Recommendation For A New Laptop...........

[Chivas]

I want to purchase a new Laptop and whilst any top end models would be totally wasted on me I fancy something with a bit more Oomph so to speak than what I currently use which is a Toshiba C660-217........... That one was £235 and was a no fault return hence low price......

I normally purchase off Ebay for this sort of stuff so any suggestions gratefully accepted...........

Happily take another no fault return model up to around £400......Only major requirement is Battery Life.

Thanks in advance

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Have you maxed out the RAM on your current machine? If you haven't upgraded the RAM, it will be painfully slow with the supplied 1GB. Especially as Toshiba have quite a few bundled programs that startup with Windows.

If you haven't done so already; £8 for 2GB

If after you have upgraded the RAM(you can do so yourself in a couple of minutes) and run a cleanup or a Factory Restore, you are still not happy. Then re-post with more details of the issues you are experiencing.

That will help to evaluate where and how much 'oomph' is needed in order to get the best suit for the least money.

Hopefully you can behave yourself this time.

[rakman]

You can put up to 4GB of ram in your unit.

Next investment is an SSD hard drive. Prices have come down and it makes for quite an improvement.

If you want a new unit look at the screen quality, then cpu, then memory, then hard drive are the things to look at. Many laptops are coming with huge drives, but I wouldn't mind a smaller but faster one.

If you like what you got in terms of the display and keyboard feel, go with the extra memory, then an ssd drive.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

The Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_C850-10U_1206249.html]Toshiba Satellite Pro C850-10U[ is the cheapest new update to your current machine.

Dual Core Celeron as opposed to Single. CPU Benchmark of 1475 compared to 825. HDMI, USB 3.0. Bluetooth 4.0, 1MP web camera. All for £249.97. Though you should spend and extra £15 on a 4GB RAM module, to take it up to 6GB RAM.

So around £265 for a new machine.

That's better than the machine I am currently using. I can't imagine that your usage is more intensive then mine if for general usage.

This Fujitsu AH531 is well specified for £280.

If you need dedicated graphics, the cheapest new machine is this PACKARD BELL EASYNOTE TS11 with a AMD A6-3420M Quad Core Processor and AMD Radeon HD 7470M Graphics with 1GB Dedicated RAM for £299.99.

The ACER equivalent is sometimes available for £20 more.

[Dork]

You can put up to 4GB of ram in your unit.

Next investment is an SSD hard drive. Prices have come down and it makes for quite an improvement.

If you want a new unit look at the screen quality, then cpu, then memory, then hard drive are the things to look at. Many laptops are coming with huge drives, but I wouldn't mind a smaller but faster one.

If you like what you got in terms of the display and keyboard feel, go with the extra memory, then an ssd drive.

Definitely agree with the SSD suggestion. Windows 8 is apparently optimised for SSD's and despite the naysayers, eventually that is what most will be running. Having recently installed Win 8, I've been amazed how snappy it is with an SSD. The boot time is about 6 seconds (from power on to logon screen).

[Chivas]

You can put up to 4GB of ram in your unit.

Next investment is an SSD hard drive. Prices have come down and it makes for quite an improvement.

If you want a new unit look at the screen quality, then cpu, then memory, then hard drive are the things to look at. Many laptops are coming with huge drives, but I wouldn't mind a smaller but faster one.

If you like what you got in terms of the display and keyboard feel, go with the extra memory, then an ssd drive.

To fit that previously linked upgrade re Ram is it a case of simply slotting the item into place or slightly more technical.....??

Will need a soldering Iron for example ??

[barryw52]

For RAM upgrades there is normally just a cover plate on bottom of the laptop with one screw to remove and plugin the new RAM restart and it is done. So simple most PC shops will do it for you for nothing i suspect if you buy the RAM from them.

[Dork]

For newer notebooks that are cramming more into a smaller space RAM upgrades aren't quite as simple as they used to be. I've recently done a netbook that needed the keyboard removed first (with nasty little spring loaded clips) and an ultrabook that had to be cracked open rather violently before you could get at the RAM.

Do a search for your model on youtube and the chances are that there will be a step by step video.

Have a look at the back panel first. As Barryw52 suggested, sometimes it is a very simple job.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

If you decide to go with an SSD, here are some useful tips

A more complete tutorial here

Edited September 21, 2012 by Jiu-Jitsu

[Jiu-Jitsu]

For RAM upgrades there is normally just a cover plate on bottom of the laptop with one screw to remove and plugin the new RAM restart and it is done. So simple most PC shops will do it for you for nothing i suspect if you buy the RAM from them.

Waste of money with the extra cost of purchasing from a PC shop. Buy online and do it yourself.

Only thing to remember is to remove the battery and perhaps earth yourself by touching a tap or a radiator before proceeding.

Probably three minutes to complete the job. Once you've restarted the machine a couple of time, the performance difference will become apparent. A clean up or Factory Restore will make it more apparent and the SSD upgrade even more so.

But a simple £8 upgrade will allow you to keep the rest of your hair.

Single core celeron + inadequate RAM + shared graphics + too many programs at startup equals baldness.

