£500 for a laptop - help!

[midge]

I have upto £500 for a laptop (less would be better!) ive been using a mabook pro for the last couple of years and it was good but has now broken, looking at the cost of new MacBook's takes the piss! having just a quick look around it seems I can get a windows laptop with similar/better spec for less than half the price!

ive had a bit of a play with wndows 8 and it seems difficult but im told it becomes easy with time + you can install a 'classic' shell which makes it like windows 7, can anyone give me some recommendations ? some of the asus laptops look great, but its been so long since ive looked at anything computer wise I don't want to end up buying something rubbish!

Thanks for any help!

 

[Rob]

Buy something exactly like what I've just sold. A mid 2010 macbook pro. Also, you can sell your 'broken' (what's wrong with it?) old one for OK money.

I sold my mid 2010 for 500 recently and it was still as fast as it was when it was new. A far better purchase and you'll lose far less.

 

[MrDave]

Coming from somebody who is not that computer savvy my experience with buying direct from dell a few times is very good. Performed fine and lasted years.

 

[coolspot007007]

Check the Dell outlet from about 1pm - 4pm.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Another one for Dell.
Go through the business section though, found better specked models cheaper on there.

 

[jam.]

Buy something exactly like what I've just sold. A mid 2010 macbook pro. Also, you can sell your 'broken' (what's wrong with it?) old one for OK money.

I sold my mid 2010 for 500 recently and it was still as fast as it was when it was new. A far better purchase and you'll lose far less.

This. Keep an eye on here or eBay for bargains.

Go from a MBP to a windows laptop and I'm fairly certain you'll end up wanting to kill yourself. Maybe.

 

[Lal B3N]

You should get a Dell ultrabook for that money. My mrs got one from Dell not long back, I5, 8gb ram etc. Battery life is great and its well built. Very light too.

 

[Sargara]

For £500 you cant go wrong with Dell. Otherwise take a look at brands like Acer, ASUS etc:
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...t.html?intcmpid=display~RR~Computing~21712969

Something like the above for example, just a shame about the screen res but at this price range there will no doubt be a compromise somewhere.

Go from a MBP to a windows laptop and I'm fairly certain you'll end up wanting to kill yourself. Maybe.

Thanks for the informative input from the Mac crowd as usual.

 

[jam.]

Thanks for the informative input from the Mac crowd as usual.

In all honesty, that's not me just being a mac fanboy or whatever - chances are you'll undoubtedly become frustrated easily if you've become used to a mac.

I've seen it happen numerous times.

I'd keep an eye on this; it's ending in around half an hour - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Mac...omputing_Apple_Laptops_ET&hash=item20dd561db6

 

[Cup_Phil]

He's already been told and given advice loads -> http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?726994-Windows-8-what-s-it-like

Not sure why this needed another thread?

Windows 8 feels like the user interface has been designed by people who don't own computers

 

[kash]

id steer clear of windows 8 for as long as you can, there's a place reserved in hell for whoever put in those stupid bars that pop up at either side of the screen

 

[Corby G]

Depends what you want from a machine. I looked for a gaming laptop which would handle pretty much anything with a reasonable pricetag.

Have a look on here -> http://www.novatech.co.uk/laptop/gaming/

You'll find many machines to meet your budget from all purpose to gaming. Very easy transaction method and good service.


I should get paid to advertise them

 

[Jack!]

As someone who has never owned a Macbook, or anything Apple for that matter, I'd say buy a secondhand Macbook, because one bought for £500 now will probably still be worth £300 in two years - plus if it's been looked after, or had a recent battery replacement, the battery life will probably still be better than any new budget laptop.

With patience, you could possibly get one of the earlier i5 models too, rather than a Core 2 Duo.

My girlfriend bought a £400 Lenovo from John Lewis a few months ago - the spec is great, but it will only do 3 hours without a charge.

 

[midge]

He's already been told and given advice loads -> http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?726994-Windows-8-what-s-it-like

Not sure why this needed another thread?

