New laptop advice

[Wor Horse]

Laptop's finally packed in, thought it was just the charger but it turns out it's dead.

 

So I'm getting a new one, this one only cost 250 and had hardly any memory.

 

Looking to get something in the 500 quid margin, wanted to get a Mac but too expensive. Just want something for the usual and music creating software eventually.

 

Was looking at this, is it decent?

 

Sony VAIO EE3 E0E/WI / AMD Athlon II P340 / 3GB / 320GB / DVD-SM / 15.5 inch / Windows 7 Home Premium / Laptop / Notebook - Computers at Play.com (UK)

 

I'm looking for personal experiences not reviews and that. Cheers

[DJLJ]

Laptop's finally packed in, thought it was just the charger but it turns out it's dead.

 

So I'm getting a new one, this one only cost 250 and had hardly any memory.

 

Looking to get something in the 500 quid margin, wanted to get a Mac but too expensive. Just want something for the usual and music creating software eventually.

 

Was looking at this, is it decent?

 

Sony VAIO EE3 E0E/WI / AMD Athlon II P340 / 3GB / 320GB / DVD-SM / 15.5 inch / Windows 7 Home Premium / Laptop / Notebook - Computers at Play.com (UK)

 

I'm looking for personal experiences not reviews and that. Cheers

 

I would not pay the extra for a Sony. Go with an Acer or something similar, that will get you much more bang for your buck.

[Andy M]

Don't know if you'd be able to stretch: Refurbished MacBook 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Apple Store (UK) ?

[Wor Horse]

Don't know if you'd be able to stretch: Refurbished MacBook 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Apple Store (UK) ?

Cheers mate. Are them refurb ones sound or they prone to breaking?

 

I would not pay the extra for a Sony. Go with an Acer or something similar, that will get you much more bang for your buck.

 

Cheers, what models would you recommend? I don't want to go and spend 600 quid on something that's shite.

[Andy M]

Refurbished Mac's from Apple are good-as-new as far as I'm aware - I'd have no qualms about buying one :)

[George Costanza]

I would not pay the extra for a Sony. Go with an Acer or something similar, that will get you much more bang for your buck.

 

totally disagree.

 

As with anything electrical you can & will get faults with them despite build quality and manufacturer.

 

Sony Vaio is a far far superior product than an Acer. You only need to try and take one apart to see, how much well made it is.

 

You will sacrifice a little in spec for the Sony, but with W7 - dual core & 3gb is plenty.

 

Asus are producing some very nice laptops at the moment. give their range a look at. The newest models also come with a 2 year manufacturers warranty too instead of the standard 1 year.

[Wor Horse]

Cheers all. Will have a look at all the options.

[Uncle_Meat]

When it comes to reliability (apart from user error, obviously) I find it goes a bit like this.

 

Advent < E-Machines < Acer or HP/Compaq < Toshiba/Samsung < Sony/Lenovo/Asus.

 

As George points out, take a Sony apart and you can see where the extra couple of quid is in build quality.

[Allan]

I've had 3 Vaios and have only experienced 1 problem with each, the same problem as well mind.

 

After a while I found that the optical drives just packed in, or at the very least became very picky on the discs that would be read.

 

I've got the same issue with my current Vaio, but my desktop (also a Vaio), has had no such problems in the year or so I've had it.

[Trumo]

I bought an Acer Aspire (price was a big factor) and I know several people with Acers and they've had no real problems. Neither have I. What I don't like though is their Acer Arcade software. It's completely unnecessary for me, and probably for most people, but they've bundled it in such a way that to remove it could cause issues running other software. I dare say you find similar with pretty much any other manufacturer. No doubt if I had an extra £200 I would have gone for a Vaio because every other Sony product I've ever bought has been ultra-reliable.

 

As for Samsung, I understand they make the LCD screens for a lot of other manufacturers. Same with TVs.

[Wor Horse]

Got an HP for 499.

 

Looks good at the moment. Feels good to actually have a laptop that doesn't freeze every 5 minutes. Was between this and the Sony Vaio but the Vaio was out of stock in Argos so got this instead.

[waiting game]

Cheers mate. Are them refurb ones sound or they prone to breaking?

 

 

 

Cheers, what models would you recommend? I don't want to go and spend 600 quid on something that's shite.

 

Hiya mate, my advice would be to go for a macbook. I have always had pcs, i have had sonys, Hps, acers to name a few. I need a laptop for my job so i need something that does what i want, when i want and is quick about it!

 

Im not great at techy stuff either so i need one thats pretty easy to use.

 

I got a macbook through my company and its amazing! I love it so much, when i left and went self employed i bought the same one hahaha.

 

My advice (because they are fucking pricey) is to go for a re-furb macbook. They are ones the have been fixed/done up and often if bought off amazon come with the same sort of warrntys you get on a new one.

 

They are not the dud ones, they have been done up and often (although cant promise) are done up to such a good standard that they are as good if not better than new ones due to the fact it has all the updates and the bits that are shitty have been fixed.

 

Hope this helps mate.