Laptop for Mum

lostkat · 04-09-2010, 09:21

It's my Mum's 60th this month and Dad wants to buy her a laptop. She has a desktop at the moment but wants to be able to sit in the comfort of the lounge and mess about with her ancestry program.

It needs a reasonable hard drive, as she scans lots of documents/photos onto it for her ancestry and I expect a 17" screen would be much more desirable than a 15" because she's old

My initial thoughts were one of the Dell Inspiron 17's, purely because I have had them for work and like them. I know nothing about these super cheap Tesco jobbies, but since I'll be tech support, I'm a bit worried about recommending her an unknown brand.

Any ideas? I've never bought a laptop before.

Matblack · 04-09-2010, 10:04

Dell for sure, I wouldn't recomend anything else to a non IT orientated household, the support is the easiest if not nessesarily the best

MB

divine · 04-09-2010, 12:05

Dell are a fairly solid bet, worth looking into the Small Business store stuff as well, not always the prettiest designs but usually get a bit more spec for your money. Depends which is more important. With it being a present, aesthetics may well be preferred.

LeperousDust · 04-09-2010, 12:30

17" is pretty damn big, might be fairly unweidly to use for her sitting in the lounge etc...?

But other than that thought, you could check these:
Acer Refurb: http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Grade_A1...urce=adfroogle

OcUK have a cheap deal: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=LT-000-TX

This was 379 last week, now 399 https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Sams...30_701854.html

Also obviously check the dell outlet, and ebay (people don't seem to trust this, but a lot of del outlet stuff ends up on ebay, i've bought two "brand new" outlet laptops from random ebay sellers).

Mark · 04-09-2010, 13:04

Dell are a pretty good bet all around (good call on Outlet - it's well worth a look though obviously you have to accept what they - or the various outlet resellers - have). Toshiba are a good brand but don't know what their support is like. Acer fit into 'up and coming'.

The only thing I'd point out with 17in laptops is that they're a misnomer. 3kg+ of bulk on your lap will get old fast. However, buy a folding table and you're sorted.

LeperousDust · 04-09-2010, 15:54

Agreed, as i said, i'd heartily recommend looking at 15 inchers... My mum started with a 15" and has actually worked down to 13" for portability (wtf i never thought i'd hear my mum at 59 saying that!

)

divine · 04-09-2010, 18:03

Dude, can we keep the conversation to laptops please? None of us need to know about that...

LeperousDust · 05-09-2010, 02:00

Need.... Brain.... Bleach....

lostkat · 05-09-2010, 06:19

Thanks guys

Good point about the 17" screen. She's got a 19" monitor at the moment set at something ridiculous like 800x600 so I assumed that a bigger screen would be better. I don't want her complaining it's too heavy though. Will give her a go of mine and see what she thinks.

divine · 05-09-2010, 10:49

Generally pixel density doesn't vary much across sizes, if anything the bigger screens have a higher density which would be the opposite of what you want really.

04-09-2010, 09:21	#1
lostkat Good Cat Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,550	Laptop for Mum It's my Mum's 60th this month and Dad wants to buy her a laptop. She has a desktop at the moment but wants to be able to sit in the comfort of the lounge and mess about with her ancestry program. It needs a reasonable hard drive, as she scans lots of documents/photos onto it for her ancestry and I expect a 17" screen would be much more desirable than a 15" because she's old My initial thoughts were one of the Dell Inspiron 17's, purely because I have had them for work and like them. I know nothing about these super cheap Tesco jobbies, but since I'll be tech support, I'm a bit worried about recommending her an unknown brand. Any ideas? I've never bought a laptop before. __________________ Oooooh Cecil, what have you done?

04-09-2010, 10:04	#2
Matblack Baby Bore Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Svalbard Posts: 9,770	Dell for sure, I wouldn't recomend anything else to a non IT orientated household, the support is the easiest if not nessesarily the best MB __________________ "we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two"

04-09-2010, 12:05	#3
divine Moonshine Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 3,201	Dell are a fairly solid bet, worth looking into the Small Business store stuff as well, not always the prettiest designs but usually get a bit more spec for your money. Depends which is more important. With it being a present, aesthetics may well be preferred. __________________

04-09-2010, 12:30	#4
LeperousDust Bananaman Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool/Edinburgh Posts: 4,817	17" is pretty damn big, might be fairly unweidly to use for her sitting in the lounge etc...? But other than that thought, you could check these: Acer Refurb: http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Grade_A1...urce=adfroogle OcUK have a cheap deal: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=LT-000-TX This was 379 last week, now 399 https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Sams...30_701854.html Also obviously check the dell outlet, and ebay (people don't seem to trust this, but a lot of del outlet stuff ends up on ebay, i've bought two "brand new" outlet laptops from random ebay sellers). __________________

04-09-2010, 15:54	#6
LeperousDust Bananaman Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool/Edinburgh Posts: 4,817	Agreed, as i said, i'd heartily recommend looking at 15 inchers... My mum started with a 15" and has actually worked down to 13" for portability (wtf i never thought i'd hear my mum at 59 saying that! ) __________________

04-09-2010, 13:04	#5
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Dell are a pretty good bet all around (good call on Outlet - it's well worth a look though obviously you have to accept what they - or the various outlet resellers - have). Toshiba are a good brand but don't know what their support is like. Acer fit into 'up and coming'. The only thing I'd point out with 17in laptops is that they're a misnomer. 3kg+ of bulk on your lap will get old fast. However, buy a folding table and you're sorted.

04-09-2010, 18:03	#7
divine Moonshine Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 3,201	Dude, can we keep the conversation to laptops please? None of us need to know about that... __________________

05-09-2010, 02:00	#8
LeperousDust Bananaman Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool/Edinburgh Posts: 4,817	Need.... Brain.... Bleach.... __________________

05-09-2010, 06:19	#9
lostkat Good Cat Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,550	Thanks guys Good point about the 17" screen. She's got a 19" monitor at the moment set at something ridiculous like 800x600 so I assumed that a bigger screen would be better. I don't want her complaining it's too heavy though. Will give her a go of mine and see what she thinks. __________________ Oooooh Cecil, what have you done?

05-09-2010, 10:49	#10
divine Moonshine Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 3,201	Generally pixel density doesn't vary much across sizes, if anything the bigger screens have a higher density which would be the opposite of what you want really. __________________