I need to change my PC for a laptop....

[dippingatoe]

..... ready for when I "hit the road"

What does this one look like?

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/toshiba-satellite-u840w-10j-14-4-cinematic-ultrabook-silver-black-17056575-pdt.html#longDesc

Thanks

 

[vwalan]

i cant help you there . i got this one here as a gift .its an acer travelmate 5310. battery is totally stuffed so it stays on charge when ever i use it . but it works .

 

[BigMomma]

Do you need a laptop ? What will you be using it for ? Laptops are quite heavy to cart around, even in a rucksack when out looking for the WiFi hotspots in McDees or Cafes etc. Would an iPad serve the same purpose ? You can get one that can take a 3G/4G SIM Card so you can use it as a phone !! So if it is just Emails, Skype and that sort of stuff, take a look at the iPads they are small and lightweight, 10 hour battery life between charges ...... May be the way to go unless you need the extra functionality of a Laptop.

 

[coolasluck]

I have also been looking out of intrest recently although very expensive you can buy a desktop replacement laptop,these have bigger screens and better everything but cost about a grand and are bid and heavy.Ok if you plan on not taking it everywhere you go.I want a big screen for watching movies on and a decent audio system.

 

[vwalan]

get away .i had a fugitsu or what ever they call them .before this one again old secondhand .
use it here more than away . get a cheap diggi telly cheap outside omni directional antenna and just watch local tv where ever you are .use english default on the language section and you may be amazed . but their tv is funny sometimes .
you can spend a fortune on gizmo,s . better to leave the top of the door open and see the real world .

 

[Wandering Star]

Hi DT, the Toshiba range of laptops are very nice and user friendly. The model you are looking at is a fairly low-to middle range model and perfectly great for all your normal pc uses. The only issue I would have with it is that it is on the Windows 8 platform - at the moment this is having teething problems and may cause some frustration to you -it certainly did me! The second, and not quite so important thing is the relatively small memory -500 gig is a little on the small side these days. If you take pictures and store them, download movies etc you will soon burn that down and then the machine will start getting very cranky! Just my tuppenyworth! The S70 10 ac has double the memory for about £100 extra, plus lots more snacky bits 'n' bobs! The Toshiba S70 A 10C looks to have double the memory and several more snacky features, maybe a little more money, but a superior machine

 

[BigMomma]

I too will be keeping a laptop, you cannot totally do without them especially if you use other software e.g. AutoRoute, ACSI DVD/Mapping (although you can get an ACSI 'App'), my SatNav updates etc. so need a laptop for this sort of stuff. Where the iPad comes in handy is that it has multiple functions which can save you carrying loads of technology e.g.
As stated above, use it to do your Emails, Skype friends & Family, do your online banking, browse the web and basically most of the usual stuff you would do on your laptop. However, and this is where the portability (size and weight) comes into it's own, read iBooks (even download your Kindle Library if you have one) so now you do not need to carry your Kindle, download your music library from iTunes (I have my whole music collection on my iPad) and so don't have to carry an iPod, takes pictures and videos so don't have to carry a camera (Picture quality is fantastic and you can store up to 5Gb in iCloud for 'Free'. If you need more space you can pay to increase the storage limit).

So, if you already have a laptop that works fine and does everything you need then keep that and invest in an iPad, best of both worlds

 

[coolasluck]

I recently bought a 2tb external hardrive mainly for movies and music i personally dont like putting all my photos online,then again im not into social network sites either.Speaking to a freind who has the latest samsung phone i asked as to why he did not go the i-phone route and he said it was limited and that the samsung can use a lot more apps e.t..c and he fealt the i phone to be limited.
I do like the look of the i-pad though i do think them to be a great idea and can see the sense in marrying the phone up to this.The best thing of all although i am not 100 per cent on this but with apple you dont get the virus problems that you associate with windows os .So when you dissapear how do you find getting online b.m what kind of package will you have?

 

[Nomadic]

Have a look at :
http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=7&c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

You can order to your own spec. if you want, but the overall offering is good.

Had no problems at all with my inspiron, and it was sub £300.

Before that had an Acer, and as WVallen says, its was always on charge.

 

[BigMomma]

So when you dissapear how do you find getting online b.m what kind of package will you have?