[Dork]

For RAM upgrades there is normally just a cover plate on bottom of the laptop with one screw to remove and plugin the new RAM restart and it is done. So simple most PC shops will do it for you for nothing i suspect if you buy the RAM from them.

Waste of money with the extra cost of purchasing from a PC shop. Buy online and do it yourself.

Only thing to remember is to remove the battery and perhaps earth yourself by touching a tap or a radiator before proceeding.

Probably three minutes to complete the job. Once you've restarted the machine a couple of time, the performance difference will become apparent. A clean up or Factory Restore will make it more apparent and the SSD upgrade even more so.

But a simple £8 upgrade will allow you to keep the rest of your hair.

Single core celeron + inadequate RAM + shared graphics + too many programs at startup equals baldness.

Most people on this forum are in Thailand where buying RAM online is not cheaper than a shop. And the shops don't take UK Sterling.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

For RAM upgrades there is normally just a cover plate on bottom of the laptop with one screw to remove and plugin the new RAM restart and it is done. So simple most PC shops will do it for you for nothing i suspect if you buy the RAM from them.

Waste of money with the extra cost of purchasing from a PC shop. Buy online and do it yourself.

Only thing to remember is to remove the battery and perhaps earth yourself by touching a tap or a radiator before proceeding.

Probably three minutes to complete the job. Once you've restarted the machine a couple of time, the performance difference will become apparent. A clean up or Factory Restore will make it more apparent and the SSD upgrade even more so.

But a simple £8 upgrade will allow you to keep the rest of your hair.

Single core celeron + inadequate RAM + shared graphics + too many programs at startup equals baldness.

Most people on this forum are in Thailand where buying RAM online is not cheaper than a shop. And the shops don't take UK Sterling.

I am not providing generic information for "most people". My advice is for someone who is residing and purchasing in the UK.

I guess it was not obvious to you from the OP, but that is the case here.

[innerspace]

Www.ukvisa.com/forum is the place to post UK advice. In Thailand get a shop to assemble or install things for free if you don't know how.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Www.ukvisa.com/forum is the place to post UK advice. In Thailand get a shop to assemble or install things for free if you don't know how.

What an idiotic reply.

If you don't have any intelligent to post on a thread from a person from the UK asking about about the buying of a laptop in the UK, why not just move along to the next thread?

If you have a problem with the OP asking the question here, why not take it up with him?

[smokie36]

Www.ukvisa.com/forum is the place to post UK advice. In Thailand get a shop to assemble or install things for free if you don't know how.

What an idiotic reply.

If you don't have any intelligent to post on a thread from a person from the UK asking about about the buying of a laptop in the UK, why not just move along to the next thread?

If you have a problem with the OP asking the question here, why not take it up with him?

I agree. A clear case of "If you have nothing positive to contribute...."

[Jiu-Jitsu]

You can put up to 4GB of ram in your unit.

Next investment is an SSD hard drive. Prices have come down and it makes for quite an improvement.

If you want a new unit look at the screen quality, then cpu, then memory, then hard drive are the things to look at. Many laptops are coming with huge drives, but I wouldn't mind a smaller but faster one.

If you like what you got in terms of the display and keyboard feel, go with the extra memory, then an ssd drive.

To fit that previously linked upgrade re Ram is it a case of simply slotting the item into place or slightly more technical.....??

Will need a soldering Iron for example ??

No soldering irons necessary.

RAM upgrade done in under five minutes, SSD will take a bit longer, dependent on whether there is a dedicated HDD cover or whether you need to remove the whole bottom cover.

[Chivas]

Thanks to all who answered. Nice to see someone hasn't changed !!

What I've done is ordered the Ram and will deal with any minor installation problem if required and will give the laptop to my lad as ungrade to the Acer One I bought him a few years ago........

For myself have purchased the Fujitsu AH531 500GB HDD and 4GB of Ram which looks ideal and thanks to JJ for listing that one. Price was marginally more as original listing had ended and I think that one was only the 2GB Ram version......(apologise if I was wrong)

Whatever I paid £288 for the model purchased.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Thanks to all who answered. Nice to see someone hasn't changed !!

What I've done is ordered the Ram and will deal with any minor installation problem if required and will give the laptop to my lad as ungrade to the Acer One I bought him a few years ago........

For myself have purchased the Fujitsu AH531 500GB HDD and 4GB of Ram which looks ideal and thanks to JJ for listing that one. Price was marginally more as original listing had ended and I think that one was only the 2GB Ram version......(apologise if I was wrong)

Whatever I paid £288 for the model purchased.

Manual for your Toshiba C660 here

Use the instructions from Chapter 1, Section 11 onwards to Factory Restore the Toshiba(lot of Windows Updates to run, but it will run better than when you purchased it with the extra RAM) and to make the Recovery DVDs for use in the case of hard drive failure.

Fitting the RAM is covered from Chapter 3, Section 16. A five minute job.

Which model the Aspire One exactly? There may be upgrade options there too.

[Chivas]

Thanks to all who answered. Nice to see someone hasn't changed !!

What I've done is ordered the Ram and will deal with any minor installation problem if required and will give the laptop to my lad as ungrade to the Acer One I bought him a few years ago........

