laptop for Christmas pressie, any suggestions?

amber22

Hi Everyone,

Help needed!!!

I want to purchase a laptop for my boyfirend for Xmas but the problem is I'm not great when it comes to technology so I'm not sure what to buy him? Would anyone recommend a good laptop to buy?

RoadKillTs

Well what would he be using it for? Is he into games?

amber22

well he is a kinda guy that would be into everything so yea, he would be into computer games and all that!
Also, I know he'd use it for work etc!!

Somnus

My girlfriend just got a Sony Vaio and it's pretty cool.

Don't know how it'd be for games though. Probably not great for anything new :P

biko

Before buying anything it's good to find out what it will be used for.
* Games? If so what kind of games?
* Work? Will he need MS Office or other similar applications?
* Hard disk space? Will he put tons of songs and movies on it?

A small laptop may seem handy but that also means a smaller screen and a smaller keyboard. Go full size is my suggestion. At least 15 inch screen.

hinault

amber22 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Help needed!!!

I want to purchase a laptop for my boyfirend for Xmas but the problem is I'm not great when it comes to technology so I'm not sure what to buy him? Would anyone recommend a good laptop to buy?

I would not recommend DELL.

I bought a Dell laptop (Latitude E5500) in March and I had terrible problems with it.
I bought it over the Net from Dell and it broke down twice on me.
Getting the PC repaired under warranty was a nightmare.
Dell support were horrible to deal with.

I suggest that if you are buying, go to a PC Retailer : at least if the laptop breaks down they can replace it without having to phone helpdesks at DELL.

Anti

Amber, give Dell a call. Their sales staff can talk to you about it over the phone. They are quite helpful too !

RoadKillTs

If he's a gamer then it will have to be a decent spec.
How much are you willing to spend?

amber22

Thanks to all for your replie.s Im not sure about going with Dell, I've heard bad things about the laptops so Im not sure about that! Im thinking of spending about €500 on one for him. Also, I will need ot get Microsoft Excel etc on it for him cos he will be using it for work. Also, I know he'll be downloading lots of pictures and films on it! Im not sure whether he'll be doing much game playing on it so I don't think thats a priority!

hinault

Anti wrote: »

Amber, give Dell a call. Their sales staff can talk to you about it over the phone. They are quite helpful too !

Their sales staff are interested in selling.

None of which helps when their product does not work : and you have to send their product back to Poland (x2) for repair:mad::mad:.

And are also no use when you're trying to get your new PC back from them and it is delayed for 6 weeks:mad:

Amber ; go to a PC Retailer : believe me it is much easier in the longrun.

hinault

amber22 wrote: »

Thanks to all for your replie.s Im not sure about going with Dell, I've heard bad things about the laptops so Im not sure about that! Im thinking of spending about €500 on one for him. Also, I will need ot get Microsoft Excel etc on it for him cos he will be using it for work. Also, I know he'll be downloading lots of pictures and films on it! Im not sure whether he'll be doing much game playing on it so I don't think thats a priority!

Wise move, Amber.

amber22

Thanks hinault, I think I'm going to do that! Im looking at the main retailers websites and I have come across really good offers nw but I don't wanna go with an offer in case the computer isn't good! Id prefer to pay a littel more to get quality!!

Anti

hinault wrote: »

Their sales staff are interested in selling.

None of which helps when their product does not work : and you have to send their product back to Poland (x2) for repair:mad::mad:.

And are also no use when you're trying to get your new PC back from them and it is delayed for 6 weeks:mad:

Amber ; go to a PC Retailer : believe me it is much easier in the longrun.

Did you get the cheap ass warrenty with it? Mine and my other halfs dell laptops have broken a few times over the last few years and they always sent out a engineer next day to repair it on site.

hinault

Anti wrote: »

Did you get the cheap ass warrenty with it? Mine and my other halfs dell laptops have broken a few times over the last few years and they always sent out a engineer next day to repair it on site.

Must have.

You miss the point.

Point being that new DELL laptops should not breakdown twice within a 5 week period.

Venom

Anti wrote: »

Did you get the cheap ass warrenty with it? Mine and my other halfs dell laptops have broken a few times over the last few years and they always sent out a engineer next day to repair it on site.

Anti you can bang away about Dell support being awesome but everyone I know hates having to deal with the non english speaking csr's who are just useless

Amber a gaming spec laptop would be kinda pricey afaik and as for office will his job not have a copy he can use?

L'prof

amber22 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Help needed!!!

I want to purchase a laptop for my boyfirend for Xmas but the problem is I'm not great when it comes to technology so I'm not sure what to buy him? Would anyone recommend a good laptop to buy?

I'm very happy with this one.

I paid €650 in PC World but, up North it's £450 (€500) in Dixons or £480 (€530) in PC World/Currys.

