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Posted

Hi All,

I'm going out tomorrow to get the Mrs. a laptop. She's a basic user, it will be for her personal use only. Uses will comprise:

  • Internet, general use - mainly youtube and facebook. She may do a bit of downloading of music, movies, etc.
  • Very basic record keeping - simple excel spreadsheets for household account, savings schemes, etc.
  • Email - using MS outlook or similar
  • Processing photo's - downloading from her iPhone or digital camera (she doesn't need huge storage for this)
  • It should be wireless, wifi, bluetooth, etc.

She would like it to be reasonably portable - I know certain processors are more conducive to this than others - I just don't know which ones. That being said, I'm not going to spend an extra 5000 baht for the sake of an extra half hour battery life.

Please could someone tell me what is the minimum spec we should be looking for?

Many thanks in advance.

Posted

Unless your Ms. is a serious gamer or video editor, I would say that any modern / currently selling laptop computer will do all of the above with ease, and probably have more "power" than she will ever need.

I was in a similar situation - a niece is starting university, and my Ms / her family were asking me what laptop to get for her. We ended up at our local Tesco, where we bought the niece a Compaq laptop with i3 processor, 2 GB of RAM and 320GB hard disk for a few baht less than 12,000. They had cheaper models with AMD processors, which are also a reasonable choice.

Posted

I bought an Acer for TGF just before xmas, was I3 with 4gb ram (standard 2gb), 500gb HDD and 14" screen. You need to go with the I3 processor or better to future proof, and at least a 14" screen for usability. All up with genuine windows 7 and Norton internet security installed about16,000 Baht. Got a whole heap of extras as well including, 2gb ram carry bag, mouse, mouse pad etc. Got from one of the smaller stores in Fortune town near IT City. They were not advertising the extras, but no problem when asked. The software is a bit more expensive than other offers, just I am over the alternative cheap versions as to much hassle.

Plenty of different specials in Fortune town, also have Tesco if you wish to go that way.

Cheers

Posted

Thanks guys.

One question springs to mind from your replies; are AMD processors ok, or should I really go for a pentium?

Blistering performance is not a pre-requisite..... however I do not want it melting down once a month either......

cheers.

Posted

I have not personally used an AMD for years. All the reports/reviews are pretty good though.

Stick with a name brand and the possibility of a meltdown is reduced. Also I seem to remember seeing an Acer agent at Fortune Town if it does play up.

Cheers

Posted

I always prefer / buy an Intel processor, but I'm getting old and stuck in my ways. Kinda like if your grandfather always owned a Ford, you will never convince him to buy a Japanese car.

AMD is a respectable enough name these days, and nothing wrong with them in my opinion. All of the computers in our office are AMD, and have never been a problem or have been noticeably different in performance from an Intel machine for the day-to-day use that they get.

Agree with Litlos - i3 is the best choice for you from the Intel lineup. i5 or i7 would just be overkill / added expense.

Posted

I always prefer / buy an Intel processor, but I'm getting old and stuck in my ways. Kinda like if your grandfather always owned a Ford, you will never convince him to buy a Japanese car.

AMD is a respectable enough name these days, and nothing wrong with them in my opinion. All of the computers in our office are AMD, and have never been a problem or have been noticeably different in performance from an Intel machine for the day-to-day use that they get.

Agree with Litlos - i3 is the best choice for you from the Intel lineup. i5 or i7 would just be overkill / added expense.

AMD is a good (only) alternative to Intel. They have kept Intel honest and without AMD, x86_64 bit would still be a dream. Intel was trying to kill the ia32 in favor of the ia64 processors. AMD busrt that marketing bubble and figured out how easy it was to put x64 on the x86 processor, so we all benefit.

As a minimum, get the OEM version of windows (same good legal o/s) which is safe and registerable/patchable and no keystroke loggers built in. About 1/2 price (negotiable) than full box Windows.

Posted

I perfer AMD over intell as you always seem to get better specs for the money and as long as you keep the fans unblocked ( tell her dont sit the laptop on the bed ) then you will no problems . The only thing i would do is add extra Ram - the cheapest improvemnt you can make .

Posted

LENOVO is generally regarded as one of the better quality computer manufacturers. Recently, they have introduced inexpensive laptops that fit the needs you outlined that sell new in the B10,000 range. They are not stripped down; for that price you can get 2 G RAM and a 500 M. HD.

You don't have to go to Pantip or Fortune. BIG-C sells them at those prices as do many other retailers. I should add that they are sold without an operating system so you will have to get Windows put on elsewhere.

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