Author Topic: Hopeless at making decisions!  (Read 6433 times)

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Offline Penelope

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Hopeless at making decisions!
« on: March 16, 2016, 10:28:08 AM »
We have a fairly old Fujitsu laptop.  It is only used for COL (!!) , emails, facebook, google, ebay etc. and I like to store my photos on it.

I have been looking on line and with a limited budget I have no idea what is the best thing to buy.  I have a Kindle which my son tells me I can access anything on, but as an old fashioned typist, I struggle to use any keyboard that is not a "proper" keyboard.  (I was trained on a manual typewriter, but have of course managed to progress to a computer!!)

I don't like the "touch" keyboards and like one with proper keys.   I have found a Lenovo notebook for £119 or £149 on line from PC World and it has 2GB of memory and 32gb of storage.  I am pretty sure that in the future I could buy some kind of extension thingy that would increase it's capacity to store more things if needed. 

I hate making decisions about spending this kind of money and wondered if anyone has any suggestions?  Is 2GB enough?
My son is an IT technician but always errs on the side of the best you can possibly buy with amazing graphics (??) etc because he plays games on his computer and that is important to him.   However, he has no need to use the laptop so it really will only be for my own use. Of course if money were no object, I would go with his advice, but the budget is very tight!! 

The laptop I have needs a new battery and charger which is going to cost at least £50 anyway, so just thinking I may as well spend a bit extra and get the whole thing!

Penny,   Dexter (cavalier x poodle), Alfie (Whippet cross)  and  Maximus the cocker spaniel!!

RIP my 2 most gorgeous cocker girls - Buffy and Harriet - both waiting for me at the bridge. Joined by my beloved Josie taken too soon and Suki aged 13 :(

Offline Barry H

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Re: Hopeless at making decisions!
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2016, 11:43:28 AM »
Yes, it's a nightmare!  The Lenovo sounds good on the face of it, but may only have a smallish screen (that may not matter to you though).  Obviously, the more memory and hard drive space the better (saves having to upgrade again in the short term so spending a bit more can be cheaper in the long run).

Can highly recommend laptopsdirect.co.uk if you're on a budget.   You can filter by price/brand and just about any other parameter.  Plenty of other choices online though do check small print/warranties.

Like breeds of dog, everyone has their favourite brand.  You may get inundated with 'we bought an x for not much £ and it's been brilliant', but it's one of those buying decisions that you need to do a bit of research and can therefore be a bit more confident about what you buy. 

Hope that helps!

Offline Jaysmumagain

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Re: Hopeless at making decisions!
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2016, 12:25:33 PM »
My husband has a Leveno from his company it is a notepad -I think :005: it can be ideal as works away and easy to carry - at home it is plugged into printer large vdu and key board and works like any office computer would, not sure if the one you are looking at will do this. If it did you could use your keypad as normal :D

Agree the screen on his notepaddy thing is smaller than the 15in laptop.

Must admit Penny, 2 years has gone bye with OH asking would I like a new laptop for christmas birth day etc, this is usually because he sits there with his I Pad watching sports etc when away and my old thing cant play things from Sky Go as too old to be compatable - so I have a good old moan -  mine is an old reconditioned Dell which I got from my company several years back they clear it of data extra, but it came with complete Micro Soft Office installed and as I used this daily at work seemed an ideal option. It is at least 10 year plus old or more. 

I know I must get a new one - but its like a comfy old chair.



Good luck in your hunting.....Julie
Cocker kisses and cuddles just make my day!


You are always with me darlings Jaypup and my precious Oliver you are so missed

Offline Markr64

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Re: Hopeless at making decisions!
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2016, 01:15:52 PM »
Have a look at www.ebuyer.com as they will beat the PC world price and have a huge selection with honest reviews on most products.

