Choice of laptop....please help.....

naughtyfushsia_wechnaged
naughtyfushsia_wechnaged Posts: 140
in Chit-Chat
Hi all, some advice please, i'm going to buy a laptop for my daughter but not sure which one to get.

The kind of things is going to used for is homework (which includes photography and she's a teenager lol) games as in minecraft, club penguin, deviant art and a couple of others.

Specs which is a must are included as normal, cam and mic (no perverse thorts please lol) and good for gaming, pref 1tg or there abouts too.

Anyone know of a good make they can recommend?

If poss as a ref, can ya please include links for like Tesco, Argos and Amazon just to look at ;o)

Thanks peeps!

Replies

  • naughtyfushsia_wechnaged
    naughtyfushsia_wechnaged Posts: 140
    Just realised i've done this post in games - apologies! lol!
  • CookNLift
    CookNLift Posts: 3,660 Member
    what games are you looking to play and how much are you looking to spend
  • naughtyfushsia_wechnaged
    naughtyfushsia_wechnaged Posts: 140
    Its more online gaming rather than the typical disc type of gaming.

    Spend upto roughly £350 if that's a possibility lol ;o)
  • nippoleon
    nippoleon Posts: 43 Member
    Why is your teenage daughter on Club Penguin is my main concern here
  • chelstakencharge
    chelstakencharge Posts: 1,021 Member
    My kids both have their own laptops and they have an HP and a Sony. They are both great!
  • CookNLift
    CookNLift Posts: 3,660 Member
    LOL for 350, you're better off building a desktop from scratch...anything premade will run you up, and laptops are very limited when it comes to gaming...most of the time if you want a good gaming laptop it'll be about 700.

    I would look for anything >8gb of ram. I'm in the US so the only stuff I have is in U.S. dollars
  • tbodega
    tbodega Posts: 186
    Here is a good place to start:

    http://dealnews.com/c49/Computers/Laptops/

    If battery life is a priority... look for machines that use "Haswell" processors. Those are the newest processors that Intel has put out.
  • naughtyfushsia_wechnaged
    naughtyfushsia_wechnaged Posts: 140
    Why is your teenage daughter on Club Penguin is my main concern here

    because i also have an autistic daughter who likes to play club penguin with her sister, thanks for your concern ;0)
  • sadgirl114
    sadgirl114 Posts: 18
    I just got a Sony vaio for 750.
    Nvidia 2gb graphics
    1T hard drive
    12GB RAM
    windows 8
    Camera
    Great for photos
    It's off the Sony website, either a vaio e series or the vaio fit e.
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
    You'll need a high-end laptop for any serious gaming. Something on the level of an alienware. If she's a gamer, definitely pay attention to the quality of the graphics processor, and splurge on extra RAM. That's going to have a significant impact on the gaming experience.

    My son has an Asus with an i5 , 6GB RAM (I forget the graphics specs). It's OK for minecraft, he can run at 100FPS or so - but on the "serious" gaming PC, he's generally running up around 900-1200FPS. One thing he laments, is that this laptop does NOT have the horsepower to provide a satisfying Minecraft experience while running things like shaders mod. It is also not suitable for a lot of the FPS games he plays.

    If you want to get more computer than you thought you could afford, look into a factory refurbished one. His laptop cost me less than $350 (A couple years ago when it was $700 new) - from tigerdirect ... NOTE: I'm a believer in refurb'd electronics. To make it back out the door, they go through less automated and more hands-on testing.

    Frickin acronyms. FPS is "Frames Per Second" and "First Person Shooter". Nothing worse than a TLA

    Edit: He has an Asus, not an Acer
  • CookNLift
    CookNLift Posts: 3,660 Member
    I just got a Sony vaio for 750.
    Nvidia 2gb graphics
    1T hard drive
    12GB RAM
    windows 8
    Camera
    Great for photos
    It's off the Sony website, either a vaio e series or the vaio fit e.

    this....minus windows 8. I like seven much better
  • tomomatic
    tomomatic Posts: 1,794 Member
    Asus makes decent machines. I like the HP Envy machines. Some of the lighter models don't have have an optical drive.

    Minecraft is not especially graphic intensive. I think a 1GB video card will do. Avoid machines with an integrated Intel video card.

    A Solid State Drive would be a great feature to have but this will probably push you out of your price range.

    How often do you plan on buying her a new laptop? Have you thought about getting her a Chrome Book?
  • KitTheRoadie
    KitTheRoadie Posts: 641 Member

    How often do you plan on buying her a new laptop? Have you thought about getting her a Chrome Book?

    Chromebooks are not out of the box compatible with Minecraft, much to the frustration of my 13yr old nephew.

    Found this on Tesco Direct - http://www.tesco.com/direct/acer-aspire-e1-15-pentium-dual-core-6gb-1tb-laptop/467-4400.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=467-4400 - Just over your budget but it packs quite a punch for what your daughter would use it for, and with 1TB of HDD space that should be plenty of room for her pictures too!

    Hope that helps! :happy:
  • BigDaddyRonnie
    BigDaddyRonnie Posts: 506 Member
    I have been a buyer, and configurer (if that's a word) of laptops for YEARS. I have signed PO's for millions of dollars for laptops, supported them, returned them, warrantied them, you name... This question I get asked all of the time, especially during the holidays when you see discounted laptops.

    The technology these days is so competitively narrow that my true bit of advice would be to buy one that has the best WARRANTY.

    Buy one you can afford. Buy one that you know can be fixed if something happens. And I also recommend getting laptop insurance. Yes its out there.

    Dell, Alienware, Sony, Toshiba, IBM, HP...and others...all make good products. Get one you like, and you can afford. But make sure you are aware of the WARRANTY. Laptops do break.
  • naughtyfushsia_wechnaged
    naughtyfushsia_wechnaged Posts: 140

    How often do you plan on buying her a new laptop? Have you thought about getting her a Chrome Book?

    Chromebooks are not out of the box compatible with Minecraft, much to the frustration of my 13yr old nephew.

    Found this on Tesco Direct - http://www.tesco.com/direct/acer-aspire-e1-15-pentium-dual-core-6gb-1tb-laptop/467-4400.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=467-4400 - Just over your budget but it packs quite a punch for what your daughter would use it for, and with 1TB of HDD space that should be plenty of room for her pictures too!

    Hope that helps! :happy:

    Thanks!

    as for Chromebooks - not very user friendly as majority of stuff cant be put on it ie printers - so ive been told ;0)
  • naughtyfushsia_wechnaged
    naughtyfushsia_wechnaged Posts: 140
    I have been a buyer, and configurer (if that's a word) of laptops for YEARS. I have signed PO's for millions of dollars for laptops, supported them, returned them, warrantied them, you name... This question I get asked all of the time, especially during the holidays when you see discounted laptops.

    The technology these days is so competitively narrow that my true bit of advice would be to buy one that has the best WARRANTY.

    Buy one you can afford. Buy one that you know can be fixed if something happens. And I also recommend getting laptop insurance. Yes its out there.

    Dell, Alienware, Sony, Toshiba, IBM, HP...and others...all make good products. Get one you like, and you can afford. But make sure you are aware of the WARRANTY. Laptops do break.

    Thanks you! i always buy electronics regardless even its a kettle as nothing lasts long these days lol!
  • cloggsy71
    cloggsy71 Posts: 2,208 Member
    I bought my kids a couple of Asus i7 machines (circa £700 each) with a view to them lasting them through 6th form & Uni (maybe)?

    Powerful enough and new enough to last them that long (if they look after them that is...)

    12 months on, so far so good. I keep on top of the 'housekeeping' of them and they're happy with them...

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