Thork

Laptop needed
« on: December 05, 2013, 09:48:16 PM »
Ok guise, time to get all geeky.

I need a laptop for my brother's xmas present. Budget is £800 (US$1300).

It needs:
A disk drive so he can run his games.
An SSD (can be 80gb or more)
Pref 8gb of Ram.
Windows.

He will mostly use it for internet and playing his games. They tend not to be top of the range brand new, but I want to get him something nice.

What do you guys suggest? I'd like somthing that looks awesome like a macbook air or a sony viao or something but I also would like a bit of bang for buck and the aforementioned isn't going to give me that. Anyone got any good ideas please? I'm not really a laptop person.

*

Offline Shane

  • *
  • Posts: 2979
  • If you will it, it is no dream
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2013, 10:07:40 PM »
What. I just wanna ask you a single unrelated question then I will go away. You spend 1300 dollars on family members xmas presents? Th*rk is generous as fuck.
Quote from: Rushy
How do you know you weren't literally given metaphorical wings?

Thork

Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2013, 10:21:55 PM »
What. I just wanna ask you a single unrelated question then I will go away. You spend 1300 dollars on family members xmas presents? Th*rk is generous as fuck.

No. Its his xmas and birthday combined (they are close & I haven't seen him since his birthday) and I'm going to half the bill with my Mum (also his mum obviously) and I will be able to get it VAT free.

So its not quite as generous as first meets the eye.

*

Offline Lord Dave

  • *
  • Posts: 7653
  • Grumpy old man.
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2013, 10:27:10 PM »
Avoid any of the touch screen crap.
If you are going to DebOOonK an expert then you have to at least provide a source with credentials of equal or greater relevance. Even then, it merely shows that some experts disagree with each other.

Thork

Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2013, 10:27:54 PM »
Avoid any of the touch screen crap.
that isn't as helpful as I suspect you intended it to be.

*

Offline juner

  • Planar Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 10174
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2013, 10:38:32 PM »
Screen size?

*

Offline Lord Dave

  • *
  • Posts: 7653
  • Grumpy old man.
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2013, 10:39:33 PM »
Avoid any of the touch screen crap.
that isn't as helpful as I suspect you intended it to be.
Avoid windows 8 too.  But that's nearly impossible.
If you are going to DebOOonK an expert then you have to at least provide a source with credentials of equal or greater relevance. Even then, it merely shows that some experts disagree with each other.

Thork

Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2013, 10:42:01 PM »
Avoid any of the touch screen crap.
that isn't as helpful as I suspect you intended it to be.
Avoid windows 8 too.  But that's nearly impossible.
Please get out.

Screen size?
Not tiny, he has to play games, but no real preference.

*

Offline juner

  • Planar Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 10174
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2013, 10:42:43 PM »
I'd suggest a Dell Latitude 3000 series, customize it yourself.

He'd be better off with a MBA and external drive depending on his gaming needs.

Thork

Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2013, 10:46:47 PM »
MBA?

Googling dell now ...

*

Offline juner

  • Planar Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 10174
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2013, 12:25:31 AM »
MBA?

like a macbook air...

Googling dell now ...
They have good support and I'd recommend them, at least the Latitude and XPS lines.  Highly configurable.

Offline bj1234

  • *
  • Posts: 112
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2013, 01:34:54 AM »
I personally would avoid Dell.  I have had personal issues with their customer service.  We got my dad a laptop years ago for Christmas we also knew that he was rough on his stuff, so we purchased the accidental damage warranty on top of it.  We were told it would cover any sort of accidental damage from dropping to spillage for 2 years.  Well a little over a year later, he spilt his coffee all over it.  When we sent it in for service, they wouldn't cover it because of liquid damage.  I just feel that they are not honest with their sales tactics.

For brands, I would recommend Asus or Toshiba.  I had a Toshiba laptop for 8+ years before it finally went out.  I currently have an Asus X550C laptop that I like.  I build all my desktops with Asus motherboards and have not had any issues with the brand. 


Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2013, 08:37:45 AM »
Avoid any of the touch screen crap.
that isn't as helpful as I suspect you intended it to be.
Avoid windows 8 too.  But that's nearly impossible.

lol, good luck with that. The market is saturated with W8 + touch screen machines. There are a few brand around that don't have these features, but they're typically gaming laptops in excess of $1300.

Offline Blanko

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 2471
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2013, 12:26:54 PM »
Avoid any of the touch screen crap.
that isn't as helpful as I suspect you intended it to be.
Avoid windows 8 too.  But that's nearly impossible.

I don't think there's any reason to get Windows 7 over 8, unless you're too stupid to get rid of Metro.

Thork

Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #14 on: December 06, 2013, 05:14:54 PM »
Avoid any of the touch screen crap.
that isn't as helpful as I suspect you intended it to be.
Avoid windows 8 too.  But that's nearly impossible.

I don't think there's any reason to get Windows 7 over 8, unless you're too stupid to get rid of Metro.
This. Now the start bar is back, 8 is actually superior in many ways. Just get rid of the metro and you are away.

*

Offline Lemon

  • *
  • Posts: 551
  • Lime
    • View Profile
    • Disco
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #15 on: December 07, 2013, 12:40:19 AM »
He will mostly use it for internet and playing his games. They tend not to be top of the range brand new, but I want to get him something nice.

What do you guys suggest? I'd like somthing that looks awesome like a macbook air or a sony viao or something
NOTHING TO SEE HERE. IGNORE RAMA SET.

Thork

Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #16 on: December 07, 2013, 05:28:20 AM »
He will mostly use it for internet and playing his games. They tend not to be top of the range brand new, but I want to get him something nice.

What do you guys suggest? I'd like somthing that looks awesome like a macbook air or a sony viao or something
I guess you read what you want to read.

*

Offline juner

  • Planar Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 10174
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #17 on: December 07, 2013, 05:30:50 AM »
He will mostly use it for internet and playing his games. They tend not to be top of the range brand new, but I want to get him something nice.

What do you guys suggest? I'd like somthing that looks awesome like a macbook air or a sony viao or something
I guess you read what you want to read.

Did you decide?

Thork

Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #18 on: December 07, 2013, 05:32:15 AM »
Did you decide?
No. I saw an awesome Sony Viao with the exact specs I wanted for the price ... but the viao is a note book ergo no disk drive.

I'l do some serious shopping this weekend.

*

Offline juner

  • Planar Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 10174
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop needed
« Reply #19 on: December 07, 2013, 05:34:26 AM »
Did you decide?
No. I saw an awesome Sony Viao with the exact specs I wanted for the price ... but the viao is a note book ergo no disk drive.

I'l do some serious shopping this weekend.

If it has everything, get it and go with an external drive.  They can be had for $40 or less and used as desired.