For myself have purchased the Fujitsu AH531 500GB HDD and 4GB of Ram which looks ideal and thanks to JJ for listing that one. Price was marginally more as original listing had ended and I think that one was only the 2GB Ram version......(apologise if I was wrong)

Whatever I paid £288 for the model purchased.

Manual for your Toshiba C660 here

Use the instructions from Chapter 1, Section 11 onwards to Factory Restore the Toshiba(lot of Windows Updates to run, but it will run better than when you purchased it with the extra RAM) and to make the Recovery DVDs for use in the case of hard drive failure.

Fitting the RAM is covered from Chapter 3, Section 16. A five minute job.

Which model the Aspire One exactly? There may be upgrade options there too.

Think its a zg5.....??

Needs a total "overhaul" as well as full of bugs etc which seem to be impervious to removal...!

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Thanks to all who answered. Nice to see someone hasn't changed !!

What I've done is ordered the Ram and will deal with any minor installation problem if required and will give the laptop to my lad as ungrade to the Acer One I bought him a few years ago........

For myself have purchased the Fujitsu AH531 500GB HDD and 4GB of Ram which looks ideal and thanks to JJ for listing that one. Price was marginally more as original listing had ended and I think that one was only the 2GB Ram version......(apologise if I was wrong)

Whatever I paid £288 for the model purchased.

Manual for your Toshiba C660 here

Use the instructions from Chapter 1, Section 11 onwards to Factory Restore the Toshiba(lot of Windows Updates to run, but it will run better than when you purchased it with the extra RAM) and to make the Recovery DVDs for use in the case of hard drive failure.

Fitting the RAM is covered from Chapter 3, Section 16. A five minute job.

Which model the Aspire One exactly? There may be upgrade options there too.

Think its a zg5.....??

Needs a total "overhaul" as well as full of bugs etc which seem to be impervious to removal...!

With the SSD or HDD? In other words 8GB SSD, 16GB SSD or 120GB? I'm guessing the 120GB HDD as you refer to 'bugs'.

So you can just install/re-install XP using a standard ACER XP Recovery disc. Easiest way is if you can get hold of an external optical drive, such as is here

But there is an important caveat.. if it has only 512MB RAM onboard, it will be annoying slow with XP SP3 and upgrading the RAM is a pain in the arse for that model. You literally have to take it apart.

So if it only has 512MB RAM onboard, perhaps you should stick with Linux in the form of Ubuntu. No need for an optical drive in that instance.

If you have the 1GB RAM model, I can send you the ACER recovery disc in order to format and run a clean install of XP, if you no longer have the disc or have deleted the Recovery Partition.

If you purchased the model with XP preinstalled, you can check if the Recovery Partition is still intact. Make a copy of any important data and then:

Using Acer eRecovery Management

You can launch Acer eRecovery Management in a number of ways:

- By pressing and holding down the <Alt> key and then pressing <F10> during the boot-up process, or at any time when you are running Microsoft Windows.

- From inside Windows; Start menu, go to Start > (All) Programs > Empowering

Technology > Acer eRecovery Management.

From Boot; Alt + F10 as above

[Jiu-Jitsu]

There is also a 160GB HDD. That too is fine for XP, as long as paired with at least 1GB RAM.

[Chivas]

There is also a 160GB HDD. That too is fine for XP, as long as paired with at least 1GB RAM.

Let me have a look at it. Its not here with me at home so will repost later in week. Thanks........

It came out of Tukcom and because of the exchange rates at the time was only £130. Its installed with XP and definately a Copy at that.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Still a lot of life left in the ZG5. A new four hour battery costs £24.95 and under and is available in the usual colours.

RAM if needed, no more than £10 or £11.

[Dork]

Good to see you two are in love again.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Good to see you two are in love again.

Not so glad to see that you are appropriately named. I just let byegones be byegones.

Have you some relevant info to post or are you just Trolling?

[Chivas]

Good to see you two are in love again.

Eh me and JJ are lifelong Buddies...........

Dont let some Internet Banter cloud the issue........

[Jiu-Jitsu]

There is also a 160GB HDD. That too is fine for XP, as long as paired with at least 1GB RAM.

Let me have a look at it. Its not here with me at home so will repost later in week. Thanks........

It came out of Tukcom and because of the exchange rates at the time was only £130. Its installed with XP and definately a Copy at that.

Looked at it yet?

[thaicruze]

the only laptops i can recommend are twice your budget.

[Chivas]

the only laptops i can recommend are twice your budget.

I didn't have a budget as such...... I said I would pay up to £400 because a high ended Model would be wasted on me. Keep your snide comments to yourself......

@JJ I have it with me now but the rear stickers give no clue (or at least to me)

Its got Atheron xxxx etc but thats drivers isn't it...........??

Can I view whats onboard somewhere....??

Cheers.

Edited September 29, 2012 by Chivas

[Chivas]

Must admit this Fujitsu that JJ recommended regards speed is like Sxxt through a Goose in comparison to that Toshiba I had......!

My Broadband is only about 4Mg at home because of old British Telecom wiring hopefully updated soon.

If I had a fairly standard 10Mg connection the laptop would take off......