Laptop Advice
The buying advice for buying a laptop is pretty much the same as for a desktop. You can read what to look for in a desktop here. In a nutshell, work out your budget and get a machine that suits your needs and nothing more. There are a few other things to consider though. Questions to ask when looking for a laptop.
- Will it be mainly plugged in or run off battery? If its plugged in, don’t worry about battery life. Celeron’s which generally have poorer battery life will be OK. If you need battery life get a core2duo with a 9 cell battery.
- Will it be on a desk most of the time or will you be carrying it around? If you are going to be carrying it carrying it around then you want a small and light laptop. A typical size laptop is 15.4 inches. The dell 14.1 inch laptops are a nice size and so are the new 13.3 ones. Anything smaller and you are in to the ultra portable laptops which, in my opinion, are not worth the money.
- Will it be your main machine? If its your main machine then you’ll need a bigger laptop with more processing power. A 17" laptop would be best for that.
Dell has the Vostro range, which is aimed at small businesses. They are cheaper than their Inspiron (consumer) counterparts. You have to go on to their small business site to get to them but they are very cheap and cheerful. Having got a Vostro 1400 I don’t think I’ll buy another brand or range of laptop again.
Description from the site.
- Ready to go out of the box with only the software you want - no unwanted trialware
- Latest-generation Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor for up to 28% greater performance than the prior generation of Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor 1 and long battery life
- Multitask with up to 3.2GB of memory2 for fast performance
- Maximize hot spot connectivity3 with available next generation Wireless-N Wi-Fi® for up to 5x faster throughput and up to 2x the range when used with a Wireless-N router4
- Durability and reliability with magnesium-alloy chassis, sealed keyboards, steel hinges and over 13,000 hours of testing for Dell laptops
- One-touch access to calendar, contacts and files in seconds with Dell MediaDirectTM technology
- Comprehensive standard services tailored for small business, covering installation, maintenance and repair services, so you get the most out of your laptop investment
- Quickly transfer media files with the 8-in-1 media card reader
The first point is a little what for want of a better phrase, a joke. It suggests that on the other Dell machines, their is unwanted trialware. (I know thats a logical fallacy but you'd have to be a pedant to pull me up on that). Anyway, small businesses have the same needs as most other users, namely, reliable, cheap and fast laptops.
You could swap 'small business' for 'student', 'OAP', 'housewife' etc in their copy and it'd still make perfect sense. Even gamers can take advantage of the Vostro range because you can select the option of a dedicated card.
Admittedly, they aren't the most stylish of laptops but they are OK. If you are looking for style, then go for the XPS range or look else where. If you are not looking for the best value but just a good laptop for an OK price then you are probably just as well off looking on ebuyer for one.
So, the advice in summary, buy a Vostro laptop if you want a plain laptop or go on ebuyer and find one if you want a more stylish, more expensive (but still good value) laptop.
Visit the Dell Small business UK site here for Vostro Laptops.
Visit Ebuyer here for other laptops.