Offline MIN

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Re: Hopeless at making decisions!
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2016, 01:23:09 PM »
Chome book is another light weight  lap top sort of thingy if you just want to browse the web, email , facebook etc
  OH has a Samsung one . It was About £200 off the internet.

ps are you not suppose to be resting
Run free and fly high my beautiful Gemma
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Offline Penelope

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Re: Hopeless at making decisions!
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2016, 02:23:31 PM »
Tee hee.  I am supposed to be resting!  :005:

Unfortunately the gas board have been replacing the old pipes in our area (AKA digging up the pavements and making the most awful noise!)  and every time I settle down for a nap, either they start their jack hammer up (which feels as if it is actually inside my headache) or knock on the door to "keep me updated" as they quickly realised that Trev is not happy with them!  (They insist on parking their vans, diggers, jack hammers and other torturous instruments outside our front gate meaning he has to walk further and further every time he comes home - guaranteed to make him Mr Grumpy!)

I repeatedly remind them I am on total rest, but they just laugh about how behind schedule they are!  (Maybe if they got here at a reasonable time and started work before mid-day they would catch up?  Just saying!)

So when the noise gets bad and my headache gets bad, I figure I may as well look on the laptop as a distraction.

 ;)

Penny,   Dexter (cavalier x poodle), Alfie (Whippet cross)  and  Maximus the cocker spaniel!!

RIP my 2 most gorgeous cocker girls - Buffy and Harriet - both waiting for me at the bridge. Joined by my beloved Josie taken too soon and Suki aged 13 :(

Offline Murphys Law

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Re: Hopeless at making decisions!
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2016, 03:51:32 PM »
If you are not planning on playing graphic intensive games and just want to use the laptop for surfing the Internet and storing photos etc the 2 GB of ram will be okay.

Offline BobnDot

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Re: Hopeless at making decisions!
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2016, 10:31:25 PM »
2 GB of RAM should be fine for your requirements but just 32 GB of storage isn't much when you start storing photos and videos.

You should be able to add a 1TB external drive via the USB port for about £40 but that'll cut down on the convenience of having everything in one box.

Maybe think about a small laptop with a 500GB - 1TB spinning (not solid state) hard drive as that'll give you much more storage space.

Bob.

Offline Jaysmumagain

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Re: Hopeless at making decisions!
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2016, 12:03:59 AM »
2 GB of RAM should be fine for your requirements but just 32 GB of storage isn't much when you start storing photos and videos.

You should be able to add a 1TB external drive via the USB port for about £40 but that'll cut down on the convenience of having everything in one box.

Maybe think about a small laptop with a 500GB - 1TB spinning (not solid state) hard drive as that'll give you much more storage space.

Bob.








UMMMMM!!!!

Julie


Cocker kisses and cuddles just make my day!


You are always with me darlings Jaypup and my precious Oliver you are so missed

Offline JohnMcL7

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Re: Hopeless at making decisions!
« Reply #9 on: March 28, 2016, 01:47:53 AM »
I doubt the Lenovo you've found will be of much use to you, as has been pointed out 32GB of storage basically means you'll have no space to store anything on the laptop itself and have to immediately purchase an external hard drive which doesn't sound like it would suit you.  You give the impression from your opening post that you're more concerned about the usability of the laptop rather than portability, the Lenovo you're looking at has a very cramped keyboard and small screen as it's aimed at being carried around.

There are a few options just under £200 from PC World with a 15in screen and a 500GB hard drive which may be more suited for your use which I realise is a lot more money but aside from the Lenovo likely being unsuitable, the cost of an external hard drive is going to up your cost a good bit anyway.  If you can get to a PC World then it's worth doing as the look and feel of the PC is important, there's no point saving some money on a machine you simply don't like to use.

I'm disappointed your son hasn't been able to give you better advice as he's positioned well to help you with this as it's all the more difficult to get a suitable machine on a tight budget ensuring it's something good for the money.  Plus these days it's important to consider how repairable the machine is which isn't easy for non-IT people, more and more laptops are becoming difficult or impossible to repair or upgrade the main components (even the battery in some cases) which can make a big difference if you're wanting to keep the laptop for longer.  As an IT person I will admit I tend to buy fancier machines for myself but I know the full market reasonably well and when I'm frequently asked for recommendations on a PC, it's usually on a tight budget.

John