New laptop - recommendations/help please!

[SmallTownGirl]

Need a new laptop, but am completely befuddled by the choices.

Windows 8 or Windows 8.1?
Intel Core, Intel Celeron or Intel Pentium?
Is the ratio of memory to hard drive important/significant?
Any makes to go for/avoid like the plague?

Am I asking the right questions?

Max spend £500, but prefer it to be nearer £400. Weight not that important, 'cos would only be carrying it very occasionally.

Any help very gratefully received.
Thanks
STG

[DavidNewton]

Windows 8.1 is an improvement on Windows 8 but it does not matter whether the installed OS is windows 8 or windows 8.1 since 8.1 is a free upgrade to 8.

Processor choice is confusing. If you feel like a headache there is a full description of all the differences on the Intel web site

http://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/processors/processor-numbers.html

but the summary is that the performance rises: Celeron < Pentium 4 < Intel Core i3<i5<i7.

If you can get one at a reasonable price a laptop powered by an Intel Core i3 should be good for most purposes.

Memory: the more the better. Aim for 4Gb at least and even more if you intend to do intensive work such as video editing.
Hard drive space requirement again depends on what you intend to do. My view again is get the biggest drive you can afford - at least 500Gb. Laptops cannot easily be extended so if you run out of drive space then mostly you will have to replace the existing drive or use an external drive.

Asking the right questions? To some extent, but you need to specify what you want to do, and predict what you might want to do, before you can make a decision. If you are not going to be carrying the laptop around much and will use it on a table or desk then you might look at screen size - bigger screen laptops weigh more but IMO are much easier to use. On the other hand if you want to sit with it on your lap then weight and heat output matter.

David

Sorry I missed the question regarding makes. I have owned laptops by Hp/CompaQ, Dell, Toshiba, Medion and Acer and none of them have caused me any problems. Once you have decided on a possible purchase just Google the Make and Model and look for tech reviews or star ratings on customer websites such as Amazon.

[SmallTownGirl]

Brilliant, David. Thanks so much. Now at least I know where to start.

Thanks again
STG

[PeteW1959]

Agree with everything David has to say.

I will add that not only are laptops difficult to upgrade, they often have limits as to how far you can upgrade them. My laptop (7 year old Toshiba) came with 2Gb of memory (quite a lot then) but I have found that although the memory is easy to replace (a small panel on the bottom), 2Gb is the maximum it will support.

Brands to go for:- Toshiba, Sony, HP (some are badged Compaq). They may be a bit more expensive, but well worth it in the long run.

Brands to avoid:- Acer, Asus, Advent, Lenovo and especially Packard Bell. If you get a good one great, but I have seen far too many bad ones.

Also avoid any of the huge number of 'badged' cheap Far East ones. You will see the same model with a variety of brand names such as Zoostorm, Stone and Clevo. They are notoriously unreliable and almost impossible to get repaired.

[Chrissie Smiff]

It may be the luck of the draw Pete. My husband bought me an expensive HP laptop for my retirement and it lasted a couple of months over the guarantee before the screen went. I also have an HP printer that I really wanted because it looks so good (again expensive) but it's been nothing but a pain. Fine when it works but very temperamental.

[Suein10b]

Likewise Chrissie. My hp laptop died with screen issues about a week out of warranty. Ive since avoided anything HP related.

[DavidNewton]

Chrissie and Sue are both correct - it is luck of the draw and I know I have been lucky which s why I didn't make any recommendation.

I bought two HP laptops a few years ago in a sale from Sainsburys and they are both still in regular use by my wife and grandson (and I am using a 5-year old Dell). Equally I used a HP Officejet 5600 for many years without problems and had to get rid of it when we moved to Cornwall because of lack of space. I replaced it with the cheapest available Canon All-in-One which is also working without problems.

I guess I am lucky with computer equipment but switch the topic to microwave ovens and the story is totally different :(

David