Windows 8 feels like the user interface has been designed by people who don't own computers

Perhaps you are misunderstanding the threads, should be relatively easy to see the difference when reading the thread titles, the one titled 'what is windows 8 like' is asking what windows 8 is like, this one titled '£500 for a laptop' is asking what laptop for £500, if you were/are confused you can read the opening post, hope this clears it up for you.

Rob it's the logic board.

i will look at dells website, thanks! The Mac was/is great but the price is far to much, I will keep my eyes peeled for a good second hand deal though, what sort of MBP would £500 buy? I.e is it worth it?

 

[Cup_Phil]

I was aiming my response more at all the people telling you to buy a macbook - because it's clearly the best way to go - but you've already been told that LOADS on the other thread so it's pointless people replying on here saying the same thing

As has been said a £500 macbook will last 2 more years and lose no money. A £500 windows 8 laptop will be plastic, fall apart in under 2 years and be worth nothing.

But if even after asking for advice you want to ignore everyone then just ebay search dell or lenovo or fujitsue or sony or whatever - they're all pretty much identical

 

[joshsta]

Windows 7, Intel i5, 6GB RAM and up to you whether you want integrated graphics or dedicated (dedicated is superior).

Edit: If you get a Macbook your paying a lot for the logo IMO

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

I was aiming my response more at all the people telling you to buy a macbook - because it's clearly the best way to go - but you've already been told that LOADS on the other thread so it's pointless people replying on here saying the same thing

As has been said a £500 macbook will last 2 more years and lose no money. A £500 windows 8 laptop will be plastic, fall apart in under 2 years and be worth nothing.

But if even after asking for advice you want to ignore everyone then just ebay search dell or lenovo or fujitsue or sony or whatever - they're all pretty much identical

Dell pretty much identical to lenovo? Okay then.

 

[Cup_Phil]

Windows 7, Intel i5, 6GB RAM and up to you whether you want integrated graphics or dedicated (dedicated is superior).

Edit: If you get a Macbook your paying a lot for the logo IMO

Utter toss. You pay for the build quality/materials/OS and resale value

I've had 4 macbook pro's - my girlfriend has had 2.
Last one cost us £1200 - she used it for 3 years through uni, it was scratched and battered when she was done with it - still sold for £650
The operating system - free, all updates including major upgrades - free. When we sold it the battery still lasted over 5 hours on a single charge.

Last windows laptop I had through work (a dell incidentally) cost £700 after 3 years it was scrap, literally. And it had had a replacement battery in that time.
The windows updates cost over £100 each time they came out - so lost £800-1000 over 2 years - compared to just £600 over 3.

People who say mac's are too expensive are VERY short sighted.

Dell pretty much identical to lenovo? Okay then.

Spec wise yup - build quality wise Dell will be better, but you're still talking about cheaply built plastic laptops

 

[Rob]

Perhaps you are misunderstanding the threads, should be relatively easy to see the difference when reading the thread titles, the one titled 'what is windows 8 like' is asking what windows 8 is like, this one titled '£500 for a laptop' is asking what laptop for £500, if you were/are confused you can read the opening post, hope this clears it up for you.

Rob it's the logic board.

i will look at dells website, thanks! The Mac was/is great but the price is far to much, I will keep my eyes peeled for a good second hand deal though, what sort of MBP would £500 buy? I.e is it worth it?

My advice would be to bung your MBP on eBay right now, 24hr auction, label it as broken, for spares and repairs, then add that to the £500 you want to spend.

That'll get you a decent second hand MBP in my experience.

I just sold my old one for £500 on the nose (through here):

It was a mid 2010 13" 2.4 Dual core unit with 4GB of RAM. It had original box, charger, everything. Was in very good condition, just a few small scratches and still lasted approx 6 hours on a charge.

The macbook I've just sold was my first, and I literally won't buy a PC laptop again personally.

