Laptop recommendations?

faetal on 31/5/2014 at 19:53

My university laptop is soon being handed back and I'm looking to get a new laptop, mostly for MS Office, but it would also be nice if I could do some indie & retro gaming on it. Looking for something not too expensive, which will be ok with large documents containing a lot of images, plus can run a few games. Watching movies also a fairly big chunk of the action. I'm asking as I've never bought a laptop so am not au fait with their relative specs and cost. Any tips would be greatly appreciated :)

[EDIT] Current contenders:

(http://www.ebuyer.com/542793-samsung-ativ-book-9-lite-np915s3g-k02uk) Samsung ATIV book 9 lite

(http://www.ebuyer.com/579702-asus-t100ta-pc-t100ta-dk002h) ASUS T100 TA

SubJeff on 1/6/2014 at 00:40

I used to hate people who suggested this, but that was until I used my gfs (which she got to replace a Lenovo).

Get a Mac Air.

Seriously. I got one and it's honestly been the best thing ever. I've had a lot of experience with laptops because my gf and ex-gf have been through several and I used all of them a lot, and I've used a bunch of friend's laptops. Nothing has been as good as the Mac Air. There are a couple of things you need to get used to (the folder system and install methods) but other than that there is very little not to like. Keyboards are good, trackpad is the best thing ever (ever! I can't emphasise this enough - it's beyond anything else and is really customisable), screen and sound are good and it fits all your criteria. You can get Word on them and you can even dual boot Windows if you must. There are loads of Steam games for Mac.

faetal on 1/6/2014 at 18:51

Not interested in Apple. My music editing software is windows only. Also, you pay a premium for Apple stuff and with my wedding just over a month away and a house move just after that, premiums are out. Also, the software thing. But yeah, I get that Apple products are nice. I'm not even that fussed about profile or portability. I'm strong enough that a 2 kg laptop won't bother me and I'm mostly looking for a laptop which stays in one place for long periods while I work, but that I can change that place easily. I don't need to shave with it or anything.

Al_B on 1/6/2014 at 19:50

Quote Posted by faetal

(http://www.ebuyer.com/542793-samsung-ativ-book-9-lite-np915s3g-k02uk) Samsung ATIV book 9 lite

(http://www.ebuyer.com/579702-asus-t100ta-pc-t100ta-dk002h) ASUS T100 TA

The storage on both of those would worry me, particularly the ASUS. 32GB will be really restrictive and even 128GB is worryingly small on the Samsung.

I know that some people don't like HP machines but I've personally not had any problems with them. If you're OK with not having a touchscreen then this looks like a good bet: (http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-15-n268sa-15-6-laptop-black-silver-21862441-pdt.html) HP Pavilion 15-n268sa. It has reasonable processing and GPU performance for a laptop and with 8GB RAM and a 1TB hard drive should be sufficient for a reasonable amount of time.

Edit: A similar laptop with slightly worse performance in the GPU area and no optical drive that I'm currently using is the (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1512078.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=cgid:9626854382|tsid:41408|cid:177976022|lid:54842921573|nw:g|crid:38920148822|rnd:8013695958014424334|dvc:c|adp:1o4) Acer V5-552. If your budget is a bit tight then I can definitely recommend it.

faetal on 1/6/2014 at 20:10

Thanks for the advice. I definitely don't want to be too slim on storage and hadn't noticed those specs (should have). Touch screen is not a necessity, I get how it'd be nice with W8, but I honestly think I'd prefer to not have fingerprints on the screen. I don't need it for hardcore gaming as I'll still have my desktop PC, but it's nice to have the option to play a few less demanding games while on the move.

Al_B on 1/6/2014 at 20:35

In my opinion a multi-touch trackpad does away with a lot of the need for a touchscreen and I certainly haven't missed not having it.

faetal on 1/6/2014 at 20:38

Noted. I'm getting a few recommendations on the facesbook too, so I shoul dbe able to Frankenstein all the tips together into a decision that suits my needs.

SubJeff on 1/6/2014 at 23:10

Quote Posted by faetal

Not interested in Apple. My music editing software is windows only. Also, you pay a premium for Apple stuff

You can install Windows on a Mac and dual boot.

I'm not recommending it based on profile or portability. If you had more money I'd suggest a Macbook Pro - the Air suggestion was due to the lower cost only. I wouldn't get a Pro - far too much money for a laptop!

You do pay a premium for Apple stuff but if you take a look at the specs they are pretty impressive. And everything really does just work. I value the customer service too - anything goes wrong and they'll replace it, no questions asked. I got the older Mac Air and was told the 2013 version, with the faster processor and increased battery life, was coming out in a few months. When it came out the next month, outside of the 30 day returns period, and I gave feedback they called me and arranged a swap.

If you think they're too expensive I get it. If you think you'll not really, really like one I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I don't do Apple either. Or at least I didn't. The number of times I said that...

Renzatic on 2/6/2014 at 02:00

I'm gonna back up Subjeff on this one....kinda. A 13" 128GB SSD MBA (OLOL DIAF AFIAK) is $999, competitively priced with other ultrabooks. You're not paying the Apple premium for it, and you'll be getting a solid machine that can't be matched by anything else in its size and weight class.

Oh, and it can last up to 12 hours on a charge.

BUT...

Office for Mac does kinda suck in comparison to the Windows version. It's functional, but it's apparently nowhere near as smooth, and isn't close to having feature parity. This might change now that MS is fully supporting OSX with Office 365, but for now, if you want to use good Office on a Mac, you'll want to dual boot.

As for the "I don't do Apple" thing. I don't have a problem with Apple as a company. It's the creepy, overly obsessive fans I take issue with.

faetal on 2/6/2014 at 06:37

Don't get me wrong, I like Apple's products, but since PC does what I need it to do, I'd sooner spend the price difference between a PC & equivalent spec Mac on something else. To quote from my very own facebook:

"Mobile desktop is exactly the description of what I need. Not huge, but doesn't need to be ultra thin or light or small. I'm really only interested in having a laptop I can do work on and maybe some music editing stuff if I decide that needs to be portable at some point. Nothing tremendously fancy. I'd say my basic specs are at least 4 gb RAM, at least 1 TB HDD (or smaller SSD and I'll buy a 1 TB external drive), at least an i5 or AMD equivalent (anyone know what that is?) and preferably separate video card as I may play the occasional game on it. If that can be had for <£500 (or up to £600 if something amazing is on special offer or there is a "too good to miss" factor), then I'm a happy camper."