, every now and then it does recognise it for a few seconds then we lose it again. It appears to be a problem with the driver, which I have rolled back . I have uninstalled and reinstalled I ahve also tried system restore. But nothing seems to work so we are back to one computer between us again!!




8 comments:

Utter Basketcase said...

Gosh... I'm not good at this stuff! I'll leave this one to someone that knows what they are talking about! :-) Good luck with it! xx

Ron said...

Evening Lady~

Listen, I only had a laptop for about 4 days and then returned it because I just don't like using them. But the one I got was WONDERFUL and not very expensive. It was an ACER (which I did MUCH research on before I purchased it) so I know their GOOD.

Here in the States, it's literally impossible to get a computer WITHOUT Vista. I got a new computer about a year ago and it came with Vista.

And here's my STRONG advice to you. If the computer you buy has Vista...DO NOT get anything less than 1GB of RAM. The computer I got, had 512MG and I regret it. Vista needs a lot of memory to function fully. Mine functions OK, but I keep my computer very clean and uncluttered, to keep the memory full. But eventually I will have to get more memory.

My computer presently, is an HP Compaq desktop and I LOVE it. I had an HP before this one and had great luck with it. Compaq is another GOOD brand that is also inexpensive. So you may want to go online to HP and see what they have to offer.

I hope this helps you out a bit.

Good luck!

Vi said...

http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?sortfilter=ascend&intStoreID=5&intCatID=10&limit=10&page=1

Here's where I buy my computer stuff from, it's about the cheapest site around (hunk found it for me) as you see, the laptop I think you are looking at is £20 cheaper on this site, but there are loads of others to choose from.

I agree with Ron, Acer is pretty good. But they'e got a HP on this site for about the same price, and that's Hunks fave, says they are the best (and comps are his business)

Once again, who is your internet provider, cause I've been having the same problem as you, and wondering if it's the actually server (virgin) than the computer.

Lady in red said...

giggle thanks for just dropping by lol it is always good to see you have been lol

Lady in red said...

ron I have never been keen on laptops much preferring desk top but I think now is the time to change.

I have seen quite a few Acer's in my search. I think over here it has been impossible to buy a new computer without Vista since the start of 2007 although this computer I am on now is XP2007 which I don't think was ever made public. It was installed by my friend who works repairing and updating computers although he specialises in printers. He rescued this computer from a firm that he was installing updated computers for. It has very little memory as he scetioned off the spare memory for me. I have lost contact with him over the last 6 months or so.

I was wondering about 1gb there are even some that are 2gb for just £70 more so although I know that would be better I have to decide whether I can spare the extra cash that I would like to use to pay off some of my utility bills. We had a HP from PC world for the boys but we had loads of trouble with it. I guess co,puters are like cars you can never guarantee that your one will be trouble free when the next one exactly the same could well have no problems.

Thanks for your advice I shall certainly bear it in mind.

Lady in red said...

Vi thank for that link I shall give it a look I think I did see it last night but dont think I actually used it.

Annie Wan said...

i found my laptop liberating - i can go anywhere in the house with it and even take it out with me.

as i didn't play pc games i thought i'd switch to a mac. i managed to get hold of a second hand macbook from a fella whose job is computers and have hardly touched my pc desktop since.

the darling has a fujitsu siemens T5450 and he finds it does what he wants. i think it has 1.66 Ghz with a 2Gb memory. he got it from comet for £399 at the beginning of the year. so it could be cheaper now or been superseded by something more advanced!

Sage said...

As much memory as you can afford, that way it will last you longer and same for hard disk space; programs are needing much more now than ever before and if you want to be able to use it for future releases as well as storage then you need as much as you can afford.

Personally I like Dell, and you can specify what you like on their site.. they build the pc to order and install the software for you; take out the extended warranty for 3 years it will be worth it as much more can go wrong with a laptop than a desktop as they are more portable.

External storage drives are available for your files, a 250GB drive will cost in the region of £80 but not useful for programs.

Hope this helps.

Sage