I bought a dell XPS top spec machine for work just last year (so my opinions are not unfounded), it's already slow and clunky, has so much case damage it looks like it's 10 years old, and is generally dogs**t. The backlit keyboard stopped working but because it was 1 year and 3 days old when it did it, I had nothing I could do about it other than pay through the nose. The trackpad that's supposed to be able to multitouch etc is almost impossible to use, so much so I carry a mouse around with me 100% of the time.

I hate it enough I'll be getting rid as soon as is possible and replacing it with a macbook running windows parallels.

 

[joshsta]

Utter toss. You pay for the build quality/materials/OS and resale value

I've had 4 macbook pro's - my girlfriend has had 2.
Last one cost us £1200 - she used it for 3 years through uni, it was scratched and battered when she was done with it - still sold for £650
The operating system - free, all updates including major upgrades - free. When we sold it the battery still lasted over 5 hours on a single charge.



Last windows laptop I had through work (a dell incidentally) cost £700 after 3 years it was scrap, literally. And it had had a replacement battery in that time.
The windows updates cost over £100 each time they came out - so lost £800-1000 over 2 years - compared to just £600 over 3.

People who say mac's are too expensive are VERY short sighted.



Spec wise yup - build quality wise Dell will be better, but you're still talking about cheaply built plastic laptops

I've always had windows computers and never had a problem.
Yeah Dells are overpriced and very expensive to repair (part wise).
On the other hand i have never owned a mac, so my opinion is going to be biased .

 

[Simon@SprayShack]

The case is the only thing good about the Mac Books, the internal components are all just the same as the higher end PC ones, I had the pleasure, of opening up a MBP that got damaged in various places (long story), nothing special inside, your basic off the shelf tweaked components supplied by the big names. Gone are the days when mac used to be a completely different design (RISC) to everyone else, its a PC with a good case and a few custom peripherals bolted on.

If I had £500 to spend, I certainly wouldn't be buying a 3-4 year MBP that could go boom at any time, id probably up my budget slightly (+ ~£100) and be getting a Samsung / DELL with dedicated graphics. IMO you ONLY and I mean ONLY, should buy a MBP if you cant live without the Mac OS.........its personal preference in terms of the OS obviously, but on a Mac that's exactly what your paying for since it only runs on there hardware without hacking about.

If you had serious bucks, Alienware........any day of the week.

Si

 

[Sargara]

I was aiming my response more at all the people telling you to buy a macbook - because it's clearly the best way to go - but you've already been told that LOADS on the other thread so it's pointless people replying on here saying the same thing

As has been said a £500 macbook will last 2 more years and lose no money. A £500 windows 8 laptop will be plastic, fall apart in under 2 years and be worth nothing.

Checkout this fanboy.

Mac components are NOT superior to other manufacturers, they do not have magical "last longer" properties and therefore you are taking a bigger risk on trying to run 2/3yr old used hardware for an additional 2yrs compared with brand new hardware for 2yrs of its warranty period.

Buy a new laptop for £500 with a warranty not some used 2nd hand old components at a premium because of a shiny case. FLOL

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

The case is the only thing good about the Mac Books, the internal components are all just the same as the higher end PC ones, I had the pleasure, of opening up a MBP that got damaged in various places (long story), nothing special inside, your basic off the shelf tweaked components supplied by the big names. Gone are the days when mac used to be a completely different design (RISC) to everyone else, its a PC with a good case and a few custom peripherals bolted on.

If I had £500 to spend, I certainly wouldn't be buying a 3-4 year MBP that could go boom at any time, id probably up my budget slightly (+ ~£100) and be getting a Samsung / DELL with dedicated graphics. IMO you ONLY and I mean ONLY, should buy a MBP if you cant live without the Mac OS.........its personal preference in terms of the OS obviously, but on a Mac that's exactly what your paying for since it only runs on there hardware without hacking about.

If you had serious bucks, Alienware........any day of the week.

Si

Someone that knows what they're on about. I agree with everything here.

Checkout this fanboy.