I am with O2 on monthly contract and will keep that in the short term to see how good it is. It gives us 2Gb data allowance per month between iPhone and iPad and unlimited free calls and texts within the UK. Outside of UK we have a free 'travel' bolt on (part of the higher rate contract)which means that we can use the phone to make calls whilst in Europe and each call costs 50 pence which I think is a bloody good deal comp[ared to some of the other tarrifs around. If we use up our 2Gb data allowance can buy more. However, I shall be striving to use 'free hotspots' whenever available and only use my Data Allowance if this is unavailable. Is it a good Deal/Service.......... I will tell you early next year once we have had chance to try it

 

[gone roaming]

I too need a laptop, the acer notebooks are nice and with extra long lasting batteries - up to 10 hours which is handy if like me you enjoy wild-camping. Got mine 2nd hand/refurbished from a pc shop for a reasonable amount. My eyes aren't up to using text on a little mobile phone any more I'm afraid.

 

[BigMomma]

My eyes aren't up to using text on a little mobile phone any more I'm afraid.

Like PC's, you can enlarge text on iPads/iPhones But if you prefer to use a laptop then that is all that matters, what 'you' need

 

[johnnerontheroad]

Hi, I have the same laptop got it last week and it is fine for what I need the only thing it has not got is a CD/DVD drive. I had a net book before and found it too small this is more versatile. I'm no computer buff so hope this helps, by the way I got the ex-display and it was reduced even further so may be worth a try at your local store.

Dave

 

[happy campers]

Would recommend a sony vaio although expensive i.m.o is worth it.eg
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/sony-fit-15-svf1521p2eb-15-6-touchscreen-laptop-black-21350485-pdt.html
and you can claim £100 cash back so it works out at £499!

 

[gone roaming]

Hi, I have the same laptop got it last week and it is fine for what I need the only thing it has not got is a CD/DVD drive. I had a net book before and found it too small this is more versatile. I'm no computer buff so hope this helps, by the way I got the ex-display and it was reduced even further so may be worth a try at your local store.

Dave

That's right, but it's nice and light with long battery time and rechargeable from the car charger via an adapter. I tend to download software from the net these days anyway and take a external drive with me for photos etc.

 

[chrisjones18]

we have had a Sony vgc-v2m for 9 years, small storage space so needed a external hard drive.
last week it broke down for the first time---cost of repair=£2, for a battery and a lot of my free hours to fix it, so in that respect they are very good value.
would i buy another Sony, easy answer to that ----------yes
the wife has a Samsung Tab2, that is also a great bit of kit for the cost.

 

[Dunroamin]

If you want small my opinion is netbook rather than Ipad , cheaper ,more versatile, more prog options,long battry life and hooked up to a gps you have a navi. We have 2 second hand Lenovo Thinkpads not the quickest but proven workhorses, you can also remove the dvd drive and insert a second hard drive in seconds ,a second hand docking station with extra usb ,lpt and com sockets for 12 euros.We also have an Acer netbook , I am normally no Acer fan because along with a third of the pcs in the world we run XP and you have to build your own installation disc because the drivers are not on the original. On Heikes laptop she has Win XP and Suse Linux together and on mine Win 7 and XP. On the Acer I have XP and Linux Mint.We have a lot of grafics that we could not afford to lose and double them up on laptop and external hard drives along with movies.

 

[BigMomma]

I certainly don't want to get into a debate about which is better, net book or iPad as I think they both do a job. Likewise, I may have an iPad but need my laptop as well. Not sure why a net book is more versatile or has more programme options as their are 'Apps' for almost everything and a lot of them are completely free. IPad doesn't need to be hooked up to GPS as it already has mapping installed and you can search for places and then set a route to them on foot or in a vehicle, same with the iPhone. However, agree that these are expensive and there are cheaper alternatives. I like the iPad because it connects to the PC and iPhone and updates all devices automatically when connected to WiFi so you can read email on iPhone and then delete it, it will automatically delete the same copy on iPad and PC. Write notes on iPad and update from iPhone and it automatically updates all devices, same with Contacts and Phone lists. Not sure if net book does this as well though I think it's a matter of what you want or need. Mother-in-Law has a net book and it does everything she needs I think the advantage that Net Books or iPads have over a laptop is size and weight. If you do not have WiFi access and you need to go out and find a hotspot, a net book and iPod are easier to carry around. But at the end of the day it is good for consumers to have a range of products to choose from depending on depth of pockets and requirements to upload/download software

 

[coolasluck]

Well get you b.m quite the pro now arent you when you all finishe squabllng let me know coause i havent the fogiest and yes my spelling is crap mainly because of this keyboard but i am now past caring

 

[vwalan]

just use a lap top . is it really that important to be actively going looking for wifi. ?
if its free and available ok . cant be bothered carrying anything just in case specially if walking .
if its that important go to a library its normally free there for a period of about an hour .