advice on buying an android laptop

amandstu

I don't mind second hand.

Here is what I want it to do:

Skype

Record music from a guitar(to a decent quality)

Allow a camera to be attached either by wifi/bluetooth or with a cable extension

Act as a terminal for credit card transactions


I would be surprised if laptops would not do these routinely now.How "new" would a second hand laptop need to be to be able to do all those things?

And what about paying the extra for a new one? Are there any additional capabilities that have come on stream over the past few years that would justify the expense of buying something bang up to date?

Alanstrainor

Why do you want android? Or do you mean a Chromebook?

There's not many android laptops around, there are a few options if it is a chromebook that you mean. All will have webcams built in which will allow you to use skype. As for connecting a mic, it should be possible, but it all depends on what kind of quality you'll be looking for and if you already have a mic that you want to use already.

What do you mean when you say you want it to act as a terminal for credit card transactions? Do you just mean to use the laptop to purchase online? Or is it something else entirely?

And as for new or second hand, it all depends on your budget. I would never really like to go second hand when buying laptops, especially on the cheaper end as reliability could be an issue.

amandstu

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Why do you want android? Or do you mean a Chromebook?

There's not many android laptops around, there are a few options if it is a chromebook that you mean. All will have webcams built in which will allow you to use skype. As for connecting a mic, it should be possible, but it all depends on what kind of quality you'll be looking for and if you already have a mic that you want to use already.

What do you mean when you say you want it to act as a terminal for credit card transactions? Do you just mean to use the laptop to purchase online? Or is it something else entirely?

And as for new or second hand, it all depends on your budget. I would never really like to go second hand when buying laptops, especially on the cheaper end as reliability could be an issue.

thanks.My first laptop so I wrongly assumed android was the main OS.

Yes Chrome is fine as I have that already on my PC.

No I have no mic but I envision perhaps connecting the laptop to a guitar amp (you know those items that convert an acoustic guitar to an electric one)

As for the credit card terminal ,yes it is to process transactions using a firm like Sumup (for business use in other words)

Alanstrainor

Okay, lets forget Android and Chromebooks for the minute.

What you want is a Windows 10 laptop. It is the most common laptop operating system and it is the best. Most laptops come with web cameras built in, so Skype will work no problem.

I'm also a guitarist, so I can help here with this too. If you have an acoustic, and you want to record some songs that you like to play then a mic will work fine. You can spend as much or as little as you like on this setup. There are plenty of free applications you can use to record.

As for using this for credit card transactions, I may not be able to help much here. Is this for your business so you can process customers transactions? Sumup looks like something that you would use with your phone, and not a laptop.

amandstu

thanks again

I will look into new Windows 10 laptops- and deal with Sumup as a separate issue.