Mac components are NOT superior to other manufacturers, they do not have magical "last longer" properties and therefore you are taking a bigger risk on trying to run 2/3yr old used hardware for an additional 2yrs compared with brand new hardware for 2yrs of its warranty period.

Buy a new laptop for £500 with a warranty not some used 2nd hand old components at a premium because of a shiny case. FLOL

Yep, believe it or not apple components are made by foxcomm who make the majority of components for other companies, not just apple.

My dell XPS laptop is about 3 years old and is absolutely fine, case is in perfect condition etc. I dont get this whole purchase a £1200 laptop then sell it 2 years down the line for £600. Thats a £600 loss over two years. Spend that on a decent Windows laptop that would last 5 years.

 

[Ben10]

I got myself a decent specced Sony Vaio with i5 and 6GB of RAM. About 50 quid more expensive than the Samsung equivalent but feels more solid and sleek and a pleasure to use. £530 altogether which I can't grumble at IMO

 

[Nigel]

I've had 2 Dells now and my Dads had 1. My first lasted 2 years until it was stolen, it's replacement is now 5 years old and is going strong. Never replaced a battery and only cost has been updating to Windows 8 for £25.99. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a decent spec'd cheap laptop.

I know people who use Macs for work and they have to reinstall the OS just as much as windows users.

I'd love a Mac but there is no way I'd personally pay the premium for one.

 

[Darius]

1TB HDD
8GB Ram
i5 processor

£399

Currys

HP laptop - bargain

 

[Rob]

Checkout this fanboy.

Mac components are NOT superior to other manufacturers, they do not have magical "last longer" properties and therefore you are taking a bigger risk on trying to run 2/3yr old used hardware for an additional 2yrs compared with brand new hardware for 2yrs of its warranty period.

Buy a new laptop for £500 with a warranty not some used 2nd hand old components at a premium because of a shiny case. FLOL

As much as the way he's state it could be wrong, his point still stands. The internal components may not be any better, but go look at a three year old used PC laptop, if I could be bothered I'd post a picture of the dell I'm writing this from.

It has a 2007 dell PC keyboard taped to the integrated keypad, and a 2004 microsoft mouse at the side of it. The keyboard had a few keys start to pack up 13 months into ownership, not a big deal for some but a very fast PC user, skipping random keys of pressing the right arrow, only for the keyboard to decide "end" was what I wanted drove me mental. The trackpad is so useless it's laughable.

The thing with the mac's is that they are put together properly, I've never known the keyboards to fail, and the trackpads are leaps and bounds ahead of dell items. Combine this with the case design and I'd honestly rather risk the older MBP. Even if it did break, it's got a decent re-sale value for parts ffs!

I wouldn't call myself a "fan boy" at all, but my personal experiences have lead me to be extremely impressed with the non PC alternative. And then there's OSX, or windows 8... tough one...

 

[Sargara]

With the Mac costing £1500 means I imagine people will try to treat it better due to the cost so thats an invalid arguement.

 

[Rob]

With the Mac costing £1500 means I imagine people will try to treat it better due to the cost so thats an invalid arguement.

My dell was £1100, my macbook £989

 

[Sargara]

Congrats on beating the average I guess. Either that or getting shafted by Dell depending how you want to look at it :rasp:

 

[Rob]

I needed an xps at least as I run autoCAD etc, but here's to show I'm not just ranting on, it's from experience:

 

[1958steveflying]

The windows updates cost over £100 each time they came out - so lost £800-1000 over 2 years

I have always owned Windows based laptops and pc's and never had to pay for an update, Could you explain why you had to pay ? I'm sure others are as intrigued as me.

 

[Cup_Phil]

Checkout this fanboy.

Mac components are NOT superior to other manufacturers, they do not have magical "last longer" properties and therefore you are taking a bigger risk on trying to run 2/3yr old used hardware for an additional 2yrs compared with brand new hardware for 2yrs of its warranty period.

