Looking for Netbook / Laptop / Notebook Buying Advice.

[Disneymum]

Hi

I'm looking for a Laptop / Notebook etc an am in need of some advice.

The machine is to use alongside an existing desktop, to be used around the house for Internet ( lots of tab open at once ), youtube, iplayer, ebay buying and selling, frontpage or other wysiwyg editor, lite photo editing and capable of playing browser java / flash game and perhaps older pc games.

We don’t care about weight, battery life, doesn’t need HDMI, webcam, bluetooth, needs a 12"+ screen with as near as a full size keyboard, 3 USB ports and either 15 pin or DVI out.

Having spent 3 off days reading reviews and benchmarks from hothardware, hexus and anandtech were came up with 2 machines, the 1201n and u230

And were temped by the MSI Wind12 U230 with HD3200 ( theres an older model with an x1250 )

However I just found this
at technoworld(dot)com
HP PAVILION DV2-1125EA VG635EA laptop for £386.58
item number 59321

and it looks a steal, as its prices at £500+ elsewhere. Not to mention unlike the others has 1x2gb so cheaper to upgrade to 4gb and comes with an external optical drive.

So a sort of two fold question considering the requirements, which of these machines would suit us best or do you have an alternative you would reccomend?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice

( Sorry unable to post links )

[b0redom]

My advice would be that if you don't need it to be a small laptop, you go for a 14-15" one. You'll get a lot more bang for buck if you don't require the more minature components. Maybe check out the Dell outlet site. They seem to have a few around the £350 mark with 4GB RAM etc.

[shamus21]

Don`t pay more than £200.00 for a netbook, its not worth it.

[Disneymum]

I've had a look at some of the dell machines on the outlet store

I kinda like this one at £415

Operating System
English Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)Memory
4GB (2x2GB Dual Rank DIMMs) 800MHzHard Disk Drive
250GB (5400rpm) HDVideo
Graphics 512 MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 4570Certified Refurbished
Certified RefurbishedNoteBook Screen
15.6in Widescreen High Definition (1366X768) WLED with TrueLifeSystem Color
LCD Back Cover Black ChainlinkMISC
Camera Integrated 2.0 Mega Pixel Camera
6 cell 56W HR LI-ION Battery
Dell Wireless 1397 (802.11 b g)Base
Inspiron Studio 1555Media Bay
8X DVD+/-RWProcessor
Pentium Dual Core T4300 (2.1GHz,800MHz,1MB)

However the reason for looking at the netbook side of things was the power comsumption, not wanting to use my i5 5850 crossfire rig when I know all I plan on doing is use the net / ebay / browser gaming etc ( IE something I can do on a low power machine rather than fireup the desktop that probably draws 400+w just browsing the net ).

Have to admit I'm even more confused as to what I need / want now than before asking.

[jim]

If the main reason is "power consumption" then you do realise it's going to take an extremely long time to make your money back?

[tincaman]

I have the Compaq Mini 311c netbook, 11" screen, good resolution, does flash/video, none too demanding games. Since I got it I have used it for everything and it is now the first machine to get picked up.

[burn-e86]

if it's something that doesnt really need that much grunt I'd go with a touchscreen model such as HP's touchsmart series, though its a bit over your price bracket @ 700 odd. but you get touchscreen and a keyboard. also the screen is 12" i think

[sullie]

samsung nc10 ive had mine for over a year and not a single problem with it great keyboard and touch pad cant fault it