Posted by
isola
19 yrs ago
My son is asking for a laptop to do his homework / take notes on. Can anyone tell me what sort of machine we should be looking for at what price? We want something very basic, that he can use for word processing, email and Internet. A,y advice as to where to go / what to look for? Thanks
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You face an interesting problem - be aware that if you go too basic it is not necessarily the best move. I would worry about adequate harddisk space, reasonable battery life (what is the cost of additional batteries/replacements?), adequate processing power. A wireless modem (it is nice to be able to log on at various wifi locations - I assume these are common in HK, or if your son has the opportunity to travel). Build in network card.
You can save on some costs with Openoffice as opposed to MS Office - the files created are interchangable. Check out free anti-virus programs (AVG among others), free anti-spyware (AdAware among others) and free firewalls (Zonealarm among others) will also allow you to spend more on hardware and still stay within budget - and you need this software!
I would consider no name hardware in a laptop as extremely iffy! With a no name desktop you can replace/upgrade parts that are inadequate. You can't do that with laptops.
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isola
19 yrs ago
Thanks for your reply. I realise that going too basic could turn out to be false economy, but because it will be going back and forth to school each day and taken to after school activities via public transport, the chances of it getting stolen/dropped are higher than they would be for an adult's computer. I would consider a wireless modem and network card basic ... so maybe what I'm looking for isn't so basic after all. Thanks for your advice on unbranded hardware. What's the current best value for money brand for laptops now? (haven't bought one in many years). How is Dell thought of nowadays?
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I assume you are going to be buying in HK - and I know nothing about the market there. I happen to be in the US at the moment and laptops (compaq, hp, toshiba, acer, etc.) are dirt cheap! I have been thinking about springing for a new laptop - but that is hardware envy, not need.
I would look at what is available AND repairable locally where you plan to use it. I asked about repairs to a Sony Viao in Ha Noi and because it came from the US the local shop said they c/wouldn't touch it. I didn't press the issue.
All of the brands mentioned above have machines that are reasonably priced - but my inclination would be to go for the maximum harddisk space, a dual core AMD chip, and play with whatever was avaiable for a bit in the shop/s before I put my credit card down.
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you can get yourself a decent branded laptop for between 5-6k, lenovo and compaq are fine in that price bracket. Just go to any of the big chains and you'll be fine.
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