Buy a new laptop for £500 with a warranty not some used 2nd hand old components at a premium because of a shiny case. FLOL

WTF would I know - only have 15 years in IT, working at companies with 500+ members of staff. And we did 6 months of reliability testing and downtime monitoring before justifying a switch to Macs. F*cking fanboy lol

I have always owned Windows based laptops and pc's and never had to pay for an update, Could you explain why you had to pay ? I'm sure others are as intrigued as me.

Because I don't pirate software?
Either that or you bought a laptop on Windows XP and ignored vista, 7, 8 etc...

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

I needed an xps at least as I run autoCAD etc, but here's to show I'm not just ranting on, it's from experience:

You have the same laptop as me, except I have the i3 version.

Please explain how you've killed this laptop in one year, yet mine is fine after three? :S

 

[Rob]

If I knew I'd tell you. The keyboard has three useless keys (right arrow, ctrl and escape), and the backlit function no longer works.

It also suffer from random graphics card spaz attacks, whole screen goes like old static, only fix is to power it down with the button and switch it back on. POS

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

If I knew I'd tell you. The keyboard has three useless keys (right arrow, ctrl and escape), and the backlit function no longer works.

It also suffer from random graphics card spaz attacks, whole screen goes like old static, only fix is to power it down with the button and switch it back on. POS

New keyboard is £12 if you can live without the backlight. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Orig...omputing_Laptop_Keyboards&hash=item4d02a284c1 if you order one I can tell you how to fit it (it's dead easy anyway).

Never had any graphics issues with mine, have you updated drivers?

Sorry to take the thread off topic, may be best if you PM me back instead

Edit: Used backlit keyboard here for £13 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OEM-Dell-...omputing_Laptop_Keyboards&hash=item51b5723297

 

[Saner]

My Old XPS laptop (that i used for ProE) lasted about 3 years.

My PC's have lasted well over 5

I just don't trust laptops!

 

[Sargara]

WTF would I know - only have 15 years in IT, working at companies with 500+ members of staff. And we did 6 months of reliability testing and downtime monitoring before justifying a switch to Macs. F*cking fanboy lol

Were you testing brand new laptops with vendor warranty to 2nd hand unknown Mac purchases? As that is the advise you appear to be giving OP in this topic.

@Rob
Haha i appreciate the effort of the pic. I wasn't doubting your claims! I was just trying to make the point that I would have expected people to treat their £1500 device with better care than a £500~ equivilant.

Anyway this topic has helped pass time this morning in the office, i appreciate the banter regardless

 

[Cup_Phil]

The standard corporate replacement schedule at the companies I've worked at has been 12 months for Windows laptops and 36months for Apple laptops

A fair bit of that is because Windows runs like a bag of s**t without an absolute ton of memory and recent processor whereas you can usually run 3 years of OSX updates before you need to upgrade hardware - but it was also hardware failures like screens dying or keyboard buttons failing etc..

False economy buying cheap.

 

[Cup_Phil]

Were you testing brand new laptops with vendor warranty to 2nd hand unknown Mac purchases? As that is the advise you appear to be giving OP in this topic.

@Rob
Haha i appreciate the effort of the pic. I was doubting I was just trying to make the point that I would have expected people to treat their £1500 device with better care than a sub £500 equivilant, I wasn't doubting your claims!

Anyway this topic has helped pass time this morning in the office, i appreciate the banter regardless

No but in the same lifespan of a new macbook we'd replace windows laptops 3 times.
As I said it's utterly a false economy buying cheap. Just the same as it is with everything else in life.

People who think you're "just paying for a badge" with a mac are seriously shallow minded.
Work in an IT team and have 200 people on macs and 200 on windows - let me know how you feel in 5 years time.

Through our studies people were losing 3 weeks every year on average just to software faults (having to re-install, some stupid driver issues, blue screens etc..)
I am fully aware the hardware isn't "better" in a mac but it is standardised so you know the software will work. That's the huge advantage that macs have.