It may have been reduced in PC World & Currys in the South as they are currently matching the lower UK VAT rate.

Biggins

hinault wrote: »

I would not recommend DELL.

I bought a Dell laptop (Latitude E5500) in March and I had terrible problems with it.
I bought it over the Net from Dell and it broke down twice on me.
Getting the PC repaired under warranty was a nightmare.
Dell support were horrible to deal with.

I suggest that if you are buying, go to a PC Retailer : at least if the laptop breaks down they can replace it without having to phone helpdesks at DELL.

Couldn't agree more. stay away the hell from dell.
For any little money you might save, the aggro when something will go wrong with Dell, is just not worth it.
Shopping around you will find just as good across a counter somewhere near you.
I have deal with many, many cases against Dell and even had to go to court to testify against them, Dell lost the customer won.

Above someone mentioned the Sony Viao - they are beaut of a system.
The sound out of them alone is outstanding in a lot of their laptops. Graphics superb.
You pay slightly more for the quality but in the Sony's, by god its worth it.

Anti

Meh i dunno, ive never had one bad experience with dell. Not from personal experience or when i worked for multinations who had huge contracts with them. Even when i ring their warrenty/tech line i always get someone english/irish.

EKRIUQ

Anti wrote: »

Meh i dunno, ive never had one bad experience with dell. Not from personal experience or when i worked for multinations who had huge contracts with them. Even when i ring their warrenty/tech line i always get someone english/irish.

Look, it seems to be cool here to hate DELL, it's something like all the cool people who hate Vista but just don't know why except that it's the thing to do. DELL are the third biggest computer manufacturer in the world so it only stands to reason that they will have more people with experiences of DELL because their so popular.

Biggins

Anti wrote: »

Meh i dunno, ive never had one bad experience with dell. Not from personal experience or when i worked for multinations who had huge contracts with them. Even when i ring their warrenty/tech line i always get someone english/irish.

EKRIUQ wrote: »

Look, it seems to be cool here to hate DELL, it's something like all the cool people who hate Vista but just don't know why except that it's the thing to do. DELL are the third biggest computer manufacturer in the world so it only stands to reason that they will have more people with experiences of DELL because their so popular.

At my age (I'm over 45+) I couldn't care about looking "cool". I couldn't give a damn.
Fact is, I have worked on a hell of a lot of machines over 25+ years and by far the most problematic in Ireland I found was repeatedly Dell machines.

As for ringing their phone help, I and others have had to ring it many, many times and more times than not (in fact I can't last remember when I haven't) we'd be transferred to a call centre in North India.
Forth Dell call center - See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/Dell-to-open-third-call-centre-in-India/2004/11/11/1100021913965.html
or:
Fifth Call Center - See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/Dell-opens-1500seat-Indian-call-centre/2005/03/21/1111253940593.html?oneclick=true

...and that was only by 2005, now there is more!

I personally sick of Dell, found them to be useless repeated, assembling some of their machines with parts only they can further down the road supply (at their high price!), ill-trained staff, unwilling to admit sometimes that they don't know where a fault lies and so on and so on...

I don't frankly care if its "cool" or not to hate Dell but for the reasons above I tell everyone I know and who know my reputation in the I.T. field, to stay the hell away from them!
Stuff saying something just for the sake of being "cool!"

Venom

Very well said Biggins and so very very true

Farcear

amber22 wrote: »

Thanks to all for your replie.s Im not sure about going with Dell, I've heard bad things about the laptops so Im not sure about that! Im thinking of spending about €500 on one for him. Also, I will need ot get Microsoft Excel etc on it for him cos he will be using it for work. Also, I know he'll be downloading lots of pictures and films on it! Im not sure whether he'll be doing much game playing on it so I don't think thats a priority!

As someone who is fairly into computers, I'd be a little wary of someone getting me a laptop for Christmas. It's not that I wouldn't love a new one but there could be the potential for: "It's a great present... but" (I needed better GPU/ bigger HDD/ etc.)

While a new laptop would be a fantastic surprise Christmas present; you may want to consider talking this over with him first to see what his specific requirements are.

Also, if he was planning on spending some money on a laptop anyway, you could take this opportunity to get a far better spec system than he might otherwise have gone for, e.g. Apple laptops have a pretty good reputation but have the hefty price tag (€1,000+) to match or, as mentioned, a great gaming laptop is also kinda pricey.

FloatingVoter

Have to agree with Farcear...I'm buying a laptop for myself just after Christmas. Its a choice I want to make for myself. Unlike a lot of other Christmas presents - a computer is something you have to live/work with and I wouldn't want anyone else deciding for me. If Santa isn't coming your way, I'd also suggest pooling the money and get something you both want.