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[Tony H]

Evenin' all. I'm looking to buy a new laptop as I think mine is on it's "last legs" I'm not that clewed up with computers so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've seen one on offer at Argos which is an Acer Aspire ES 15.16 inch AMD E1 4GB 1TB on sale for £229.99 opinions please.
TIA
Tony

[STEMO]

Oh God, you people really do ask for it. Cue 1000 different opinions. 

[biggriffin]

With stemo on this. Brace yourself.

[zirk]

Not sure I would trust Acer as my main Laptop, I had pretty much every make of Laptop ever made over many years, TBH the only one that has more than lasted the test of time is the Samsung, no doubt some will disagree.

[STEMO]

I disagree!

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I had two Acer Aspires, and they both fell apart. Specifically the hinges between the screen and keyboard broke the plastic chassis on both, due to poor design and / or cheap parts. Wouldn't buy another.

[STEMO]

Is this helping, Tony?

[biggriffin]

I've got a 17" acer had it since 2006, running win 7. Works fine.

[tigers_gonads]

I've been running a 17" Toshiba Satellite for getting on for 10 years now.
Short of a RAM upgrade by me and a replacement battery and a rattling fan, its been absolutely faultless.
Its also took the sort of physical punishment that no laptop should comeback from and yet it still lives 

[TheBoy]

Bugger, the fear of Brexit has sent up prices (as they are sold in dollars)


If you can stretch to an Intel based i3, do so. AMD processors are shite.

For general purpose use, try to get one WITHOUT descrete graphics, for better reliability.

Spec wise, i3, 4Gb ram, onboard Intel graphics.


I'd avoid Acer and ASUS like the plague. Also avoid HP Pavilion, and any Lenovo consumer stuff.  HP business stuff is fine, such as the HP 250 G4, if you can cope with physical size/weight.  eg

http://www.ebuyer.com/724148-hp-250-g4-laptop-n1a78ea-abu

[driver115]

At circa £250 budget ?, I guess you are using it for basic office applications, some internet browsing, email / facebook, and the best tech spec at this lowish price point would be 15.6 inch screen ( minimum screen size if you have any eyesight problems/tendency to squint when viewing the screen) ,and ideally an Intel i3 processor with both ethernet and wifi to maximise choice of internet access, though for basic applications/office use AMD processors are also upto the job as well.
As a light user and perhaps not as proficient as you would like to be when using a laptop/ manipulating software to maintain efficient running of the device, then you may not need a dvd drive ?, unless you need to install software you already have on disks ?

Black Friday sales commence nearer the end of next month so perhaps at that time it may be possible to purchase a new laptop with an Intel i3 processor .An important consideration will be the warranty and technical support for it should things go wrong - best to buy using your credit card to get section 75 consumer protection for purchases over £100.

Brand you decide on is largely down to personal preference and previous experiences when using a laptop. the build quality of them was better 10 years ago, but now they have more functionality in terms of practical applications

I assembled and sold desktop pc`s and laptops for a number of years, and at this price point build quality is not going to be great but adequate

[TheBoy]

and at this price point build quality is not going to be great but adequate

By stretching slightly to £300ish, its perfectly possible to get a good machine that should last quite well

TBH, as I've said before, my now 8/9yr old laptop - the one I use for day to day use - is perfectly adequate, just starting to show CPU deficiencies (but then it is only a Core2 Duo). And the Ethernet card has died, but they its had all sorts shoved down it over the years, as the laptop gets severely abused.

It if you're into gaming that everything all goes wrong.

[Tony H]

Thanks for the replies everyone I am only looking for a basic laptop any recommendations pease.

[TheBoy]

I am only looking for a basic laptop any recommendations pease.

In which case my original spec suggestions apply, if you can run to an i3.

Avoid consumer oriented devices if you are after longevity, such as the non business Lenovos, HP Paviliions and Dell Insipiron.  Toshiba are a noteable exception, but their long term future in the PC market is not looking good.

Always avoid Acer and ASUS. At all costs.