Advice On Notebook

[MikeWill]

I am planning to buy a notebook for my daughter, 6.5, in grade 2. She has a computer class in her school, and she likes it, surfing the Web, playing games, etc. (I also don't want her to play with my PC.)

I want something with the DVD (to watch movies, play games) and about 14" LCD. I think to install Win7, when it is out.

My budget is around 20-25K baht.

What specs, brand/model, processor, RAM and video would you recommend?

Specifically, is it worthy to go with AMD processors? (they are much cheaper: I saw 14" Compaq at less than 15,000 baht)

[oldgeezer]

I am planning to buy a notebook for my daughter, 6.5, in grade 2. She has a computer class in her school, and she likes it, surfing the Web, playing games, etc. (I also don't want her to play with my PC.)

I want something with the DVD (to watch movies, play games) and about 14" LCD. I think to install Win7, when it is out.

My budget is around 20-25K baht.

What specs, brand/model, processor, RAM and video would you recommend?

Specifically, is it worthy to go with AMD processors? (they are much cheaper: I saw 14" Compaq at less than 15,000 baht)

Real "Games" for an adult = 80,000 baht laptop. For her, 15,000 laptop with DVD and internet capabilities should be easy to find. I prefer intel, but AMD should be fine.

The biggest consideration here should be quality and warranty. Many things can happen to a laptop, nearly all bad.

I have done much research and it would seem here that HP is the way to go. Acer makes some good products, but has bad reputation outside of thailand.

Google "PC Magazine" and read their reviews. Good luck

[bkkmick]

Make sure you've got good antivirus installed on it. I loaded some 'Pantip' sourced games in the past and they were stuffed full of virus'.

[MikeWill]

Maybe I should simplify my question - what Notebook Brand would you recommend? Is Acer is good enough for reliability, service, etc.?

[jackdanielsesq]

I find most of the 'warranty' problems are at store level, not manufacturer. Get cosy with an established dealer,

that has a service dept. AMD is good. Compaq (HP) service globally, is slow.

Acer is also fine, I have an ol' Travelmate that simply wont quit. Buy & enjoy.

BR>Jack

PS Dont listen to the naysayers. I have run NB for ever. More reliable than PC, built to a higher spec.

[mnbcm]

Maybe I should simplify my question - what Notebook Brand would you recommend? Is Acer is good enough for reliability, service, etc.?

I recently did some research and HP seems to be the more reliable manufacturer. They have a very helpful service center on Changklan Road if you have any issues. My wife's power cord went out and they replaced incredibly fast at no cost.

[phazey]

Perhaps think of something like a 10" Acer netbook etc, with a usb DVD drive for the movies. The bigger ones are not so good in kids hands (especially when dropped) so the little netbook's would suite better. Trust me on this one..

[jackdanielsesq]

OK ??

BR>Jack

The bigger ones are not so good in kids hands (especially when dropped)

[MikeWill]

Yes, this is quite a valid point. Things indeed dropped often from kid's hands.

What do you think about Acer Aspire one7 51h-52Br/B114 - it priced @ 19,153 BAHT at http://www.shop4thai.com/en/product/25162/

Intel Atom processor Z520

(1.33GHz, 512KB L2 cache, 512MHz FSB)

Genuine Windows XP Home

Mobile Intel US15W Express Chipset

Acer InviLink 802.11b/g Wi-Fi

1024MB DDR2 (Maximum 1GB), Weight 1.35Kg

160GB HDD, Multi-in-1 card reader, Battery 6-cell

10/100Mbps LAN, Integrated Bluetooth 2.0+EDR

11.6 inch HD (1366 x 768 pixel) Acer CineCrystal LED-backlit TFT LCD

Acer CrystalEyes Webcam

Stereo Speakers

Three USB 2.0 ports

1 year Insurance

1 year warranty (International)

--

Though I'll probably wait till the release of Win7.

Edited July 4, 2009 by Condo_bk

[d0ndela]

Hi

I run an computer shop based in Hua Hin, and my advice to you would be to not by any means by a HP computer. I would say that roughly estimated 70% of the laptops we receive for repairs are HP laptops, and almost all of the cases it's due to HP coping with the heat in Thailand very poorly. The components overheat and needs to be replaced alot more frequently than other brands. At least if you use a HP laptop you should be sure to use a cooling pad, but then again your daughter probably can't carry that around with her everywhere

About the varying service of the different brands I can say that based on experience from our shop, it's not so much the manufacturers support level that matters, it's more the distributor that sold the product to the shop that has very big differences in warranty. From our experience I can warmly recommend buying products with a "Trusted by Synnex" sticker on them. Of course you can only find these products in shops that have Synnex as distributor, but then again that is the case for most shops I would say. Synnex has a warranty on pretty much all products, and for example on laptops it's usually 1 year warranty and within that year you can get FREE service from Synnex (if your shop says differently they are trying to scam you!).

If you are looking to buy a notebook I would recommend going for a cheap Dell model as Dell is really reliable and has decent value for money out here.

If you are looking to buy a netbook I would recommend buying an Asus EeePC, they come with various specifications and prices of course, but no way you should pay ~20.000 THB for that netbook you posted, you can get alot better products than that. Asus Eee PC 1000H (I'm not allowed to post links for some reason, so I'm affraid I can't link it but it costs 14.995 THB) has exactly the same specs (apart from the screen size) and it's 4000 baht cheaper, on top of that I would recommend Asus over Acer any day, Asus just has that better quality feel over them.

But as you say, I would wait for Windows 7 as well if it was me, that's going to give a major boost to netbook sales once again.

Thomas

[jackdanielsesq]

Nonsense!! Dell's lousy QC is legendary - from mobo to GPU to batteries.

BR>Jack

If you are looking to buy a notebook I would recommend going for a cheap Dell model as Dell is really reliable and has decent value for money out here.

[MikeWill]

d0ndela,

Welcome aboard.

Thank you for taking the time to write a detailed reply. You can send me a link via PM.

BTW, did you take into consideration the cost of OS (Genuine Windows XP Home) when compare the prices. If the price is about the same, would you still recommend the Asus Eee PC over the Acer Aspire One?

[d0ndela]

Nonsense!! Dell's lousy QC is legendary - from mobo to GPU to batteries.

BR>Jack

If you are looking to buy a notebook I would recommend going for a cheap Dell model as Dell is really reliable and has decent value for money out here.

I have a Dell laptop and has had for years, my business partner has a Dell laptop and has had for years, we buy Dell computers for all our employees, we have 2 Dell computers running in our shop, 1 showing our website/webshop and 1 running our cash register POS system. We've literally never had any hardware problems with any of them, but we might just have been lucky then it would sound like.

I guess you can say the same for computers as for pretty much everything else, that people have their favorite brands, and nothing wrong with that. I recommend my favorite brands to others and so does everyone else. Then it's up to the buyer to filter the information

[torrenova]

I looked at Dell for both PC and laptop over the last 6 months and though I could sometimes find great deals on Dell, their products were cheap, low quality build and not as ergonomic as others. I thought that they would not last and on the laptops (mid to high spec but lower end product range), that they would just fall apart as they were that flimsy. I know nothing about the inside workings but the outside was not good enough.

In the end I bought HP all round.

As for Acer, then you are right that they did / do have a poor (er) reputation but their customer service is at the top of the table. You can extend the warranty to 3 years for little money and prices are very competitive. I seriously considered the Aspire series, though much bigger than what the OP needs, but I would look at smaller models were I in his position.