Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : Computers and Peripherals : Suggestions needed - Laptop for university student

[Jamie Harrop]

Hi all,

My better half is celebrating her birthday next month. She's currently using an awfully sluggish second-hand laptop, with no battery, to complete her university work, so I want to buy her a laptop that can actually do the job she needs without frustrating her and without her constantly having to find a socket when she's using it during lectures.

I don't want much. A Windows laptop, that can handle the full Office suite with ease, can handle DVD's, and surfs fast. Just an every day laptop that can handle every day surfing, Word/Excel work and is reliable.

My budget is £450.

I realise with a budget and spec like that I'm pretty much in the middle of the biggest range of laptops and that's why I'm coming here, because I'm simply overwhelmed by the choice. Do you have any recommendations? Maybe one within that range that stands out above the others?

Thanks!

Jamie

[Akisoft]

Take a look down PC World, they've actually got some pretty good discounts (£200~) on laptops at the moment, for what you're after (nothing fancy), you could get a Sony i3 for sub £400.

[twhiting9275]

If you can find it online, look at the Asus K50IJ-XA1 or the ASUS A53E-XA2 . The second is the updated version of the first, but I find the first incredibly decent and got it for around $399 here in the states (from Amazon). This should easily fit your budget and provide you with a very decent laptop. I only got mine a couple months ago, but the only thing I find it can't do is handle MMO's, which, at that budget I don't care about anyways.

[Jamie Harrop]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I had a look at the Sony i3 earlier and it looks very good. I'll take a look at the Asus machines shortly.

Thanks again!

[Akisoft]

You could also take a look at the Dell Inspiron Duo, it's a pretty awesome transforming Windows 7 netbook/tablet. Not sure on the price point though!

[unity100]

Get one with new amd Llanos. they have integreated GPU that performs well. she would even be able to play games with it - and i mean proper games.

[Yujin]

Look for the ASUS brand with Core2Duo (can't remember the modelno).
I think your budget is more than enough as this is only 400 Pounds in my country.
Very decent and nice aesthetic and can definitely handle MS-Office.

[hellooworld]

i want to advise you with Dell if you can because dell is the best for me for university using.....Good Luck

[layer0]

Another recommendation for an ASUS machine here - can't go wrong.

[HTTP404]

Get at least an i3 and a minimum of 3GB RAM - try and go for i3 and 4GB RAM.
I tend to stick to HP, avoid Dells where I work they get many back. HP and Sony are the best and built strong.

[CanerisIlija]

Don't go under 4GB.. Hell, you should be able to get 6GB and i7 in that price range with minimum of shopping around. You should be more focused on the following..

1) Will she be carrying it around a lot or will it mostly be stationary used as a desktop replacement? That will determine the size.. I love my 17" with a full keyboard and a big screen. For work I have a little 15.6" T60 to which I had to attach a separate screen, keyboard and mouse

2) Does she want something cutsie-wootsie (Dell) or something that'll do the job (HP or the Taiwanese)?

[MattS]

I strongly suggest staying away from HP.

Top brands are Sony, ASUS, or Dell

If you do Dell or Sony, you should use her university info for a discount.