Recommend me a laptop please

[elsiegee40]

I have up to £750 inc VAT (£625 ex VAT) to spend on a laptop for my eldest before she returns to uni.

 

She wants a 13 inch screen.

 

It will mostly do office stuff, web browsing and photo editing... so doesn't need a massive processor, but I prefer to get as much 'oomf' as possible so that it doesn't start struggling after 6 months of M$ updates.

 

Ideally she would prefer to stay Win7, as she has no interest in touch screens, but is prepared to consider Win 8.

 

Ideas please?

[Guest Guest]

Can you stretch to a Macbook Air? That's what I did when my sis went to teach abroad. Knowing that I couldn't fix her only form of communication with home until she actually came home, I dual booted so she had Win for doing work and OSX for everything else.

 

Just an option.

[elsiegee40]

No. A Macbook is out... for many reasons!

[Dos_Box]

Dell Outlet always have some very tasty laptops in: Dell Outlet - Refurbished Laptops, Desktops & Servers | Dell UK

There are some stonking XPS 15(L521x) - last years top of the line Dell laptop - available for well within your price range as they start from £482 ex-vat.

I have just brought one and they are very, very good machines with an amazing build quality and spec.

[jmak]

Dell Outlet always have some very tasty laptops and spec.

 

You beat me to it! I just bought replacement laptops for the teachers from here. Saved a fortune and from 15, there was only one where you'd see the mark from a pace away. The others, you'd only see the mark if you knew it was there and we're looking. If you buy from the Latitude range, they come with the 3 year next day on site warranty too.

[rich_tech]

Lenovo IdeaPad Z585 Laptop - Laptops | Ebuyer.com - I quite fancy this machine for myself and am thinking about it at the moment

[elsiegee40]

I had forgotten the Dell outlet. She is adamant that she wants a 13" screen, but they have a few XPS13 Ultrabooks on there that are of interest.

[witch]

For that price you could buy two of ICT directs lovely T410 core i5 's

14.1 inch screen

[3s-gtech]

The Asus Vivobook S400 is a lovely, lovely thing with a 14 inch screen (not got any 13s here to recommend). The build is great, and it looks good. Runs Windows 7 fine, all drivers work. Has a touchscreen, but that's an extra really.

[elsiegee40]

For that price you could buy two of ICT directs lovely T410 core i5 's

14.1 inch screen

This is a private purchase though, not a school one.

[witch]

This is a private purchase though, not a school one.

@elsiegee40 Doesn't matter - they'll sell it to you privately. I am currently accessing edugeek via my trusty old T60.

[Dos_Box]

PC Pro have just a-listed this Acer: ACER S3, NX.M1FEK.006, Acer Aspire S3-391 Ultrabook

They quote it at £370 inc vat, but the site currently shows £389. Not as powerful as you could get from Dell though.

[elsiegee40]

I have just completed a purchase through Dell. Thanks all for the help.

 

I now have to sort out M$ Office. Office 365 University is all very well, but she needs something that will work offline when the laptop accompanies her to the back of beyond on field trips.

[Dos_Box]

What did you get (and spec) if you don't mind me asking?

[elsiegee40]

I went for one of the XPS13 Ultrabooks with Win 7. It suits her nicely and isn't too heavy for lugging around. There are a number with very similar spec. Will hunt out the exact spec of the one I got. Edited August 20, 2013 by elsiegee40

[Cache]

Too late I realise, however someone has just asked me about this one, which with £100 cashback looks a very tempting purchase!

 

ACER V5-571P 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop - Silver Deals | Pcworld

[hawc]

Prepare for it to arrive with bits missing. I ordered a top end XPS 8500 and a huge monitor. PC arrived (a day early) and guess what, the screen had not arrived and I phoned them and they said that the monitor was still in Poland and I am in the UK. Told them to shove the monitor where the sun does not shine and asked for a refund. As soon as the PC arrived I went straight to the local John Lewis and picked one up for half the price. Same size, different manufacturer.

[elsiegee40]

I have ordered fromDell successfully in the past, more than once. As this is a laptop, I sincerely hope it comes with the screen attached!

[jmak]

I now have to sort out M$ Office. Office 365 University is all very well, but she needs something that will work offline when the laptop accompanies her to the back of beyond on field trips.

 

Do you have EES at either of your schools? You could then acquire a copy under the home use agreement.

[mac_shinobi]

Do you have EES at either of your schools? You could then acquire a copy under the home use agreement.

 

Would this still be the case if one of the schools uses a different av / anti malware solution be it forefront or nod32 etc ??

[elsiegee40]

Do you have EES at either of your schools? You could then acquire a copy under the home use agreement.

 

I just remembered that before I read this post and both my schools have it. We have HUP on our home PC through my husband's employer, so I shall do it through one of mine

 

I will be sticking MSE on it , as usual, which costs nothing.

Edited August 20, 2013 by elsiegee40