laptop choice help

[crichbish]

Hi, can anyone offer some advice in choosing a laptop for my 15 year old son. He is in the first year of his gcse's and will use it for homework, browsing, word processing etc but he is also doing programming for gcse.

Not being technology minded, I don't understand the difference between all the different processors, memory and prices. I don't really want to spend more than £400, but want to get something that will last in terms of performance.

Any advice or help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Chris

[acsimmo]

Can't help as such but I recently had the same with my daughter. We went to PC world and asked for there advice, listened to it all then went away with the specs and had a look online, as it happened when we chose one PC world were the cheapest online (cheaper than in store). Pretty sure they do price match as well.

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, go to pc world I bought an acer from Tesco seems loaded with stuff I do not need and so many advert pop ups

[old'un]

I rate Dell laptops, they also seem to-be number one choice for business, but the choice is yours, do some research before you buy, go for minimum of Intel i5 processor with 8/16gb ram, or higher, 500gb hard drive, (you can always add external storage later) if you can push the budget a 15 or even a 17 screen.

there are so many variables but you can bet your life a budget pc now will seem like a snail once he starts filling it with programs and down loads, spend more on the things that make a pc run better (faster)

[NickS]

Ask at his school if they can order it for you. VAT rules mean that if he buys something that is used for his studies and "can" be taken into school, the school purchases on his behalf and does not have to pass on the VAT to you as they claim it back (I am assuming a state school here). The same applies to musical instruments so yes to a laptop, tablet, violin or guitar but no to a desktop, laser printer or grand piano.

 

If they do not operate such a scheme they should do so as it is helpful and not to do so is, frankly, laziness. They can charge a nominal admin fee of about £10 to cover costs.

A big screen can seem an attractive option but less so if he intends to lug it about. I have changed from a 15" to 11" for that reason.

[Canis]

if its for his studying and a little bit of browsing then you couldn't go far wrong that the little lenovo 11" that i picked up for my mother within the last month at PC world for £129. it doesn't break the bank if he drops it, leaves it on a bus. he will probably want a !5" or 17 inch screen for playing games though at £300 + !

 

forget the concept of buying a computer to last - its one of the few things where it is better to buy cheap and more often as computers get obsolete so quickly

 

 

Expect to have to pay for office on top of that for which they seem to want to sell you a yearly subscription!

[Danger-Mouse]

 

 

 

Expect to have to pay for office on top of that for which they seem to want to sell you a yearly subscription!

 

Don't waste money on that. Open Office is free and just as good.

[Wb123]

I'd go cheap and disposable or more expensive. I still use a macbook I bought in 2006 as my only computer but then I paid through the nose for it. The new ones don't seem as user serviceable though.